Washington seventh grader Abby Huff gains control during her championship match at the inaugural ‘Queen of the Jungle’ wrestling tournament held on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. Huff was the champion of her weight class in the middle school division.
Tyler Flora | Record-Herald photos
Washington eighth grader Abigail Forsythe pins her opponent during the inaugural ‘Queen of the Jungle’ wrestling tournament held on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. Forsythe was the champion of her weight class in the middle school division.
Tyler Flora | Record-Herald photos
Washington’s Lyndyn Gibbs controls her opponent during her championship match at 120 pounds on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023 at the inaugural ‘Queen of the Jungle’ wrestling tournament. Gibbs went undefeated on the day, securing her 75th career win along the way.
Tyler Flora | Record-Herald photos
The Washington Lady Lion wrestling hosted the inaugural ‘Queen of the Jungle’ tournament at Washington High School on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. A total of 28 schools and over 125 wrestlers participated in the event.
Lebanon won the team trophy with a total of 172 points, followed by Clermont Northeastern in second with 106 points, Centerville in third with 99 points, Washington in fourth with 62 points, and Indian Lake and West Clermont tied for fifth with 57 points.
For Washington, four high school wrestlers and four middle school wrestlers took part in the tournament.
Leah Marine finished in second place at 110 pounds, going 4-1 on the day and improving her record to 29-9 on the season. Head coach Wes Gibbs spoke about Marine.
“She wrestled some really complete matches and lost a good match against No. 5 ranked Charlie Jones from New Richmond. Leah is in a crazy talented freshman class across the state. If you look at her weight class alone, she is among six freshmen in the top 10.
Lyndyn Gibbs was the champion at 120 pounds. Her first match of the day marked her 75th career win. In the finals, she faced Kaylee Ramsey from Clinton Massie, where she won by pin. She now has five tournament championships under her belt this year and has a season record of 36-2.
Alicia Navarette went 1-2 on the day and Janessa Ayler went 0-2 on the day.
“They are getting there,” Gibbs said. “We just get caught in awkward positions. They are both first year wrestlers. Sometimes it’s an advantage and sometimes it’s a curse. The great thing is, if you look at tape from the beginning to now you can see the amazing strides they are making. We have the next two weeks to get them in better positions to make a run to try to qualify to the State Tournament.”
Gibbs then spoke about his middle school wrestlers.
“Abigail Forsythe went 5-0, which is fitting because she is one of the hardest working girls in the room. She just started wrestling at the end of last season. She worked all spring and fall with coach Craig Snyder. In a few weeks, she will compete at the OAC Middle School Girls State Championship in Youngstown. Abby Huff also placed first. She had been pretty sick this past week. We didn’t know if she was going to be able to compete, but she was able to go 5-0 on the day. She’s a pretty tough kid, she will compete in the OHWAY Middle School Girls State championship in a few weeks. Kendall Garrison and Emma Murphy also competed. Kendall went 1-4, getting her very first win of the season. Emma wrestled her very first tournament, and she wrestled very well for only being in the sport for a short time.”
Gibbs finished, “Overall, the girls performed very well. The entire program has been working the same technique. Coach Snyder’s system has them wrestling very well. We have about 12 days to clean up our wrestling to make a run, but with the staff we have, and the girl’s effort, I think we will make a huge splash.”
The Washington Lady Lions will compete at the Regional wrestling meet at Harrison High School on March 5.
