Orange wrestlers mark ‘special’ achievement
Sunday night, after losing in a state final, Olentangy Orange senior girls wrestler Surraiya Mahmud ... smiled.
She knew what her team was about to accomplish for the first time.
Less than an hour later, Mahmud donned celebratory blue-rimmed and dark-tinted sunglasses and marched down the mat at Value City Arena, cradling the team championship trophy and fighting back tears in the process. She couldn’t be blamed.
The three-time state placer has been instrumental in the program’s growth from two wrestlers in 2019 to not only having nine state qualifiers this weekend, but having clinched the team title before the finals began.
“The fact that we’re winning the state title today is so special to me because I’ve seen our program grow tremendously,” Mahmud said. “We had four girls in semifinals and two in the finals. It’s amazing to watch the growth. This team is a family.”
Runner-up finishes from Mahmud at 155 pounds and freshman Mackenzie Carder at 110 capped the weekend for Orange, which ended with 95 points. Second-place finisher Harrison, the 2023 state champion, tallied 83 points. Marysville was fourth (60). Orange was second last year – the sport’s first season under the Ohio High School Athletic Association – and in 2020, and third in 2021 and 2022. The Pioneers won the state duals, which are sponsored by the sport’s coaches association, in 2022 and 2023.
Coach Brian Nicola, who was instrumental in getting the sport its OHSAA sanctioning, said an overhauled approach that included a few girls wrestling out of their normal weight class and a juggling of the coaching staff paid dividends.
“Last year, we came up short and a lot of that was our own doing,” Nicola said. “We felt like there were things we needed to change with how we managed athletes here and how we competed. One of the things we kept stressing is, and this will sound cheesy, but (it is) that their best is plenty.”
Carder (37-2) lost to Steubenville’s Talea Guntrum (38-0) 6-2 in a rematch of their regional final from a week earlier, also won by Guntrum 4-0.
Mahmud (23-5) was pinned by Vincent Warren’s Kylee Tait (54-0) in 3:47. Mahmud placed fifth at 155 in 2022 and eighth at 145 last year.
Third-place finishes for Kascidy Garren (190) and Lydia Heinrich (170) and sixth for Josie Nickoloff (120) boosted Orange’s point total. Garren and Nickoloff are seniors, and Heinrich is a junior.
“We’ve been chasing this for a while,” Carder said. “It’s just exciting to see this come true.”
Marysville freshman Cami Leng came within moments of the 115 championship, leading Gibsonsburg’s Morgan Leonhardt 12-5 before Leonhardt rolled out and was able to pin Leng (43-3) with 16 seconds to go. Both appeared stunned by the result.
“Don’t tell my coach, but I did look up at the clock,” Leonhardt said, pausing in the middle of the statement but smiling. “We had to do something big to win it.
“She was staying low. She knew what leg I was going for. She’s heavy with her left foot, so that’s exactly what I wanted to go for.”
Marysville also got a fourth-place finish from junior Desi Lee (235), sevenths from sophomore Cara Leng (140) and junior Addi Lyon (135) and an eighth-place effort from junior Lori Grimes (170).
Gahanna Lincoln freshman Kylee Tibbs (40-4) fell to Avon Lake junior Rejan Al-hashash in the highest-scoring final of the day, 14-10 at 140. dpurpura@dispatch.com @dp_dispatch