LADY WILDCAT WRESTLERS ADVANCE TRIO TO REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

By Joe Walker

JOHNSTOWN – The Lady Wildcats of Central Mountain trio of Austynn Falls (142), Kendall Wagner (170) and Ashlyn Miller (235) all earn second place finishes in the District 5/6/9 Championships on Friday and thus earn tickets to the Central Regional Championships on Saturday, March 1st at Milton High School. 

All three girls had byes in the championship quarterfinals and then the trio posted championship semifinal wins to advance to the finals and earned their trip to the regional tournament. The fourth Lady Wildcat to wrestle was Kaitlyn Scarborough-Perez (12-16), but the Wildcat sophomore dropped both of her matches and thus saw her season come to a close. 

The second seeded Falls made her way into the finals when she won an injury default over Shelby Shirley of Bedford with just 8 seconds remaining in the match and Shirley leading 4-3. In the finals, Falls (26-3) surrendered the opening takedown to Sayonna Harris-Haye of Johnstown, who then pinned Falls in 40 seconds of the first period. 

Wagner (22-6) defeated Chloe Holloway of Southern Huntingdon by a 7-2 decision in the 170 pound semifinals and then the second seeded Lady Wildcat ran into top seeded Jael Miller of Punxsutawney in the finals. The two-time defending state champion took Wagner down and recorded a fall in 52 seconds of the first period. 

Miller (21-6) made her way into the finals with a fall over Jessa Barron of Southern Huntingdon in 5:18 of their semifinal match. In the finals, top seeded Mylach Steinbuch of Bedford) got a second period escape and then took down Miller and recorded a fall in 39 seconds of the second period at 235 pounds. 

Northern Bedford ran away with the team title, as they crowned four champions to finish with 133 points, while Bald Eagle Area took a second place finish with 91 points and a champion in Grace Crestani at 190 pounds. The Lady Eagles’ Eden Eveleth (106) and Addison Tice (112) both took second place finishes. 

The Lady Wildcats of Head Coach Dylan Caprio finished in 11th place in the 33-team race with 50 points and will now prepare for the Central Regional Tournament next Saturday at Milton Area High School. The top six place finishers will advance to the PIAA State Tournament in Hershey. 

CHAMPIONSHIP RD 1: 

112 – Jadin Elsea (Meyersdale) pinned Kaitlyn Scarborough Perez (CM), 5:37 

CONSOLATION RD 2: 

112 – Halee Grubb (Huntingdon) pinned Kaitlyn Scarbaough-Perez (CM), 1:21 

CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS: 

142 – Austynn Falls (CM) won by inj def Shelby Shirley (Bradford), 5:52; 

170 – Kendall Wagner (CM) dec. Chloe Holloway (Southern Huntingdon), 7-2; 

235 – Ashlyn Miller (CM) pinned Jessa Barron (Southern Huntingdon), 5:18

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS: 

100 – Kaylee Ebersole (Northern Bedford) pinned Nina Twigg (Marion Center), 2:18 106 – Ava Helsel (Northern Bedford) dec. Eden Eveleth (Bald Eagle Area), 6-0 112 – Iris Reitz (Redbank Valley) pinned AddisoTice (Bald Eagle Area), 4:44 118 – Chloe Stiles (United) dec. Maddison Bryner (Juniata), 8-5 

124 – Emily Dennis (Northern Bedford) dec. Natalie Yingling (West Branch), 9-7 130 – Bethany Watt (Penn Cambria) pinned Emily Shetler (Central Cambria), 1:40 136 – Charlotte Hunt (Philipsburg-Osceola) pinned Tessa Queen (Curwensville), 3:25 142 – Sayonna Harris-Haye (Johnstown) pinned Austynn Falls (Central Mtn), :40 148 – Violette Lasure (Chestnut Ridge) pinned Gabby Bamburger (West Branch),. :34 155 – Reagan Snider (Northern Bedford) dec. Julie Alt (Chestnut Ridge), 2-1, TB2 170 – Jael Miller (Punxsutawney) pinned Kendall, Wagner (Central Mtn), :52 190 – Grace Crestani (Bald Eagle Area) pinned Katelynn Krepps (Juniata), :52 235 – Mylach Steinbuch (Bedford) pinned Ashlyn Miller (Central Mtn), 2:39