Middleburg’s Walsh pin display earns Wrestler of Week honor | Girls Team of the Week
Sarah Walsh’s big time performance at Let Freedom Ring earned her the Reader’s Choice Wrestler of the Week. (Photo courtesy of Middleburg wrestling)
BY BRANT PARSONS — For Middleburg’s Sarah Walsh, everything is coming into view on the wrestling mat. The senior tallied the most votes from our audience and was named this week’s Reader’s Choice Wrestler of the Week by Kabra Wrestling.
The senior pinned all four of her opponents in the tournament, which three of them, including the final, coming in 33 seconds or left.
Included in those four wins was a win over Georgia’s superstar Marigona Lau (Glynn Academy).
“Sarah is one of the hardest working girls on the team,” Middleburg coach Coll Robertson said. “It was only a matter of time before things started clicking for her.”
Walsh also just recently committed to wrestle at Felician University in New Jersey.
“I believe she is just enjoying her last season at Middleburg and competing stress free,” Robertson said.
Walsh’s win in the finals at Let Freedom Ring was so quick, the smoke hadn’t cleared from the introductions. (Photo by Brant Parsons/Kabra Wrestling)
Kabra Wrestling’s ‘Team of the Week’
Team: Mater Lakes: The Bears comfortably took home first place at the Htown Throwdown.
100: Rebecca Marin (Doral Academy): Pinned #1 and #2 in her weight class at Let Freedom Ring and looked dominant.
105: Grace Jawulski (Brandon): Topped three ranked wrestlers to finish first at the Ben Richards Memorial.
110: Mia Sposato (North Fort Myers): The freshman introduced herself to the state with a championship effort at Cradle Cancer.
115: Melissa Gallo (Florida Christian): The seventh-grader was dominant in her championship performance at Freedom.
120: Vanessa Whitelock (Admiral Farragut): Won all of her matches by a fall in a weight class with 11-ranked wrestlers at Let Freedom Ring.
125: Cora Hayes (North Fort Myers): The returning state qualifier was the Cradle Cancer champion.
130: Rose Karakolis (Park Vista): The freshman made a statement in her first high school tournament, beating the sixth-ranked wrestler in the final at Jensen Beach.
135: Sarah Walsh (Middleburg): Beat a two-time Knockout champion from Georgia by pin enroute to a commanding performance in the finals at Freedom.
140: Julianna Caisse (St. John Neumann): In a highly-anticipated battle of returning state finalists, she knocked off another top-ranked wrestler 11-7 in the final at Freedom.
145: Alena Rik (Mater Lakes): Part of a tremendous team performance, Rik was dominant in her win at the H-Town Throwdown.
155: Lyla Kasztner (Olympic Heights): Scored a ranked win in the final of the H-Town to take home first individual title of season.
170: Alexa Calidonio (Flagler Palm Coast): Back-to-back tournament wins for the senior to start the year.
190: Hazuki Sykes (Sumner): Finished on top of the podium at the Ben Richards Memorial, her second time this season.
235: Mekialla Mauvais (Orlando Freedom): Punctuated her team's weekend with an exciting title in the final bout over the top-ranked wrestler.
Brant Parsons is the founder and executive editor of Kabra Wrestling. He has been covering high school wrestling in Florida since 2004. He can be reached at brant@kabrawrestling.com.
