Tonopah wrestlers make history in first NIAA all girls tournament

Two Tonopah Muckers female wrestlers competed in the first all-girls wrestling tournament in Nevada that was held at SLAM Academy in Henderson over the weekend.

Kaya Cobb and Montana Strozzi are students at Tonopah High School. Cobb is a sophomore who wrestles in the 189-pound division and Strozzi is a junior who wrestles in the 111-pound division for the Muckers.

They have wrestled with the rest of the boys on their team throughout the season because of the lack of all-girl duels or tournaments.

This all-girls tournament was double-elimination style, featuring 30 schools from all over the state at various levels of NIAA competition.

Strozzi finished the tournament with a 1-2 record. After receiving a bye in the first round of the tournament, Strozzi dropped her second-round matchup to SLAM Academy’s Madison Campbell.

Following her loss, Strozzi was moved to the consolation side of the bracket where she went 1-1. Her win came via a second-round pin against Arbor View’s Anassa Ackermann.

Strozzi was eliminated from the tournament following her second loss when she went against Zendell Oribello, who was representing Legacy High School. The two wrestlers went to overtime, where Oribello was able to score a takedown to get the victory.

In the 189-pound division, Cobb finished with an overall record of 2-2 in the tournament.

Cobb dropped her first-round matchup to SLAM Academy’s Billie Bonwell. Bonwell’s win came with a first-round pin.

After her opening round loss, Cobb went on to win her next two matches on the consolation side of the bracket.

In the second match of the day, Cobb defeated Tayler Hope McDade-Davis from White Pine High School. Cobb got the win with a second-round pin.

Cobb followed up the win with another victory, this time a 4-3 decision over Itzel Ramirez. Ramirez wrestles for the host team, SLAM Academy.

Cobb was knocked out of the tournament in her next match when she received her second loss of the tournament. Cobb went up against Ava Parra-Sosa in the consolation semifinals round. Parra-Sosa won the match with a first-round pin.

Both wrestlers finished in the top 8 of their respective divisions. Neither Cobb nor Strozzi had wrestled before this year.