By MATMEN, Sunday, 1:05 p.m.
TALLAHASSEE — Lincoln’s girls’ program received a major shot in the arm when girls wrestling was recognized as a sanctioned sport by the FHSAA.
And the numbers the Lady Trojans were seeing in the room, after that decision was made by the state, were going to pay dividends — eventually.
Saturday, in the inaugural Lady Trojan Invitational at the Lincoln gym, one of those dividends came to fruition, as three members of the host team won titles and the team had seven finalists in all. Lincoln finished with 144 points as a group, well ahead of runnerup Crestview’s 97.
North Bay Haven, with 42 points, was third, followed by Florida High (39), Stanton (35), Wewahitchka (28), Chiles & Sandalwood (26 each) and Fletcher (five) in the nine-team roundrobin event.
Sayuri Caceres (105), Jordan Herron (120) and Marisa Abarca (170) were Lincoln’s inaugural individual champions on Saturday.
Caceres (7th at 100) was 3-0 in the 105 group, with pins over Stanton and over North Bay Haven’s Hayden Hauck (17th) in 2:28 in round 2, with a forfeit win over a Lincoln teammate to complete the day.
Freshman Herron had two pins for the victory in the 120 group, with her 50-second pin over Wewahitchka’s Angel Williams serving as the effective championship; she’d also win by fall over North Bay Haven as well.
After a 9-6 loss in her first match of the day at 170, Abarca rallied for three max-point wins, including pins over Crestview and, later, over teammate Ciera Stennett (fall time 1:06) in the final round and effective title match, to take the upperweight group.
Like Lincoln, Crestview had three titles as well, with Sigrun Metzger (110), Freydis Metzger (115) and Laila Archer (145) all going undefeated.
Sigrun Metzger (7th) max-pointed through the 110 group, with pins in her first match over Lincoln and two wrestlers from Florida High, plus a medical forfeit. Her fall over Lincoln’s Stacey Martinez, in 1:54 during round 2, was the effective championship match.
At 115, Freydis Metzger (10th) had four first-period falls in a combined mat time of 3:58, with pins over Wewahitchka, Lincoln, Fletcher and Stanton; her fall over Lincoln’s Amelia McKnight, in :46 in round 2, was the decisive win in claiming the title.
Archer was 3-0 at 145 to claim her group’s top medal, with pins over two Lincoln wrestlers in 1:12 before a third-period fall over Stanton. Her 18-second pin over the Lady Trojans’ Sarah Woods was the effective championship match.
Chiles’ Ashley Shaw (125), Wewahitchka’s Avery Forehand (130) and Sandalwood’s Sara Goodman (135) were solo champions for their teams on Saturday.
Shaw (9th) had four second-period pins for her group title at 125, with falls over two Wewahitchka wrestlers, plus Crestview and eventual runnerup Katherine Lundgren of North Bay Haven in the final round (fall time 2:46).
Forehand won twice for her title, with a pin over Lincoln, but it was the day’s only effective-championship match that went six full minutes that was decisive, as Forehand outlasted North Bay Haven’s Briyanna Peralta, 11-8, at 130.
At 135, Goodman had four max-point wins, including pins over Crestview, Fletcher and Lincoln, with a no-contest advancement win over Florida High’s Jaylyn Middleton, who emerged from three wrestlers that were 2-2 to become the runnerup.
Complete results from the tournament can be found HERE. All rankings from https://www.kabrawrestling.com/rankings/girls
North Florida Matmen 