Girls Wrestling: An exciting season ahead for Central Ohio
Thursday, December 7, 2023
By Scott Hennen
shennen@cbussports.com
Olentangy’s Cori Young about to win her match at the Central District Wrestling Coaches Association’s All-Star Meet at Dublin Jerome High School Dec. 2. Photo: Kevin Lam
Taryn Martin has experienced success at the high school, collegiate and national levels and has taken the next logical step in her journey in girls wrestling.
Martin, who was named coach for the Olentangy girls program in September, is thrilled to be able to sit in the corner for the Braves as the new season hits its stride this weekend with the prestigious Ironman event at Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit.
“It’s a blessing,” Martin said. “They brought back the love I had for the sport a long time ago. It’s a new chapter in my life.
“To be able to give back to the sport and to these girls is amazing. Some of these girls were drill partners before coaching or they were teammates on club teams. To be able to experience that with them is awesome.”
Martin, a 2021 Olentangy Orange graduate, was unbeaten in her two years of high school girls wrestling with a pair of state championships. She went 23-0 as a senior at 171 pounds and 21-0 at 137 as a junior. As a sophomore, she wrestled as a member of the boys program at Orange, and she competed with the Grove City boys team as a freshman.
After her success at Orange, Martin competed at Tiffin, where she reached the NCAA tournament as a freshman at 170. As a sophomore, she injured her right collarbone and only competed in eight matches. In two seasons, she was 25-21.
Martin re-injured her collarbone and is taking a medical redshirt this season, opening the door for her to sit in the corner chair for the Braves.
Olentangy’s Cori Young competes at the Central District Wrestling Coaches Association’s All-Star Meet at Dublin Jerome High School Dec. 2. Photo: Kevin Lam
“I broke my collarbone and I just now got cleared a couple of weeks ago,” said Martin, who was a runner-up twice in high school at the national meet in Fargo, North Dakota. “I was on a medical and red-shirt year which allowed me to be able to coach. I’m graduating early in psychology with human services and a minor in sports psychology so I’ll have a chance to figure out what I’ll do next year (in terms of competing or coaching).”
Brian Nicola was coach when Orange started its girls program in the 2019-20 school year. After Vanessa Oswalt took over the program last season, Nicola is back as head coach with Oswalt becoming an assistant in order to better handle duties with the National Guard reserve.
He believes Martin is a perfect fit to lead a program.
“Taryn has been wrestling at such a high level for so long that even when she was on the women’s team or girls teams she was working with those girls like she was when we started the program (at Orange),” he said. “Everybody was new to the sport except for her (when starting with the Pioneers). We would call on her to help show technique. Obviously that’s not the same thing as sitting in the corner but I think she has been around high-school, middle-school, high-level national coaches ,and she has been able to glean from those coaches and develop her own style. In the next couple of years, you’ll see that style develop even more.”
Martin replaces Sam Fuchs, who after one season left to lead the Orange Middle School boys program. She has a roster of “around 15 or 16” at Olentangy including junior Cori Young, who placed fourth at 120 in the individual state tournament last season. Young will compete at 115 or 120 this season.
Olentangy’s Cori Young trying to pin her opponent during her match at the Central District Wrestling Coaches Association’s All-Star Meet at Dublin Jerome High School Dec. 2. Photo: Kevin Lam
“I was excited (when Martin was named coach),” said Young, a team captain who qualified for the individual state as a freshman but did not place. “She was my drill partner in my seventh- and eighth-grade years, so I already knew her from that. She knows my moves and she knows a lot. She taught me all my moves.”
Martin was a captain both seasons with the Pioneers. She believes the experience will be important in her transition to being a head coach.
“I think being a captain helped me become a coach,” she said. “The girls look to the captain before they do the coach most of the time. You are going to relate more to a captain than the coach. I think being a captain helped me understand the girls as a whole because I was alone for so long. I didn’t know what it was like to be on an all-girls team. I’m glad I got to experience that then because it has helped me be the coach I am today.”
Martin said the experience has been smooth thus far but it also can be a roller-coaster ride.
“They are teenage girls,” Martin said. “I feel bad for how hard of a time I gave Nicola. I never realized how much goes on behind the scenes with paperwork, organization and everything there is. I felt so bad because he had so much to do.”
Martin and Young are making the trip to Walsh Jesuit for the Ironman tournament Dec. 9 and 10. The event, which began in 1994, features 150 teams from 20 states with more than 600 participants. This is the first season for the girls portion of the tournament.
“I’m just grateful to be a part of it, even if I’m not competing,” Martin said. “Those are opportunities that I never had but thankfully we are still growing as a sport. Our numbers are doubling, tripling every year. We’re able to compete alongside the best boys in the country and we’ll have some of the best girls in the country so it’s great.”
Nicola will be taking a full Orange team to the Ironman. He said it will be a good barometer for his program.
“We’re going to Ironman and we’re excited about it,” he said. “We got the full (lineup) invite, and we’ll see if we’re up for it. It will tell us a lot about where we’re at. We’ll see whether we’re just a good high school team here or we’re ready to make that jump. It should be a great time.”