Girls district wrestling: Buckeye's Marisa McCartin, Black River's Taylor Owen find way to state

FINDLAY — Marisa McCartin's first trip to the state tournament will be as a district champion. The Brunswick junior wrestler pinned her way to the 125-pound championship at the Findlay District on Sunday, improving to 30-4. She will take a No. 1 seed into state, which begins Friday at Ohio State's Value City Arena. "I had a goal coming in, and this is what I wanted to do," she said. "I think I'm peaking at the right time. I beat one ranked girl, and I knew if I could do that, I could do anything." McCartin was one of three Blue Devils to participate but the only one to qualify. Sophomore Sarah King advanced to the third consolation round at 130, losing to Celina's Ashton Lehman by pin. Senior Mekenna Vanyo lost in the quarterfinals but wrestled back to the consolation semifinals where she faced a familiar opponent, Elyria's Seraiah Jackson. Jackson beat her 4-0 in the Avon Lake Sectional final last week, and their consolation semifinal match was nearly identical. Jackson secured an early takedown, then an escape in the third period to seal the win. Vanyo finished sixth. As for McCartin, she's dominated since returning from an injury that sidelined her for a couple of midseason tournaments. She's secured pins in all seven of her postseason matches. She wrestled for just 9:42 Sunday, with two bouts, including her championship against Alyssa Johnson of Napoleon, ending in the first period. "The weight cut was the right decision to make," McCartin said. "I was at 130 last year, going down to 125 and wrestling girls I know I'm stronger than by just cutting a few pounds has helped me a lot. My injury gave me a little break, too. Coming back really set me up." Medina County will have one other qualifier, as Black River's Taylor Owen took third place at 145. The sophomore ran her record to 36-10 with four wins — all by pin — and a loss on Sunday. She will make her second state tournament appearance, finishing fifth last season. Owen had to face some adversity to get there, as Crestview's Naomi Gearheart secured a 4-0 decision in the semifinals, putting Owen in a must-win situation. Owen trailed 1-0 after two periods in her consolation semifinal against Wauseon's Amya Hallett but scored a takedown 20 seconds in and worked the pin with 33 seconds left. "I was really nervous for that match," Owen said. "Last year I won my semifinal, so I didn't really have to worry about not going. I got a little discouraged after it was 1-0, but in the third period I told myself I wanted it more and I just went after it. I had to win that match to go on. "I'm really excited. I'm going to try and do better than I did last time (at the state tournament)." Contact Chris Sweeney at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.