By MATMEN, Sunday, 11 p.m.
LONGWOOD — Last year, Apopka’s girls team proved it could win tournaments with a small squad.
Now, imagine the Lady Blue Darters with a larger, almost-full team.
That’s what they had Saturday at Lyman’s Girls’ Greyhound Open, as Apopka outpointed Middleburg, 153-134.5 for the team title.
Mainland was next among teams in the coverage area, placing fifth with 104 points; Oakleaf (86) was seventh, Lake Brantley (61) ninth and University (Orange City) 10th (59).
In the rest of the field, Ocoee was 11th (54), Tocoi Creek 12th (52), Hagerty 13th (46), West Orange 16th (32), Lake Mary 17th (30), Clay 18th (26.5), DeLand 20th (23), Olympia 24th (10) and Lake Howell 27th (four).
Apopka, Middleburg and Oakleaf each would win two titles on the night.
The Sherman sisters brought the Lady Darters their individual titles, with Shelby (10th) winning at 110. Sherman had three pins in 3:27, with pins in the quarters and semis over Lake Brantley and Coach Beach, then pinned Riverdale’s Jazlyn Diaz (4th-110) in 2 minutes. Both wrestlers scored on one another in a busy first period, with Sherman reversing out and eventually getting the pin.
Samantha Sherman (9th-125) opened with a 6-0 win over Osceola in the quarters, then won by fall the rest of the way to her title, with a semifinal pin over Hagerty prior to her third-period fall (4:48) over Harmony’s Morningstar Osceola-Rodriguez. Osceola-Rodriguez scored first, but Sherman put on a flurry in the second period to seize momentum for good, using an early takedown in the third to earn the fall.
Middleburg’s first title came through a bonus-point effort from Gracie Bradshaw (4th-100). Bradshaw bookended a 16-2 major over Osceola with pins over Harmony and West Orange to reach the final, where she shut out Apopka’s Hananeel Gregoire (15th-100), 15-0 in 5:31. Bradshaw needed just one takedown in each period, with nearfall situations in each as well that led to the tech.
At 190, top-ranked Lady Bronco Cheyenne Cruce pinned her way through the field, with preliminary falls over Lake Brantley, Ocoee and Mainland’s Katherine Meza-Perez (13th-190) before pinning Apopka’s Jada Jones (2nd-190) in 4 minutes. Cruce shut down Jones’ offense, with takedowns of her own in both the first and second periods before earning the fall as time ran out in the second.
For the Lady Knights, Adrianna Barrientos (2nd-105) would record the first title behind four second- or third-period pins, falling Space Coast, Lake Brantley and Lake Nona prior to the final against county rival Skyla Fisher (10th-105) of Middleburg. Barrientos got takedowns in both the first and second periods before turning Fisher for a pin in 3:05.
Jayla Harrison (6th-155) won both her matches that were recorded to Track; after a forfeit in the 170 semis, Harrison shut out Gateway’s Lilly Yambor, 9-0, in the final. Harrison scored in each period (on feet twice, mat once), with a 3-pt turn late in the third to secure the major.
Four wrestlers — University (Orange City)’s Bryanne Kaminsky (5th-130), Clay’s Aubrianna Apple (3rd-135), Tocoi Creek’s Aryan Benson (5th-140, competing at 145) and Mainland’s Cheyenne Wigley (3rd-235) — were solo champions for their teams.
Kaminsky pinned her way through the day, taking falls over Ocoee, Gateway and Tocoi Creek to reach the final against Osceola’s Kelliana Mack (8th-130). Kaminsky had first takedown, but after building a 5-0 lead, was nearly put to her back for a pin late in the second period. Instead, she would get the fall, riding for a few seconds before turning and pinning Mack in 4:17.
Apple bonus-pointed through the tournament for her win at 135, with early pins over Lake Brantley and Space Coast before teching Osceola’s Nyla Rocke (12th-135), 15-0 in 5:32, in the semi. Against top-seed Nehemie Gregoire (6th-135), Apple racked up four takedowns before a reversal from bottom in the third gave her what would turn out to be a 10-2 major.
Benson needed just 2:27 of mat time to reach the final, with falls over over Lake Brantley, Oakleaf’s Sofia Shirley-Montijo (12th-155, pin time 1:28) and Merritt Island before meeting Gateway’s Elody Rodriguez. In the final, Benson had nearfall situations in each period, with three takedowns as well, overcoming being taken down by Rodriguez in the second period to take a 17-5 major.
Wigley won four times by fall for her title, with three first-period pins over West Orange, Lake Brantley and Ocoee en route to the final, where she wrestled Admiral Farragut’s Grace Vernine (6th-235). Both wrestlers had nearfalls in the first two periods (Wigley 1st, Vernine 2nd), but Wigley was able to ride well enough to work a turn for fall in 4:46.
Results from the weekend’s competition can be found HERE. All rankings from https://www.kabrawrestling.com/rankings/girls
North Florida Matmen 