The Statistician: Wrestling’s unexpected team member

Wrestling has a long tradition of using statistics keepers, or “stat girls” as they are fondly called by coaches and players. After a pandemic-shortened season in 2021, assistant coach Scooter McAllister was looking for a statistician to help out with the team and keep the stats for each player.

Miki Borgnis, the younger sister of Sonoma Valley senior Justin Borgnis, was sitting at one of her brother’s meets last year when the coach walked over and asked her to be the team statistics keeper for the next season. In this role, she records points on every match, and serves as a key piece of the team.

“Basically all the other stat girls graduated and I've been in the wrestling community for a little bit because of my brother,” said Miki of why she was selected for the role. “Scooter and Nico, the coaches, came up to me and asked me if I wanted to do it last year, during the end of the season.”

It was difficult to learn at first, but as she continued learning the different moves and soon the points awarded became more apparent to her. But thanks to her brother Justin, she adapted quickly and became an essential part of the team. A month and a half into the season, Miki attends all home meets and is a crucial part of the wrestling team’s functions, running numbers to coaches and players.

“It was stressful because so much happens in the match and when you don't really know how to do it, it's hard to write down everything that happens,” Miki said. “It gets kind of hard, but with more practice it helped.”

Even after her older brother leaves, Miki aims to continue keeping statistics for the team for the next few seasons, as she enjoys being with the wrestlers and helping out the team.