Lady War Eagles compete at Lady Trojan Invitational

The Lady War Eagles wrestlers at the Lady Trojan Invitational.

By WALT JACOBS
Correspondent

On January 31st, the Lady War Eagle wrestlers competed in the Lady Trojan Invitational at Lincoln High School. The tournament served as a preview of the upcoming FHSAA District 1 Championship which will be held on February 14th in Niceville. Of the 25 teams in the district, 14 were represented on Saturday in Tallahassee.
Coach Jon Sanchez commented that freshman Rose Cooper “showed a lot of heart throughout the tournament.” Sanchez said, “She lost a close match to Natalie Durance from Lincoln to go to the placement round.” Cooper went 2-3 on the day, earning her a 12th place finish.

Sophia Barron vs. Emma Torres of Choctaw.

Kameron Easter went 3-2 en route to a 9th place finish. Sanchez commented, “It was really nice to see Kameron start becoming more relaxed in her matches. When she’s able to do that, she can really pour it on whoever she’s facing.” He added, “I’m really hoping that she can continue to do that in the postseason. I really think she could pull off some upsets.”
Julia Baggett placed third in the 125 pound weight class. Sanchez said, “Julia wrestled tough the whole tournament going 4-1.” Sanchez continued, “Her only loss came to Amelia McKnight, who is currently ranked 7th in the state.”
Sanchez was also pleased with the performance of freshman Sophia Barron. Sanchez said, “Sophia didn’t have the showing she would have liked, but she faced every opponent with her best effort.” Sanchez elaborated, “Her first two rounds were against tough wrestlers.” He continued, “It’s hard to mentally stay in it after going 0-2 and finding a way to keep pushing forward, but that’s exactly what she did.” Sanchez raved, “Her best match was against Emily Smith from Columbia. She was putting together the different pieces that she has learned, and just let it fly.” Sanchez explained, “She was winning 10-5 and even had her opponent nearly pinned, but somehow Smith was able to fight out of it and reversed Sophia to get the fall.” Sanchez went on, “Sophia didn’t care about the loss, but was so pumped about how well she did. That’s the kind of thing that makes it a win for a coach.”

Next, the Lady War Eagles will travel to Niceville to compete in the FHSAA District 1 championship on February 14th.