The USAWKS 2025 State Folkstyle Championship was held March 14-16 in Topeka, KS.
Liberal Wrestling Club had 12 wrestlers qualify for the State competition. Eleven of those
traveled to Topeka for the Championship.
On Friday, March 14, the girl’s portion of the competition was held. Sofia Torres and
Keirsie Carlile represented Liberal at that time. Carlile battled hard and took second for the High
School girls 100 pound division at the State competition. “We are so proud of Keirsie and the
effort and energy that she brings to our team. She doesn’t let anything hold her back and she
showed that on the mat on Friday,” coach Krista Holcomb said.
The boy’s portion of the competition was held on Saturday and Sunday. Liberal Wrestling
Club had nine wrestlers competing. They were Jason Fraire, Joel Baeza, Jacobie Fraire, Juan
‘JJ’ Mata, Elias Holcomb, Lill Osborn, Adriel ‘AC’ Gomez, Zayden Norez and Brian Casas.
Juan ‘JJ’ Mata brought home the State championship in the 10U 190 pound division.
Mata placed second at last year’s tournament and knew he did not want that finish again this
year. “JJ puts in a lot of effort in all that he does. He is strong and knows how to execute his
moves so well. He has had a rough year and wrestled up in age at a lot of tournaments but he
never let that get to him. He holds himself high–just like Coach Bill tells them to. He handled his
championship win with such a humble attitude–keeping his composure until he was off the mat.
Then came the emotions and celebration and that is a lot for someone his age!” Coach Holcomb
said.
Jacobie Fraire (10U 170 pounds) finished the tournament in third place, while his
brother, Jason (8U 125 pounds), finished in fourth place. “We are so proud of the Fraire
brothers. They are newer to the sport than most of their competition. They are competitive and
have a great work ethic. They both deserve this,” Coach Holcomb stated.
Coming in 6th place was Zayden Norez. “Zayden had some very tough competition and
battled through some things during the tournament with a ‘take the high road’ attitude. He has
always carried himself more mature than his peers and that really showed throughout the
weekend,” Coach Holcomb said.
Other results are as follows:
Sofia Torres, DNP
Joel Baeza, DNP
Elias Holcomb, DNP
Lill Osborn, DNP, 1 pin
Adriel ‘AC’ Gomez, DNP, 1 decision
Brian Casas, DNP, 1 pin and 1 decision
Liberal Wrestling Club will take the week off and start their Freestyle and Greco season
on Monday, March 24. If you have questions about the new season, please reach out to any
Liberal Wrestling Club board member or coach or visit Liberal Wrestling Club on Facebook.
