Courtesy | Fairborn Athletics
Fairborn senior Akiaya Rhinehart (right) won one of three regional championships by Greene County girls wrestlers at the regional tournament held Sunday at Harrison High School. Rhinehart heads to Columbus to compete in the second annual OHSAA state girls wrestling tournament.
Contributed | Karen Clark
Greeneview freshman Lily Hendricks (top) will look to make it consecutive years a Rams wrestler wins a state title when she competes in Columbus starting Friday.
Contributed | Karen Clark
Bellbrook junior Jada Weiss (top) has made it state after being an alternate for last year’s tournament.
XENIA — Three regional champions make up the four local girls wrestlers heading to Columbus for he second edition of the OHSAA state wrestling tournament.
Bellbrook’s Jada Weiss, Carroll’s Brooklynn Newton and Fairborn’s Akiaya Rhinehart all went unbeaten during the regional tournament held Sunday at Harrison High School.
Newton cruised through her four matches at 190 pounds, winning all by pin with a combined time of 3:08 to return to state for a second straight season. Weiss defeated a state qualifier from a year ago to win with a third period pin at 155 and get to Columbus after being an alternate last year. Rhinehart continued her dominant season with three wins by pin and another via decision to improve her record to 41-1.
Joining them in going to state is Greeneview’s Lily Hendricks. She made the finals at 125 by getting three pin victories before finishing as the tournament runner-up. Hendricks will look to join fellow Rams’ wrestler Eve Matt, who won the area’s first OHSAA state title last year, and Ellie Harlow who was a champion in an OHSCWA state competition before the OHSAA began sanctioning a girls event starting in 2023.
All four girls had also won their respective pre-regional tournaments a week prior.
Xenia’s Vanessa Rechterman earned status as an alternate for state with a fifth place finish at 145.
The state tournaments will once again be held at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University. Day one of competition begins at 1 p.m. on Friday. Day two sessions on Saturday start at 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. for quarterfinal and semifinal matches. Final consolation bracket matches begin at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, and the state championship title matches are scheduled to get underway at 5 p.m. Tickets are priced at $18 for each session.
REGIONAL RESULTS
Bellbrook
155 — Jada Weiss (1st) 4-0 … Won by pin in title match
Carroll
120 — Emie Justice 0-2 … Lost by pin in 1stR consolation
125 — Marin Keferi 2-2 … Lost by pin in consolation qtrs
190 — Brooklynn Newton (1st) 4-0 … Won by pin in title match
235 — Makinzi Neff 2-2 … Lost 4-3 in consolation qtrs
Fairborn
100 — Hannah Hawk 0-2 … Lost by pin in 2ndR consolation
110 — Brianna Kelly 1-2 … Lost 9-3 in 2ndR consolation
125 — Madison Clay 0-2 … Lost by pin in 1stR consolation
130 — Serenity Ulmer-Earnest (6th) 3-3 … Lost 17-4 in fifth place match
135 — Kellsie Cleaves 0-2 … Lost by pin in 1stR consolation
140 — Zion Glenn (6th) 3-3 … Lost by pin in fifth place match
145 — Keira Smith 0-2 … Lost by pin in 1stR consolation
155 — Savannah Vaughan 0-2 … Lost by default in 1stR consolation
170 — Kelsey Boyd 1-2 … Lost by pin in 2ndR consolation
235 — Akiaya Rhinehart (1st) 4-0 … Won by pin in title match
Greeneview
100 — Olivia Bender 0-2 … Lost by pin in 1stR consolation
105 — Ryan Zink 1-2 … Lost by pin in 2ndR consolation
115 — Olivia Wheeler 0-2 … Lost by pin in 1stR consolation
125 — Lily Hendricks (2nd) 3-1 … Lost 8-4 in title match
Xenia
145 — Vanessa Rechterman (5th) 3-2 … Won by pin in fifth place match
Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.
