By MATMEN, Thursday, 9:50 p.m.
GULF SHORES, AL — Three area girls wrestlers won titles in Thursday’s Girls’ Gulf Shores Scuffle, being contested on the same day as the first-day of boys’ competition in that same event.
Gulf Breeze’s Helena Alcantar (114), North Bay Haven’s Katherine Lundgren (126) and Milton’s Aireaana Gavere (132) all were victorious in leading their teams in the one-day IBT girls’ event.
Team-wise, Gulf Breeze had the top finish, as all three Lady Dolphins in competition made the finals, taking sixth in the 20-team standings with 68 points. Milton (42 points) was 10th and North Bay Haven (35) was 11th.
Alcantar (6th at 110) pinned her way through the 114 bracket as the top seed; after a bye into the quarters, she had falls over Enterprise (AL), Central-Phenix City (AL) and Gulf Shores wrestlers, winning by fall in 1:18 over the hosts’ Kayden Kelly, in a battle of Lady Dolphins from different states, to take the title.
Alcantar’s Lady Dolphin teammates, Camdyn Elliott (11th at 100) and Lily Powell (10th at 115, competing at 120) both pinned their way into the finals of their respective weights, with Elliott racking up three first-period pins before a loss by fall to an Ada (Oklahoma) wrestler and Powell posting two pins before a loss by fall to Enterprise in the championship match.
Lundgren also had a bye into the quarters at 126; after a pin over Ocean Springs (MS), she falled the top-seeded Gulf Shores wrestler, a 27-match winner, in the semis, then added a second pin (5:44) in the final over Montgomery Catholic (AL)’s Olivia Parker. Lundgren was the Lady Buccaneers’ only placer.
Gavere (6th at 135), the third seed in the bracket, rolled through three 1st-period pins in a combined mat time of 2:08, with falls over Southside Gadsden (AL), Central-Phenix City and Bartlett TN’s Emily Upshaw in the title round, 22 seconds for that pin.
The Lady Panthers’ Alexis Brown (107) bounced back from a semifinal loss to the eventual champ with two pins in the consis to take third.
Boys side: We had three teams we thought were contesting, but only one of those, North Bay Haven, is wrestling this weekend. We’ll follow along as things develop on Friday.
Rankings are per https://kabrawrestling.com/rankings/girls
Results from Thursday’s tournament can be found HERE.
North Florida Matmen 