Mogadore senior girls wrestling standout Mia Gaetjens is only the second female wrestler in Portage County history to reach the 100-win milestone.
Tom Nader/Portage Sports

By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

A lot has certainly changed for Mia Gaetjens.

So much so that she admits that the seventh grade version of herself would have no idea how to even react.

“She would be so proud of me,” Gaetjens said.

Now a senior, Gaetjens is in the midst of a historic wrestling career at Mogadore, becoming just the second female in Portage County history to reach the 100-win milestone.

Crestwood’s Paige Nemec, who was a pioneer for the sport in Ohio from 2007-10, finished her career with 115 wins and was the first-ever female to ever qualify for the boys wrestling state championships.

Now that Gaetjens, a state qualifier who will compete for a state title this weekend, is referenced with Nemec is one of the most inspiring examples of determination and resilience that you will ever find.

When Gaetjens first began her wrestling career, as a seventh-grader, she lost every match throughout the entire season.

“I remember being really discouraged. More than once, I remember crying about it and thinking about wanting to quit,” Gaetjens said. “My mom just told me that I needed to keep with it. She told me that if I wanted to be good at it, then I had to work for it.”

So the work began.

And the results began to follow.

As an eighth-grader, Gaetjens won her first match of the season.

It opened her eyes.

“I think that proved to myself that wrestling was something that I really could do,” she said.

And Gaetjens has spent the last four years proving that to everyone else, too.

Gaetjens’ path to wrestling actually followed her younger sister, Kai, who is currently a sophomore standout for the Wildcats.

“My sister first started wrestling when she was in third grade,” Gaetjens said. “We were at cheerleading practices and she was always rough-housing with friends and our wrestling coach (Duane Funk) was there and he said to my mom that she should sign her up for wrestling. So my mom said, ‘OK, I will’.”

Mia Gaetjens, who is 38-2 on the season, will open her state championships against Lakota East’s Jasmyn Ashford (21-13) at 170 pounds.
Tom Nader/Portage Sports

For two years, Mia watched her youngest sister Kai and her older sister Zoe wrestle. She occasionally considered whether or not to follow her sisters’ footsteps — curious if she would enjoy the sport.

By seventh grade, and not a fan of basketball, Mia, who runs cross country in the fall and track in the spring, said she finally decided to start wrestling to fight off the boredom of not having a winter sport.

“I had zero expectations when I first started wrestling,” Gaetjens said.

On Friday, she begins her competition at the girls wrestling state championships.

Gaetjens, who is 38-2 on the season, will open against Lakota East’s Jasmyn Ashford (21-13) at 170 pounds.

At 130 pounds, Kai Gaetjens (33-7) will compete against Vermilion’s Cora Frederick (29-16).

And a third Mogadore standout, MJ Shellenbarger (28-13) opens her state tournament against Bellbrook’s Jada Weiss (37-2).

The three Wildcats state qualifiers spotlight a girls wrestling team of five this season, also including Lizzy Terry and Sydney Fortner.

Young eyes are watching the group and looking up to their accomplishments.

“Earlier this season, a little girl came up to me, called me by my name and wished me good luck,” Mia Gaetjens said. “I almost didn’t know that she was talking to me, to be honest. She was the sweetest little girl and the fact that she came up to me like that meant so much to me.”

Gaetjens has gone from a winless middle-school wrestler to a recognizable face making history in Portage County.

Quite the turnaround.

Quite the special student-athlete.

Quite a lot to be proud of.