​Mackenzie Carder of Olentangy Orange defeated Cami Leng of Marysville in the girls state wrestling tournament to claim the championship on March 15, 2026. (Photo by Jessica Phelps/Columbus Dispatch) Watterson’s Michael Boyle continues to rack up victories and championships. The Ohio State wrestling commit, a three-time Ohio high school champion entering his senior year, captured the 97-kilogram title (about 213 pounds) at the U20 Pan American Championships on July 9 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Boyle dominated the competition, winning all four of his matches, with the first three by technical fall before securing a nine-second pin to take gold. He defeated Anyelo Vasquez Ramos of Colombia 10-0, Adrian Vasconcelos De Santana of Brazil 10-0, Harjot Shergill of Canada 11-1, and Humberto Valverde Uzner of Mexico in swift fashion to clinch the championship.
The U.S. men’s freestyle team swept all 10 weight classes, totaling 250 points to lead the event; Canada finished second with 151 points. In domestic action, Michael Boyle of Watterson defeated George Eggers of Napoleon to win the Division II state wrestling tournament title on March 15, 2026. Championship success has become a hallmark for Boyle. After helping Watterson’s football team secure its second consecutive Division III state title and earning first-team All-State honors as a defensive lineman, Boyle went 38-0 on the mat last winter and repeated as Division II state champion at 215 pounds, having won at 165 as a freshman.
Boyle also captured the 97 kg title at the U.S. Open Championships in Las Vegas in April and topped the same weight class at the World Team Trials in Geneva, Ohio, in May. Those performances earned him a spot on the U.S. team for the U20 World Championships, scheduled for August 16-23 in Bratislava, Slovakia. He was honored as The Dispatch’s Boys Athlete of the Year during the Central Ohio High School Sports Awards on June 22 at Upper Arlington High School.
For additional context, high school sports editor Andy Resnik can be reached at aresnik@dispatch.com and on X at @DispatchPreps. This piece originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch.