Burrell wrestler Stewart continues steady progress

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, February 11, 2025 | 8:50 PM

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LOWER BURRELL — Bella Stewart is seeded fifth at 124 pounds for Saturday’s WPIAL girls wrestling individual championships at North Allegheny High School.

Burrell’s lone senior and team captain has fared well to the tune of a 24-9 record. She hopes to make waves in her WPIAL tournament debut.

“I am just looking forward to Saturday,” Stewart said. “I hope I have a great showing out there and can come away with a couple of wins and I am able to advance to regionals.

Stewart said endurance in matches will be key to WPIAL success.

“I am definitely working on getting to that third period and having more energy,” she said. “I am also working on my shot, and I want to wrestle aggressively. Hopefully, that works for me as I continue to prepare this week.”

Wrestling Saturday begins at 9 a.m. Stewart hopes to be among the top five in her weight class who will advance to the PIAA Western Regional on March 1 at North Allegheny.

She has faced several of the top seeds this season including No. 1 seed Anna Duncan from South Park. Stewart suffered a pinfall loss to Duncan in the finals of the Lady Falcon Invitational on Jan. 4.

Saturday’s tournament is, in a way, redemption for Stewart, who didn’t wrestle at WPIALs last year.

Pulling double duty in basketball and wrestling, she was faced with a tough decision as a WPIAL basketball playoff game landed on the same day as the WPIAL wrestling championships.

She said her hoops teammates came first, and she played in a first-round setback to Keystone Oaks.

Stewart joined the wrestling team in January and built a 5-1 record in her debut season.

Being only a junior at the time helped her accept the decision to forgo last year’s inaugural WPIAL wrestling tournament.

“I wished I didn’t have to be in that position, but I picked it, and I can’t go back and change it,” Stewart said.

“Now, I am just looking forward to Saturday and seeing how far I can go.”

Stewart started this winter season wrestling and playing basketball. She suited up for a couple of basketball games in December before deciding to just concentrate on wrestling.

“I could see the passion I had for wrestling this year, and I decided to put my all into it,” she said.

“I made so many friends in basketball that I still have, and I enjoyed playing, but I feel I made the right decision for me. (My basketball teammates) were understanding. There were some challenges that came with it, but we were able to work through it.”

Burrell coach Chris Harkins said Stewart gives the team that veteran leadership by her words and her actions.

“Her maturity shines through as she pulls the girls together and leads by example on and off the mat,” Harkins said.

“She can clown around in practice, but it is always done in a good way. She can keep it light, but she also knows when to set a serious tone.”

Wanting to be healthier was the impetus, she said, for losing nearly 60 pounds between the end of the last season and the start of this season through changes in her diet along with weight training and cardio workouts at the gym.

“Obviously, it helped with athletics, but my health was the main thing,” Stewart said.

Stewart has wrestled aggressively. Of her 24 victories, 21 have come by pin. She also received three forfeit wins.

“It’s definitely helped with my stamina, knowing I can still be fresh into the third period,” she said.

“I have been able to move faster, too, and I feel stronger, even though I am at a lower weight this season. I go into my matches trusting my abilities so I can get the win. The pin is an added bonus.”

Starting later in the season last year, Stewart didn’t compete at the 2023 Powerade Tournament at Canon-McMillan.

But she was at Powerade this year, and she powered her way through a loaded bracket to advance to the fifth round of consolations and finish 4-2.

“It was definitely a cool experience,” she said. “I had never wrestled in a tournament that big before. To be able to go 4-2, I felt very accomplished. That helped push me forward.”

Stewart also looked at the Sharpsville tournament Jan. 18 — she placed fifth in the 124-pound bracket — as a key moment in her development this season.

“I didn’t place the best there, but it had some great competition and I thought that was some of my best wrestling that weekend,” Stewart said.

Stewart most recently made it to the fifth round of the consolations at the Butler Tournament. She finished 2-2.

She went 4-1 at the round-robin Westmoreland County tournament Jan. 11 and kicked off the season Dec. 8 with a third-place finish at the Hickory Invitational tournament.

“I didn’t know how it was going to go this year with moving to a new weight bracket, but I am definitely excited to see how long I can keep going,” Stewart said.

“I am ready to compete with my teammates at WPIALs. We’ve all been practicing hard and working to get better.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Burrell