Lock Haven women’s wrestling opens season; Steigler claims individual title

PRINCETON, N.J. – The No. 8 Lock Haven women’s wrestling team opened the 2023-24 season Sunday at the Princeton Open and freshman Stella Steigler (Orange County, Va./Orange County) made an immediate impact as she claimed top honors at 155.

Steigler won gold after going a perfect 4-0 in dominant fashion. She racked up two pins and two tech falls.

Steigler opened the day with a 36-second pin before a tech fall in less than a minute. In the semifinals, she recorded a pin and, in the finals, she downed Marymount’s Kaylee Anderson by tech fall, 10-0 (0:52).

The Bald Eagle rookie was one of 10 total Haven place-winners.

Nationally-ranked – No. 3 – Kaelani Shufeldt (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina) finished second at 109. She was 2-1 on the day with a tech fall and a pin. In the finals, Shufeldt fell to Iowa’s Ava Bayless.

Jessica Johnson (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) went 3-1 with a pin and a tech fall and finished third at 170.

Nationally-ranked – No. 2 – Grace Stem (Snow Shoe, Pa./Bald Eagle), Emma Heslin (Marlborough, Conn./RHAM), Jayleah Pletz (Shillington, Pa./Governor Mifflin) and Azariah Moore (Montross, Va./Westmoreland) all placed fourth.

Stem went 2-2 with two tech falls at 143 and Heslin was 3-2 with three tech falls at 101. Pletz finished 4-2 with two pins and a tech at 116, and Moore went 3-2 with two tech falls at 170.

Paige Jackson (Harpers Ferry, W.Va./Spring Mills) and Trinity Monaghan (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton) both added fifth-place finishes.

Jackson went 3-2 with two tech falls and a pin, and she finished fifth at 155. Monaghan was fifth at 191 after going 2-2 with a pin and a tech.

Lindsay Laws (Halifax, Mass./Silver Lake) rounded out today’s place-winners with a sixth-place showing at 191. She was 2-3 with two pins.

The Bald Eagles will return to action on Sunday, Nov. 12 at the Adrian Open, hosted by Adrian College. The full 2023-24 Lock Haven women’s wrestling schedule is available at GoLHU.com.