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She’s one of a kind at Puyallup
MINDI RICE; The News Tribune
Published: January 26th, 2006 02:30 AM
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For almost 10 years, Whitney Conder has been a rarity among athletes.
After an early childhood of being pushed around by her older brothers, Nathan and Dustin, who wrestled for Rogers High School, Whitney Conder took to the mats herself and began wrestling at 8 years old.
Now a senior at Puyallup High, she is the only girl on the Vikings wrestling team and one of an increasing number of girls wrestling for their high schools in Washington. However, to Conder, being the only girl on the team isn’t the most difficult part.
“The wrestling’s the hard part,” Conder said. “I go to practice, I learn skills here, I go home and I learn skills there.”
From the Sumner Panthers at age 8 to the Puyallup Vikings, with two teams in between, Conder has chased her passion.
She spends countless hours thinking about wrestling and working on her technique, helped at home by her brothers and her dad, Monte Conder, a former collegiate wrestler who is a WIAA referee.
“The neat thing about Whitney is that she’s an extremely hard worker,” Puyallup wrestling coach Bryan Bartelson said. “If she’s behind in any kind of facet of wrestling, she works hard to try and catch up. It’s really admirable.”
That dedication, in conjunction with her No. 2 ranking nationally at 105 pounds by the United States Girls Wrestling Association, has garnered attention from some of the few colleges with women’s teams.
“I have some applications,” Conder said. “I just got one from Pacific University (in Forest Grove, Ore.). I got one from Northern Michigan, and I have one for the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, which is where I really want to go.”
That the U.S. Olympic Training Center is a viable option for the 17-year-old is a testament to her skills.
Conder became the first girl wrestler to place among the top eight at the state high school championships – Mat Classic – last February when she took sixth place in the 103-pound weight class for Class 4A.
“The only difference is that she’s a female,” Rogers High wrestling coach Dave Johnston said. “She handles herself like any elite wrestler, with confidence, success, sincerity – all the makings of a champion.
“She’s opened doors for other females, participating during a prime time with girls wrestling getting bigger.”
For the third year in a row, the WIAA will host a girls-only invitational meet next month in conjunction with Mat Classic for female wrestlers who didn’t qualify for the state tournament.
“If schools can meet our requirements – 18 schools with five or more girls on their team – we’ll have a sanctioned Mat Classic for girls next year,” WIAA assistant executive director Jim Meyerhoff said.
The first year the invitational was held, 68 girls participated. In 2005, the number increased to 109.
“This year, I’d expect in the 140-to-150 range for participants,” Meyerhoff said. “My guess is there are between 300 and 400 out there.”
Condor will be squaring off against the boys again, hoping to improve on her sixth-place finish.
“(Last year) I was going ballistic, it was so big for me,” Conder said. “Both my brothers didn’t get to go to state, I was the only one in my family to go, and I placed and that was my goal. Right after I finished my match, my dad was on the side of my mat.
“I just ran up and jumped in his arms and gave him the biggest hug and said, ‘I made it.’ ”
When Conder’s dream began at age 8, she commuted to Sumner regularly with her dad for two years.
Then Monte Conder, and two other local fathers, Don Cunningham and John Foster, started the Puyallup Falcons for elementary-age wrestlers.
Cunningham’s son, Kris Cunningham, has been teammates with Whitney Conder since she joined the Sumner team.
“She leaves everything on the mat,” Cunningham said. “She doesn’t care if she wins, loses or draws, she takes it as a learning experience, goes back the next day and asks the coaches what she needs to work on.”
It is that work ethic, which keeps Conder on the mat constantly, that makes her one of the top wrestlers – male or female – in the state.
“She’s taught me a lot,” said sophomore Danny Marrow, who wrestles with Conder during practice. “She shows that people can achieve anything if they work hard enough at it, and she does. She works hard every day. She stays after practice to practice more.”
As one of the team captains, Conder leads more by example than as an outspoken member of her team.
Bartelson is grateful for her contribution to the program over the past four years.
“She’s (had) a unique contribution to the program,” he said of the senior. “I’m going to miss having her around.”
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Females beat the odds to wrestle for Gavit, Griffith, North Newton and River Forest
BY MARTIN ZABELL
Times Correspondent, January 27, 2006 12:28 AM CST
Caitlin Moisant had been wrestling for three years when she decided that she'd had enough.
After experiencing considerable success in middle school, Moisant was struggling as a Griffith freshman. She just wasn't used to the pounding she was taking in practice every day.
Moisant told coach Travis Walls she was quitting. Walls didn't accept her resignation.
"I told her she's pioneer and a role model," said Walls. "I said, 'You're opening a lot of doors for people. Like it or not, you can't quit.' "
Now a junior, Moisant is glad she didn't quit. She's only 8-21 at 119 pounds, but she could earn a college scholarship in women's wrestling. She's competed for Team Indiana in wrestling tourneys, won a state girls folkstyle title, and placed highly in national girls events.
More importantly, Moisant now loves wrestling and has become a pied piper of sorts. When she was in the sixth grade, she was the only girl in Walls' Griffith Wrestling Club, which has about 100 boys. Today, the club has seven girls, including Dezarae Garza, a 140-pound Gavit freshman.
"I put so much time in the sport that I love it," said Moisant. "I can't give it up ... I like the challenge. Because I'm a female wrestler, people don't think I can compete with the boys, but I like the fact that I can."
Moisant's experience and the increasing number of girls in the Griffith club is typical of what is happening statewide.
Tom Dolly, the women's development director of the Indiana State Wrestling Association (ISWA) and previously the director of the ISWA youth development program, estimates that 150 girls wrestle in Indiana, about 2 percent of the youth total. Dolly said the number is increasing, but observed that most girls quit when they are in middle school.
Dolly said younger girls often excel. "There doesn't seem to be much of a difference until (the youngsters) reach puberty," he said. "(Younger girls) do quite well. They're just as aggressive as the boys."
By age 14, females are often at a big disadvantage. Although they are grappling with boys who are the same weight, they have less muscle mass and, thus, are not as strong. This strength difference induces most girls to quit. But the increasing popularity of women's wrestling, which became an Olympic sport in 2004, spurs some to fight on.
And fight they do. Many people still have stereotypical attitudes about females not being tough, but they have probably not met Michelle Weber, who is 6-15 for North Newton this season at 130.
Weber, a sophomore, dislocated her right shoulder at a wrestling camp last summer. Since then, she said, "my shoulder dislocates all the time" during matches, but she has postponed surgery until after the season.
"I didn't want to miss out on another season," said Weber, who didn't compete because of a left shoulder injury as a freshman. "There are so many moves I can't hit (because of my injury), but I want to have match time."
"She's tough," said North Newton coach Russ Sonaty. "I started the season with 28 guys. Now, I have 11 guys and one girl. She's stuck it out."
River Forest coach Tim Gault said freshman Jane Esteph, who is 2-11 at 130, is "very aggressive" on the mat and is "one of the guys" off the mat. "I treat her like any of the guys," he said. "She gets along with everyone...She will have a fine wrestling career."
Moisant and Weber began wrestling seriously for the same reason guys do -- they had fun wrestling with siblings and peers and wanted to move onto the next level.
Moisant used to horse around with older brothers Jimmy and Brian. Weber's brother Michael, who is two years younger, was a club wrestler when he decided to try out his moves on his sister.
"I wanted to do it better than him," she said. "I was a brat."
While Robert and Veronica Moisant were very supportive of their daughter from the beginning, Judi Weber and Michael Weber were not. Mom would not let her daughter wrestle for the Spartan Wrestling Club for 18 months, but Michelle's passion overcame her mother's skepticism. Today, Judi Weber is the group's club leader.
"She tries to make me train harder all the time," said Michelle Weber. "Now, she's totally for it and will do anything to help me get where I want to be. ... (My dad) gets really excited during matches. He doesn't know anything about wrestling, but he loves seeing me out there."
Garza is atypical of female wrestlers. She began wrestling in the eighth grade -- the same time that most girls quit. She joined the Gavit Middle School team as the result of a bet with now teammate Aaron Martinez.
Martinez bet her that she couldn't last the season. He lost. Garza said mother Anita supported her from the beginning, but father Joe "didn't like the fact that the boys touch me." Today, Joe Garza is supportive. So are Garza's teammates.
"Last year, they used to exclude me from everything because they didn't think I could handle (wrestling)," said Garza, who added that individuals on her team "freak out" when they learn she also has done some professional modeling.
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Female wrestlers are more accepted, but there is still significant resistance
January 27, 2006 12:28 AM CST
Once, female wrestlers were oddities who were mocked as tomboys and resented for intruding on the clubby world of all-male sports.
Things have changed, but female wrestlers have a long way to go.
Local wrestlers like Dezarae Garza of Gavit, Caitlin Moisant of Griffith and Michelle Weber of North Newton report that they are accepted by their teammates, supported by their parents, and cheered on by people in the community who respect their courage and determination.
Unfortunately, though, the parents of boys they compete against often still criticize them and some boys themselves resist competing against girls.
Twice this season, boys have refused to wrestle Weber. On another occasion, a mother of a boy who had lost to Weber told her teammates that she thought boys wrestling girls was wrong. There have also been instances of boys quitting the sport after losing to a girl.
"Most guys get very discouraged when they lose to girls," said Moisant. "But they don't realize that I've been doing this for a long time and I have a lot of technique built up."
According to local coaches, many parents feel it's wrong for adolescent boys and girls to touch each other. Others believe boys are damaged psychologically when they lose to girls.
Griffith coach Travis Walls said boys are in a "no-win situation" because of how others react to their wrestling girls. "If they win, they're supposed to win," he said. "If they lose to a girl, they get harassed by their friends."
Tom Dolly, the women's development director of the Indiana State Wrestling Association (ISWA), said wrestling fans in Indiana have become "more open" to females in the sport. He also pointed out that the growth of the sport could help men's college wrestling. Many schools have eliminated the sport due to federal Title IX regulations which require giving women more athletic opportunities in comparison to men.
Adding women's programs could save men's programs, said Dolly.
Local coaches and wrestlers believe female wrestling teams is the solution to the controversy, but think girls should be given equal opportunities until then.
"Girls have the right to wrestle and they should be allowed to wrestle with boys," said Nick Petrov, who has coached girls in the Rick Larsen Club and also coaches Hanover Central High.
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Price helps NBC top Hightstown
Sunday, January 29, 2006
By STEVE TUCKERSON
Staff Writer
Local 5 NJ member David Price is proud of his talented daughter, and with good reason. Brandy Price, above, of Northern Burlington High School ranked 8 th nationally in the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association in 2005. |
HIGHTSTOWN - Brandy Price picked up her seventh win of the season yesterday for Northern Burlington's wrestling team.
The reaction from the crowd, however, as the junior 112-pounder nearly decked John Aponte in the third period of her 11-6 win might suggest that Price's success is still a novelty to some.
Jule Dolci, the Greyhounds head coach, is pretty sure that is about to change.
"Yes, the crowd is really behind her," said Dolci after his team handed host Hightstown a 41-19 setback, "but I think that our fans are starting to expect it and think that she is going to continue to wrestle well."
Kristian Morris and Brian Perry had key decisions at 189 and 215 pounds for Times' No. 1 Northern Burlington, but it was Price's win - which came when she used a pair of reversals and took Aponte to his back twice in the third period - that clinched its ninth win in 12 matches.
Having her hand raised in the center of the mat isn't anything new for Price, who has been wrestling since she was nine years old.
Most recently, she won state girls' wrestling championships at 114 pounds in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and placed 10th at the national tournament last season.
"My dad's side of the family is all wrestlers," said Price. "I saw my cousin wrestling and I liked it. I'm the only girl that does it. I've always been a wrestler."
She is treated as one, too.
"I tell her how it is just like anyone else," said Dolci. "She's our 112-pounder and she knows she's as responsible as (Chris) McMullen, (Geoff) Bauma or (Steve) Makuka.
"But she's dealt with pressure for a while now," he added. "I feel bad for those girls she's going to face at states and nationals."
Price, who is ranked eighth among girls in the nation at 114 pounds, is hopeful to make some noise at the District 25 Tournament next month.
Yesterday's win should help with seeding for that tournament, though Price (7-10 record) already has plenty of reason to smile about the season so far.
"It's been awesome," she said. "This has been a great experience. The guys have been so supportive and I have so much respect for them and my coaches. Everyone has been great."
Price and Phil Bowen closed out the match with wins for the final margin, but it could have been much closer.
Morris rode out Kenny Amponsa in the third period to hold on for an 8-6 win and Perry followed with a 4-3 decision over Ricky Vetick to give the Greyhounds a 28-13 win with four bouts left.
Bauma (160) and Ray Bullus (135) added falls in the win.
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Girls get their shot on the mat
Rocklin freshman shines at first-ever CIF Northern California Regionals
By: Russ Edmondson, Gold Country News Service
Friday, January 27, 2006 5:30 PM PST
Rocklin High freshman Marla Stubbs stares down her opponent during the CIF Girls Northern California Regional Wrestling Championships last weekend at Whitney High in Rocklin. Stubbs was the 103-pound champion. Photos by Pico Van Houtryve/Gold Country News Service |
Rocklin High freshman Marly Stubbs stood by and listened as her opponent was announced for the championship round on Saturday afternoon.
She was about to wrestle Hogan High junior Krystalle Alcantara for the 103-pound title at the CIF Girls Northern California Regional Championships at Whitney High.
"When they announced (Alcantara) for the finals, she had all these titles and lots of other honors and everything and then they just said 'freshman Marly Stubbs,' and it made me smile," Stubbs said. "I'm just an unknown girl."
Maybe not anymore.
Stubbs ended up pinning Alcantara, who placed third in the state last year among girls, in the second round to earn the title. Stubbs went 5-0 at the two-day tournament and pinned four of her opponents - two in less than a minute - in a weight class that featured 17 wrestlers.
Her other two pins were of the second-round variety, and she beat another opponent 10-0. Her total mat time for the tournament was 6:50.
Wrestling against other girls was a rare opportunity for Stubbs as she usually only faces boys while competing for Rocklin High's varsity team.
"They had less technique than the boys, but they were really hard to pin because they were really flexible," said Stubbs, who has also faired well against boys, medaling at her last two varsity tournaments.
"A lot of schools don't even let girls wrestle and maybe this (tournament) will show them that girls can do it if they stick to it."
Stubbs started out the finals by picking Alcantara up and throwing her to the ground, but the victory was not easy.
"She was leading the way and I tried to do a high throw and she ended up on top of me. Then I rolled her and got the pin," said Stubbs, who was the most local wrestler at the tournament and thus a huge crowd favorite. "I hardly knew anybody there but they all just started rooting for me and some people told me after the finals that it was the best match of the tournament."
Stubbs performance was very well received at Placer, where her varsity teammates were competing in a tournament of their own. Rocklin assistant coach Grant Depue was with Stubbs and he would routinely call the Rocklin team with updates on each match.
"Every phone call brought good news and smiles as we heard that she was marching through the competition," Rocklin coach Bruce Pearson said. "Everyone on the team, coaches included, figured that she had a great shot at winning, but as a coach, it was really neat to see how much it meant to the rest of the team that she was doing well.
"And when they heard that she had won the title, I could feel the sense of pride from each of the boys at Placer."
One of the wrestlers in particular was very excited Marly's older brother Jeremy Stubbs.
"I think that wrestling has brought her and Jeremy closer together, being on the same team and wanting their sibling to be successful," Pearson said. "Jeremy is such a strong headed young guy, that it's really cool to see his softer side when he talks about his sister. I think he tries to hide it, but it's getting tougher for him to do so."
Jeremy Stubbs, a junior, is one of Rocklin's top wrestlers and Marly Stubbs is a huge fan.
"I really look up to him. We get along very good and have the same interests. And he's competition to me and I have to live up to him," she said. "My teammates say they are inspired by me because I came out to wrestle even though I can break bones (and) get hurt."
Stubbs will compete at the girls state tournament in Hanford on Feb. 3-4. Anyone who competed in one of the weekend's regionals (there was also one held in Covina for wrestlers in southern California) is now eligible for the state tournament.
Whitney wrestling coach Ken Klein, who was the assistant tournament director at the girls tournament, was very proud of Stubbs. He got to know her last year when Stubbs competed on the Granite Oaks Middle School track and field team, for which he served as an assistant coach. Stubbs also began her wrestling career at Granite Oaks and credits coach Jerry Wald with making wrestling fun.
"She's just a very nice girl, very quiet and very hard working," Klein said. "She's in a sport that's not traditionally for girls and she's excelling."
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Girls wrestling on riseMiramonte among the schools with wrestlers competing in all-girls tournaments
By Dave CarpenterSTAFF WRITER 1/27/06
Tucked away in the small gym toward the back of Miramonte High School is where the wrestling team practices each day.
But it's not just the boys who are sweating it out, working on techniques and preparing for upcoming competition.
There are also four girls who wrestle for Miramonte.
The sport of girls wrestling is growing. It's still in the beginning stages of that growth, but getting to the point where girls can compete in all-girls tournaments that are sanctioned by the California Interscholastic Federation.
"I think what it's doing is recognizing girls wrestling as a real sport and not a sideshow," Miramonte's second-year girls coach Ken Kantor said.
Jackie Nefdt, Nikki Kantor, Tamara Gravesande and Mary Beth Guida have competed in several girls tournaments this season.
There are not nearly enough girls wrestling programs in the section to have league duals. But there is an outlet for them to wrestle in their own tournament championships.
In fact, the North Coast Section does have a section championship, which is Feb. 25 at Freedom High School.
Last year, the NCS girls championships were held at the same time and place as the boys -- at Newark Memorial High School in an adjacent gym.
"I anticipate the girls portion of the NCS is growing, so it's spinning off into running by itself," Kantor said.
There is also an unofficial state championship which is recognized by the CIF. It is not official because not all sections have a championship tournament.
The California Girls Invitational is Feb. 3-4 at Hanford West High School. To qualify, wrestlers had to have competed in one of two CIF regionals.
The Northern regional was last Friday and Saturday at Whitney High School in Rocklin. Guida placed third in the 235-pound weight division.
Kantor believes the growth of the girls sport in the NCS may eventually lead to all sections having championships and, therefore, an official state championship tournament.
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Greg Sullivan, Herald News Staff Reporter01/26/2006
SOMERSET -- Somerset posted its 10th victory and second shutout.
Winning all nine contested matches (and accepting no forfeits), the Blue Raiders on Wednesday blanked Taunton High School 48-0 in their wrestling match at Somerset High’s sweltering old auditorium.
Working as hard as the ancient radiators in their beloved wrestling room, the Raiders took seven of the matches via pin in upping their record to 10-8. They need to finish at .500 or better to get into the Division 2 South tournament.
In the process, Somerset dropped Taunton to 2-10-1.
"The improvement seems to be happening," Somerset coach Nick Peachy said. "We’re getting better and better.
"Today, I told the kids to go out and wrestle as well as you can. Don’t take into consideration the team or the record. They (Taunton) have a lot of inexperienced kids."
Jeff Huard (140 pounds), Nick Smith (145), Pat McCrohan (189), Jack Kellar (215), Katie Bruce (103), J.D. Michno (130), and Chad Stewart (135) won via pins.
Matt Therrien (152) won 18-9, and freshman Cori Lackey (125) rallied from a 4-1 deficit at the end of the first round for a 10-6 victory.
Bruce’s second-round pin put a charge into the crowd. In trouble early in the first round, she answered with an escape and a takedown for a 3-2 lead after two minutes. Using her legs superbly as she rode Adilson Galvao’s back, the junior used a power-half to score the pin at 3:13.
"She’s just exceptional," Peachy said. "I’m trying to get her in some girls’ tournaments at the end of the season. She’s won the majority of her matches at 103. And she’s wrestled some at 112. She finished fourth at the Canton tournament."
Bruce last year became the first girl to earn a varsity wrestling letter at Somerset.
"She’s just a tough, intelligent, hard-nosed kid," Peachy said. I give her credit. This is a guy’s sport, and she backs down from no one."
Huard and Smith opened the meet with 69-second pins. After Therrien’s decision, Pat McCrohan made quick work (54 seconds) of Joseph Fay at 189. Kellar, Bruce, Lackey, Michno and Stewart completed the shutout.
Taunton did not have wrestlers at 112, 119, 160 or 171 pounds. Somerset chose not to contest those weights.
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For the moment by Rita Lussier: Girl on boys' wrestling team proves a good match
Providence, R.I., Wednesday, February 2, 2005
A hush falls over the gym. All eyes are on the two of them as they stand there, staring each other down. There's a quick handshake and then they begin to dance around the mat, touching each other ever so slightly at first, circling faster and faster, looking for precisely the right instant to engage.
Suddenly, they find it. And the next thing you know they're down on the mat, grappling with all their might, one against the other, arms pushing legs pumping bodies pressing into a human tangle as they jockey for position, looking for an edge. Any edge at all.
At the moment, the one in blue, the wrestler from Somerset High, is on top. But they push and they pull and they rock and they roll and now she's on the bottom. That's right. SHE.
Meet Katie Bruce, sophomore at Somerset High. She's petite, pretty, blonde and, yes, a varsity wrestler weighing in at 103.
When Katie first mentioned trying out for the wrestling team, her mother, Vicki, didn't pay much attention. "I thought it would blow over," she says from her perch on the stands. But it didn't. "Katie's the kind of kid who once she puts her mind to something, nothing's going to stop her. Not even vomiting in the trash can at practice."
The three team co-captains confirm that practices are grueling indeed. They tell me a story about a guy who had been to boot camp and then wound up on the wrestling team. Which was harder? Definitely the practices.
I suspect I don't need to ask how they feel about having a girl on their team after watching them all yelling "GO, KATIE, GO!" from the sidelines. But what's it like to go to the mat and find that a girl is your opponent?
"Well, it's different," says Chris Bell, the only one of the co-captains who's squared off with a girl in competition. "Yeah, you're more careful how you handle her. At least, at first. But believe me, you don't want to lose."
(According to the National Federation of State High School Associations' 38 girls wrestled for Massachusetts high school teams during the 2003-2004 school year and 15 girls were on Rhode Island teams.)
Appolon Skarpos, another co-captain, says they think of the Somerset team as a family. "Katie's like a little sister. We look out for her. It's fun."
Coach Nick Peachy tells me Katie's presence has raised the level of civility on the team. He wouldn't go as far as to encourage girls to try out, but once they're there, if they can do it, he'll work with them to bring out their best.
Which I understand is precisely what he's been doing for Somerset grapplers since 1988 when he started the wrestling club which, a few years later, evolved into the team. To prepare for a sport that Peachy describes as more physically and psychologically demanding than any other, it should come as no surprise that practices are challenging. "This way, when they're in a match, their intuition and muscle memory will take over."
And right about now, I'll bet that's what Katie's dad, Keith, is hoping will happen. "My girl, the wrestler," he says with a shrug and a smile. When dad heard about Katie's plan to wrestle, he had two things to say to her: that the training would be harder than that of any other sport she's ever played; anand that the matches would be intensely personal.
From what I can see of Katie and her opponent rolling around in front of us, he was right. With a twist and a turn, she's muscling her way back in control. She's got him on his back. Pinned against the mat. One,two,and then, just as suddenly as it began, it's over.
A victory for Katie. A victory for her team. And, I'd like to think, a victory for all the girls who go to the mat for what they want, for what they believe in, for what they aspire to, despite the excruciatingly hard work, the obstacles in front of them and the odds stacked against them.
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Rally lifts Osceola to state title
Jeff Berlinicke | Special to the Sentinel
Posted January 29, 2006
KISSIMMEE -- With a three-year state championship streak on the line, Osceola kept its composure and overcame a late deficit to take the girls state wrestling title again Saturday.
The Kowboys trailed Vero Beach entering the finals, but won five of six matches down the stretch to win their fourth consecutive title, topping runner-up University 158-139. Vero Beach finished third with 138, followed by Poinciana with 125.
Osceola Coach John Glover said he knew his team was never out of it despite the deficit going into the championship matches.
"These kids work too hard and had so much determination; we knew we could overcome anything,'' Glover said.
"We needed everybody's help, but we knew we could get it done.''
Maria Isaac got the Kowboys back into contention, pinning Iliana Rivera of Lake Brantley in the 125-pound weight class. Two matches later, Osceola captain Breisja Gallo pinned Vero Beach's Marcy Evans in 1:41 in the 135 category. The Kowboys took command when Katie Crouch hooked Titusville's Mistie Cardwell and pinned her at 1:20 in the 160 category. It was the first time that Osceola held the lead, and the Kowboys never looked back. Shandanee Todd followed with a 50-second pin in the 171 class, and Lakia Henderson finished it off in the 275 class.
"We just had to get fired up going into the finals,'' Gallo said. "We have a bull's-eye on our back, but once Katie Crouch pulled her patented head-hook move down, it was over, and we knew we'd get it done.''
Osceola should be a strong contender for its fifth consecutive title next year. Every wrestler on the team returns.
Other Central Florida champions included Christina Brayboy (Titusville, 103), Marina Repp (Lake Brantley, 130), Katherine Perez (University, 140), McQuisha Smith (University, 145), Janna Ivey (Titusville, 189), and Sara Elliot (University, 215).