Marando Reaches Podium Again

By Jonathan Schwab Rockbridge County High School senior Mia Marando concluded her school wrestling career by placing sixth at 138-pounds at the third annual Virginia High School League Girls State Open Championships, while Tasha Shorter ended a strong freshman season at 152-pounds last Wednesday and Thursday in Glen Allen.

The top six placers earned medals and spots on the podium at the tournament, which took place at Henrico Sports and Events Center and included female wrestlers from all six classifications of schools. Marando found herself in sixth place for the second year in a row. Last year, she wrestled at 145.

Last week, Marando went 3-3. She pinned West Springfield’s Gabriela Song in 1:41 in the first round before she was pinned by Jamestown’s Riley Lynch in 2:25 in the quarterfinals.

Marando bounced back in the consolation rounds, defeating Courtland’s Chloe Boseman in a 13-2 major decision and beating George C. Marshall’s Ava Wise in a 5-2 decision. In the consolation semifinals, Marando was pinned by Stafford Senior High’s Abigail DeBerry in 2:15. She then faced Heritage’s Audrey Pierce in the fifth-place bout and lost in a 6-0 decision. Marando, who is the first and only state placer for the RC girls, ended the season with a record of 20-5.

Going over Marando’s tournament, her coach, Kage Tomlin, said, “The beauty of the sport is that it happens in moments. One minute you’re up on top, the next moment you’re down, and that’s just the way the sport goes, but she went out there and wrestled hard, and with the girls wrestling growing every year, you can see the competition getting better every year. She went out there. She wrestled every match as hard as she could. She gave nothing but heart the whole time.”

Tomlin, a former RC wrestler who was a state placer before graduating in 2018, was completing his first season as the girls wrestling head coach for the Wildcats and an assistant coach for the boys.

Marando, competing at the girls’ state tournament for the third consecutive year, said, “I think that I could’ve done better with how I wrestled, and I wish that I could’ve rewrestled my last match again and put more into it, but overall, I enjoyed my season. I’m not completely ready to let it go, but I guess my time’s come to an end.”

The senior added that she’s grateful for her coaches, Tomlin and assistant coach Logan Davis. She said both that she and Shorter “have stayed after practice and worked on exactly what we needed for states. It was really helpful for [our coaches] to be there and support us.”

Among the highlights of Marando’s year was winning the Zone 3 Girls’ Qualifier on Feb. 1 at Rocktown High School in Heritage. She and Shorter got to wrestle in several regular-season tournaments that helped prepare them to face girls they would see at the zone qualifier and state tournaments. Marando also got to impress home fans on senior night on Jan. 22 by pinning her opponent, a boy from East Rockingham.

Marando said she hopes to wrestle in college, but she hasn’t decided where yet.

At 152, Shorter went 1-2. In the first round, she pinned Prince George’s Samantha Stephens in 1:35. She then faced Radford’s Margaret Page in the quarterfinals and was pinned in 3:17. In the consolation bracket, Shorter was pinned by Cave Spring’s Mary Smith in 4:11. For the season, Shorter went 12-12, going 2-2 at the Zone 3 Girls’ Qualifier to advance to the state tournament.

“Tasha, for a freshman, to become a state qualifier, that’s huge,” said Tomlin. Looking forward to watching Shorter develop, Tomlin said, “Next year she’ll be on the podium, for sure. Every match, she’s constantly growing, constantly getting better. More mat time, next year, she’ll be a threat, for sure.”

Reviewing her first high school season, after competing in middle school, Shorter said, “I’m very pleased with how the season went. I really thought it was a great season. I was really able to grow and get better as a wrestler. I’m just really thankful that I had the opportunity to attend states, especially being a freshman.”

She said having Marando as a teammate helped, as they made each other better. As for the future of girls wrestling, Shorter said it looks bright. “It’s moving really fast right now.”

Shorter is a multisport athlete, with cheerleading in the fall, and she’ll run track this spring.

Making the trip to Glen Allen to support the girls was Stephanie Ross, who graduated from RC last year and has been the Wildcats’ manager this season. Ross competed at the girls’ state tournament her junior and senior years, going 0-2 at 136-pounds (before weight classes changed) as a junior there and going 5-2 there at 138 last year.

With the success of girls wrestling for the Wildcats, Tomlin looks forward to the growth of the sport. In May, there will be a vote to sanction the sport so that the Wildcats can have a separate girls wrestling team.

“We’re hoping to grow the program,” said Tomlin. “We want to build at Rockbridge. This year, we only had two [girls]. We’re hoping next year to gain at least three or four more. This all happens in moments. You can plan for the future all the time, but you take it one moment at a time.”