Here is the story by Charlie Canglalosi III of TAPinto Scotch Plains-Fanwood
The Scotch Plains-Fanwood girls wrestling team hosted and won its first ever Union County Individual Girls Wrestling Championships on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
“I was honored to have the opportunity to host the first ever Union County Individual Championship for girls wrestling,” said SPFHS Athletic Director Ryan Miller. “I look forward to making this bigger and bigger over the years and supporting the athletes as they continue to improve.”
Freshmen Jaliyah Richards and Harper Shimko were named the first 2 Union County Girls Wrestling Champions. Senior Carys Browne also earn a third place finish. Browne was one of the first girl wrestlers to help wrestling head coach Marc Fabiano and the other coaches at SPF start the girls wrestling team. The full list of SPF placeholders is below:
- 100lbs – Rosalie Peattie (Fr.), 2nd
- 120lbs – Jaliyah Richards (Fr.), 1st
- 126lbs – Carys Browne (Sr.), 3rd
- 132lbs – Harper Shimko (Fr.), 1st
- 145lbs – Hana Zamor (So.), 2nd
- 165lbs – Leyley Franchia (Fr.), 2nd
- 185lbs – Aliya Hanjra (Fr.), 2nd
“As an alumnus of SPFHS and former wrestler, it is always so special to be able to host major wrestling events. To be able to host the first ever girls wrestling Union County Tournament was truly special,” said Fabiano. “We came into this tournament with the goal of setting the standard for our program, and our girls did that. They shined and were successful, and we were able to enter the record books as the first champions. Our program and these girls will go down in history, and I am so proud that Coach Sandford, Coach Scholz, Coach Martinez, Coach Palazzolo and myself were a part of this.”
“Girls wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the nation and I believe it is the fastest growing sport at Scotch Plains-Fanwood HS,” Fabiano added. “We currently have so many youth girl wrestlers as a part of our recreation program, and we have so many girls who are interested in signing up next year. Since Day 1, we have stressed getting better 1% each day, and the girls showed how much better they have gotten. It was a true individual and team performance. They left everything out on the mats. We are so proud of them.”
