Super 32 Girls: Champs & Cinderellas

Pennsylvania’s Tiffani Baublitz, this year’s Super 32 champion at 160, wrestling at Fargo 2019. Photo courtesy of Jim Thrall / MatFocus.com

California’s Cheyenne Bowman, shown here at California States earlier this year, dominated her way to the 2020 Super 32 title. Photo courtesy of Dan Glenn.

by Derek Levendusky, AWW staff writer
Twitter: @AWWderek

Super 32 was a welcome event, after months of social distancing and cancelled events, with 200 female wrestlers, including 71 nationally-ranked athletes, converging in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to battle for the belt.

The day was loaded with dominant performances and surprises, as upset after upset shocked the women’s high school wrestling community, including five #1 seeds going down, and some of them early. The event also showcased the reality that the younger girls coming up the ladder are competition-ready for this level. Many fans were shocked how consistently 8th graders and freshmen pulled off big wins or upsets.

In our online poll, wrestling fans picked these three for their Super 32 OWs:

Lightweight OW: Olivia Shore (108)
Middle weight OW: Chloe Ogden (139)
Upper weight OW: Tiffani Baublitz (160)

Olivia Shore is currently leading our final poll between these three athletes for overall OW.

Here’s a quick look at the champs and “cinderellas” at each weight.

97 pounds
Champ: Alex Szkotnicki (MD) pinned her way to a Super 32 title—four pins to be exact—with a fall over Ava Ward (MO). She polished it off with a good ol’ fashioned far side cradle in the finals to get the fall at 2:36. Szkotnicki (pronounced “scott-nicky” I believe) She scored in multiple ways leading up to the pin, with offense, counter-offense, and turns.

Cinderella: Unseeded 8th grader Ava Ward started her day with a 26-second pin in the first round, then became the cinderella of this weight class with a fall over #3 seed Makayla Young (OH), going folkstyle with her own far side cradle. Ward won her next match 10-0 over Evelyn Holmes-Smith (AL) in the quarters, running into the #2 seed, 2019 Cadet Pan Am gold medalist, sophomore Virginia Foard (VA) in the semis. Ward silenced doubters with a convincing 11-0 tech fall over Foard at the 2:48 mark. Her magic day ended with the finals loss to Szkotnicki in the finals, but what a day for the 8th grader!

Top 6
1. Alex Szkotnicki (MD)
2. Ava Ward (MO)
3. Virginia Foard (VA)
4. Karlee Brooks (AZ)
5. Kealonie Vega (FL)
6. Madison Avila (CA)

103 pounds
Champ: 2019 Cadet World silver medalist Sterling Dias (NV) looked the part, getting the win in the finals over one of the tournament cinderellas, Makennah Craft of Ohio, 9-2. Dias cruised to the finals, with two quick falls to start her day, then getting a calculated 6-0 win over #4 seed Chloe Dearwester in the semis.

Cinderella: No one in Ohio was surprised it happened. In the first round, 8th grade Makennah Craft pulled off the 8-4 upset over #2 seed, star senior Heaven Fitch at 103. Fitch is famous for becoming the first-ever girl to win a boys state title in North Carolina earlier this year. Craft continued her run to the finals with a controlled 9-0 win over Sophia Anderson (FL), followed by an 8-6 win over Anaya Falcon (CA) in a battle of unseededs. Falcon had her own surprising moments, taking down #3 seed Riley Banyas of Ohio in the quarters. Craft was outmatched in the finals, but it wasn’t easy for the highly-touted Dias. Craft will be a fixture in high school wrestling for the next four years, so get used to hearing her name.

Top 6
1. Sterling Dias (NV)
2. Makennah Craft (OH)
3. Chloe Dearwester (OH)
4. Anaya Falcon (CA)
5. Heaven Fitch (NC)
6. Sophia Anderson (FL)

108 pounds
Champ: If anyone was wondering how 2x Cadet world teamer Olivia Shore (OH) is doing, as her competition has been limited in recent years due to injury recovery, how does a Super 32 title sound? In what was one of the most evenly-matched finals, Shore won it all with a razor thin 2-0 victory over unseeded Cecilia Williams of Michigan. Williams almost scored the winning takedown in the final few seconds but couldn’t quite turn the corner as Shore held precariously onto her leg as time expired.

Cinderella: Unseeded, unranked 8th grader (seeing a theme here?) Cecilia Williams took out #1 seed Faith Cole in the quarters, following it up with a gritty 9-6 win over #4 seed Julianne Moccia (MD) to make the finals. Yes, she fell short of the title, but didn’t fall short of a memorable performance that put her on the high school national map. #8 seed Zao Estrada is also a worthy mention in this category as the 9th grader from South Carolina beat the #7 seed and the #1 seed before falling to Moccia in the 5th place match.

Top 6
1. Olivia Shore (OH)
2. Cecilia Williams (MI)
3. Nyla Valencia (CA)
4. Sydney Petzinger (NJ)
5. Julianne Moccia (MD)
6. Zao Estrada (SC)

115 pounds
Champ: WOW!!! Jaclyn Dehney (NH) provided what might have been the most exciting moment of the finals, if not the entire tournament. Down 7-0 in the second period, it looked like a win for Amiyah Hart of Illinois, but Dehney worked through a single leg finish, transitioning to the front head with an underhook to get the fall at 3:15, securing her first Super 32 title. Dehney, only a sophomore, started her day with a fall over #7 ranked Shea Reisel (IL) in the Round of 16, then downed #8 ranked Olivia Messerly (KY) 6-2 in the quarters, following that up with a win over #9 ranked Taylin Long (IL) in the semis with a 15-4 tech fall. The title has to feel good for Dehney, who came up short in the finals last year against Katie Gomez.

Cinderella: If we’re talking about underdog stories, you’d have to tip your cap to this year’s runner-up Amiyah Hart, who faced tough opponent after tough opponent to get to the finals—a match she was very close to winning. Hart started her day with a gutsy 4-2 win over Maryland’s Cassidy Benwell 4-2, then breezed through her quarters match against #4 seed Leah Gaitan of California, dominating the ties with powerful underhooks, eventually throwing Gaitan for the fall. Hart made the finals with her biggest upset of the day, taking down returning Super 32 champ and #1 seed Chloe Ayers of New Jersey with a convincing 14-5 win. Cinderella day for sure!

Top 6
1. Jaclyn Dehney (NH)
2. Amiyah Hart (IL)
3. Chloe Ayres (NJ)
4. Dianna Holmes (GA)
5. Taylin Long (IL)
6. Haylie Jaffe (PA)

123 pounds
Champ: Returning champ Katie Gomez (CA) had to come from behind in the final minute to achieve the impressive distinction of “back-to-back Super 32 champion” with a 4-4 win over Montana Delawder (PA). As good as Gomez is, winning gold at U15 Worlds in 2019, she still came in as the #2 seed. Gomez took the lead with a head outside shot at the :31 mark late in the 2nd period, holding on for the criteria win.

Cinderella: This was the only weight class where the top 4 seeds advanced to the semis.

Top 6
1. Katie Gomez (CA)
2. Montana Delawder (PA)
3. Amani Jones (GA)
4. Josie Davis (OH)
5. Carolina Moreno (AZ)
6. Sophia Matthews (MA)

130 pounds
Champ: It was a big day for Colorado’s unseeded SaVannah Cosme as she upset the #2 seed Lily Sherer (PA) in the quarters and then took out #3 seed—ranked #4 nationally—Alexis Janiak (IL) in the semis to advance to the finals where she would face off with #4 seed Devin Patton from Texas. In the finals, Cosme stuck to what she had working all day—dominant underhooks—scoring her a take down and two pushouts. USA Wrestling awarded Cosme with the “USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week.”

Cinderella: The #1 seed went down early, as Illinois’ Natasha Markoutsis pinned top-seeded Nonnie Justice (MO) at the 2:41 mark in the Round of 32. But she wasn’t the Cinderella—freshman Lauren Walton of Kentucky was, who beat Markoutsis in the quarters 7-4 and ended up taking 5th. Justice avenged her loss to Markoutsis in the blood round, getting the 11-3 win and eliminating her opponent from the podium. Walton went on the beat #1 seeded Justice in the 5th place match to cap off a remarkable day on the mats.

Top 6
1. SaVannah Cosme (CO)
2. Devin Patton (TX)
3. Alexis Janiak (IL)
4. Lily Sherer (PA)
5. Lauren Walton (KY)
6. Nonnie Justice (MO)

139 pounds
Champ: Florida’s Chloe Ogden, the deserving #1 seed, owned this weight class, outscoring opponents 54-4, and getting a no-doubt-about-it 12-1 tech fall over Haley Ward in the finals. She was a level above the field all day.

Cinderella: Unseeded Florida junior Jada Llamido took out #3 seed Maddie Kubicki in the quarters, following that up with a 14-3 win over Madison Sandquist (TX) in the Consi Semis after falling to #2 seed Haley Ward in the semis. Kubicki got the revenge win in the 3rd place match, 9-4, but Llamido showed she can toe the line with the best.

Top 6
1. Chloe Ogden (FL)
2. Haley Ward (MO)
3. Maddie Kubicki (MO)
4. Jada Llamido (FL)
5. Madison Sandquist (TX)
6. Grace Stem (PA)

148 pounds
Champ: Cheyenne Bowman went unchallenged, giving up zero points and dominating matches throughout the tournament. In the finals, she got the fall over Dakota Dinielli of Connecticut, an experienced wrestler not to be taken lightly, at :49 to win the title. So that tells you the level at which Bowman was competing. Despite the AWW polling results listed above, she would get my overall OW vote. It’s possible she was the best pound-for-pound wrestler at Super 32 this year. Bowman not only went unscored on—outscoring her opponents 23-0 while securing two falls and a tech fall—she showed a high technical aptitude with a versatile arsenal. Throughout the day, she hit throws, leg shots, counter offense, showed scrambling ability, and hit leg laces and gut wrenches. No doubt this senior will be a top recruit for the college scene, a competitor likely to have immediate success at the next level.

Cinderella: West Virginia’s 8th grade rising star Kaylie Hall had a tough start, drawing junior #2 seed, #7 ranked Dakota Dinielli in her first match, but she turned some heads on the backside, landing in 4th place for the tournament—a massive accomplishment for a 148-pounder this young! Hall defeated #5 seed, junior Veronica Whitacre, 4-3 in the Consi Semis to advance to the 3rd place match, where she fell to Seda Tsarni. But what a showing for this young lady. Let me say it again—8th grade. Get used to her name on the high school scene for the next four years.

Top 6
1. Cheyenne Bowman (CA)
2. Dakota Dinielli (CT)
3. Seda Tsarni (MD)
4. Kaylie Hall (WV)
5. Veronica Whitacre (NJ)
6. Alexandra Nelson (RI)

160 pounds
Champ: Pennsylvania senior Tiffani Baublitz has been around for a long time. The 2019 Fargo champ has been in a lot of big matches and as a Cadet national teamer—she won gold at the 2019 Cadet Pan Ams—and one-time student at Wyoming Seminary, she’s received some of the best training in the country. Her experience and skill showed at Super 32, outscoring her opponents 30-1 while gaining a tech fall and pin along the way. Her finals match looked no different than the rest of her day, getting the fall with an arm bar over Jessi Johnson at the 1:44 mark. Baublitz is another competitor that will make an immediate impact for a college program if she goes that route.

Cinderella: Iowa senior Madison Diaz hit the top 6, stunning Sydney Manos—ranked #3 in national rankings—with a 10-0 tech fall in the quarters. After losing in the semis to eventual champ Baublitz, Diaz fell to Ella Pagel (MN) but won the 5th place match over #2 seed Kiersten O’Neill. Quite a day for Diaz, who let everyone know that she has big plans on the mats for her senior year.

Top 6
1. Tiffani Baublitz (PA)
2. Jessi Johnson (NJ)
3. Ella Pagel (MN)
4. Sydney Manos (IL)
5. Madison Diaz (IA)
6. Kiersten O'Neill (IN)

172 pounds
Champ/Cinderella: Our champ is our cinderella! Unseeded Jaylen Hyman took out the #3 seed, the #2 seed, and the #1 seed. The senior from Maryland took down #3 seed Katelyn Lewis (WI) 12-2 in the opening round, #2 seed Sierra Chavez (FL) by fall in the semis, and #1 seed, returning Super 32 champ Dasia Yearby (SC) in the finals with a convincing 10-0 performance. Hyman smiled big and flexed as her hand was raised. There’s a new woman in town, and her name is Jaylen Hyman.

Top 6
1. Jaylen Hyman (MD)
2. Dasia Yearby (SC)
3. Katelyn Lewis (WI)
4. Kaitlyn Pegarella (PA)
5. Sierra Chavez (FL)
6. Marthine Laguerre (FL)

195 pounds
Champ: In a battle of Texans, this year’s champ Brittyn Corbishley beat out #1 seed Hannah Francis by fall in 49 seconds in the title match, which happened early in the day. The #2 seed in a round robin format, she faced Francis in the second round of the five-round event, and didn’t look back after that match. Corbishley spent a total of 3:06 on the mat, getting falls or tech falls at 1:02, :49, :18 & :57 in her four matches. She finished her final round match with a 5-point suplex to get the 11-0 win over Kiara Ganey of Illinois.

Cinderella: There were only two seeded wrestlers in this group, and they in fact finished 1-2.

Top 6
1. Brittyn Corbishley (TX)
2. Hannah Francis (TX)
3. Kiara Ganey (IL)
4. Lexi Shannon (TX)
5. Emma Warren (NC)

Another major high school event happens this weekend in Des Moines, Iowa, as USAW Preseason Nationals gets started for the girls on Sunday.