HERSHEY – Win or lose, Schuylkill Valley senior Kayley Weidner said she gets emotional about most of her wrestling matches.
But a few extra tears were flowing Saturday at the Giant Center when Weidner walked off the mat following her fifth-place 136-pound bout at the first PIAA Girls Wrestling Championships.
Weidner was dominant from start to finish in an 11-1 major decision over Abigail Dolanch of Fort Cherry.
“It’s my last match ever,” Weidner said, unable to fight back the tears. “I had to channel it and not let it get the best of me. I had to focus on winning.”
Weidner was one of four Berks County wrestlers to earn a medal in the inaugural PIAA-sanctioned girls tournament. Hamburg’s Isabelle Wilkes (106) and Reading High’s Esmeralda Tellez (190) placed third. Hamburg’s Shannon Govern (130) also finished fifth.
All four girls who won District 3 titles one week earlier finished in dominating fashion after falling in the semifinals Friday night.
Wilkes pinned Alyisana Ierley of York Suburban in 1:34 to earn her bronze medal in what she said was her final match. It was her second fall of the day to rebound from her semifinal loss.
“Last night I was really upset because I thought it would affect me today,” Wilkes said. “It was a real tear-jerker just being that close to get to the finals.”
Tellez also ended her season with a fall, pinning Bryce Snyder of Palisades in 4:38. But there’s still a lot more wrestling ahead for Tellez, a sophomore.
After two periods, Tellez trailed 1-0 – the same score she lost by in the semifinals. However, Tellez scored a reversal early in the third period and scored the fall with 22 seconds left.
“I was nervous, yes I was,” Tellez said. “But I have confidence in myself.”
Govern also hopes to have a lot of wrestling in front of her. After finishing her high school career with an 11-1 major decision over Woodland Hills’ Asia Fowler, Govern is looking forward to wrestling at Lehigh University next season.
“It’s so exciting when you win,” Govern said. “It just feels so big.”
The tournament was huge for all the competitors, as it was another big step forward for girls wrestling in Pennsylvania, which became a PIAA-sanctioned sport in May.
“It just feels amazing,” Wilkes said. “It was nice to see all the competition that I got this year. It just inevitably made me better. It was just amazing to see how many people came out to watch girls wrestling.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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