Four berths in the girls state wrestling finals – and four state championships for Northern Kentucky wrestlers.
Walton-Verona’s Emma Moore and Sophie Anderson, Simon Kenton senior Gabby Ocasio and Ryle senior Viktoriya Emelianova won gold Saturday in the inaugural tournament at Alltech Arena in Lexington.
Moore started the title train with a 9-2 win – and the 100-pound title – over Pleasure Ridge Park seventh-grader Payton Pomeroy. About a half hour later, Anderson capped a 31-0 season with a 9-2 win over Jeila Ramos-Sanchez of Louisville Southern at 138.
About 10 minutes after Anderson’s win, Ocasio finished a 47-0 run by defeating Harrison County’s Jenny Ridley, 10-3, for the 145 crown, Emelianova was perfect, too – a 5-4 win over Taylor County’s Kaylyn Lawson gave her a 14-0 record.
Anderson, Ocasio and Emelianova are forevermore united because they’re the first local girls to win state titles, they share something else – all three trained at Northern Kentucky Martial Arts Academy in Ludlow.
Simon Kenton coach – and gym owner – Scott Smith could not have been prouder of his three pupils if they had won Summer Olympic medals in July in Paris.
“We’re just moving my daughter (Zoey Smith, now at the University of the Cumberlands),” Scott Smith said. “… We just keep putting girls in college and keep getting them wrestling. That’s all we do.”
Yet each title was unique in its way.
Start with Moore and Anderson. They were Walton-Verona’s only two wrestlers in the tournament, and their combined 54 points allowed the Bearcats to finish ninth in the team standings.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Walton-Verona coach – and Emma’s dad – Jason Moore said. “And I’ve been telling our athletic director (Kyle Bennett) all season … if we had half of a team, we’d be the team state champs.”
Coach Moore had a final suggestion message for Bennett – start designing the state championship rings.
On the medal stand, Ocasio draped herself in the Puerto Rican flag. She has an athletic heritage – her three aunts won Olympic bronze in taekwondo and competed in the Pan American Games. Gabby won bronze as a Puerto Rico’s Pan American U17 team member.
What was more, winning atoned for last year’s loss in the finals of the unofficial state tournament.
“She’s the only girl that placed six times in the state tournament,” Ocasio’s dad, Migdoel Ocasio Sr. said.
‘Way harder’
Emelianova became a double state champion – she won the Class 3A shot put last spring and finished second in the discus – but Saturday was her final high school wrestling match. (She plans to study Economics at Dartmouth next fall.)
When asked which title is more satisfying, Emelianova didn’t deliberate long – it’s wrestling, though she said shot put is not easy.
“It’s definitely way harder to get,” she said. “It’s a lot of mental toughness.”
Moore’s win capped her first season wrestling. She thought being older and stronger than Pomeroy would help, and it did – she spent much of the first period attacking her left leg, earned a takedown and took a 4-2 lead; her favorite move was the “Blair,” where she grabbed Pomeroy’s wrist and forced her to the mat.
With a few seconds left and the title secure, Moore heard the Walton-Verona fans holler “Let’s go Emma!” She smiled.
“It feels amazing for you to work so hard on something all season, and then it finally (pays) off,” Moore said. “It’s great because maybe it’ll show other girls they can win.”
Little time needed
You were out of luck if you went for chips and a soda instead of watching Anderson. She pinned Bell County’s Hannah Fetters in 1 minute, 11 seconds, Bardstown’s Kathryn Floyd in 0:43 and Whitley County’s Val Sears in 1:06.
That’s exactly three minutes’ total mat time.
Anderson used her favorite move, the “chicken wing,” to force Ramos-Sanchez’s left arm behind her back and roll her over for several takedowns.
After the win, Anderson celebrated by leaping into the arms of Bearcats fans – who gave her a sort of Verona Vault.
Like Anderson, Ocasio pinned her first three opponents – North Hardin’s Eliza Adkins, Whitley County’s Olivia Fuson and Daviess County’s Kali Nichols. It just took a little longer – 5:17 altogether.
Ocasio took advantage of Ridley’s tendency to go for her head.
“She’s always standing, so I saw an opportunity to grab a double-leg (takedown),” Ocasio said. “It was always there.”
Emelianova just about didn’t make the finals – two of her three wins going into the finals were one-point decisions, 2-1 to Louisville Western’s A’Niyah Sullivan in the quarterfinals and 4-3 against Boyle County’s Alyssa Pinkston in the semifinals.
Against Lawson, after a scoreless first period, Emelianova took a 4-0 lead and hung on by staying upright.
After her win, Emelianova admitted taking narrow wins was a habit.
“As long as you finish, right?” she said.
Ocasio plans to continue wrestling at Lindsey Wilson College (she wants to be a labor and delivery nurse); her dreams are much bigger.
“I’ve got a good bloodline,” she said. “(I’m) working hard and trying to go to the Olympics. That’s my next goal.”
Ryle coach Tim Ruschell was happy just to celebrate a state title – perhaps as much as Emelianova.
“I thought I was going to get blanked this year,” Ruschell said. “It’s just rewarding. She practices with the boys every day.”
Taylor County won the team title over Harrison County, 123.5-100. Fort Campbell and Union County tied for third with 98.5, and Henderson County was fifth with 61.
For complete results, visit trackwrestling.com (bit.ly/3SL27rJ)