With a convincing 7-1 win over Rock Ridge's Betsy Polanco in the 107-pound bracket at the inaugural VHSL Girls State wrestling tournament final, Jayden Crotty of Tabb cemented her status as the top wrestler on the Peninsula. Along with Tatiana Denig of Tallwood and Sophie Slaughter from Orange County, the Tiger has also established herself as one of the top female grapplers in the state.
(All photos courtesy of Tanya Crotty)
Crotty, a junior with Tabb, has made an impact since her freshman year. As wrestling was not sanctioned for girls by the state's governing board (VHSL) until this season, Crotty almost exclusively wrestled against boys for her first two years. However, she placed sixth at the Class 3 boys championship at 100 pounds as a freshman. Even without the VHSL recognition, the girls tournament was held each year, and Crotty saw her standing improve from fourth in ninth grade, and then second, as a sophomore before topping the field this year at the Henrico Sports Center on February 24-25. one.
The road to the top was a bumpy one. After winning her first bout 15-0, Crotty found herself down 5-0 to Jasmine Canonizado of James W. Robinson before winning by fall with 10 seconds left in the second period. As it turned out, the score should have been 5-0 in favor of Crotty, but the scoring error could have cost her the bout. Julie Gallo of Stafford was the opponent of her next match and Gallo was down 4-3 before Crotty won by fall at the 5:30 mark.
Crotty topped the 100-win plateau this year, including a 40-2 mark this season. She is ranked #5 among all female wrestlers from the Class of 2027 by Virginia Wrestling. In a remarkable statistic, Crotty was not scored upon in four bouts of the region tournament.
Chloe Temple (113) and Madlin Adams-Brady (120) join Crotty on the first team. Jamestown, with Mallory Whitney (100), Nora Lynch (126) and Macey Cleary (235) also placed three wrestlers on the first team, as did Hampton with Valencia Allen (132), Nataniya Whitaker (165) and Brianna Thorpe (185). The Crabbers won the largest area invitational outside of States, winning as host of Queen on the Bay tourney on January 24. Hampton won other 37 teams, scoring 177 points, 16.5 more than Jamestown. Tabb was fourth and Gloucester placed fifth.
First Team
100 - Mallory Whitney (Jamestown)
107 - Jayden Crotty (Tabb) - Peninsula Girls Wrestler of Year
114 - Chloe Temple (Tabb)
120 - Madlin Adams-Brady (Tabb)
126 - Nora Lynch (Jamestown)
132 - Valencia Allen (Hampton)
138 - Aniyah Johnson (Phoebus)
145 - Samantha Stephens (New Kent)
152 - Charlotte Kirby (Gloucester)
165 - Nataniya Whitaker (Hampton)
185 - Brianna Thorpe (Hampton)
235 - Macey Cleary (Jamestown)
Second Team
100 - Siniah White (Hampton)
107 - Katrina Mucci (Jamestown)
114 - Genesis Perez (Jamestown)
120 - Kinsley Garner (Gloucester)
126 - Deniya Claiborne (Hampton)
132 - Isabella Newtown (Peninsula Catholic)
138 - Lily Sanchez (Grafton)
145 - Samantha Due (Jamestown)
152 - Anaya Anissa (Warhill)
165 - Melany Lopez-Moore (Warhill)
185 - Akinea Ward (Hampton)
235 - Natalie Moore (Hampton)
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