Scotland’s Carmin Moore, left, holds her arm up after pinning Fuquay Varina’s MiaZion Warren, right, in a 145-pound bout during Saturday’s 3A Mideast Regional at Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville.
Contributed photo
Moore, Williams become first Lady Scot wrestlers to make states
Scotland’s Latia Williams, left, holds her arm up after pinning Western Alamance’s Leanna Baez, right, in a 152-pound bout during Saturday’s 3A Mideast Regional at Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville.
Contributed photo
FAYETTEVILLE — Carmin Moore and Latia Williams are going somewhere that no other women’s wrestler at Scotland has gone — to the individual women’s wrestling state championships.
Moore and Williams earned bids for the event during Saturday’s 3A Women’s Mideast Regional at Jack Britt High School.
With this being the first season that women’s wrestling has been sanctioned by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, it also marks the first time there will be an individual women’s championship separate from the men’s.
“When I started, we had no girls, and literally each year I stayed on as coach, a few girls came on board; then last year, we had the most at five girls, and we topped out at 10 girls this year,” Scotland men’s and women’s wrestling coach Thomas Havener said. “This sport transforms athletes that other sports, no offense, do not and cannot. These girls understand that winning and losing, successes or failures, are solely up to what they put into it. Now successes and failures are not just wins and losses; it’s the milestones and achievements they have throughout the year.”
Moore (19-7) placed first in the 145-pound weight class to qualify for states, pinning Cedar Ridge’s Mariana Duqum in the first round, Fuquay-Varina’s MiaZion Warren in 50 seconds in the quarterfinals, Overhills’ Jocelyn Shaffer in the semifinals and Pine Forest’s Alyssa Miller in the first-place match.
Williams (14-8) came in third place at 152, getting pinfall victories against Southeast Alamance’s Janiyah Quidachay and Western Alamance’s Leanna Baez before being pinned in the semifinal round by Jack Britt’s Sophia Ozanich; in the consolation semifinals, Williams recovered by pinning Cary’s Naomi Chen which led her to the third-place match, where she won with a pin against Holly Springs’ Kadin Scott in 56 seconds.
“I am very excited to see where they finish in a tournament that is broken up by classification,” Havener said. “It is the 16 best women in each weight class vying for the title of champion. Sign me up, and get your kilts on; we are going to war.”
Moore and Williams’ first-round opponents for states have not yet been determined.
Scotland’s Minnie Locklear (25-19) at 114, Caydence Deese (14-21) at 120, Shayleigh Ward (10-12) at 138, Patience Hudgens (10-6) at 165 and Carina Ammens (9-14) at 185 also wrestled at the regional but did not finish in the top four of their weight class to be eligible for the state tournament.
The 3A individual women’s wrestling state championships will be Feb. 15-17 at the Greensboro Coliseum.