Coming into the PIAA girls wrestling West Regionals at Mt. Lebanon High School, Kiski Area senior Ava Golding had a couple more goals to check off.
She already won her third WPIAL gold medal a week ago and came into Saturday’s event one win away from 100 for her career.
“I had so much anxiety coming in because I thought I might not reach that milestone until the state meet,” Golding said. “As I got closer, the pressure began to ease up. It felt good to get that done today.”
She hit the century mark in the semifinal match in the 142-pound bracket with a pin of Hickory’s Taylor Pears 1 minute, 51 seconds into the match. Golding then grabbed her 101st win in the finals against Norwin’s Josephine Dollman.
The match opened with neither wrestler gaining any advantage points-wise and the match went into the seconds round deadlocked at 0-0.
Dollman rode out the second round as Golding was in command throughout and the match went into the third round at a stalemate.
Golding broke the scoreless tie by grabbing two points on a reversal.
“It went the exact same way when we wrestled last week,” Golding said afterward. “Zero-zero last week and I got points today on the same reversal I did last week. So, it was pretty much the same match.”
Experiencing déjà vu is something Golding has become accustomed to in a girls wrestling landscape that is still in its infant stages.
Over the last two years, she faced Connellsville’s Janayah Nobles 11 times, and that kind of familiarity brings challenges.
“I know what it’s like to wrestle the same person over and over again,” Golding said. “It’s more difficult for the person who is winning because your opponent is trying to beat you and to catch you.”
With the match in the balance, Golding was able to tack on another point with 16 seconds left and came away with a 3-0 decision to win her third regional title in three years.
The win gives Golding six gold medals overall between the WPIAL championships and the PIAA West Regionals.
“It’s crazy. My freshman year I was wrestling boys, so to see that I’m now surrounded by all these girls and one of the only ones to grab six gold medals,” said Golding. “It’s surreal.”
Golding is looking to check off her final goal with a first place in the state meet. Last year, she suffered an injury in the semifinals and finished sixth. She finished third the year before.
“Last year changed a lot of things for me,” Golding said. “It wasn’t what I wanted. I was cutting a lot of weight and doing a lot of things wrong.”
Golding’s teammate, Alyssa Tresco, gave all she had in the 170-pound title match against Cydney Rea of Northwestern.
Rea scored an early takedown in the first round, and Tresco got on the board with an escape. The second round saw neither wrestler notch a point, but the third round was filled with action.
Rea opened the final round with a takedown, and Tresco scored two points on a reversal. Tresco then nailed a takedown of her own, only for Rea to snag points on a reversal.
Rea would add two points on an escape and a technical violation by Tresco to come away with a 10-6 decision.
In the second match between a Rea and a WPIAL wrestler, Charli Rea won a 12-0 major decision over Plum’s Alaina Claassen in the bout at 190.
Claassen was handed a flagrant misconduct penalty for saying something in the direction of a ref and was disqualified from the PIAA championships. There was some contention from the Plum coaches, and it remains to be seen if she will be reinstated before the meet.
Mustangs senior Saphia Davis went up against the top girls wrestler in the state at 130 in Moon’s Haley Smarsh.
Smarsh scored three takedowns with Davis pulling out escapes after the first two, but, on the third takedown, Smarsh was able to get herself in an advantageous position and pinned Davis with 9 seconds left in the first round.
In the 100-pound title bout, Montour’s Kristen Walzer pinned Layla Colich of Sharpsville 45 seconds into the second round to come away with her second gold medal in as many years. Walzer was ranked No. 3 in the state in the weight class, and Colich was unranked heading into the match.
Shaler Area’s Blythe Letters took first place in the 106-pound title match. She recorded a pin of Fort Cherry’s Ella Trahan one minute and five seconds into the third round.
Mt. Lebanon’s Isla Silva took gold in the 112-pound bout with a 6-2 decision over Daylee Watson of Conneaut.
The top-ranked girls wrestler in the state at 118, Marlee Solomon of Canon-McMillan made quick work of Derry’s Kaila Keesecker with a pin in 17 seconds.
Pine-Richland’s Aariona Strader fought through a hip injury sustained in the 124-pound title bout and came away with a 14-7 decision over South Park’s Anna Duncan.
At 136, Maggie Alfera of Laurel won 17-2 by tech fall over Abigail Dolanch of Avella. Alfera was ranked No. 6 in the state and Dolanch No. 7 in the weight class before the bout.
Another Mt. Lebanon Blue Devil took home first place as Paige Jox defeated Whisper Abercrombie of General McLane with a 9-5 decision at 148.
Fellow Blue Devil Camilla Hathaway pinned Trinity Webster of Hickory in a minute and 10 seconds in the 155-pound title bout.
In the final match of the afternoon, Southmoreland’s Zoey Murphy pinned Albert Gallatin’s Jenna Chapman 44 seconds into the third round at 235. Murphy, the top seed and No. 2-ranked wrestler in the state at the weight class, repeated as a West Regional champ.
The top four girls in each weight class qualified for the PIAA tournament March 5-7 at Giant Center in Hershey.
Other notable wrestlers to qualify were Derry’s Maizy Mikeska, who finished in fourth at 130.
A pair of Norwin wrestlers also qualified. Karsyn Champion finished third at 155, and Octavia Walker placed third at 170.