Sarah Alkhatib’s three brothers were the reason she chose to start wrestling as a freshman last year. So when she pinned Havre de Grace’s Bella Olivas and leaped back to her feet, it was her brother Abe whose arms she found first.
Then it was her Patterson Mill coach, Matt London, taking her airborne. Then teammates. And family. And friends, all congratulating her. Not only for “lifting a house off her shoulders,” as London said; not only for a vengeful win over Olivas, who ended Alkhatib’s season last year one point shy of the state tournament; but also for a historical achievement.
With the win, Alkhatib became one of 10 wrestlers Monday evening to be crowned champions in the first Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference girls wrestling finals.
“I got a shirt with the names of everyone on the back,” Alkhatib said. “It’s amazing being able to make history and see all the girls growing in this sport. I love it.”
She called joining the Huskies wrestling team the best decision she’s ever made.
It was a tactical win, reliant on having drilled keeping her hips high. “I was in and I was ready to kill,” she said. “Listening to my coaches in the corner helped me through the match and got the pin.”
Girls wrestling is sparse in Harford County. A finite number of teams field a finite number of girl wrestlers. But area coaches are certainly uplifted by its growth and their ability to field a separate tournament.
“This is amazing because we have girls who will look at the coed version and they’re like, ‘I’m not wrestling boys,” London said. “With Maryland saying they can wrestle in their own divisions now, you’re gonna see this whole sport grow exponentially in the next couple years.”
London cut off his own point to dash back to the mat for Patterson Mill’s next girl finalist. The Huskies have an area-most eight girls competing. Harford Tech coach Ja’Juan Burrell, who trotted out three wrestlers in the girls finals, called this a growth year.
“For the tournament this year,” Burrell said, “we decided to open it up for the girls because it’s not yet an official qualifier for the region. It allows all our girls to compete.”
It also gives them a chance to get the ball rolling on the logistics of a second UCBAC tournament. That way, when the state makes it official that girls champions qualify for the regional tournament, “ours is already set,” Burrell said.
Burrell said he’s been pumping up the idea all year knowing his girls would be a part of history.
“We’re not the first to do it but we’re still on the cutting edge of it,” C. Milton Wright coach John Thornton said. “We know in the future it’ll be a lot bigger, so we want to get it started now.”
100: Bryn Cespedes (North Harford) 15-12, Jr. over Jeriam Rivera Mendez (Edgewood) 4-8, Jr. (Fall 1:10); 105: Sarah Alkhatib (Patterson Mill) 8-2, So. over Isabella Olivas (Havre de Grace) 6-3, Jr. (Fall 3:43); 115: Saphira Hamill (Perryville) 2-9, Fr. over Moezella Robinson (Edgewood) 3-17, Jr. (Fall 1:04); 125: Shi Cambridge (Havre de Grace) 2-7, Jr. over Lilliana Maxfield (Edgewood) 2-2, Jr. (Fall 2:52); 140: Kayla Ward (Havre de Grace) 8-3, Jr. over Charley Millard (Patterson Mill) 3-7, Fr. (Dec 10-5); 145: Emily Wockenfuss (Harford Tech) 7-7, Fr. over Alissa Strong (Havre de Grace) 2-5, So. (Fall 3:37); 155: Anna Farr (Rising Sun) 7-1, So. over Kimberly Cole (Harford Tech) 16-4, Jr. (Dec 11-6); 170: Jordan Lawson (North Harford) 11-6, Jr. over Joendy Ruiz (Patterson Mill) 0-1, Fr. (Fall 5:08); 190: Nicole Filip (Harford Tech) 11-3, Jr. over Madeline Manoff (Patterson Mill) 1-10, So. (Fall 4:13); 235: Makayla Cole (Edgewood) 1-0, Jr. over Jolie Dempsey (Patterson Mill) 1-6, Fr. (Fall 0:44)
