Manchester Valley crowned senior state champion Faith Day (100) and senior state runner-up Layla Lagunas (110) among six wrestlers who finished within the top four of their weight classes to win the 46-team, second-annual Who's No. 1 All-Girls Tournament on Friday at Northeast High of Anne Arundel County.
Finishing second was sophomore Zoey Lease (235), with third place efforts from sophomore Brynn Ryan (115) and senior Olivia Lansinger (120), and a fourth from sophomore Chloe Chwang (130) as the Mavericks (146 points) outpaced runner-up Oakland Mills (131).
Day and Lagunas improved to 7-1 on the year, with Day pinning all three opponents to raise her total falls to six for the season.
Lagunas was the more dominant of the two, finishing her three opponents in 71, 85 and 75-seconds, the latter in the title bout against Patterson Mill sophomore Sarah Alkhatib, who slipped to 3-1 on the season.
“I’m super proud of my girls. I believe that we wrestled well as a collective group and we supported each other all the way through,” said Day, whose father, Greg, was a state champion at Westminster in 1986 and is an assistant coach to Rob Pearre. “I’m beyond grateful to have such supportive coaches. My dad and coach Pearre gave us all unconditional support throughout the day, and I can thank them enough. We all went hard and showed the competition what we’re made of.”
Day used pins in 1:45 and 5:31 to reach the finals, where she decked Parskside’s previously unbeaten sophomore, Logan Newton, in 2:53.
Newton slipped to 4-1, having won her semifinal bout, 7-6, over eventual third-place finishing junior Bryn Cespedes of North Harford. Cespedes was 7-0 entering her loss to Newton, having placed third at states last season.
Day went 4-0 with three pins at 100 pounds to win states last season, including a championship bout fall in 5:02 over Arundel senior Josie Langtry to improve to 21-0 on the year.
“I wasn’t too sure what to expect coming into this tournament,” Day said. “All that I knew was that there were going to be some studs who wanted to win. I did what I had to do and ended up pinning my way to the top.”
Southern-Anne Arundel County's Domencia Gladwell (115) and Crofton’s Lexy Pabon (125) were among the most dominant in the girls’ states as sophomores a year ago when each of them pinned all four of their opponents.
The duo was victorious on Friday as well, albeit, winning rematches against archrivals in different ways. Gladwell used falls in 81 and 55 seconds to reach the finals, where she won a rematch of former state champions with a fall in 2:29 of Perry Hall junior Alaina Kopalchick, whose record slipped to 5-2.
"I was looking at my bracket and I saw her at the opposite end, and I knew that we were going to meet in the finals," Gladwell said. "I knew that it was going to be a good match and that she was going to come after me because she wanted her redemption, but I was ready, and I wasn't going to walk out of here without taking first place."
As a sophomore last year, Gladwell pinned all four of her opponents, including Kopalchick at 2:33 of their semifinal match. Gladwell completed last season with a record of 22-8.
"As a freshman I lost at states, so was especially motivated to beat her in the semifinals last year to make it into the finals. I was nervous against her last year because she was a returning state champion," said Gladwell, who led, 8-0, on Friday before finishing Kopalchick. "She scored no points this year when I scored eight points before pinning her. She didn't score any points on me last year before I pinned her, so this year I was a lot more confident that I could beat her."
Three of Gladwell's four pins a year ago were in the first period. Gladwell took 37 seconds to finish last season's previously unbeaten title bout opponent, junior Kadence Chau (12-1) of Reservoir.
Gladwell's record this year is 14-1 (13 pins), having decked all four of her female opponents and all but one of the male rivals she has beaten. Gladwell was pinned in the second-period at 113 pounds by a male North Point wrestler.
"Today I showed how dominant of a wrestler I can be," Gladwell said. "Only one of the boys I've beaten has made it into the third round, and I beat him, like, 8-0."
A year ago, Pabon finished off her 125-pound state title-winning performance with a fall in 2:37 over Rachel Wheatley of Perry Hall, a two-time regional champion who placed fourth at states the previous season and who entered their title bout with a mark of 12-0 against girls.
But Pabon was off to a slow start on Friday after having suffered a preseason injury to her right leg from which she returned with a victory on Thursday.
"This was my comeback tournament,” Pabon said. “But things didn't necessarily go according to my plans."
Still, Pabon managed to use a fall and a 12-3 major decision to reach the finals, where she gained a measure of revenge by winning a clash of state champions, 8-7, over Northern junior Emma Hardeman. Pabon improved to 4-0 with one pin while Hardeman slipped to 3-1.
"We kind of had a rivalry because she beat me by a point at states two years ago in the state finals when I was a freshman. My original strategy was to use my speed and fakes. But I only wrestled my first match of the season on Thursday, so this was my comeback and things didn't go according to plan," said Pabon, who finished at 15-4 last season. "It was mostly mat wrestling. I was trying to get up, but she kept throwing the boots in. I'm glad I was able to win it by a point, but I let her get into my head, so I don't think I wrestled to the 100 percent best of my abilities and I'm not satisfied. If I ever go against her again, I hope I'm at 100 percent and I'm wrestling like myself."
Hardeman's teammate, junior Emily Boling (235), is a returning state runner-up whose pins in 90 and 70 seconds were good for the title and a season record of 4-0.
The second-place Scorpions crowned senior Trinity Butler (135) and sophomore Nomtai Kurmi (145), who pinned all three of their opponents to improve to 14-0 and 8-2 respectively.
While Kurmi pinned her rivals in 3:28, 4:56 and 3:55, Butler used falls in 14 and 58 seconds to reach the finals.
Butler took 3 minutes and 52 seconds to plant sophomore title-bout rival Hayden Mullens of Southern-Anne Arundel, who entered with a 3-0 record.
Freshman Olivia McGregor (155) was extremely impressive for third-place Colonel Richardson, improving her record to 7-0 with her falls in 5:47, 88 seconds and 55 seconds.
Senior Mckinley Jovanovic (120) of fourth place Montgomery Blair demonstrated why she finished third at states last season, reaching the finals after falls in 75 seconds and 3:36.
Jovanovic won her title bout with an 8-2 decision over previously unbeaten sophomore Sophia Hodges of host Northeast. Jovanovic improved to 8-2.
A pair of undefeated Stephen Decatur juniors were champions in Chaniah Bernier (170) and state runner-up Azariyah Johnson (190).
Both Bernier and Johnson pinned twice to reach the finals, where they won decisions to improve to 3-0 and 4-0 respectively.
Bernier's 7-0 decision victory dropped previously unbeaten Jordan Lawson of North Harford to 4-1, and Johnson's 9-4 decision win slipped Harford Tech junior Nicole Filip to 5-1.
Also winning titles were Liberty freshman Aubrey Ohler (105), Parkside sophomore Mable Woodgeard (130), Laurel junior Alexandra Ford (140). Ohler improved to 11-3 with falls in 3:05, 20 and 66 seconds. Woodgeard is 3-0 following pins in 71 seconds, 3:01 and 3:55. Ford is 5-0 following pins in 2:36 and 1:53.
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