Bloomfield's Kira Pipkins battles West Orange's Aiden Jurjo in the 126-pound bout in a home match on Jan. 31. Pipkins won by pin in 2:34. Pipkins is a three-time state girls wrestling champion.
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield High School senior standout wrestler Kira Pipkins has been selected to participate in a developmental training wrestling camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., Nov. 3-6.
As a junior last winter, Pipkins won her third straight New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s girls state individual title, capturing the 120-pound weight class crown.
This summer, Pipkins, along with 2022 BHS graduate and 2022 state 235-pound champion Gianna Faura, participated at the USA Wrestling Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D. Pipkins went 4-2 in the 122-pound weight class and finished between 12th and 16th place out of more than 100 competitors. Her two losses were against opponents who finished in second place and third place.
Pipkins is also an excellent student, ranking No. 6 academically in her class while taking Advanced Placement courses.
Pipkins has been training at several regional training centers this past spring and summer, and this fall. The sites are the New York City Regional Training Center in Hoboken, the New Jersey Regional Training Center at Princeton University, the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center at Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club Regional Training Center at Lehigh University.
The regional training centers are part of USA Wrestling’s efforts to support elite-level freestyle training across the country. Athletes must be RTC-qualified to access these practices. Qualified high school athletes can train with world/Olympic/NCAA-level athletes and coaches. For example, Olympic athlete Jordan Burroughs is a resident athlete at the PA RTC. He trains and hosts wrestling workouts and clinics periodically.
Photo Courtesy of Jerry Simon.
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