Lady Wildcat Wrestler Wagner Headed to States
By Joe Walker
MILTON-Bucktail sophomore Kendall Wagner becomes the first Central Mountain Lady Wildcat to qualify for the PIAA State Girls Wrestling Championships, as she was the Central Regional runner-up at the 170 pound weight class Saturday at the Milton High School Gym.
There are plenty of high school athletes that are multi sport standouts, there are probably very few that do it during dual running seasons, as Wagner is not only a standout wrestler, but she is also a standout basketball player for her Bucktail Lady Bucks.
Wagner won three bouts to get to the championship bout where she went against undefeated Jael Miller (24-0) of Punxsutawney. Wagner forfeited to Miller in the District 5/6/9 finals last week, as she needed to get back to play in the Lady Bucks District 4 Class A semifinals last Saturday. In the championship bout, Miller got the initial takedown and then two nearfall points before pinning the Lady Wildcat sophomore wrestler in :54 seconds of the final bout.
Wagner was the sixth seeded wrestler and she earned her place in the finals by pinning third seeded Abigail Wagner (19-8) of Athens in with four seconds left in their semifinals bout. The bout was tied 4-4, when the Lady Wildcat recorded the fall over the freshman District 4 champion.
Wagner recorded two other falls to get to the semifinals, one fall being in just nine seconds. She will take a 18-4 record into the PIAA State Championships coming up this coming Thursday thru Saturday at the Hershey Giant Center.
The Lady Wildcats had two other wrestlers place in the regional tournament, as Ashlyn Miller (235) won a fifth place finish and Ashtynn Falls took a sixth place finish at 136 pounds. The top four place winners at each weight earned trips to the state tournament.
Miller (18-13) posted a 3-2 record in the regional tournament, as she dropped her first match, but came back to win two consolation bouts before being pinned by fourth seeded Zoey Lake (18-7) of Wallenpaupack in the consolation semifinals. Then in the bout for 5th Place, Miller recorded a fall in :43 seconds over freshman Marrin Clester (14-12) of the Sugar Valley Rural Charter School.
Lady Wildcat freshman Ashtynn Falls posted a 2-3 mark in the regional tournament, as she fell in her first round match, she then won two consolation bouts before falling to third seeded
Karissa Springer (22-5) of Selinsgrove by fall in 4:51 of their 136 pound bout. In the 5th Place bout Falls was pinned in 28 seconds by fourth seeded Victoria Depew (10-5) of Delaware Valley. Falls finished a very good freshman season with a 22-8 record.
Senior Sophie Mitchell (6-5) went 2-2 in the tournament at 155 pounds, as she fell in the consolation quarter finals, while sophomore Kennedy Metzger (10-17) went 0-2 at 130 pounds and sophomore Sophia Hoy (2-8) was 0-2 at 142 pounds. Sophomore Callie Cella (6-13) forfeit her two bouts at 190 pounds.
The Lady Wildcats of head coach Dylan Caprio finished in 12th place in the 51 team field, as they had 51 points. Williamsport won the regional crown with 92.5 points, while Delaware Valley was second with 88 and Athens third with 85 points.
As mentioned earlier the PIAA State Girls tournament gets started this coming Thursday with the first round starting at 2 pm. We will have Wagners’ first round match-up once the complete brackets are announced by the PIAA.
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN RESULTS:
Championship First Round
130 – Summer Pugh (Western Wayne) WBF Kennedy Metzger, 1:13 136 – Liliana Rodriquez (Bradford) WBF Austynn Falls, 3:56 142 – Shelby Shirley (Bradford) WBF Sophia Hoy, :49
155 – Sophie Mitchell WBF Addy Pruss (Western Wayne), :31 170 – Kendall Wagner WBF Makenna Monrean (Redbank Valley), :09 235 – Ashlyn Miller BYE
Championship Quarterfinals
155 – Juliet Fitzpatrick (Delaware Valley) WBF Sophie Mitchell, 1:31 170 – Kendall Wagner WBF Abigail Wagner (Athens), 4:46 235 – Leah Nason (Athens) WBF Ashlyn Miller, 1:43
Consolation First Round
130 – Adelyn Bush (Milton) WBF Kennedy Metzger, :22 136 – Austynn Falls WBF Jordis Dohl (Benton), 2:55
142 – Alaina Hicks (Hughesville) WTF Sophia Hoy, 15-0, 5:00 155 – Sophie Mitchell WBF Saleah Shannon (Central Columbia), :13 235 – Ashlyn Miller WBForfeit
Consolation Quarterfinals
136 – Ashtynn Falls WBF Charli Hunt (Philipsburg-Osceola), 3:57 155 – Camryn Steinbach (Bedford) WBF Sophie Mitchell, 3:39 235 – Ashlyn Miller WBD Jessa Barron (Southern Huntingdon), 4-2
Championship Semifinals
170 – Kendall Wagner WBF Sierra Ripka (Greater Nanticoke), 5:56
Consolation Semifinals
136 – Karissa Springer (Selinsgrove) WBF Ashtynn Falls, 4:51 235 – Zoey Lake (Wallenpaupack) WBF Ashlyn Miller, 2:40
Consolation 5th PLACE
136 – Victoria Depew (Delaware Valley) WBF Ashtynn Falls, :28 235 – Ashlyn Miller WBF Marrin Clester (Sugar Valley Rural Charter), :43
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
170 – Jael Miller (Punxsutawney) WBF Kendall Wagner, :54
