Sophomore Grappler Completes Season With 19-4 Mark
Rockbridge County High School wrestler Tasha Shorter concluded an impressive sophomore season by going 2-2 at 152-pounds at the Virginia High School League Girls State Open Championships on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week at the Henrico Sports & Events Center in Glen Allen.
Although this was the fourth girls’ state tournament, with girls from all six school classifications wrestling, this was the first season that girls wrestling has been sanctioned by the Virginia High School League as an official, separate sport.
Shorter, who went 1-2 at the state tournament as a freshman, came into last week’s state tournament on a roll after winning the Zone 4 Qualifier held Feb. 15 and 16 at Franklin County High School in Rocky Mount.
In the first round, Shorter pinned Woodbridge Senior’s Stephany Ponce in 4:50. Shorter then faced Goochland’s Ella Adamson in the quarterfinals and was pinned in 3:32.
Shorter bounced back in the consolation bracket by pinning Prince George’s Camilla Moses in 2:33. She then saw her season come to a close when Lebanon’s Hazel Garrett, the fourth-place finisher, defeated her in a 10-8 decision.
Reviewing her tournament while looking ahead, Shorter said, “The competition was definitely intense. I’m so grateful to have qualified again for states. I honestly am a little disappointed with how I wrestled at states, but that makes room for more improvements and for me to think on how to improve.”
“I am going to continue wrestling yearround and hope to continue to improve,” added Shorter. “I also really hope to eventually wrestle in college.”
Coached by Kage Tomlin and Avari Johnson as the lone female RC wrestler this year, Shorter finished the season with a record of 19-4, winning her first three tournaments of the season, as well as the Zone 4 Qualifier.
“I am so incredibly beyond thankful for my coaches, Kage and Avari, who helped push me in every way possible to continue progressing as a wrestler,” said Shorter.
Praising Shorter, Tomlin said, “I thought she wrestled very hard, went up against some tough competition.”
Tomlin, a former RC wrestler who was a state placer before graduating in 2018, was in his second year as an RC assistant coach and as the head girls wrestling coach. Last year, he coached Shorter and Mia Marando, who earned spots on the podium by placing sixth her final two years, at 145-pounds as a junior and at 138 as a senior last year, when she won the girls zone qualifier.
Johnson competes for the SVU women’s wrestling team and was able to coach Shorter this year because she took a year off. “She’s been a great help to us,” said Tomlin.
Tomlin said Shorter, who was a member of the Wildcats’ competition cheerleading team in the fall, is “constantly improving” as a wrestler.
On Sunday, just four days after Shorter finished up the tournament, Tomlin said, “She’s already putting in work in the offseason, getting ready for next year. We’re really hoping for her to be a [top six] state placer.”
