Camryn Gresham has had a great spring and summer once completing her first regular high school season with Lakota East Wrestling. She became Lakota East’s first OHSAA Girls Pre-regional and Regional Champion and then became its very first OHSAA Girls State Placer on March 9^th competing in the 100 lb weight class as a freshman this season. She also split time competing on the boys’ varsity team at 106lb.   

Camryn traveled with Team USA to compete in the Tallinn Open in Estonia on March 23^rd. This was her 3^rd trip overseas competing internationally (Freestyle) where she won gold medals in ‘22 and ‘23 in the U15 age group. Moving up to U17 this year, she won the silver medal losing a last second match in the finals to the U17 European Champion from Sweden. 

Upon returning to the states, she continued to train for the next month preparing for the USA Open in Las Vegas on April 28^th. She competed in the Girl’s High School Showcase at 106lb where she became an All-American after defaulting to 8^th place once winning her blood-round match. She injured her shoulder in that match and could not continue to wrestle back for 3^rd place. She was one of very few freshmen competing as this tournament is the showcase for graduating seniors to attract college scholarships. 

Her injury turned out to be more significant than expected.  With only 3 weeks rest, and with only one opportunity left to qualify for Fargo, on May 19^th she traveled to the USA Southern Regionals in Georgia to attempt to qualify her spot on the Ohio National Team that would compete in Fargo in July. Not fully recovered and wrestling at <100%, Camryn ended up toughing out some incredible matches to win the U16 106 lb division giving her Fargo seed criteria and an automatic team berth. 

Now she was finally able to take some real time off to rest her shoulder. She was able to take about 6 weeks off before she began her preparation for the USA National Freestyle Championships in Fargo, ND on July 14^th. Still not at 100%, she was able to string together 5 tough wins to garner All-American status at the Nation’s most prestigious High School wrestling event.  Unfortunately, she did reinjure her shoulder in the match to place. She won that blood-round match and then defaulted to 8^th place on the podium becoming Lakota East’s first female Fargo All-American. 

Camryn trains full-time with her dad, Steve Gresham, who is a former Goshen High School and  Moeller High School wrestling coach, Miron Kharchilava, her club coach in Dublin, OH, and the Lakota East’s boys’ varsity team during the high school season. She is also a cheerleader for Lakota East High School. 

Camryn’s two oldest brothers Chaz Gresham(Goshen) and Joey Ward(Moeller), both won 2 OHSAA State Wrestling titles a piece. Her brothers Jacoby Ward(Moeller) and Jordan Ward(Moeller) were also multiple OHSAA Wrestling State Placers. All four went on to DI NCAA Wrestling programs with Joey ending his career as a 4X NCAA Qualifier and 2016 Wrestling NCAA All-American at UNC-Chapel Hill. They all help contribute to Camryn’s success spending time when the can on the mat with her and giving her advice and support before, during, and after events. 

She trains with the same coaches as her brothers did and follows the same recipe for success. “Summer wrestling makes Winter champions!”

 Reflecting on her first high school season after not reaching the goal she had set for herself, she has set her sights higher. Fargo results proved that the Ohio 100lb class was the toughest 100lb class in the Nation. Four girls in Ohio’s 100lb class became Fargo All-Americans pictured below. (Two competed in Fargo’s Junior Division- Makennah Craft, OHSAA champion and Brianne Graves, OHSAA runner-up and two in the U16 division- Libertie Nigh OHSAA 3^rd and Camryn Gresham OHSAA 5^th ) Camryn’s OHSAA Regional Championship was a 7-1 victory over Brianne Graves. Camryn lost 2-1 to Makennah Craft in the state semi-finals. No other weight class in the state tournament had the depth that this 100lb class had! Camryn’s goal next year is to stand on top of the podium and become Lakota East’s 1^st Girls State Champion. 

To prepare for the upcoming wrestling season and after several families reached out to Camryn’s dad about possible training opportunities, he has volunteered to provide training sessions for any Lakota East Varsity wrestler looking for extra mat time and advanced technique. He has spoken with both Coach Landers and Coach Pennix about possibly opening up the Lakota East wrestling room a couple days a week for this group. Steve has his USA coaching credentials, Bronze and Copper as well as his Teal (Girls) credentials and has not only coached at the High School boys’ varsity level, but also coached Ohio’s Girls U14 and Junior Duals teams at USA National Duals. Hopefully, if all goes well, this will work out! He is still waiting to hear back from Lakota’s coaching staff.