Western Brown’s Abigail Miller (left) is declared the winner in her first-round match against Olive Karam of Warren Champion during the OHSAA State Wrestling Championships in Columbus. Miller won by pin in 3:27. Photo by Brian S. Peterson
Western Brown’s Abigail Miller (top) gains position against Olive Karam of Warren Champion in the first round of the OHSAA State Wrestling Championships in Columbus. Miller won by pin in 3:27. Photo by Brian S. Peterson
The same intensely hard work that got Abigail Miller to the 2023 Ohio High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Championships at 140 pounds may have cost her a bit in the end.
But as was the case throughout the tournament, the season, and her high school wrestling career, Miller did it the “Abi way.” As a result, she left the State Wrestling Championships with no regrets. Well, maybe just one.
That she still didn’t work hard enough.
The Western Brown senior won her first-round match on Friday, March 10, but lost her next two matches on Saturday, March 11 to fall short of the podium for the first time in her state-tournament career.
This year, for the first time, the girls wrestled alongside the boys under the OHSAA umbrella at the state tournament, March 10-12 at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus. Miller was the lone Western Brown girl to qualify for state; no boys qualified.
Prior to this year, the girls had their own separate state tournament, conducted by the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association. In the OHSWCA state tourney, Miller placed sixth at 170 pounds in 2020, third at 170 in 2021 and eighth at 155 last year.
Yes, since 2021, she dropped three weight classes, almost unheard of when talking about consistently competing at such a high level.
“She worked her tail off and wanted to make herself a better person physically,” Broncos coach Wendel Donathan said. “She worked hard and the weight came off. It was a personal goal for her.”
But as a result, weight-wise, Miller has been between the 140 and 135 classes for much of this year. She said she tried to drop to that 135 division, but could never get below 135.5 pounds. At the state tournament, she weighed in at 136.4 pounds, she said. And when you get to the state-tournament level, that can be a problem.
“She’s got more confidence now in her physical appearance (than when she was heavier),” Donathan said. “But it can be a hinderance, too, to move to a lower weight class. There’s an adjustment. And she was actually thinking of dropping down (to the next weight class, 135). She’s a light 140.”
Said Miller: “I think it (being a light 140) kind of did hurt me a little. I ate before the weigh-ins – you want to wait until after – and then when I weighed in, I was like, ‘I could have eaten more.’”
In that opening match Friday, she fell behind early and still trailed a minute into the second period before quickly turning things around, pinning Olive Karam of Warren Champion in 3:27.
“In the first match, the coaches told me to wrestle the Abi way – when I see something, I go for it,” Miller said. “And when I saw her arm, I went for it.”
“She (Miller) is a veteran. She battled for a long time and got the win,” Donathan said.
In the quarterfinals Saturday, she again ran into Eve Matt of Greeneview, who had pinned Miller in a meeting earlier in the season. And while Miller hung on longer this time, she couldn’t change the outcome, again losing by a pin, in 2:38. Matt went on to win the state championship at 140 pounds Sunday night.
“She pinned me the first time by stacking, and this time she still pinned me, but we were both very aggressive,” Warren said. “It was a good match. The coaches said I really only made one mistake.”
Then, in what proved to be her final match, she lost to Ajiahna Triplett of Cleveland Central Catholic by technical fall, 22-7, Saturday in the second round of the consolation bracket.
“She was a ninth-grader. I had more technique, but she had more muscle. That’s what killed me. That’s all on me,” Miller said, adding that the loss would provide her with even more incentive to get back to the gym. She said it may not be the end of her wrestling career, though – she’s eyeing the possibility of college wrestling and maybe even coaching.
“I’m proud of it,” she said of the 2022-23 season, which saw her finish with a 32-7 record, according to the OHSAA. “And this isn’t the end of me in wrestling. They need a girls coach at Western.”
The current coach at Western Brown, Donathan, who is working double-duty coaching the boys and girls, praised Miller’s efforts.
“Abi had a good season and a good career,” he said. “Sometimes when you think it’s enough to compete at this level, it isn’t. I hope she reflects on this and shares with future Bronco girl wrestlers that there will always be people who will make the needed sacrifices to be the best.”