Special to the Leader & Times
Liberal Wrestling Club had 12 wrestlers qualify for the State competition. Eleven of those traveled to Topeka for the Championship.
The girl’s portion of the competition took place March 14. Sofia Torres and Keirsie Carlile represented Liberal.
Carlile battled hard and took second for the High School girls 100 pound division at the State competition.
“We are so proud of Keirsie and the effort and energy that she brings to our team. She doesn’t let anything hold her back and she showed that on the mat on Friday,” coach Krista Holcomb said.
The boy’s portion of the competition took place Saturday and Sunday. Liberal Wrestling Club had nine wrestlers competing. They were Jason Fraire, Joel Baeza, Jacobie Fraire, Juan ‘JJ’ Mata, Elias Holcomb, Lill Osborn, Adriel ‘AC’ Gomez, Zayden Norez and Brian Casas.
Mata brought home the State championship in the 10U 190 pound division. Mata placed second at last year’s tournament and knew he did not want that finish again this year.
“JJ puts in a lot of effort in all that he does,” Holcomb said. “He is strong and knows how to execute his moves so well. He has had a rough year and wrestled up in age at a lot of tournaments, but he never let that get to him. He holds himself high — just like Coach Bill tells them to. He handled his championship win with such a humble attitude–keeping his composure until he was off the mat. Then came the emotions and celebration and that is a lot for someone his age.”
Jacobie Fraire (10U 170 pounds) finished the tournament in third place, while his brother, Jason (8U 125 pounds), finished in fourth place.
“We are so proud of the Fraire brothers,” Holcomb said. “They are newer to the sport than most of their competition. They are competitive and have a great work ethic. They both deserve this.”
Coming in sixth place was Zayden Norez.
“Zayden had some very tough competition and battled through some things during the tournament with a ‘take the high road’ attitude,” Holcomb said. “He has always carried himself more mature than his peers and that really showed throughout the weekend.”
OTHER RESULTS:
Sofia Torres, DNP.
Joel Baeza, DNP.
Elias Holcomb, DNP.
Lill Osborn, DNP, one pin.
Adriel ‘AC’ Gomez, DNP, one decision.
Brian Casas, DNP, one pin and ome decision.
Liberal Wrestling Club will took the week off and started their Freestyle and Greco seasonMonday.
Anyone with questions about the new season can reach out to any Liberal Wrestling Club board member or coach or visit Liberal Wrestling Club on Facebook.
