Matanzas girls wrestling team cruises to the championship at Lady Pirate Classic

Palm Coast Observer
Sports

Two days after freshmen Mariah Mills and Tianna Fries wrestled with the Matanzas boys at their regional duals meet — each winning both of their matches — they were back wrestling with the Pirates' girls team, winning their weight classes at the Lady Pirate Classic on Jan. 15 at Matanzas High School.

Mills, who is ranked fourth in the state among Class 2A girls, won the 105-title. Fries, who returned from injury prior to regional duals, won the 110-pound title, winning by technical fall over sixth-ranked Cynthia Kowitsky of Ponte Vedra in the final.

In addition to the two titles, two Matanzas wrestlers placed second and three placed third as the Pirates easily won the team title, 115.5 to 85 over Mainland in the 13-team field. Ponte Vedra (84) was third, followed by Tocoi Creek (59.5) and Clay (55).

"A lot of our girls stepped up," Matanzas coach John White said. "We had a lot of girls in that (consolation) round picking up points for us."

Depth was key for the Pirates, who entered 14 wrestlers in the tournament, while no other team had more than nine wrestlers.

"A lot of these teams are in our district, so this was a pretty good indicator," White said. "So we're excited."

Matanzas is still missing two wrestlers with injuries, while senior Angie Gonzalez returned for her first competition of the season and was the runner-up at 125 pounds.

Christina Borgmann finished second at 120 pounds. Borgmann pinned Kyndall James of Orange City University in the first round, showing how far she has progressed this year. James pinned Borgmann earlier this season.

Mills pinned all three of her opponents. She reversed her second-round opponent, Mia Hernandez of University, before pinning her at 1:44.

"I wasn't worried about getting pinned," said Mills. "I got hold of one of her hands and got control of her."

Breanna Corley (125), Saiomy Cabrera (135) and Brooklyn Watt (190) finished third for the Pirates. Ana Vilar placed third for Flagler Palm Coast in 120 pounds.