Watertown’s Evelyn Mancilikli took second place at the stats girls U15 wrestling meet, and went on to win the U12 Youth New England Wrestling Championship.
Mancilikli, who is 11, competed in the 185 pound division for the Waltham Wrestling Club and got second place at. the Massachusetts Wrestling Association’s Girls U15 State Championships on March 2 in Methuen. She pinned her first opponent in 19 seconds and lost by decision, 9-8, in the championship bout. She also finished second in the same division in 2024.
On March 15 and 16, she competed at the Youth New England Wrestling Championship held in Fitchburg.
The first day she competed in the U12 coed open division. After dropping her first match, Mancilikli won three straight, all by pin. She came within one match of qualifying for the third place match, and ended up finishing in the top 8 and was the highest placing girl in the 165 lb. division.
On the second day, she competed in the girls U12 160 lb. division. She went 3-0, including defeating the current Massachusetts State champ and runner-up, along with a wrestler from New Hampshire. She won by pinning all three of her opponents.
Mancilikli is now a sixth-grader at Our Lady’s Academy in Waltham, and previously attended St. Stephen’s Armenian School in Watertown. She has been wrestling competitively for two years for Waltham Wrestling Club and recently joined Doughgirls Wrestling Club in Lowell.
Her father, Sevan, said she looks up to Watertown High School Senior Tessa Master, who got second place this year at the New England Wrestling Championships.
“Evelyn got her start wrestling for the Watertown Recreation Department’s winter wrestling program,” Sevan said. “That’s where she met Tessa Master and has since looked up to her as her wrestling role model.”