DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
Trailing 9-1 and on her back, you couldn’t have faulted Julianna O’Campo for giving up and accepting defeat.
But that isn’t who Julianna is.
“I just knew I needed to get to my choice and survive and I would be ok,” said O’Campo afterwards.
And come back she did.
In one of the most memorable Friday matches in recent memory, O’Campo captured the imagination and admiration of the crowd at the Ford Center in Evansville and charged back from two separate incidents where she faced giving up a fall.
She got the opportunity to get back on her feet in the second period and never yielded another point.
Julianna made it 9-8 with a couple of nearfall situations in that period and in the third chose down with a chance to tie the match at nine.
Plymouth’s Alonzo Chantea rode O’Campo for over a minute before a stalling warning prompted a whistle and a restart.
O’Campo immediately got a reversal off the whistle, then caught Chantea and made history by securing the fall for good measure.
Already a three-time state champion in the girls state tournament, O’Campo has now become the first female to medal in the IHSAA tournament. Despite over 1000 girls across the state wrestling this season, there is no IHSAA-sanctioned state tournament for just the girls.
O’Campo will face freshman Royce Malone of Monrovia in the Saturday morning round for a spot in the semifinals.