Lady Broncos quartet looking for medals

By Randy Lefko
randy@claytodayonline.com

MIDDLEBURG - Middleburg High's wrestling teams; boys and girls, have a certain amount of swag to them that seems to be derived from the ultra-positive attitude of their young coach, Coll Robertson.
"He's out there rolling around and laughing and pushing us," said Bronco middleweight Porter Loveland, one of a handful of Bronco returners from a state team of boys that got one of the biggest squads to the state championships. "We want to take it to the next level and I think we got the right guys, the right coach and some new faces that can help us get there."
At the Bronco intrasquad scrimmage last week, Robertson matched up his varsity returners in a few of the lightly competitive scrums to let these athletes flex a little and have some fun.
"And, we sell pork sandwich dinners," said Robertson. "We have a pretty hefty schedule, with two matches in the Panhandle coming up and we have to do all the fundraising to get there. The kids build a big team spirit when they travel together, spend time at hotels together and compete and push each other in the meets. It's a building process."
One new blend for Robertson's aspirations is his hard-core bunch of girl wrestlers; led by two-time state champion Cheyenne Cruce at 190, but enhanced by his mighty mites all in the lower weights; Lily Bradshaw, Memphis Moses, Sarah Walsh and, after some more injury rehab, Skyla Fisher, who came to Middleburg as Wilkinson Junior High whippets and have moved closer and closer each year to be a dominant factor in the state girls wrestling scene.
"Give us one more year and we should have a whole bunch of medalists," said girls coach Jamie Harrison. "Each year, that bunch gets a little tougher and learns a little more about winning big matches and it's going to happen soon."
Harrison's apprehension is mainly due to the perceived firepower at Flagler Palm Coast, Matanzas, and Ponte Vedra from the north Florida area, and Freedom in the Orlando area.
"We got started late compared to those schools with girls wrestling and it's still not at full tilt in our county," said Harrison. "Oakleaf is getting bigger, Orange Park is getting more wrestlers, Clay had the first power team and is rebuilding and Ridgeview has had a few. Those other schools have complete lineups; top to bottom which is where we are getting to."
For the girls, state qualifier Gracie Bradshaw, sister to Lily and one of the first successful girl wrestlers in the county has joined the Bronco ranks as an assistant coach.
"I graduated in 2023, went to state twice, and the opportunities for these girls keep getting better and better," said Bradshaw. "Lily, my sister, at 100 and the rest of the Wilkinson bunch; Memphis, Sky, and Sarah all give us a good push to start the meets with some new faces this year going to add points. We got two transfers from Oakleaf; sisters, I think, and a very good girl from Texas. She is jacked."
Robertson brings back Gavin Fisher and Wyatt Leduc with Grady Woodard doing well at Coker College as one of just a few college wrestlers from Robertson's regime.
"Wyatt Leduc, Nathan Harvey, Sean Blouin, Gavin Fisher and David Raines are all coming back," said Loveland. "We tried to get a few guys from football but they want to stay with football. We got a full lineup for the first time."
Loveland worked through a torn knee ligament over the summer and is expecting a state meet visit.
"I beat the state champ guy over the summer and I want to get the state title at 215," said Loveland. "We should have a good chance at going to state with more guys; better guys, better technically."
With Skyla Fisher, who had a few memorable matches last season, still rehabbing from a knee injury and expecting to return to the lineup, Walsh and Moses are the two power brokers for the Broncos lineup with both tough, gritty battlers.
"I traveled a lot over the summer; went to Fargo, didn't know really well," said Walsh. "I went by myself with my mom and we drove the whole way, three days. Cheyenne could not go because she was rehabbing."
Walsh got her taste of state meet action and thinks she learned a lot about mental preparation for the bigger meets.
"I did well in a meet in Orlando and qualified for the Fargo meet and my mom was cool to go with me," said Walsh. "She does all the research on my matches. At Fargo, I won two matches; from Pennsylvania and from New York, and I learned a lot about staying focused during the long meets. Also, I learned to think strategically and not rely on just my strength."
For Cruce, the alpha of the group, a shoulder labrum tear slowed down her summer preparations, but she felt confident that she would reach her normal work regimen to go after her third state title.
"I tore it 270 degrees in my freshman season, but only took the step to get it fixed last year," said Cruce, now taking on the 235-pound weight division. "I did all my therapy most of the summer and I waited until they cleared me to get back in the room."
Cruce hopes to regain her form quickly knowing she is the new kid in the new weight class.
"I can only do what I prepare myself to do," said Cruce. "I think I like the underdog mentality even though I'm the state champion, but I'm a little shorter than most of the girls I wrestle. I got a couple of new moves that I'll keep on the down low here."