Last weekend in Broward County, Florida at the Ft Lauderdale Convention Center, teams from all across the country met up to compete at the AAU Scholastic Duals. This event is usually held at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando and was known as “The Disney Duals”. This year the AAU moved it to Fort Lauderdale.
There are three divisions teams can choose to compete in. Community Division, Developmental Division or the All-Star Division. The RPA/Head Hunters competed in the very tough and competitive All-Star division. Teams competing in the All-Star division generally are loaded up with the best girls from their respective states. The RPA/Head Hunters were no different. Coaches Jamie Harrison and Kurt Montanye hand picked their team for this years competition. They chose some of the best in our state and two of them finished the tournament with perfect 9-0 records.
Kailani Barrientos [Oakleaf HS] and Ailee Briggs [Lemon Bay HS] finished the tournament 9-0 and helped their team walk away with the AAU Scholastic Duals National Championship. Barrientos was huge for her team as she scored bonus points in each of her 9 matches. Bonus points can make the difference between a team win or loss, especially in those tight duals. Ailee Briggs, not to be outdone pinned 8 of her 9 opponents and scored a bunch of bonus points of her own! She was also 2-0 against a state finalist from Missouri, the same team they wrestled in the final dual for the national title.
I spoke to Coach Kurt Montanye via phone on Tuesday evening. I asked him about his experience coaching this team and Montanye stated ” This was honestly one of the best weekends of my life”. He further stated ” The team stayed together and prayed together. We even had one of our younger girls who wasn’t staying in the house with us, come to the house to eat with her team”.
National Championship Dual
RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club defeated Team STL Green 34-33
- 100 – Addison Cupp (Team STL Green) over Sayuri Caceres (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) Dec 10-3
- 105 – Isabelle Apple (Team STL Green) over Fallon Dames (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) Fall 2:40
- 110 – Julia Brocato (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) over Paige Tihen (Team STL Green) Fall 3:01
- 115 – Hannah Henderson (Team STL Green) over Emma Bauknight (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) Fall 5:31
- 120 – Arianna Ruiz (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) over Toby Goertz (Team STL Green) Dec 4-3
- 125 – Sydney Bridenstine (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) over Zoe Fisher (Team STL Green) Fall 3:15
- 130 – Kailani Barrientos (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) over Nevaeh Smith (Team STL Green) Maj 12-3
- 135 – Ailee Briggs (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) over Madeline Haynes (Team STL Green) Dec 8-3
- 140 – Dani Gullet (Team STL Green) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
- 145 – Dana Sanchez (Team STL Green) over Claire O`Donnell (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) Dec 9-4
- 155 – Katherine Stewart (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) over Maria Ignatova (Team STL Green) Fall 2:31
- 170 – Amaris Echezarreta (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
- 190 – Addison Neumann (Team STL Green) over Quisiera Wilson (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) Fall 3:21
- 235 – Aaliyah Grammer (Team STL Green) over Kinea Moore (RPA/Head Hunters Wrestling Club) Dec 8-1