NJ Premiere Wrestling is working to establish a new NJ Women's Wrestling League with the goal of providing 10 regular season, local, competitive matches between the months of November and February.   Also planned are a series of clinics with high-level instructors throughout the regular season, that would be available to all wrestlers, free of charge.  Finally, the organizers aim to host a duals tournament for participating teams in the league (tentatively in April). 

How it works:  visit https://njpremiere.com/njywwl to register as an individual wrestler.  Teams will be organized based on the number of wrestlers registered.  Registering is not a binding commitment and no fees are being charged at this time.

The daughter of Robert and Shantale Pipkins, Kira Pipkins will continue her wrestling career at Columbia University.

Pipkins became the first female wrestler, and the fifth wrestler overall, to be a four-time New Jersey state champion while also becoming the first female wrestler in New Jersey history to reach 100 career wins (106-9). She was named the NJ.com Girls Wrestler of the Year and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Pipkins was team captain of both the BHS boys team and the girls team from 2021-23, and received both the BHS Most Valuable Wrestler award and BHS Wrestling Scholar-Athlete award four years in a row.

Pipkins gave motivational speeches to youth groups, painted murals in BHS hallways, participated in park cleanups, and produced art for senior citizens through the BHS on the Corona Homefront. She also volunteered at Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair and the Montclair Emergency Services for Hope while spending time with senior citizens at nursing homes and collecting and donating to canned food drives and food pantries.

An entrepreneur, she owns and operates art, personal training and babysitting businesses.

Pipkins is a member of the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta Math National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, and the World Language Honor Society. She received the College Board African-American Recognition Award in 2022 and is a multiple recipient of the Bengal Pride High Honor Roll Award.

RIONEGRO, Colombia – New Jersey native Francesca Gusfa won gold for Team USA at the 2022 U15 Pan American Championships in Rionegro, Colombia.  She was but one of USA’s women’s freestyle wrestlers who combined to earn 11 medals, including nine golds, one silver and one bronze on Saturday.  

USA won the team title with 215 points, followed by Mexico for second place with 149 points and Colombia for third place with 111 points.

“Today was a great day for our USA women’s freestyle team,” Coach Brazel Marquez said. “These ladies worked hard leading up to today. Their weight management was phenomenal, their training looked great and their attitudes were awesome! It was so great seeing so many smiles and hearing the National Anthem play nine times! This is just the start for these young women.”

U.S. women’s freestyle results
33 kg: Brynn Engel (Genoa City, Wis.) – GOLD
36 kg: Brynn Engel (Genoa City, Wis.) – SILVER
36 kg: Francesca Gusfa (Ridgewood, N.J.) – GOLD
39 kg: Jaclyn Bouzakis (Shavertown, Pa.) – GOLD
42 kg: Morgan Turner (Lockport, Ill.) – GOLD
46 kg: Ysabelle Ocampo (New Haven, Ind.) – GOLD
50 kg: Jayden Keller (Saint Catharine, Mo.) – BRONZE
54 kg: Isabella Marie Gonzales (Fresno, Calif.) – GOLD
58 kg: Taina Fernandez (Bowie, Md.) – GOLD
62 kg: Isis France (Glendale, Ariz.) – GOLD
66 kg: Skylar Slade (Altoona, Iowa) – GOLD