- November 13, 2024
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Flagler Palm Coast wrestlers Mariah Mills and Christina Borgmann helped USA win the U17 women's wrestling team gold medal at Bahrain Gymnasiade. Photo by Rachel Mills
Mariah Mills won bronze in U17 women's wrestling at the Bahrain Gymnasiade. Courtesy photo
Mariah Mills won bronze and Christina Borgmann won silver at the AAU/ISF Bahrain Gymnasiade 2024. Photo by Rachel Mills
Christina Borgmann and Mariah Mills have won state wrestling championships. They’ve competed in some of the top tournaments in the United States.
Last month, the two Flagler Palm Coast High School wrestlers added another achievement to their growing resumes. They flew with Team USA to Bahrain, an island nation in the Persian Gulf, and helped the United States win gold at the AAU/ISF Bahrain Gymnasiade U17 women’s wrestling championships.
Borgmann won the silver medal in the 61-kilogram (134.5 pounds) weight class. Mills won the bronze in the 53-kilogram (116.8 pounds) class.
They both came away with the experience of a lifetime.
“It was my first time out of the country,” Borgmann said. “I got to see different things, learn different things, and obviously the wrestling was a little different.”
There were over 5,000 athletes from nearly 70 countries competing in 26 different sports. Mills said the large crowds at the opening and closing ceremonies made her feel as if she were in the Olympics.
They learned about the culture. As young women in a Muslim country they were told not to wear shorts in public places. They were also told not to bring attention to themselves.
“They told us it’s better to be seen and not heard. They didn’t want that much attention drawn to us because we were from the U.S.,” Borgmann said.
They visited museums and a souk (marketplace), and they spent a day in Doha, Qatar. They also had a nations night where they were able to trade with athletes from other countries.
“I traded a shirt with a girl from Cyprus,” Borgmann said. “I never even knew that was a country.”
Their trip started with three or four days of training in Chicago with their Team USA teammates. The entire trip was about two weeks long.
“Knowing what these girls want to do after high school, traveling overseas to international competition will help prepare them,” FPC wrestling coach David Bossardet said.
Bossardet said one of the first things Mills said to him when she began training with the team was that she wants to be an Olympic champion some day.
Borgmann lost to a Chinese wrestler in the championship match after defeating wrestlers from Romania and the Ukraine, she said. Mills pinned a Romanian wrestler in the third-place match after losing 3-2 to a wrestler from Taipei in the semifinals.
