Staff photo / Preston Byers Austintown Fitch’s Nadirra’G Matlock waves during a match at the Fitch girls wrestling invitational Friday in Austintown. Matlock finished second at 140 pounds.

AUSTINTOWN — Austintown Fitch played host to five hours of furious wrestling Friday, welcoming more than 30 girls teams from around Northeast Ohio to compete in the Fitch invitational.

In the end, the home Falcons, buoyed by multiple top-six individual placers just barely emerged the victors; Fitch scored 172.5 points as a team, 1.5 points more than Normandy.

The Falcons’ top performers included winners Alex Willis (125 pounds) and Reghan Koch (155 pounds), as well as runners-up Nadirra’G Matlock (140 pounds) and Yelieishka Perez Navedo (120 pounds).

Fitch was not the only Mahoning Valley program represented at the top of the podium; Salem’s Paige Menough (140 pounds), Brookfield’s Isabella Williams (145 pounds) and West Branch’s Grace Bates (170 pounds) also won their respective weight classes.

To become a winner, some wrestlers had to wrestle half of a dozen times Friday.

“There was definitely a lot of stress,” Koch said.

The freshman, wrestling in her first varsity tournament, said the best way to have success in such a busy tournament was to try not to look ahead.

“You kind of just got to put your headphones on and just be ready for your next match,” Koch said. “Don’t go look through the brackets. You really got to focus on one match at a time.”

Bates, who won her second tournament in as many weekends, said her teammates played a big role in keeping her loose and prepared for each match.

“They talk me through it, they warm me up before my matches, they stretch me out. It’s just a great feeling having teammates that help you out and kind of get the nerves off your chest,” Bates said.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

While Fitch had not hosted a girls invitational before, the tournament went smoothly and moved quickly.

Fitch head coach John Burd said 34 teams were in attendance Friday and two more were scheduled to make it but canceled as a result of the weather. The numbers of teams competing, as well as the quality of the teams, is a sign of the improvement and growth girls wrestling has made over the past few years, Burd said.

“A lot of good competition here,” he said. “Just great to see as many girls out for as many programs, just growing the sport from last year to this year. … These girls are learning more positions, they’re wrestling better in positions. The technique’s getting better and better each and every year. The depth is getting more and more. And then it’s just great to see the first-year girls, how quick they pick it up.”

As this is the third season in which the Ohio High School Athletic Association has sponsored girls wrestling, many local teams have seen their roster expand. West Branch head coach Chris Dorris said he had three girls on his team last year and now has 10.

“It gives these girls an alternative. Before, all they had was basketball, and some of these girls aren’t basketball players,” Dorris said. “So when they have girls wrestling, it gives them an alternative. And all it takes is one to break the mold, one to break the line and then now, you can see it’s OK to be a girl wrestler.”

Bates is just the type of person Dorris alluded to.

“I used to play basketball, and it just wasn’t my thing,” Bates said. “And my family is a big wrestling family, and they just kind of pushed me and knew I could do it, knew I was a strong person and they knew that it was going to help me in the real world one day when I’m not wrestling.”

Even for the best of the best, there are still plenty of opportunities to improve. For Bates, a moment during her championship match vs. East Liverpool’s Alanna McGonigal in which she tried to head-and-arm throw her trailing opponent in the third period caught Dorris’ attention.

“I told her when she came off the mat, I said, ‘Hey listen, you got to know the situation, we’re up five at that point, we don’t need to be there,'” Dorris said with a smile.

AREA PLACERS

Numerous wrestlers finished in the top six of the Fitch girls invitational Friday.

105: Fourth place – Brooklynn Stoufer, West Branch; sixth place – Jaida James, Hubbard.

110: Fourth place – Trista Swanson, West Branch.

115: Fourth place – Aurora Hall, Girard; fifth place – Mary Averell, Austintown Fitch; Danika Bucko, Austintown Fitch.

120: Second place – Yelieishka Perez Navedo, Austintown Fitch.

125: First place – Alex Willis, Austintown Fitch.

130: Second place – Emily Flynn, Hubbard

135: Second place – Madison Burns, Howland; sixth place – Miya Moore, Hubbard.

140: First place – Paige Menough, Salem; second place – Nadirra’G Matlock; fifth place – Layla Jones, Boardman.

145: First place – Isabella Williams, Brookfield; sixth place – Abigail Benner, West Branch.

155: First place – Reghan Koch, Austintown Fitch; second place – Julie Karam, Champion; fifth place – Kali Kettler, Brookfield.

170: First place – Grace Bates, West Branch; third place – Adora Hale, Hubbard.

190: Second place – Jocelyn Brink, West Branch; fourth place – Rose Nitso, Hubbard; sixth place – Catherine Pontius, Austintown Fitch.