Holderby earns spot on the podium for Westfall

COLUMBUS — Savannah Holderby won her first match Saturday morning to become the first girl from Westfall to earn a spot on the podium at the OHSAA state wrestling championships.

A loss Saturday night means she’ll be battling for a shot at third place when wrestling resumes Sunday morning — but can finish no lower than sixth.

The senior’s first match was a 4-2 decision over Abigale Miller from New Middletown Springfield.

“It was a lot of effort, a lot of work, and then she had the underhooks she kept throwing by,” Westfall coach Tim Geiger said. “She showed a lot of aggression. She dug deep and battled through, and I’m proud of her.”

Moving on to the championship semifinals Saturday night, Holderby faced off against Jonathan Alder’s Reese Thomas. A takedown late in the first gave Holderby a 3-0 lead that held up into the third period. 

Midway through the third, Thomas scored a takedown, but Holderby got an escape point right after.

Coming off a restart, Thomas was able to take Holderby to the mat and finished off the match when the ref whistled a pin with 45 seconds left.

“We were winning clear up in the third period and things are going our way, and the girl just came back and that was the first offensive thing she’s done, and it was really nice,” Geiger said. “She had the hook, then she stepped in and tripped our leg.

“Up until that point, we had really controlled the match. We had the takedown. Even that other little takedown they had there, that’s why I was questioning the ref. It didn’t really look like control, because they gave a takedown and an escape.”

Up next is the consolation semifinals where Holderby will meet up with Greeneview’s Lily Hendricks. The two faced off in the first round when Hendricks was called for an illegal move that led to Holderby advancing with a medical default. 

Holderby will reset overnight and get herself ready for that semifinal.

“Her mindset has just been, let’s see what we can do, prove who we are, what we can do,” Geiger said. “She has overcome so much adversity with her surgeries and the other things. She loves to compete and show people what she’s capable of.”