Female Middle Weight Wrestler of the Year... Congrats to Sonia Pegoue!

Walter Johnson junior Sonia Pegoue ended her sophomore season getting pinned by La Plata’s Daisy Rojas in the first period of her 145lb state final. Finishing second in the state a year after not placing set Pegoue up for an encore performance where anything shy of a finals appearance would be a downgrade.

“This year, I had to do better than I did last year because I have some more experience under my belt,” rationalized Pegoue. “So, I just wanted to showcase that. I wanted to prove it to myself that I could win states.”

The junior season debut would unexpectedly be delayed after Pegoue had surgery prior to the season for an abdominal issue. When she did step on the mat at the Maverick Duals, where she went undefeated, Pegoue did so as the state’s top rated 145lber.

“It was frustrating because I would come to practice, and I would watch everybody else be working and enjoying themselves and I had to be in the corner,” Pegoue remembered. “The only thing that made it better was being able to help some people, help the newer wrestlers with their technique. But then coming back, it was definitely a lot harder because I had some reoccurring pains every once in a while. But I just kinda had to push through that. I didn’t want that to be what would stop me.”

Pegoue’s first true test of the year awaited at the Girls’ Davison Classic at Randallstown. Pegoue’s adversity to begin this year was familiar in that other issues derailed her sophomore debut, which caused her to miss the Classic a year ago.

Pegoue made her Davison debut as the No. 1 seed and was still the state’s top ranked 145lber. She held onto that designation as a 3-0 record was posted on the way to winning the crown with a 17-1 technical fall in the finals over No. 12 Simone Littleford (Meade). Peguoe’s other two matches ended with pins, including a comeback fall over Joy Brown (Jackson-Reed, D.C.) midway through the final frame while losing, 13-12. She opened the action with a 2:33 pin of Charles H. Flowers’ Sharon Peters.

“I was really excited when I won Davison because I wasn’t able to go last year,” Pegoue said. “I always heard that it was a pretty big tournament. I never wrestled that many matches in one day. I had one match that day that stood out because I almost lost that one. But I kinda turned it around in the last period and won by fall.”

Adversity was lurking around the corner for Pegoue as she turned her attention to Northeast’s Who’s #1 Tournament. As she was at Davison, Pegoue was sitting atop her bracket as the state’s top girl at 145. Things were going according to plan with two pins to advance to the semis, 2:50 over Havre de Grace’s Alissa Strong and 3:34 versus South Carroll’s Avery Gill.

A close match with Manchester Valley’s Addie Grubb, who would end the year ranked fifth in the state after placing in that position at the state tournament, ended with Pegoue watching Grubb declared the 7-6 victor. That snowballed into a consolation semifinal loss by fall to Crofton’s Katie Huyssoon (No. 13 in the final 145lb rankings), 3:34. From there, the best move was to forfeit her placement match to Patterson Mill’s Charley Millard (No. 16) and finish in the sixth spot.

“I had some stomach pain every time I would move a lot,” offered Pegoue. “So, when I tried to get warmed up and stuff like that my stomach was just hurting right around where I had the surgeries. I think that was probably what caused me to lose that match and then I just went downhill from there and then had to forfeit.”

Pegoue started wrestling in her freshman year and won a Montgomery County title. Last year, Richard Montgomery’s Estrella Edwards ended Pegoue’s repeat hopes with an 11-2 major decision in the semis, forcing Pegoue to navigate the consolation rounds where she ended in third place.

Edwards, who was ranked at the time but did not finish the season, was back in Pegoue’s bracket at counties as the No. 2 seed, while Pegoue was again, sitting in the No. 1 slot at a tournament. Pegoue needed just one win to get her rematch and planted Northwood’s Javel Fayad in their opening period, 1:03. Pegoue would end up sticking Edwards in 3:47 for the ultimate revenge to get back on top of the County Podium.

“I think that was probably my favorite match of the whole season because I got to beat the girl who beat me for the finals spot last year,” Pegoue said with pride. “I had really been thinking about that match the whole season especially because the girl was fluctuating weight classes. I found out the day before that she was in my weight class again, so I was really nervous. But I think winning that match kinda proved to myself that it’s really all like a mental game. You just gotta tell yourself to do it and then you just have to have faith in what you know.”

After placing fourth at regions her freshman year and missing states, Pegoue won the whole thing last year becoming the 145lb 4A/3A West Region Champ on an 11-3 major decision of Tuscarora’s Kristina Dorsey. After two first period pins to reach the finals, Pegoue was set for another rematch, this time with Dorsey. It was a wild match that resulted in a 20-10 football score that unfortunately favored Dorsey.

“I think at the region tournament I was getting a bit too cocky in my game,” reflected Pegoue. “I was going for shots, but I wasn’t exactly finishing them, and she would catch me midway through a shot and then she’d get the points off that. And then I started getting a bit defeated, which I shouldn’t have done, and I was just kind going through whatever.”

The Dorsey loss combined with the hits she took at Who’s #1 had pushed Pegoue down to the state’s No. 9 ranking at 145lbs as the state tournament began. The first foe she would see was one she did not engage with at Who’s #1, Patterson Mill’s Millard. Millard received a forfeit on that day, on this occasion she was put to sleep in the middle of their match at 3:07 mark.

The girl that kept her off the top spot of the awards stand a year ago was awaiting Pegoue in the round of 16, Daisy Rojas, who was down from 155lbs, and holding the states No. 1 ranking. Last year’s loss by fall morphed into a win by fall for Pegoue in the first period, 1:41. Rojas would go on to place sixth.

No. 9 Faith Connolly of Queen Anne’s was standing across from Pegoue in the quarter finals and was discarded with a 16-1 technical fall in the third round, 4:32. The scoring got tighter in an 8-1 semifinal win over Severna Park’s No. 7 Alexandra Adams, who ended the year ranked fourth after finishing fourth at states.

The state finals were reached for the second year in a row. Now the goal was to take the final step that alluded Pegoue in her previous appearance in this dance. No. 4 Samantha Semprun Salazar of Atholton would be the last remaining obstacle keeping her from the ultimate glory. A solid performance was delivered by Pegoue with her in control throughout, posting a 6-1 decision to claim the state crown and end the year holding the No. 1 ranking again.

“It was fun to watch it happen because my second match, I beat the former state champ, which I had lost to last year,” Pegoue continued. “I think that match was what really got me riled up and gave me the motivation to keep going. There were a few matches there that were close. I got thrown a few times, that was definitely a bit scary. I had enough confidence in myself to know that I could do it. Rankings were a bit scary, but my coach tells me not to worry about them and to just wrestle like I always have and it’s gonna be ok."

“I look at the bracket every day and I’m kinda like, wow. I really wanted it to happen. I had told myself that I could win it but winning it was still kind of a surprise and everything else that came with it (was nice), the interviews, and all the recognition. I’m still kinda processing it, I guess.”

Overcoming the late start to the season, handling mid-season adversity, slaying past demons by avenging previous losses, believing in herself when things looked bleak, and coming through everything to win a state championship has led to Legacy Wrestling choosing Sonia Pegoue as our Middle Weight Wrestler of the Year.

“I think it is an honor,” remarked Pegoue. “Especially because I know how much I’ve worked, and I know how much I’m going to keep working to get better. I’m really happy. I never had anything like this.”

Walter Johnson head coach Brian Frantz graduated from Loyola-Blakefield in 2008 as a three-time state placer and took the helm at Walter Johnson in 2016. Montgomery County does not have additional coaches for the girls yet, so Frantz has had a big hand in Pegoue’s development.

“She’s an athlete, so she’s got some athletic abilities that are above what normally comes into the room,” observed Frantz. “Especially as a newer wrestler. Really, she works hard. She’s a learner, which helps. She will soak it in like a sponge whatever you teach her. She’s attentive and comes in to work hard. Basically, everything you would want out of a potential high-level wrestler."

“I think last year, for a lot of people, it was a little bit of a surprise. She didn’t wrestle most of the season last year. She popped in at the end of the year, wrestled at counties, regions, and state tournaments. So, I think for a lot of people, it was coming out of nowhere. That was kinda the coming out, I guess. And then this year, she had some other stuff come up at the beginning of the season and missed the first month. It took a little bit to get back into the full swing of things and then took a few losses at the Who’s #1 Tournament, took a loss at regions. But really, she was on top of her game for the state tournament. I think the state tournament was more expected of what we will see going forward.”