Oxford Girls Wrestling Makes School History with Two State Champions

Oxford High School’s girls wrestling program reached a new high point when two individual wrestlers captured state titles and multiple other athletes placed highly at the state tournament tied to Feb. 15, 2026, marking the program’s best finish in school history.

The milestone builds on earlier breakthrough results for Oxford wrestling. In the program’s first year of competition, Oxford secured two state championships at the Mississippi State Individual Finals Tournament held at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Jackson, where sophomore Kamar Houston won the boys’ 182-pound class by pindown and 8th grader Nhari Jones took the girls’ 235-pound crown. Teammates Bel Montieth, Jaiden Gipson and Zadd Alowdi each reached their weight-class finals and finished second, and head coach Konrad Ernst said, “We ended up putting five in the finals and we were really happy about that.” Ernst added, “It was good for us to just go and make some noise at the state tournament in our first year… I think a lot of our kids saw this state tournament and got really hungry and excited about what they can do for next year.” Assistant coach Brandon Beckerdite was also named among the program staff guiding that early success.

Oxford’s girls program registered additional notable results after that inaugural season. Oxford junior Cheyenne Frank won a state title at the MHSAA Division 1 girls wrestling state finals, defeating Algonac’s Sky Langewicz 9-4 in the championship match. Action photos credit Rod Soule, and a separate image provided by coach Carl Barnes shows Frank wrestling Oxford Middle School students on March 7 as she helps Barnes coach middle school wrestlers. One coach described Frank as “a ‘symbol for girls wrestling,’” language used in local coverage of that title.

Social media posts from the program’s network add another flag: an Instagram post states Carleigh Ariaga finished third at state in the 165-lb class, “becoming the first girls wrestler from Oxford to ever place at the AHSAA State.” The post does not include a date in the material examined.

The recent Feb. 15, 2026 achievement is described as two state champions and “multiple other athletes placed highly,” but the available summary material does not list the Feb. 15 champions’ names, weight classes or match scores; those specifics remain to be confirmed with official brackets and school records. The program’s recorded state-level results span differently named competitions: the Mississippi State Individual Finals in Jackson, the MHSAA Division 1 girls wrestling state finals, and an AHSAA listing referenced on social media. Those event names suggest different sanctioning bodies or tournament structures, and direct confirmation is needed to reconcile which results constitute program “firsts” under which association.

From Kamar Houston’s pindown in the 182-pound final to Cheyenne Frank’s 9-4 MHSAA title and the Feb. 15, 2026 sweep of two state crowns, Oxford’s wrestling program has accumulated a string of individual achievements. Coach Konrad Ernst’s assessment that early state exposure “will provide a strong foundation for next season” frames the program’s trajectory as it seeks to convert individual state success into sustained depth across weight classes.