PATASKALA – Girls wrestling in the Southwest Licking school district has grown at a jaw-dropping clip, and it certainly is no accident.
Watkins Middle School coach Eddie Jayne has devoted the decade to growing the sport in the community and beyond. That work has continued on a weekly basis this summer as Watkins hosted an open mats on July 8.
“I wanted to give our girls an opportunity to continue to wrestle throughout the summer, so I opened it up to anybody and everybody,” said Jayne, who previously served as the Watkins varsity boys head coach before moving down to the middle school and eventually turning his focus to beginning and growing the girls program. “They get to drill with everyone. It’s free, so money’s not an issue.”
Jayne has hosted weekly wrestling each week since the beginning of June, and it will continue for two more weeks. The nights average nearly 40 wrestlers of all ages and drawn participants from across central Ohio and beyond, including Williamsburg High School from near Cincinnati.
Watkins eighth-grader Saronna Joshi has only been wrestling for a couple years, and she never misses an opportunity to learn. Jayne used her as a demonstration partner throughout the July 8 session.
“(Jayne) has been a really good coach, helping me a lot here and there even after practice with my moves,” Joshi said. “Most of my friends are going into high school for freshman year now, and they really got me into the sport. You have to always come to practice and be dedicated to the sport.”
Joshi’s story is becoming more common as Jayne has grown a program that consisted of six middle school girls in 2020. Jayne now oversees about 60 girls in the Watkins youth program and another 30 in grades six through eight.
“We were the No. 1 team in Ohio, and we had the biggest middle school girls team in the state,” said Jayne, who is constantly marketing the sport, including having his team walk in the parade during the Pataskala Street Fair every August.
“We just kept recruiting and recruiting and recruiting,” he added. “I have had the youth team for about five years, so they are starting to filter into the middle school. Most of the parents are just kind of surprised at how big it is. It’s kind of like a shock.”
The growth has produced plenty of quality along with quantity. Watkins Memorial senior Mila Cruz placed third at 100 pounds during the state championships last winter, and classmate Payton Morse and incoming freshman Hayden Ramsey each will be a part of Team USA along with junior Ryan Noble from the Watkins boys program for the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota, later this month.
“We have girls placing at junior high state now every year, so that’s kind of an expected thing now,” Jayne said. “If you are from Watkins, you know if the girls in front of you did it, you can do it.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Summer no time for rest as Watkins continues to grow girls wrestling
Reporting by Kurt Snyder, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kurt Snyder, Newark Advocate | USA TODAY Network
