Girls wrestling looks towards regionals after success in districts

When girls wrestling was first allowed in Florida in 2021, Ocoee High girls wrestling team had seven wrestlers. The following year the team jumped to 17 and since then has consistently had about 26. 

In the five years, head coach Pernell Croskey has worked with the team to become one of the top programs in Central Florida. The Knights finished third in districts in 2023, won districts for the first time in school history in 2024 and came in second last year. 

This year when Ocoee hosted the Class 1A, District 5 Girls Wrestling Tournament Thursday, Feb. 12, the team followed suit and finished as runners-up with 216 points. The team of 26 girls is young, comprising sophomores and juniors, and there is promising growth for the future. 

Freedom High School finished atop the leaderboard with 372.5 points and 11 girls winning their respective weight classes. Croskey described Freedom as the other powerhouse in Central Florida wrestling, so his girls’ goals were to do the best they could — and they did.  

Ten Knights qualified for regionals. To do so, they had to finish in the top four in their weight classes. Sophomore Giulia De Oliveira Paiva finished as the district champion for the 170-pound weight class. She also finished the 2025-26 girls West Metro Conference Championship in first place. 

She is only in her first year of wrestling, but her background in jiu jitsu has translated well to wrestling. Croskey also said De Oliveira Paiva is a home-schooled student, which allows her to easily record extra hours in the gym. 

In their weight classes, Savannah Fernandes and Hanna Perez finished second; Amy Valenzuela, Amariah Alphonse, Mari Mitchell and Rose Santiago finished in third; and Sydney Sharper and Pauline Sylvestre finished in fourth place. Freshman Nenagie Destin finished in fifth, missing the fourth-place cutoff, but there was an opening in her weight class for regionals.

Croskey said what makes his team so great is all the wrestlers are “home-grown” — they began wrestling at Ocoee. The coaches didn’t have to introduce players to the school and its culture.

“We’re blessed to have this very eclectic group of young ladies (who) are all extremely different in personalities and approaches,” Croskey said. “But they all have a common goal, which is they work hard to lift each other up, because none of them want to go in by themselves.” 

They also have competition rooted deeply within them. 

Only 14 of the 26 girls on Ocoee’s team can compete in districts, so throughout the season, they do wrestle-offs, which is when a JV wrestler challenges a varsity starter. If she wins the wrestle-off, she claims the varsity spot. 

“The girls listen, they work hard, and I venture to say they hate losing more than they like winning,” Croskey said. “So that helps.”

The Lady Knights will head to regionals Friday, Feb. 20, and compete for a spot to wrestle in states. 

Heading into regionals the girls’ goal is to continue their season. 

“None of these 10 girls (has) ever been to states,” Croskey said. “So that’s the first goal — to get there — and then once (they do), it becomes, ‘All right, now that I’ve made regionals, I need to get to the podium.’” 

Similar to districts, the top four wrestlers in each weight class from the region will head to the state competition, scheduled for Friday, March 5, to Saturday, March 7, for boys and girls. 

Joining the Knights in regionals will be another local wrestler — a Wolverine who made history in districts. 

MAKING HISTORY

Windermere High might only have three wrestlers on the team, but one celebrated a milestone in her career. Senior Emily McCormack won the district championship for the 155-pound weight class and also will head to regionals. But becoming the champion was just the tip of the iceberg. McCormack posted a 37-4 record this season also celebrated reaching her 100th career win — a feat no Windermere High girls wrestler had done before. 

McCormack began her wrestling career as a freshman, competing as a Wolverine and also for the Amateur Athletic Union club team, Claw Wrestling. The year-round wrestler began wrestling on the boys side her freshman year in club and lost. But in her sophomore year, she began wrestling against girls and started to collect her champion rings and continued to her junior year. 

Windermere’s head coach and Claw Wrestling coach Aaron Drone said they set three goals for McCormack’s senior year: Win Metro champion, win district champion and achieve 100 wins. She’s accomplished all three. 

He has worked with McCormack for all four years of her wrestling career and seen her become a “dog,” meaning she always has tried her hardest, no matter who is standing around her. She wrestles for herself and is determined to control her fate. 

McCormack showed up to all the 5 a.m. optional practices, never hesitating to lend a hand to a teammate who was learning, never spoke back to her coaches and always tried her hardest. Those characteristics are why she’s been the team captain for four years. Anytime Drone asked her to work with younger kids and teach them, McCormack never reacted by saying, “I’m above that. Why would I waste my time?” She tells him, “OK,” and gets to work. 

“It was an honor to help her see what her potential was, and as her coach, what I hope she always carries forward no matter what is ahead of her is that she can do it and get it done,” Drone said. “I hope she reflects back on her wrestling times and says, ‘I’m Emily McCormack. I can get this done.’"