ORLANDO- Middleburg High's girls wrestling team earned a runner-up finish in the Elite 8 Duals, considered the unofficial duals state championship meet, with a forfeit win from South Dade in a "true" second matchup held at Freedom High.

Middleburg finished at 4-1 with the lone loss to fourth in state last year Freedom High, the number one ranked team in Florida. Middleburg got wins over St. John Neumann (39-30), Morgan High (48-24) and Viera (42-34). Viera finished third.

At the girls state IBT (individual) championships last year, Flagler Palm Coast was state champion with Hernando, South Dade, Freedom and Sunlake the top five finishers. Viera was sixth with Middleburg 38th. Middleburg had just four wrestlers at state last year: Lily Bradshaw at 100, Sarah Walsh at 110, Cyndi Almonte at 140 and Cheyenne Cruce at 190 (third place). Cruce was a state champion in her sophomore and junior seasons; both with undefeated records.

"The way it works is the duals championships is with the top eight ranked teams off of KabraWrestling.com," said Middleburg coach Jamie Harrison. "If you look at the results, Freedom is ranked number one, South Dade is two, St. John Neumann is three, Viera is four and Middleburg is 11. We were fourth last year."

Also competing were Lincoln Park Academy and Aquilla Morgan High.
Harrison credited a stronger deep lineup for his Lady Broncos as having the success this year with top finishes in matches against top-ranked teams.

"As a team, we are strong in a lot of weight classes because the girls and the team have become more popular in the school and that helps get bodies in," said Harrison, in his fifth season as coach. "We have, piece by piece, built our team to be strong in a lot of weight classes and gives us a good shot at a top 10 finish at the state championships."

For Harrison, without a few wrestlers who were competing at the region cheerleading championships at Clay High the same day, even with the forfeits, the team's effort was solid.

"We had three athletes undefeated, Sarah Walsh (135-140), Lily Bradshaw (100) and Cyndi Almonte with Sarah bumping up to 140 against St. John Neumann and beating the number two girl there."

That number two wrestler from St. John Neumann for Walsh was Julianna Caisse, who was 140 state runner-up for Riverside High last year. Caisse was 140 champion recently at the Rusted Jade Ladies Classic, the Lady Braves Invitational and second at the 2025 Knockout Girls Christmas Classic.

Freshman sensation Fallon Dames, ranked fourth at 120, lost a match to a Freedom girl who just transferred from Lake Highland Prep, junior Maya Alvarado, via pin. Alvarado, from Milton, Florida, was a sophomore at Lake Highland Prep last year and earned a January 2026 Honorable Mention at 115 in a national rankings poll in SI.Com, Sports Illustrated.com.

Freedom won the title with wins of 66-15 over Lincoln Park, 52-21 over Middleburg and 43-28 over South Dade with Middleburg getting a forfeit win from South Dade in the second-place match.

Middleburg opened with a 39-30 win over Neumann with a slew of forfeits with a pin from Dames and Walsh's 10-5 win over Caisse. Against Freedom, Walsh won by pin over Kamila Alvis (19-8, unranked) with Almonte, ranked 24th at 155, winning by pin over Sofia Chavez. Bradshaw, ranked seventh, won a 9-2 match at 100 over Josie Reeves, ranked 10th.

Against Morgan, pins came from Bradshaw, Toni Silcox at 105, Memphis Moses at 110, Dames at 115 and Walsh at 135. Against Viera, a 42-34 win, Middleburg got pins from Bradshaw (in 46 seconds), Moses, Dames, Kadyn Parker at 120, Walsh (in 20 seconds), Chaput and Almonte.

Oakleaf second at Girls Brawl in Duval

At Fletcher High, the Oakleaf High girls wrestling team, with wins from Zoe Goode and Lamees Hudson, finished second of 20 teams at the Girls Brawl in Duval.