Braylee Ireland won four of her five matches at last Saturday’s WPIAL girls wrestling championships at Mt. Lebanon.
While the 118-pound Knoch senior didn’t get to the top of the podium as she had hoped — she rallied from a semifinal loss to take third — a strong finish that day now has her motivated and optimistic she can make an impact this weekend as she attempts to defend her 2025 PIAA West Regional title.
“I am just looking to go out and wrestle the best I have all season,” said Ireland, who takes a 19-5 record into her first match Saturday against District 10 champion Leah Sample, a senior from Saegertown who is looking to qualify for her third PIAA tournament.
“I am definitely feeling good with my work since (WPIALs last Saturday). I have been really focused on making sure my technique is the best that it can be. I know what I need to do to get dialed in with my goals for this weekend.”
Ireland is one of 12 from the Alle-Kiski Valley set to compete Saturday at Mt. Lebanon with the hopes they can snag one of the top four spots in each weight class to next week’s PIAA championships in Hershey.
Ireland used a major decision and a pin in her first two WPIAL matches before falling to Derry’s Kaila Keesecker by pin in the semifinals. Ireland responded in the consolation bracket with a pin in 2:30 against North Allegheny’s Carly O’Connell to secure third.
“My first match of the day definitely wasn’t my best wrestling, but I turned it on and got back into my flow in the second match,” Ireland said.
“Even in the match that I lost, I felt I wrestled really well. I was really happy to be able to come back and get third.”
WPIAL champions — Kiski Area senior Ava Golding (142), Cavaliers junior Alyssa Tresco (170) and Plum senior Alaina Claassen (190) — head into regionals as No. 1 seeds.
Golding and Claassen were two of four to claim a third WPIAL championship.
Golding, who scored a 5-0 decision over Norwin’s Josephine Dollman in their WPIAL title match, hopes to win her third regional title. She is two wins away from 100 for her varsity career.
“My goals for the year were 100 wins, become a three-time WPIAL champion and go after a state championship,” said Golding, who is 28-1 this season with a 98-9 career mark.
“I just have to continue to keep my focus and prepare for (Saturday). I have the chance to go up against some more great girls.”
Claassen (29-2) won a regional title as a sophomore and finished runner-up last year before taking second at states.
Of her 98 career wins, 81 have been pins.
Claassen said winning a third WPIAL title was a big accomplishment, but she has put that behind her and refocused for Saturday’s matches.
“Regionals is another big step of my goal to be a state champ,” she said. “It won’t be easy, but I am excited. I have a lot of motivation.”
Tresco, a newly minted first-time WPIAL champ, hopes to capture a regional crown after placing second last year at 142 and qualifying for states.
She takes a 25-1 record into her first match Saturday which will be in the quarterfinals after receiving a first-round bye.
Tresco could rematch with the WPIAL runner-up, Norwin junior Octavia Walker (33-9). They wouldn’t meet until the finals.
In the most closely contested WPIAL championship match of the 13 at Mt. Lebanon, Tresco and Walker went to overtime tied 1-1 before Tresco scored the winning two points to give her the title.
“She’s great,” Tresco said of Walker. “She’s a good one to spar with. I appreciate it. It’s lot better to go out and wrestle a three-period match with overtime than a match where I win but I am not getting better.
“It feels a lot better to earn a title by really having to fight for it. I am excited for regionals and the chance to keep moving on.”
Plum senior Saphia Davis (25-6) finished runner-up at WPIALs to Moon junior Haley Smarsh (34-3), and she wouldn’t mind getting another crack at the now three-time WPIAL champion.
Davis won a regional title in 2024 and was third last year. She hopes to qualify for states for the third time.
Burrell junior Ella Campbell (27-6 at 112) and Plum junior Addison Claassen (23-17 at 124) both are hoping to advance to states for the first time in their third crack at regionals. Addison Claassen placed fourth in her bracket at WPIALs, while Cambell placed fifth.
Burrell junior Katie Koehler (24-10) and Fox Chapel junior Lauren Bachman (22-12), fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 142-pound bracket at WPIALs, both made their regional debuts last year but didn’t place.
One will get a quick leg up on the other as Koehler and Bachman are paired up in a first-round match. The winner will face District 10 runner-up Taylor Pears, a junior from Hickory, in the quarterfinals.
Koehler and Bachman met in the consolation semifinals at WPIALs with Koehler scoring a pin in 3:27.
A trio of freshmen, Knoch’s Kenna Watson (16-8), Valley’s Naryiah Carnahan (14-5) and Kiski Area’s Carly King (11-7), will make their regional debuts.
Watson and Carnahan each placed fourth in their respective WPIAL brackets, while King took fifth.