Olentangy Orange wrestler Mackenzie Carder wins national title
· Yahoo Sports
Olentangy Orange wrestler Mackenzie Carder has added a new title to her resume: national champion.
Carder, who won her first OHSAA state championship in March, captured the title at 125 pounds in the Junior Freestyle National Championships held July 16-18 at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.
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She went 8-0 with four pins, defeating Arizona’s Martynique Davis in 1 minute, 5 seconds in the final.
“I’m always just looking to do the best that I can do,” Carder said. “I’m not somebody who puts a whole lot of pressure on myself. I just want to go out there and believe in myself that I can do whatever I put my mind to and just have really good focus in all of my matches.”
Marysville’s Cami Leng finished seventh at 125.
Competing in her third national tournament in Fargo, Carder was motivated by last year’s runner-up finish at 115 in the Junior Division and a fourth-place finish at 118 in the 16U Division in 2024.
“Last year and the year before really helped empower me to realize that I was worthy of being on that stage and that I was one of those people who could go out and compete for a national title,” Carder said.
Carder closed a 46-2 junior season at Orange by beating Leng 14-4 in the 120 state final. Carder was named The Dispatch’s Girls Wrestler of the Year.
“She’s very steady,” Orange coach Brian Nicola said. “She really put the work in, and obviously being able to stay steady throughout the whole [national] tournament allows her to stay at that level. She really enjoys the process of working at the sport, and she’s become such a strong leader on our team, too. She’s also a good leader on Team Ohio. She beat some really good girls to win it.”
Rowlands, Wurster lead central Ohio boys at nationals
Watterson’s Tommy Rowlands and Dublin Coffman’s Tommy Wurster paced area boys in Fargo as both placed in freestyle and Greco-Roman.
Rowlands finished second at 157 in 16U in both competitions, while Wurster was second in Greco-Roman and fifth in freestyle at 132 in the Junior Division. Last year, Wurster won the 16U freestyle title at 120.
Also in the Junior Division, Highland’s Cael Gilmore was second in Greco-Roman at 165, Coffman’s Blaze Van Gundy was fourth in freestyle at 132 and Coffman’s Loc Webber was fifth in freestyle and sixth in Greco-Roman at 120.
Also in 16U, DeSales’ Grayson Debevoise was third at 165 in freestyle and Granville’s Anthony Bergeron was sixth at 126 in freestyle.
High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at [email protected] and at @DispatchFrank on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Olentangy Orange wrestler Mackenzie Carder wins national title