Glynn Academy sophomore Marigona Lau began wrestling in elementary school, but other interests took over. She began surfing with her father, something she still does today, and she began playing volleyball, another sport she continues to participate in.
But the urge to begin wrestling again returned when Marigona began high school, and despite the long layoff, when she did start back, it was as if she had never left.
“Marigona decided to start wrestling again last year, her freshman season, and it had been probably 10 years since she last wrestled,” said Glynn Academy girls wrestling coach Haley Bumgardner. “She took to the sport right away despite the long layoff, and she dominated. She is very athletic in general, and everything just comes so naturally to her.”
A look at her 2023 season shows just how naturally Marigona was able to return to wrestling after the long layoff, and just how much she dominated. The Red Terror freshman, competing in the 125-pound class, won the county’s first-ever female region wrestling tournament with three straight shutout matches to qualify for the sectional tournament, then the state tournament. She ultimately placed second in the GHSA state standings, but that was only a part of her 2023 success.
Competing in various open tournaments, she kept up her championship-caliber performances, taking first place last summer in the 2023 Tyrant Poseidon Open Class tournament and again placing first at the Knockout Christmas Classic in December.
“It’s one of the biggest girls tournaments in Florida, with about 300 girls competing,” Bumgardner said. “Marigona was seeded first in the 130-pound class, and she wrestled five matches that day and went undefeated against some of the best competition in the state.”
Marigona’s first year back on the wrestling mat was a success, as she finished with a 16-2 overall record. And so far this season, there has been no sophomore slump for the Red Terror student-athlete. She’s picked up where she left off with another impressive showing at the Brawl at the Beach open tournament, once again posting a first-place finish in her weight class at the Northeast Florida competition earlier this year.
That was one of several wrestling victories so far in 2024 for the talented sophomore. Through January 21, her overall record was 14-3.
Marigona reflected on her decision to return to wrestling.
“I wanted to try something new and challenging when I came to high school,” she said. “I was playing volleyball and wanted to continue doing that, but I wanted to do another sport, too.”
As good as she is on the wrestling mat and the volleyball court, there’s another place Marigona loves just as much: the ocean.
“I love to surf,” Marigiona said of a sport that allows her to enjoy the ocean with her family, especially her father, Kawika.
“My dad was in the Army and we surf together with a group called Task Force Hydro One in Jacksonville, which is a veterans and first responders group,” she said.
Marigona has a younger brother, Kainoa, who is an eighth-grader and also wrestles, and another younger brother, Kamalei. She and her family spend summers visiting Kosovo, the native country of her mother, Hamide.
With wrestling, surfing, and volleyball taking up a large part of the Glynn Academy student- athlete’s time, is there one sport she sees in her future?
Marigona is keeping all of her options open – wide open.
“I want to wrestle through high school and see where it brings me,” she said. “I definitely want to go to college near the coast so I can surf, so if that is something I can do and still wrestle, that would be cool.”
