The Town-Crier
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Sports & Recreation
February 14 - February 20, 2014
Page 31
Wellington Wolverines Win The District Wrestling Title The District 10-3A Championship Tournament took place Saturday, Feb. 1 at Seminole Ridge High School. Wellington High School won the district championship with 212.5 points. In addition to the team’s championship, all 14 Wellington wrestlers advanced to the regional tournament. Seminole Ridge came in second place with 178.0 points. Palm Beach Central High School placed third with 102.5 points, and Royal Palm Beach High School placed fourth with 74.50 points.
The district tournament also included John I. Leonard and Lake Worth high schools. Wellington led the pack with seven district champions. Seminole Ridge recorded four district champions. Palm Beach Central had two champions, and Royal Palm Beach had one district champion. The four schools sent a total of 41 wrestlers to the regional tournament in Martin County on Saturday, Feb. 8. There, the Wolverines took second place in the regional tournament
behind St. Thomas Aquinas High School and qualified seven individual wrestlers for the state tournament in Lakeland. Briar Macfarlane and Nik Bonadies were named champions, Brandon Paz took second place, Colton Macfarlane took third place, and Andrew Mitchell, Marcus Morin and Devin Gillotte took fourth place. Briar Macfarlane joins Bonadies with more than 100 career varsity wins, which has only been achieved by four other wrestlers in Wellington High School history.
Coach Travis Gray with the Wellington High School district championship wrestling team.
Photos by Gene Nardi/Town-Crier
District champions from each weight class included: (front row) Bryce Marcus, PBCHS; Tyler Difiore, PBCHS; Briar Macfarlane, WHS; Nik Bonadies, WHS; Marcus Morin, WHS; Chris Zaskey, RPBHS; and Victor Olofin, SRHS; (back row) Brandon Paz, WHS; Robert Lapeter, SRHS; Nick Keller, SRHS; Devin Gillotte, WHS; Noah Coulter, WHS; A.J. Lopez, WHS and Troy Artiles, SRHS.
The Seminole Ridge High School wrestling team.
U-9 Soccer Team Meets Players At U.S.-Russia Game
By Gene Nardi Town-Crier Staff Report The United States Women’s National Soccer Team played Russia in an international match at Florida Atlantic University Stadium in Boca Raton on Saturday, Feb. 8. The Americans shut out the Russian team 7-0. Also tasting a bit of victory was a U-9 Wellington youth soccer team, which had the honor of participating in the opening ceremony escort of the national players prior to the
game. The ceremony is a tradition of the game. The girls arrived early and prepared for their moment by practicing before the game. Overwhelmed by the atmosphere inside the stadium, and presence of famous players such as Abby Wambach and Hope Solo, the team glowed with smiles. “They’re really excited about doing this,” Wellington coach Jennifer White said. “It’s a big deal for them.” The stadium filled, and the music
The Wellington U-9 soccer team at the stadium.
Photos by Gene Nardi/Town-Crier
began to play. The announcer started the dialogue and the girls, dressed in their ceremony soccer uniforms sponsored by McDonalds, held the hands of the national athletes and walked out to the center of the pitch for the national anthems. Smiles were displayed from beginning to end. Their mission was a success, and they were able to enjoy the game. U.S. Soccer is no stranger to the region and has a strong fan base in South Florida. FAU was the host venue for the national team’s game against China in 2012. Saturday’s match drew in 8,857 fans. The Americans out-shot Russia 32-3 during the contest and elevated its unbeaten streak to 41 games. The U.S. team exercised patience, and it took a little more than 20 minutes for the Americans to reach pay-dirt with their first goal, but constant pressure on the Russian defense indicated that it would soon break. Carli Lloyd slalomed through the defense and drove in the first score off a cross form Heather O’Reilly. That was the spark that started an American scoring frenzy. Three minutes later, O’Reilly scored from a misplaced Russian defensive pass.
American Team striker Amy Rodriguez is dragged down by the last Russian defender, Valentina Orlova, during a breakaway. The U.S. would lead at the half 3-0 with one more goal from Lloyd. Christen Press tallied two goals in the second half, Sydney Leroux and Abby Wambach each scored to put the exclamation as to why
the U.S. team is FIFA’s top-ranked team. Both teams traveled to Atlanta for a rematch in the second leg of their series, but the results were not available by press time.