A quintet of wrestlers was chasing championship three-peats at Saturday’s WPIAL girls individual finals at Mt. Lebanon.
It was guaranteed one would win a third gold medal in the 142-pound final when two-time titlists Ava Golding, a senior from Kiski Area, and Norwin senior Josepine Dollman punched their tickets to the championship match.
Golding moved up from 136 last year, whereas Dollman moved down from 148.
The top two seeds in the bracket put on a match that had the crowd’s attention throughout the entire six minutes.
In the end, Golding, a Pitt-Johnstown commit, was just too much.
She improved to 28-1 this season and remained undefeated against WPIAL opponents with a 5-0 victory over Dollman. Golding is two wins away from 100 for her career.
After a scoreless first period, Golding used a reversal midway through the second for a 2-0 lead. She extended her advantage with a takedown with 50 seconds left in the third.
“There were a lot of expectations, especially because I wrestled (Dollman) a couple of times in the past,” Golding said. “But I just wanted to focus on myself and control what I could control in the match and wrestle smart. There is still more to do. I have a goal to be a state champ, but right now, I am really happy with this.”
Dollman, an Edinboro commit, earned her 100th varsity win in the quarterfinals, a 3-0 triumph over eighth-seeded Brynn Bosack from Pine-Richland.
Dollman will take a 34-9 record into regionals next week at Mt. Lebanon.
Plum senior Alaina Claassen (190), Moon junior Hailey Smarsh (130) and Norwin junior Octavia Walker (170) also were seeking their third WPIAL titles.
Smarsh (34-3), a junior, became the first three-time champion as she scored a quick first-period pin of Plum senior Saphia Davis (25-6). This was a rematch of last year’s 130-pound final.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Smarsh said. “The hard work keeps paying off. I am overjoyed to come out here and be able to compete and now have three titles. I felt really strong today. I was ready.”
Smarsh rolled to the finals with three pins, the longest taking 1 minutes, 9 seconds to complete.
Walker hoped to reign again at 170, but she found herself in a close battle with No. 1 seed Alyssa Tresco, a junior from Kiski Area.
Each scored an escape in regulation, and the match went to overtime where Tresco prevailed 3-1 for her first WPIAL crown.
“We’ve been battling for a couple of months,” Tresco said. “It was 2-1 the first two times. It was such a tough match. We expected it to be that close.
“It feels amazing to be a WPIAL champion. I’ve come a long way in three years. I came in as the No. 1 seed, and I had to trust in myself and what I did to get (the top seed). This means so much to me.”
Claassen and Seneca Valley senior Hannah Hornick will be teammates at Washington & Jefferson, but Saturday, they were opponents vying for gold at 190.
Claassen, the top seed, wasted no time in establishing herself against Hornick, the No. 3 seed. She scored a takedown in the first period and added nearfall points before pinning Hornick in 1:50 to finish off her third WPIAL title and improve to 30-2 on the season.
“It was a little nerve-wracking approaching that match because we know each other so well (on the mat),” Claassen said. “I can’t wait to be up (at W&J) with Hannah.
“I got a little emotional after my match thinking about what I was able to do. Just placing at WPIALs is a huge accomplishment. It was bittersweet, in a way, because it was my last WPIAL match. I am looking forward to regionals next week.”
In all, eight wrestlers came back to WPIALs and added more gold to their varsity resumes.
Montour senior Kristen Walker repeated as champion at 100 pounds with a dominant 12-0 victory over Canon-McMillan’s Araceli Clem.
Walker, who came into the tournament 24-10 against boys competition this season, went 4-0 and had three pins, each in less than a minute, en route to the finals.
Fort Cherry senior Ella Trahan improved to 21-6 and repeated as 106 champion with a 6-3 decision over Shaler sophomore Blythe Letters (27-4).
Trahan led 6-3 at the time of the fall and had rallied from an early 3-1 deficit.
Letters, the daughter of three-time Titans WPIAL champion Troy Letters, fell to 27-4. She came in as the No. 4 seed after finishing as the 100-pound runner-up a year ago.
Mt. Lebanon freshman Isla Silva (25-3) shined in her WPIAL championship debut. She scored a first-period pin in the 112-pound finals over Burgettstown senior Raya Sentipal (15-7).
Sentipal, the No. 3 seed, fell to 15-7. She shut out No. 2 Trinity Moore, a senior from Connellsville, 7-0, in the semifinals.
Canon-McMillan junior Marlee Solomon (32-0) scored a 16-0 tech fall victory over Derry sophomore Kaila Keesecker (26-9) in a rematch of last year’s 112-pound title match also won by Solomon.
Keesecker guaranteed a new champ at 118 after she topped last year’s champion, Knoch senior Braylee Ireland, by a 5-3 score in the semifinals.
Another first-time champion was crowned at 124 as Pine-Richland sophomore Aariona Strader, the No. 3 seed, improved to 25-2 with a first-period pin of top seed Yuni Ayala, a junior from Canon-McMillan.
Laurel senior Maggie Alfera, a UPJ commit, also won her first WPIAL title after earning bronze at 136 last year. She defeated Avella junior Abigail Dolanch, last year’s champion at 142, 16-5, in Saturday’s 136-pound championship match.
Mt. Lebanon senior Paige Jox, a runner-up at 124 and 118 the past two seasons, moved up five weights to 148 this year. She bested all the competition in her bracket en route to her first WPIAL title.
Jox was in a scoreless tie with Canon-McMillan senior Alaya Henderson into the third before she found the winning combination for an 8-0 major decision. Jox is 29-6 this season, and Henderson will head to regionals 21-9 overall.
The 155-pound bracket belonged to Mt. Lebanon freshman Camilla Hathaway, who followed Jox by winning her first WPIAL title in her home gym. She upped her record to 31-3 with a first-period pin over defending champion Karsyn Champion, a junior from Norwin.
Southmoreland senior Zoey Murphy (18-1) claimed gold for a second year in a row by rallying past Albert Gallatin sophomore Jenna Chapman (15-5) in a matchup of the top two seeds at 235.
Chapman opened a 3-1 lead before Murphy tied it with a second-period reversal. Nearfall points gave Murphy the lead, which she extended in the third for a 9-4 victory.