5 WPIAL girls advance to finals of inaugural PIAA wrestling tournament
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Friday, March 8, 2024 | 10:18 PM
North Allegheny’s Leyna Rumpler (right) wrestles Northern Bedford’s Raegan Snider in a 155-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals Friday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Plum’s Alaina Claassen (left) wrestles Souderton’s MacKenna Atkinson in a 235-pound match during the PIAA girls wrestling championship quarterfinals Friday, March 8, 2024, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Southmoreland’s Zoey Murphy (left) wrestles Panther Valley’s Brenda Banks in a 235-pound match during the PIAA girls wrestling championship quarterfinals Friday, March 8, 2024, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Plum’s Alaina Claassen (top) wrestles Souderton’s MacKenna Atkinson in a 235-pound match during the PIAA girls wrestling championship quarterfinals Friday, March 8, 2024, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Knoch’s Miranda Lajevic (bottom) wrestles Neshaminy’s Grace Nesbitt in a 100-pound match during the PIAA girls wrestling championship quarterfinals Friday.
Norwin’s Josephine Dollman (bottom) wrestles Greater Johnstown’s Sayona Harris-Haye in a 142-pound match during the PIAA girls wrestling championship quarterfinals Friday, March 8, 2024, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Norwin’s Karsyn Champion (left) wrestles Northwestern Lehigh’s Katie Brensinger in a 148-pound match during the PIAA girls wrestling championship quarterfinals Friday, March 8, 2024, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Kiski Area’s Ava Golding (bottom) wrestles Western Wayne’s Sara Shook in a 136-pound match during the PIAA girls wrestling championship quarterfinals.
Canon-McMillan’s Natalie Rush (top) wrestles Reading’s Esmeralda Tellez in a 190-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Canon-McMillan’s Natalie Rush (left) wrestles Reading’s Esmeralda Tellez in a 190-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Canon-McMillan’s Audrey Calgaro wrestles Punxsutawney’s Jael Miller in a 170-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Moon’s Haley Smarsh (right) wrestles Hamburg’s Shannon Govern in a 130-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Moon’s Haley Smarsh (bottom) wrestles Hamburg’s Shannon Govern in a 130-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
North Allegheny’s Leyna Rumpler (left) wrestles Northern Bedford’s Raegan Snider in a 155-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Kiski Area’s Ava Golding (facing) wrestles Kennett’s Haylie Jaffe in a 136-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Butler’s Ana Malovich (top) wrestles Honesdale’s Saige Oliver in a 118-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Butler’s Ana Malovich (top) wrestles Honesdale’s Saige Oliver in a 118-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Canon-McMillan’s Valarie Solorio (top) wrestles Bensalem’s Payton Hinkle in a 100-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Canon-McMillan’s Valarie Solorio (top) wrestles Bensalem’s Payton Hinkle in a 100-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Montour’s Kristen Walzer (right) wrestles Neshaminy’s Grace Nesbitt in a 100-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Montour’s Kristen Walzer (right) wrestles Neshaminy’s Grace Nesbitt in a 100-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Canon-McMillan’s Audrey Calgaro (left) wrestles York Suburban’s Angela Imorhoa in a 170-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Canon-McMillan’s Natalie Rush reacts after winning her 190-pound match against Bald Eagle Area’s Grace Crestani during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
North Allegheny’s Leyna Rumpler (right) wrestles Northampton’s Mylea Lambert in a 155-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Canon-McMillan’s Dynasty Williams (left) wrestles Gettysburg’s Kylie Monroe in a 155-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Kiski Area’s Ava Golding (bottom) wrestles Western Wayne’s Sara Shook in a 136-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Butler’s Ana Malovich (left) wrestles Pottstown’s Savannah Richards in a 118-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Moon’s Haley Smarsh (right) wrestles Downingtown West’s Sarah Pearson in a 130-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Fort Cherry’s Abigail Dolanch (bottom) wrestles Schuylkill Valley’s Kayley Weidner in a 136-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Peters Township’s Grace O’Korn (right) wrestles Chestnut Ridge’s Violette Lasure in a 136-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Montour’s Kristen Walzer (bottom) wrestles Cumberland Valley’s Jocelyn Fishel in a 100-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Butler’s Ana Malovich (right) wrestles Pottstown’s Savannah Richards in a 118-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Ringgold’s Anna Duncan (top) wrestles Montgomery’s Emily Murphy in a 130-pound match during the PIAA Girls Wrestling Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey.
HERSHEY — Five WPIAL athletes will be part of Saturday afternoon’s finals at the inaugural PIAA girls wrestling championships at Giant Center.
Anna Malovich of Butler, Haley Smarsh of Moon, Leyna Rumpler of North Allegheny and Valarie Solorio and Natalie Rush of Canon-McMillan will leave with gold or silver medals after their semifinal wins Friday night.
Malovich beat Honesdale’s Saige Oliver with a pin 3 minutes, 46 seconds into the 118-pound match. Malovich had a first-period takedown and three nearfall points in the second before securing the win.
“It’s so surreal,” said Malovich, a senior. “I’ve been dreaming of this since I was 5 years old. … The pressure is off now. I’m just going to let it fly (in the finals).”
In the early-afternoon quarterfinals, Malovich pinned Savannah Richards of Pottstown in 2:38. Malovich will face Savannah Pitt of Palisades in the championship bout. The championship round is slated to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Smarsh posted a 9-4 victory over Shannon Govern of Hamburg in the 130 semis. Her lead was 4-2 early in the third period before she hit a reverse and picked up a couple of nearfall points for a wider margin of victory.
“It’s always been my dream to come and do all I can here, especially in front of a crowd this big,” said Smarsh, a freshman.
Smarsh’s finals opponent will be Aubre Krazer of Easton. She defeated Sarah Pearson of Downingtown West with a pin 1:26 into the quarterfinals.
Rumpler’s win in the 155 semifinals was among the closest of the PIAA meet, a 1-1 ultimate tiebreaker victory in which she kept North Bedford’s Reagan Snider from escaping in the 30-second final period. That earned her a championship matchup with Avry Ryhal of Hickory. In the quarterfinals, Rumpler pinned Mylea Lambert of Northampton in 2:56.
Solorio picked up her third straight pin at the state meet with a fall at 1:06 of the 110 semis, defeating Patin Hinkle of Bensalem. In the finals, Solorio will face Grace Nesbitt, who beat Montour’s Kristen Walzer, 8-3, in the other semifinal. In the quarterfinals, Solorio pinned Ella Hesener of Parkland in 37 seconds, and Walzer defeated Jocelyn Fishel of Cumberland Valley, 4-0.
At 190, Rush picked up her finals bid with a 1-0 semi victory over Reading’s Esmerelda Tellez, scoring the only points on a second-period escape. Rush, who won her quarterfinal with a pin 1:00 into the contest against Grace Crestani of Bald Eagle Area, will face Bishop McCort’s Alyssa Favara in the finals.
Ava Golding of Kiski Area was pinned 1:05 into her 136 semifinal by Kennett’s Hayle Jaffe. Earlier in the day, Golding came back from an early 5-0 deficit to tech fall Sara Shook of Western Wayne, 20-5, in the quarterfinals.
Likewise, Canon-McMillan’s Audrey Calgaro was pinned by Punxsutawney’s Jael Miller 41 seconds into the 170 semifinals. Calgaro won her quarterfinal with a pin 2:24 into the bout against Angela Imorhoa of York Suburban.
Apart from the eight semifinalists, 12 other WPIAL wrestlers are guaranteed medals. They were wrestling in third-round consolations late Friday night and are guaranteed medals.
They are Miranda Lajevic of Knoch (100), Yunuen Ayala of Canon-McMillan (118), Trinity Moore of Connellsville (118), Alesix Brua of Laurel (124), Sophia Davis of Plum (124), Asia Fowler of Woodland Hills (130), Janayah Nobles of Connellsville (136), Abigail Dolanch of Fort Cherry (136), Grace O’Korn of Peters Township (142), Josephine Dollman of Norwin (142), Dynisty Williams of Canon-McMillan (155) and Alaina Claassen of Plum (235).
Nineteen WPIAL wrestlers competed in Saturday’s early sessions but were knocked out of their respective weight classes before the medal rounds.
The most heartbreaking of all the eliminations was by Anna Duncan of Ringgold. She was trailing her 130 quarterfinal match with Montgomery’s Emily Murphy, 1-0, midway through the second period when she hit her head on the Giant Center wall (actually, the lower half of the boards meant for Hershey Bears AHL ice hockey). After several minutes, Duncan got to her feet, but she lost on an injury default and had to forfeit her consolation match.
For Canon-McMillan, Capri Chambers (106), Malia Ramos (112) and Eva Gray (142) lost in the first round of consolations.
Imani Cameron-Botti (155) and Olivia Shultz (170) also lost their opening consolation matches for Connellsville.
Norwin’s Karsyn Champion lost her quarterfinal at 148 by pinfall to Northwestern Lehigh’s Katie Brensinger in 3:54. She then lost in the second round of consolations to Symarah Drey of Liberty, 6-3. Octavia Walker (170) and Abigail Hewitt (190) lost in the first consolation rounds of their respective weight classes.
Both of Latrobe’s wrestlers were knocked out in the first round of consolations: Rowan Lewis (170) and Miranda Kantoris (235).
Mount Lebanon, as well, had its two PIAA qualifiers go 0-2 each. Sophia Beanner (100) and Paige Jox (124) were eliminated in the first consolation round.
Hannah Hornick of Seneca Valley won her first consolation match in 148, a pin in 2:45 against Brooke Long of Wyoming Valley West. But she lost in the second round of consolations, being pinned in 2:21 against Lake Lehman’s Alahna Morris.
Lilliana Giulianelli earned a 5-2 decision over Emily Smith of Delaware Valley in the first round of 190 consolations, but the Peters Township freshman lost in the second round to Bryce Snyder of Palisades. The pin came at the 4:56 mark.
Laurel’s Contessa Cotelesse lost her first match in the 148 consolations.
Butler’s Anastasia Manchester fell in the opening consolation round for 142.
At 235, Isabella Spotts of Fort Cherry was eliminated in her first consolation contest.
North Hill’s Joanna Saad lost in the first round of the 106 consolations.
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