By Marc Pruitt
For the Clemmons Courier

Florence Zaitawi makes history on the wrestling mat

Florence Zaitawi made history last Saturday by winning the 145-pound weight class at the NCHSAA Girls Wrestling Invitational at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds, the first wrestling tournament in North Carolina with a girls-only field.

Zaitawi won all three of her matches with pins.

She beat Amzie Yurko of North Carolina School of Science and Math in the first round, Annikka Nordby of East Chapel Hill in the semifinals, and Danasia Williams of Southern Durham in the championship.

The field was made up of 87 wrestlers in 11 different weight classes.

The wrestling team will be back in action this week at the Midwest 4-A Regional on Friday and Saturday at Davie County.The top four in each weight class will advance to next week’s NCHSAA 4-A state championships in Greensboro. The Titans, who were the state runner-up in the 4-A dual team tournament last season, lost in the first round to Charlotte Olympic last week.

Girls basketball hosts ‘Play for Kay’ game to raise money for Breast Cancer

West’s 68-53 win against Central Piedmont 4-A rival Glenn wasn’t only a big win in the conference standings, it also served the purpose for the team to play for something bigger than themselves.

The Titans raised money for the Kay Yow Foundation, the legendary former women’s basketball coach at N.C. State who battled the disease before she died in 2009.

After the game, the Titans honored three women with ties to the sports programs at West Forsyth who also have undergone treatment for breast cancer, including one, Lauri Schaffer, whose daughter, Brooke, currently plays for the girls basketball team.

The team also honored Kelly Brinkley, who is the junior varsity cheerleading coach and had two sons play sports at West, as well as Judy Oakley, the wife of Bill Oakley, an assistant football coach.

The team raised about $500 for the event and will continue to seek donations through February. If you would like to help, you can go to their website at  support.kayyow.com/wfwbb.

Signing Day on Feb. 6

Six West Forsyth student athletes were expected to sign their National Letters of Intent to play college sports on Wednesday, February 6.

Trae Archie (football) Catawba College

Thomas Laws (football) Guilford

Jaylon McMillian (football) Western Carolina

Brendan Mitchell (baseball) Guilford

Angel Gonzalez (baseball) Rockingham Community College

Peyton Idol (baseball) Appalachian State

Congratulations to all these Titans as their playing careers reach the next level.