Marando Sixth At State

Ross Wins Five Straight Matches

By Jonathan Schwab

Rockbridge County High School junior Mia Marando earned a medal by placing sixth at 145-pounds in the second annual Virginia High School League Girls State Open Wrestling Championships on Friday and Saturday at Garfield High School in Woodbridge. Marando, who went 4-3, was the firstever state placer for RC in the tournament, in which the top six girls in each weight class received medals. Also competing for the Wildcats was senior Stephanie Ross, who went 5-2 at 138-pounds.

Both RC girls competed at the tournament last year, with Marando going 2-2 at 146-pounds and Ross going 0-2 at 136. Neither Wildcat made it to the second day of competition last year, but both did this year.

Guiding Marando and Ross was second-year RC assistant coach Garret Shultz, who was a state placer at Riverheads High School before wrestling at Virginia Military Institute. Both RC girls practiced with the boys this season and competed occasionally, under the direction of second-year RC head coach Mike Wood.

Pleased with how both girls did, Shultz said, “This year, their goal was to make it to the second day, and then whatever happened after making it to the second day, then we would talk about medaling.”

There were 480 girls in this year’s tournament. Competing in a bracket of 33 girls and ranked 21st based on her performance last year, Marando started the tournament by defeating Staunton’s Caylaih Chandler in a 13-0 major decision. She then pinned McLean’s Eve Spencer in 5:56. In the quarterfinals, Marando was pinned by Louisa County’s Ciyanna Okocha, who went on to place third, in 45 seconds.

Marando bounced back in the consolation bracket by winning her next two bouts, pinning Powhatan’s Brynna Tester in 2:21 before pinning J.R. Tucker’s Savannah Atkinson in 4:17. She was then pinned by Union’s Kyndal Satterfield in 2:52. Reviewing that match, Shultz said Marando “wrestled a tough match, but I think she just got caught in a rough position.”

In the fifth-place match, Grassfield’s Teresa Hutchison pinned Marando in 41 seconds.

“I think Mia wrestled a fantastic tournament,” said Shultz.

Competing in a bracket of 52 girls, Ross was ranked 52nd based on last year, but she rose above expectations. In the first round, Ross lost

, page A10 to George C. Marshall’s Ava Wise in a 6-0 decision, but she bounced back by winning her next five bouts.

In the consolation bracket, Ross pinned Jefferson Forest’s Gabrielle Macdonald in 1:55. She then defeated Woodbridge Senior’s Stephany Ponce in a 1-0 decision. Ross then pinned George C. Marshall’s Heidy Chan-Ordonez in 1:15 before beating Thomas Edison’s Avery Rollins in a 7-0 decision. She then pinned North Stafford’s Sophia Oliveira in 2:56, but Ross’s tournament ended when Jamestown’s Riley Lynch pinned her in 4:29.

Impressed by Ross’s resilience to win five consecutive matches after dropping her first one, Shultz said, “Stephanie got on a roll. She showed a lot of grit, a lot of fire and competitive drive.”

Reviewing her tournament, Ross said, “Before every match, I told myself no one wanted this more than me, and if I didn’t win, they were gonna take the second day away from me. The second day, I had to win two matches to place. My first match of the second day and my last match of my high school career, we went 0-0 first period, second period she chose down and got an escape, after I took her down and got my two [points], third period came and I chose down, where she turned and pinned me with 31 seconds left on the clock.”

“One of the hardest things as a wrestler is knowing you could have won, and one of the hardest things as a senior is knowing you won’t have another chance,” said Ross. “Being a wrestler, everything you do or don’t do is on you, you don’t have a team to blame for the loss, only yourself. My improvement came from that, it came from realizing no one else can help me win, if I wanted it, I was gonna have to take it.”

Both Marando and Ross were pleased with how they did. “I’m really glad I got to experience another year at VHSL girls states,” said Marando. “It was a little bit of a bittersweet experience for me. It was a nice experience to be able to go for the second year, but it was sad considering it is Stephanie’s last year with me, and I won’t be able to have another year with her. Knowing that this was the last tournament with her was the hardest part of the day. The matches were easier than thinking about her leaving. The most important part of improving is never giving up and always walking with your head high and if you mess up, just take it slow until you get it right.”

On receiving a medal, Marando said, “It means a lot to be a state placer. This year, my only goal was to make it to the second day, but placing as well was a big accomplishment for me this year. My hope for next year is to improve more before the state tournament and to do better than this year. I hope that next year I can place better and have more experience than I did this year. I’m thankful I have another year ahead of me, but it’s hard to let all the old memories go.”

Grateful for the opportunity to have Marando as her teammate the last two years, Ross said Marando was “my partner, my best friend, and my family all in one. We wanted to succeed together, and, although I didn’t place and she did, we accomplished our goal of making it to the second day together. I couldn’t be more happy for her. It was a bittersweet weekend, saying goodbye to the sport I love, to my last chance to place at states, and to my wrestling partner.”

Marando and Ross both expressed their gratitude for the coaching they got from Shultz throughout the season and at the tournament.

“Having a patient coach helped a lot with improvement throughout the season,” said Marando. “Coach Garret was a big part of me being able to improve. Everything I’ve worked for – he has helped me with during practice – and just knowing what kind of wrestler I am when coaching me on the mats.”

Ross said Shultz “has supported us, day in and day out.”

Looking ahead, Shultz said he’s excited about the future of girls wrestling. “As more states start to sanction girls wrestling, it’s gonna grow into a very competitive sport,” he said, noting that watching women’s wrestling in the Olympics inspired his girls. “It’s pretty sweet to see girls out there competing at the high school and collegiate level. It’s awesome.”