Confidence grows for Fox Chapel girls wrestlers in program’s 2nd season

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, February 15, 2025 | 11:01 AM

The Fox Chapel girls wrestling team has spent less time focusing on learning the basics. In the Foxes’ second full season as a varsity wrestling program, Fox Chapel felt much more prepared for the second WPIAL wrestling championships.

“Last year, I felt like I was wide-eyed walking into the tournament,” Foxes coach Laura Ward said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect. This year, watching them continue to do well in tournaments has been positive. There was great competition in the tournaments we competed in this year.”

Two of the Foxes’ three West Regional qualifiers from last season, Atia DiGioia (100 pounds) and Vie Filar (235 pounds), returned for this season. Filar was seeded second for this year’s WPIAL tournament but got bad news the week of the event.

Filar suffered a concussion and had to withdraw. She had a 10-2 record during the regular season, equaling her win total from last season.

The Foxes were set to enter 11 wrestlers into the event Feb. 15. Yuqi Zhou was the highest seeded of all of the participants, being seeded fifth at 142 pounds with a 17-8 record.

Zhou was stuck in a difficult 136-pound weight class last season. Ward believes she will have a different attitude for this event.

“Her confidence within herself has improved,” Ward said. “She is starting to believe in herself more. We can see her stepping up, being a leader and being more vocal. She has the confidence she’s doing the right thing and is growing as a person.”

DiGioia was seeded sixth, while Emma Srodes (112) and Lauren Bachman (136) were seeded seventh.

Ward has enjoyed watching the program grow. She is hoping to see the work pay off in the postseason.

“In practice, we’ve been able to focus on drilling more and practicing real situations,” Ward said. “It’s not as instructional. We don’t have to stop and break down moves as much. They have a solid foundation. We are able to have regimented workouts.”

Tags: Fox Chapel