High school girls wrestling: West wins team title, East’s Edwards regional champ, 8 qualify for state
Published 7:01 am Sunday, February 4, 2024
- Rowan's 8 qualifiers for the girls state tournament.
Staff report
KANNAPOLIS — Eight Rowan County female wrestlers have qualified to compete in the individual state tournament.
The girls competed in the Midwest Regional held at A.L. Brown. Girls from all classifications (1A, 2A, 3A and 4A) competed in the same bracket. Top-four finishers in each weight class advanced to state competition.
East Rowan junior Leah Edwards (28-1) was regional champion at 114 pounds and is expected to be one of the standouts in the state tournament. She’s nationally ranked.
West Rowan qualified five girls for the state event. The Falcons, coached by Tim Pangburn and Durwood Bynum, reached the Final Four in the dual team playoffs.
In the individual regional, they edged the RJ Reynolds team coached by former North Rowan and Salisbury coach Tim Pittman for the team championship. West totaled 110 points to 105 for the Demons.
Host A.L. Brown was seventh in the team scoring. East Rowan was ninth. Salisbury was 23rd, and North Rowan was 29th. Carson was listed as one of the 49 teams with entries, but did not score points. South Rowan did not field a girls wrestling team this year.
West freshman Hadley Perry (26-4) was regional runner-up at 100 pounds.
West freshman Olyvia Brown (28-9) placed third at 107 pounds. She’s the daughter of West boys wrestling coach John Brown.
West freshman Waylon Collins (24-3) placed third at 120.
West senior Brooke Cribbs (21-7) was runner-up at 145.
West freshman Ni’Ima Nelson (16-8) placed fourth at 165.
Joining Edwards in the state tournament from East Rowan is Jasmyne Brown (27-6). The junior was runner-up at 107.
North Rowan senior Danielle Smith (10-12) took fourth place at 132.
A.L. Brown had a regional champion. Junior Kahlen Kuddie (39-4) won at 126.
The individual regionals for the boys will be held next weekend. The South Piedmont Conference wrestlers will compete in the 3A Midwest Regional at North Davidson.
Individual wrestling state championships are scheduled for Feb. 15-17 in the Greensboro Coliseum, including the first official NCHSAA wrestling state championships for females.
Since 2019, coaches have sponsored a girls invitational tournament, but this will be the first time that girls wrestling will culminate in NCHSAA-sanctioned championships.
