COLUMBUS — Wrapping up a senior season that almost didn’t happen, Westfall’s Savannah Holderby finished sixth in the state in the 145-pound weight class.
With three knee surgeries and a should surgery over her high school career, Holdberby was recovering from the last set of surgeries and wrestled only once in the regular season to make sure she was eligible for the post-season tournaments.
“It’s not normal to not wrestle all season, wrestle one match right before sectionals, and then go win your sectional, place at the districts, and place at state,” Westfall coach Tim Geiger said. “She’s a phenomenal athlete and a wrestler, and that just goes to show what she’s done earlier in her life to get here.”
After losing her finals match 4-1 in sudden victory to Tara Davis from Olentangy Orange, she officially went 2-3 at the state tournament and ends the year with a 10-5 record.
“I’m just excited to be on the mat again. I didn’t think earlier in the season that I would even get the chance to wrestle again for my senior year,” Holderby said. “I think I’ve wrestled great with no expectations, and just kind of going in and loving to be here again, and seeing everything, and the atmosphere has just been amazing.”
The tournament started off with a win by medical default after an illegal move prevented her from continuing the match. She won her quarterfinal 4-2 before dropping into the consolation bracket after a third-round pin in the championship semifinals.
“My first match was a little funky, for sure — illegal move,” she said. “And then, second match, it was, I think, a 4-2 decision. Really hard-fought match. She was great wrestler.
“My semi, (Jonathan Alder’s Reese Thomas) is the sweetest, most respectful girl I’ve ever met. I was winning the whole match, and then, at the end, she tripped me to my back, and I ended up losing that,” Holderby said. “After the match, she hugged me and said that I’m one of the most inspirational people she’s ever gotten the chance to meet That just, it hit me hard, and it reminded me why I’m doing what I’m doing and why I’m here.”
Holderby was bracketed to face Lilly Hendricks from Greeneview in the consolation semifinals, the same girl she was trailing in her first match before the illegal move, but elected to forfeit that match to focus on her final bout.
“We wanted to wrestle again, but her knee was bothering her, so we decided to forego that first match and wrestle in the finals here and place as high as we could,” Geiger said. “We actually ended up wrestling a girl who we wrestled and had a 1-0 loss with last week.
“We went into overtime 1-1. I love that she was aggressive. We went to get the win. She hit a headlock, she almost scored. The girl battled through, and they got it.”
“I forfeited the last one because of my knees, and then this one, another hard-fought overtime match,” Holderby said. “And I’m just, I’m so happy to be here and be able to wrestle again.”
Holderby is the first girl from Westfall to place in the four-year history of the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s girls tournament.