When at a wrestling meet, most of the time, the only people in the stands are family members or teammates. This doesn’t stop the motivation and integrity of the athletes.
Wakefield’s wrestling team, had no ladies until three years ago. It all started when senior and captain Ashley Alvarez-Cubas decided to join back when she was a sophomore. When approaching tryouts, she said, “I was the only girl. I was really nervous and…the small gym smelled bad at that time and there were a lot of guys that had experience.” Within that, she gave it a try; she went all in to figure out what she needed to work on. She told herself to never give up. She wants to inspire more girls to join wrestling and even made it her Senior Project topic.
In the first year, it was just Ashley, Ari, and Nicole. Nicole Barahona Rios even committed to Marymount for Wrestling when she graduated because of her experiences on the Wakefield Wrestling team.
Last season, the Wakefield Girls wrestling team grew to eight girls. “It was a hell of a ride last season” said Alyssa Perez, a senior and one of the most dominant teammates to achieve a clutch pin, winning fourth place at the 1st Annual Liberty District Championship. Others joined in order to learn something new, too, especially senior Fabiola Matas Lopez, who joined the team last year. “Honestly, the first time I joined, I was really shocked by the way the warmups were…but in the end, I developed a lot of conditioning along with the momentum I had throughout last season.”
Cameron Millsapps, senior and captain of the girls team has had an impressive performance during her time on the wrestling team; she also made it to States this year. She maintains a lot of confidence and always hustles whenever her team needed help. Last season, she did a double chop against one of the top tiers from Langley as she secured first place in the district championship, while adding 17 points to lead the Wakefield wrestling team in history. “I learned a lot my first season by going to extra practices and asking my more experienced teammates and my coaches for feedback on my wrestling,” said Millsapps.
This season, the girls continue to thrive. There is a new Girls Wrestling Coach, Maria Morales. There are seven seniors on the wrestling team: Ashley Alvarez Cubas, Cameron Millsapps, Fabiola Matas Lopez, Aniya Corbin, Alyssa Perez, Vera Fitzke and Amen Nuru. They are going to miss this amazing group they have built and the sisterhood bonds they made with fellow teammates Fatima Granados Granados (junior), Marlin Ramirez Castillo (sophomore) and Paulina Mazzuchi (sophomore).
After the Liberty District Championships, both Millsapps and Matas-Lopez qualified for states. Senior Aniya Corbin also won 5th place, and qualified as an alternate for States.
Ashley Alvarez-Cubas has some advice for any young lady who wants to wrestle next season, “work hard for yourself. Your own mind is your biggest enemy in this sport.”
Catch Cameron Millsapps and Fabiola Matas carry the VHSL State Tournament away at the Henrico Sports & Events Center on Wednesday February 26th @ 8 AM. This is the first ever separate Girls State tournament! What a Historic Event!