As girls’ wrestling interest grows, South Florida talent will be on display at state tournament
Brandon Neifeld sees the potential.
The first season with girls’ wrestling being sanctioned by the Florida High School Athletic Association reaches its conclusion with the three-day state championship tournament that runs Thursday through Saturday at Kissimmee’s Silver Spurs Arena.
Neifeld’s Hialeah Mater Lakes Academy team is one of 22 from Miami-Dade and Broward counties that have at least one wrestler competing at the state tournament.
“Teams that normally wouldn’t get up here with their boys are able to with their girls,” said Neifeld, who has led the Mater Lakes boys’ wrestling team to top-10 Class 1A team finishes each of the last three years.
The format for the girls’ tournament is identical to the boys’. There are 14 weight classes and 16 wrestlers competing in each class — four from each region. A wrestler needs to win four consecutive matches to claim the state title in her weight class. A loss at any stage outside of the championship match sends the wrestler into a consolation bracket, at which point her best finish will be third place.
There is only one classification for girls’ wrestling this year, compared to three for the boys.
“It’s never been as serious as it is now,” said South Dade coach Vic Balmeceda, who has won 17 boys’ state titles (13 individual bracket tournament, four duals) since taking over for the Bucs in 1998.
There’s still plenty of room for girls’ wrestling to grow in South Florida as well.
Balmeceda’s South Dade team is the favorite among Dade and Broward teams this year to win the team title largely because of its depth. The Bucs fielded a lineup with wrestlers in 12 of 14 weight classes, which start at 100 pounds and go up to 235 pounds. Eight of those 12 advanced to the state tournament.
“They practice with us,” Balmeceda said. “Same room. Same time. Same things we’re doing [with the boys team]. They’re getting the same training.”
Not every team had the luxury of depth in Year 1. North Miami had the second-largest contingent with 11 wrestlers, six of whom advanced to state. No other school in Miami-Dade had more than seven compete at the district level. Davie Western had the largest roster in Broward at the district tournament with just five wrestlers.
But the fact that so many schools opted in for the first year that the sport was sanctioned (16 in Miami-Dade, 12 in Broward had at least one wrestler compete at the district level) brings a sense of optimism for growth over time.
“We’re still in our infancy,” Balmeceda said of girls’ wrestling in South Florida.
And with that, for now, there’s parity.
Eight South Florida teams had at least one regional champion.
South Dade led the way with three title winners — Rebekkah Kinkade at 100 pounds, Anisah Paz at 145 pounds and Ferny Hernandez at 170 pounds.
Mater Lakes and Norland each had two — Sofia Ferran at 110 pounds and Arianna Ruiz at 130 pounds for Mater Lakes, Day’Jah Clark at 190 pounds and Shanakay Chambers at 235 pounds for Norland. Three of Mater Lakes’ four wrestlers overall made it to state, while Norland advanced all four of its wrestlers.
North Miami (Mya Bethel, 155 pounds), Miami Braddock (Analy Banuelos, 120 pounds), Miami Coral Park (Sofia Delgado, 140 pounds), Western (Lourdes Macias, 115 pounds) and Marjory Stoneman Douglas (Gabriela Caro, 125 pound) round out the schools that had individual title winners at the regional tournament.
The next stage starts Thursday, when the first sanctioned girls’ wrestling state champions will be crowned.
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