- December 13, 2025
FPC champions at the Flagler Rotary Girls Wrestling Invitational: Alexa Calidonio, Joslyn Johnson and Alisha Vilar. Johnson was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler. Courtesy photo
Alexa Calidonio (right) works on a wrist-lock in the 170-pound championship match.
Joslyn Johnson won the 105-pound championship match. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Alisha Vilar shakes her opponent's hand after winning the 155-pound championship match, as her sister — former FPC wrestler Ana Vilar — gets ready to drape the first-place medal around Alisha's neck. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Alisha Vilar won the 155-pound championship match. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Alexa Calidonio won the 170-pound championship match. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Juliana Mills takes third place in the 120-pound class. Mills automatically won the consolation final because her opponent had already wrestled the maximum of six matches during the day. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Alexa Calidonio (second from right) with her sister Cristina and parents Kim and Elli during Senior Night presentations at the Flagler Rotary Girls Wrestling Invitational at FPC. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Joslyn Johnson and her parents during Senior Night presentations at the Flagler Rotary Girls Wrestling Invitational at FPC. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC seniors Alexa Calidonio and Joslyn Johnson with their families at the Senior Night presentation preceding the Flagler Rotary Girls Wrestling Invitational championship round. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC coach David Bossardet with Joslyn Johnson, who won the Outstanding Wrestler Award at the Flagler Rotary Girls Wrestling Invitational. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Alexa Calidonio (left) wrestles Viera's Savanah Nazario-Darnell in the 170-pound championship match. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Joslyn Johnson pinned Hananeel Gregoire of Orlando Freedom at 1:29 in the 105-pound final. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Alexa Calidonio (right) won the 170-pound final by a 4-2 decision over Savanah Nazario-Darnell of Viera. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flagler Palm Coast wrestler Joslyn Johnson is calling this season her “redemption year.”
The first day of the season couldn’t have been any better. Johnson won the 105-pound weight class with four consecutive pins at the second annual Flagler Rotary Girls Wrestling Invitational on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at FPC’s main gym.
At the end of the tournament, she was presented with the invitational’s Outstanding Wrestler Award. And, ahead of the championship round, the Bulldogs honored their two seniors — Johnson and Alexa Calidonio — on Senior Night.
Johnson, Calidonio and Alisha Vilar all won first-place medals for the Bulldogs, while Juliana Mills placed third.
With only five girls on the team this season, FPC placed fifth out of 38 teams at the Flagler Rotary. Orlando Freedom, Viera, Middleburg and St. John Neumann of Naples took the top four places, respectively.
If you leave the state tournament with three champs, you win the state tournament. So, we left here with three champs today. Let's leave the state tournament with three champs.
— DAVID BOSSARDET, FPC wrestling coach
“I don't pay attention to team scores at these tournaments,” FPC coach David Bossardet said. “We want to win them because we're in a competition, but if you leave the state tournament with three champs, you win the state tournament. So, we left here with three champs today. Let's leave the state tournament with three champs.”
The Bulldogs won the inaugural Flagler Rotary Girls Invitational last year and went on to win the girls state championship. Although they graduated five wrestlers who placed first, second or third at state last season, three state qualifiers — Johnson, Calidonio and Mills — have returned.
Johnson placed third at state last season after winning the 100-pound state championship as a sophomore. She was one of three Florida wrestlers at 105 pounds last season who were nationally ranked. The others were Erin Rizzuto, who beat Johnson in the state semifinals, and Camdyn Elliott, who won the state title.
Johnson said she came into the Flagler Rotary with a different mindset.
“In other tournaments I’m kind of, ‘just go ahead and win, go head and win,’” she said. “I think today, I had a couple of matches where I was able to work on a couple things and just slow down and make sure I'm not getting into my head. So, it was nice to come in, especially in the environment being Senior Night, to just have a clear mind and have my family around me cheering me on.”
Rizzuto has graduated, and Elliott of Gulf Breeze has moved up in weight. She won the 115-pound title at Tuesday's tournament.
Johnson came into the tourney ranked 18th in the nation by FloWrestling. She pinned 20th-ranked Hananeel Gregoire of Freedom in the championship match in one minute, 29 seconds.
Vilar lost in the blood round in this tournament last year and also lost in the blood round at region last season.
“I am probably most pleased with what I saw out of Alisha,” Bossardet said. “Last year, she did not place at this tournament, and then this year she wins it.”
Vilar, a junior, pinned Taylor Pelchat of St. Augustine in 1:10 in the 155-pound title match.
“I've been working hard throughout the summer to the start of the season to get to where I am now, so I'm pretty proud,” Vilar said. “This feels like a good start, but there's still more work to do. My goal is to place at state.”
Calidonio placed fifth at state last season. She won a 4-2 decision over Savanah Nazario-Darnell of Viera in the 170-pound final.
“I'm glad I was able to finish off good. The beginning was not going my way,” Calidonio said.
Mills, a sophomore who moved up from 100 pounds to 120 this year, won three of four matches and automatically won the third-place match because her opponent had already wrestled the maximum six matches for the day.
The Bulldogs held Senior Night at the Flagler Rotary, because it is the only time the girls team is wrestling at home this season.
Bossardet said assistant coach TJ Gillin did another great job in running the tournament, which was slightly larger than last year’s field.
“I said this last year when we started this tournament: the goal is to have the largest, toughest tournament in the state of Florida, and do it the right way by giving them a first class event, and that's what we're striving to do,” Bossardet said. “People talk about growing girls wrestling. But I think it should be done the right way with quality over quantity. You (should) put a product out there and put an event out there that people want to come be a part of, and people want to see. That’s what's going to grow the sport of wrestling.”
