- May 1, 2024
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Kendall Bibla, Mariah Mills and Saiomy Cabrera celebrate as the Pirates are announced as the district champs. Photos by Brent Woronoff
The district-champion Pirates pose for a team photo with their five individual champs kneeling in the front row: Brielle Bibla, Christine Borgmann, Tiana Fries, Mariah Mills and Ani Brown. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas' Autumn Jarvis looks for an opening in the 115-pound consolation final. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Brielle Bibla won the 130-pound final. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas honored senior Brielle Bibla before the district championship matches. From left, coach Mike Fries, Kendall Bibla, mom Lindsay Bibla, Brielle Bibla and Matanzas Principal Kristin Bozeman. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas honored senior Bella Tietje before the district finals. From left, coach Mike Fries, Yvette and John Tietje, Bella Tieje, Christian Viaz and Matanzas Principal Kristin Bozeman. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas coach Mike Fries gives Brooklyn Watt a hug and her second-place medal. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas' Christine Borgmann. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Joslyn Johnson finished second at 105 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flagler Palm Coast's Ana Vilar was the runner-up at 130 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Kendall Bibla lost a 5-4 decision to Bartram Trail's Katherine Stewart in the 145-pound final. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas' Mariah Mills won her only match to win the 110-pound title. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Tiana Fries, who won a state championship last year, won the 125-pound district title. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Tiana Fries receives her first-place trophy from her dad and coach, Mike Fries. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Brielle Bibla, ranked No. 1 in state at 130 pounds, only had to wrestle one match at district, and that ended in less than a minute with Bibla's pin in 51 seconds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Brooklyn Watt finished second at 170 pounds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Christina Borgmann pinned Natalia Choquegonza of Ponte Vedra in the 120-pound final. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Christine Borgmann was one of five Matanzas wrestlers to win district titles. Photos by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas' Autumn Jarvis, right, won the 115-pound consolation final.Photos by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas 115-pounder Autumn Jarvis, right, wrestles Julia Rich of Tocoi Creek in the consolation final. Photos by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas' Saiomy Cabrera wins the consolation final at 135 pounds. Photos by Brent Woronoff
Saiomy Cabrera placed third at 135 pounds. Photos by Brent Woronoff
Christine Borgmann won the 120-pound championship with two pins in two matches. Photos by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas High School dominated the District 3 girls wrestling meet Wednesday, Feb. 8, as the Pirates set their sights on a state championship next month.
Matanzas won its district for the second year in a row, defeating second-place Middleburg by 60 points, 206-146. The Pirates had five district champs and qualified 11 of their 12 wrestlers for regional.
The Region 1 championships, like the district championships, will be at Matanzas on Feb. 18.
Mariah Mills (110 pounds), Christina Borgmann (120), Tiana Fries (125), Brielle Bibla (130) and Ani Brown (235) all won district titles for the Pirates.
Brown was the only 235-pounder to weigh in, so she won her trophy without having to wrestle a match.
Saiomy Cabrera, who qualified with a third-place finish at 135 pounds, wrestled four matches. In the semifinals, she was pinned in 4:31 by Clay’s Aubrianna Apple, who is ranked No. 2 in the state. While Apple won the district title with four consecutive pins, Cabrera came back with pins in the consolation semifinals and consolation final.
The Pirates’ other regional qualifiers were Gabby Proctor (second, 140 pounds); Kendall Bibla (second, 145); Bella Tietje (second, 155); Brooklyn Watt (second, 170); and Autumn Jarvis (third, 115).
The girls came in prepared, laser focused. Our big point scorers looked sharp. They continued to do what we’ve been doing all year.” — Mike Fries, Matanzas coach
“The girls came in prepared, laser focused,” Matanzas coach Mike Fries said. “Our big point scorers looked sharp. They continued to do what we’ve been doing all year.”
The Pirates have five wrestlers who are ranked among the top five in the state in their weight classes: Brielle Bibla, first; Borgmann, third; Kendall Bibla, third; Mills, fourth; and Tiana Fries, a defending state champ, fifth.
Flagler Palm Coast tied for sixth in the team standings with Gainesville Buchholz. Both teams had 36 points. The Bulldogs only have two girls wrestlers, but they were both runners-up at district.
They both lost to ranked wrestlers in the finals. FPC’s Joslyn Johnson lost to ninth-ranked Sklya Fisher of Middleburg in the 105-pound title match, while Ana Vilar lost to No. 1 Brielle Bilba in the 130-pound final.
The toughest weight class at the district was 145 pounds, which featured four top-10 wrestlers: No. 1 Katherine Stewart of Bartram Trail, third-ranked Kendall Bibla, fourth-ranked Aryan Benson of Tocoi Creek and ninth-ranked Josie Sagasser of Ponte Vedra.
Kendall Bibla pinned Benson in 2:22 in the semifinals but lost to Stewart in the final by a 5-4 decision.
“I would have liked to see Kendall win her (finals) match,” Mike Fries said. “We gave up some silly points to (Stewart). But that’s something we can correct over the next couple of weeks. It really matters in March, not now.”
Stewart got out from the bottom position twice in the third period. Her reversal out of one of those was the difference in the match.
“The girl stood up to her feet,” Mike Fries said. “And instead of mat returning her, (Kendall) kind of pulled her on top of her, and (Stewart) reversed her and got the two points. And we lost by one, so that’s the match right there. It’s just tightening up on the basic stuff in those tight matches against those really good girls.”
The Pirates are expected to battle with Freedom High School of Orlando for the state championship March 2-4 in Kissimmee. Freedom is the reigning state champ. Matanzas finished third last year, one point behind Ponte Vedra.
With four returning state medalists (Tiana Fries, first; Mills, third; Tietje, sixth; and Borgmann, eighth) and the addition of the Bibla sisters, who both placed at state for Tocoi Creek last year, the Pirates like their chances to win the team title.
“We’re going to win a state championship, hopefully,” Mike Fries said.
The Pirates are in the toughest of the four regions in the state, so Freedom, in a different region, could come into state with more qualifiers.
“They tend to qualify more than us,” Fries said. “That’s always a killer at the state level, but I think (we should have) a lot of potential finalists, a lot of potential placers, and we’re going to come in ready to rock and roll.”
