Alaina Claassen didn’t waste any time in dispatching her three opponents on the way to the 190-pound title at Connellsville’s Lady Falcon Invitational on Jan. 3.
She pinned all three in a combined time of 1 minute, 50 seconds.
“I felt pretty good in my matches,” said Claassen who improved to 11-1 this season with the victories as she hopes to continue to round into form for the championship tournaments that are about a month away.
“I tried to stay fresh and not get tired when I was sitting around waiting for my matches.”
Claassen was coming off a Powerade tournament performance that saw her take second overall. She used two pins and a decision victory in the semifinal to get to the championship match where she suffered a 5-0 loss to Quakertown senior Caroline Hattala, last year’s 190-pound PIAA titlist.
“That match was about mental toughness,” said Claassen who announced her commitment to wrestle at Washington & Jefferson during the second day of Powerade on Dec. 28.
“I knew going into that, she had already beaten me in the state finals. I knew how strong she was.”
Claassen said she welcomed the opportunity to wrestle Hattala again at last weekend’s Mid-Winter Mayhem tournament at IUP. If not there, then down the road at the state tournament.
Claassen’s three wins at Lady Falcon put her at 80-12 overall in her three-plus varsity seasons. She said 100 wins is one of her goals.
“I am just working on staying strong with my attacks and just working on the little things,” Claassen said.
“I just want to make the best of it in my final (high school) season.”
Saphia Davis, like Claassen, is making her mark in her final varsity season with the Mustangs.
She went into Mid-Winter Mayhem at 10-3 with all 10 victories by pin. The Pitt-Johnstown commit won the 136-pound title at the Lady Falcon Invitational after going 3-2 at Powerade and making the consolation quarterfinals.
“I was able to stay focused the entire time with my goals and what I wanted to accomplish,” Davis said about her Lady Falcon performance.
Davis carried a varsity career record of 73-23 into her Mid-Winter Mayhem matches.
“I am feeling really good,” Davis said. “I am really excited about how I am wrestling here at the midpoint of the season. I am starting to figure everything out as we get ready for the run to the tournaments at the end of the season.”
Davis said she was able to look back at the last several years and see what she, Claassen and others have accomplished and where they have helped bring the Plum girls wrestling program to where there are more than 20 wrestlers on the roster working to improve each day in the practice room.
“When I did my signing (with Pitt-Johnstown), it really hit me that my high school career went so fast, and I know that is the same feeling Aliana has (with her commitment to W&J),” said Davis who was second at WPIALs and third at regionals last year and owns two state medals.
“After my freshman year, I was thinking, ‘Yes, I have three more shots at this.’ Now, this is my last shot, and I really want to make the best of it.”
Davis and Claassen, the team’s two seniors, were to be celebrated on senior night Wednesday against Valley.
It was expected to be an extra emotional evening for Claassen who lived and attended school in the New-Ken Arnold School District through third grade.
“My first friends will be there,” Claassen said.
With an expanding roster nearing two dozen, Plum coach Dave Miller said the present and future of the program is bright.
“Our team picture this year, I showed my wife, and she was like, ‘Wow, that’s really nice,’” Miller said.
“When they started talking about starting a girls wrestling team here, girls like Alaina and Saphia and their interest was why I got back and wanted to coach Plum. It’s just been a great time since then with these girls and seeing how they’ve grown. We had six girls the first year, eight girls the next year, and 10 last year. We have 21 this year. We have 10 or 11 freshmen this year. Hopefully, we get another 10 or 11 next year. With just two seniors, we could have an even bigger team next year.”
Miller said he hopes to strengthen the program by starting a junior high program next year.
Out of all of the freshman newcomers, only one — freshman Kamryn James — had prior wrestling experience.
She was 5-5 overall through a 3-2 day at the Lady Falcon Invitational.
Plum finished second to host Connellsville at the tournament. The Mustangs had eight medalists with junior Haley Leiendecker joining Davis and Claassen in a championship match. She took second at 142 and improved to 5-3 on the season.
James pinned freshman teammate Zoe Panaro in the 112 fifth-place match. Junior Amora Sorzano-Lee (118) and junior Addison Claassen (124) also took fifth, while sophomore Breanna Pickford was sixth at 155.
“This was another good learning experience for a lot of the girls, and I was glad they wrestled to sixth place,” Miller said. “It gave a number of the girls an extra match or two. It was good for them.”