Pair of Centre County wrestlers claim girls state championships medals
As the high school boys’ season came to a close on Saturday evening, the girls had their seasons end on Sunday.
Bald Eagle Area and Philipsburg-Osceola combined to send three girls to the MyHouse Girls State Championships at Central Dauphin High School.
Angelina Grieb and Grace Crestani represented the Eagles. Isabella Duvall competed for the Mounties.
When wrestling was completed Sunday afternoon, Grieb and Duvall came home with medals.
Grieb had the highest finish of two medalists as she was fourth at 155 pounds.
“I’m feeling really proud of the way that I managed through. It was a great experience, honestly, amazing,” she said. “I’m feeling really happy with my coaches and everybody who was here to help me and support me. These girls put up a really good fight.”
She was a win away from making the finals in her first state championships appearance. The junior cruised to the semifinals with two straight pins.
Grieb opened by sticking Chichester’s Savanah Kirk in 39 seconds. In the quarterfinals, she needed 1:08 to deck West Perry’s Marty Morrison, sending her to the semifinals and securing a spot on the podium.
Grieb took on East Stroudsburg South’s Gabby Reid, who was the evenutal champion, in the semifinals and trailed 4-0 after two periods of wrestling. The Eagle started from the top as she felt she could put Reid to her back. Reid escaped to make it 5-0.
Greib was able to collect a takedown with just under one minute left, and locked up a cradle for nearfall points. She wasn’t able to pick up the fall as Reid escaped for a reversal and a 7-4 win.
Grieb rebounded nicely in the consolation bracket by pinning Penn Woods’ Hawa Swaray in 2:12 to make the consolation finals. She ran into a buzzsaw of Gettysburg’s Kylie Monroe, who won the consolation finals bout 11-0.
“I joined wrestling for conditioning for military, but it turned into a love for the sport,” said Grieb, when asked if she joined to prep for track. “I wanted to let everything else go for the sport. I loved it so much. With the 100 percent effort that I put into it, I feel really happy, even though it was a fourth.”
Duvall was making her first trip to the state championships too.
The name might sound familiar as she is the sister of former Penns Valley wrestler Malachi Duvall. She can now join her big brother with the title of state medalist.
“It was harder than I expected. There are definitely things I need to work on for next year,” Duvall said. “It’s still pretty exciting though as it was my first year wrestling for girls. It was a new experience and new things to learn.”
Duvall’s day began by earning a 4-1 defeat of Canon-McMillan’s Leilani Ramos. However, she was quickly sent to the consolation bracket in the quarterfinals as she suffered a 9-1 loss to Cumberland Valley’s Eliana White-Vega.
The junior wasn’t deterred by the loss. She went to work navigating her way through the consolations.
Duvall used a third period reversal to edge Whitehall’s Ruth Rivera, 2-0. The win secured her spot on the podium.
In the consolation quarterfinals, Duvall used a solid ride to keep a match scoreless to the third period with Selinsgrove’s Anna Kalcich. In the third period, she earned an escape and immediately tallied a takedown four seconds later for a 3-0 win.
Duvall saw her first tournament end with back-to-back losses and a sixth place finish.
She dropped a tough 2-0 loss to Downingtown West’s Sierra Landrum to be sent to the fifth place match. Duvall went to sudden victory, 1-1, with Kiski Area’s Isabella DeVito in that fifth place match. DeVito hit a nice fireman’s carry and collected nearfall points for a 6-1 win.
“I need more offense definitely. I think we are going to fix that, my coach is dead set on it,” Duvall said. “I need to be more heavy on the head too. I can do certain things. I have the strength. I need more technique.”
Crestani was making her second straight trip to the state championships.
Her day began by being pinned by Penn Wood’s Mariyatt Idriss in 41 seconds. Crestani’s tournament came to a close in the consolation second round as she was pinned again by Delaware Valley’s Victoria Depew.
Crestani had the same results at last year’s tournament, but this time around she was joking with coaches that at least she attempted a shot. She was still upbeat and positive in the losses and said this will fuel her for next year.
“It’s hard and not for the lighthearted. It’s very intense,” Crestani said of what it takes to get to this point and the tournament. “It shows me what I need to work on the most. I definitely did better this year than last year. It shows what your strong suits are, but for you to work on your weakest things.”
MyHouse Girls State Championships
Sunday at Harrisburg
Team key: Academy at Palumbo (AP), Annville-Cleona (AC), Athens (A), Bald Eagle Area (BEA), Bedford (BF), Bensalem (BS), Big Springs (BSP), Bishop McCort (BM), Boiling Springs (BOS), Boyertown (BT), Bradford (B), Brandywine Heights (BH), Brashear (BSH), Butler (BTL), Camp Hill (CH), Canon-McMillan (C-M), Carlisle (C), Central Bucks West (CBW), Central Cambria (CC), Central Dauphin (CD), Central Mountain (CM), Chestnut Ridge (CR), Chichester (CHC), Claysburg-Kimmel (CK), Columbus Montour (CMT), Conneaut (CT), Connellsville (CNV), Cumberland Valley (CV), Dallastown (D), Delaware Valley (DV), Dover Area (DA), Downingtown West (DW), East Stroudsburg North (ESN), East Stroudsburg South (ESS), Easton (E), Exeter (EX), Freedom (F), Garnet Valley (GV), General McLane (GML), Gettysburg (GB), Governor Mifflin (GM), Greater Nanticoke (GN), Greenville (G), Halifax (H), Hamburg (HB), Hampton (HP), Hanover Area (HA), Harry S Truman (HST), Honesdale (HD), Hopewell (HW), Hughesville (HV), Kennett (K), Kiski Area (KA), Knoch (KH), Lake Lehman (LL), Lampeter-Strasburg (LS), Laurel (L), Lebanon (LN), Lehighton (LH), Liberty (LY), Manheim Township (MT), McCaskey (MC), Mechanicsburg (MB), Mercer Area (MA), Mid Valley (MVY), Montgomery (M), Montour (MT), Moshannon Valley (MV), Neshaminy (N), Newport (NPT), North Allegheny (NA), North Penn (NP), Northeast (NE), Northwestern Lehigh (NL), Northwestern (NWT), Norwin (NW), Palisades (P), Palmyra (PY), Panther Valley (PV), Parkland (PK), Pen Argyl (PA), Penn Manor (PM), Penn Wood (PW), Pennsbury (PB), Peters Township (PT), Philipsburg-Osceola (P-O), Pine Grove (PG), Pleasant Valley (PVY), Plum (PLM), Pocono Mountain West (PMW), Pottstown (PTT), Punxsutawney (PX), Quakertown (Q), Reading (R), Redbank Valley (RV), Saegertown (ST), Schuyllkill Valley (SV), Selinsgrove (S), Seneca Valley (SVY), Sharpsville (SPV), Slippery Rock (SR), Souderton (SD), South Fayette (SF), South Western (SW), Southmoreland (SML), Springfield Township (SPT), Sugar Valley (SGV), Susquehannock (SQ), Tulpehocken (T), Union City (UC), United (U), Upper Dublin (UD), Upper Merion (UM), Valley (V), Warren (W), Warwick (WW), Waynesboro (WB), West Perry (WP), Western Wayne (WWY), Whitehall (WH), William Allen (WA), William Tennant (WT), Williamsport (WPT), Woodland Hills (WHS), Wyoming Area (WYA), Wyoming Valley West (WVW), Wyomissing (WY), York Surburban (Y)
Finals
100: Valarie Solorio, C-M, pinned Natalie Handy, SW, :47; 106: Jayleah Pletz, GM, dec. Julia Horger, BS, 10-8; 112: Journie Rodriguez, MC, dec. Elizabet Elliott, C-M, 7-6; 118: Sierra Chiesa, NW, pinned Savannah Witt, P, 4:51; 124: Aubre Krazer, E, major dec. Emily Murphy, M, 10-0; 130: Jordyn Fouse, BM, pinned Joelle Scott, NW, 4:47; 136: Haylie Jaffe, K, tech. fall Kacie Mook, ST, 24-9 (5:59); 142: Zoey Haines, GB, dec. Marissa Rumsey, WPT, 4-0; 148: Leyna Rumpler, NA, pinned Katelyn Coldren, C, 4:25; 155: Gabby Reid, ESS, pinned Raegan Snider, BM, 5:04; 170: Alyssa Favara, BM, pinned Jael Miller, PX, 2:39; 190: Caroline Hattala, Q, pinned Natalie Rush, C-M, 3:23; 235: Brenda Banks, PV, pinned Kayla Henderson, SW, 2:27
Consolation Finals
155: Kylie Monroe, GB, major dec. Angelina Grieb, BEA, 11-0
5th Place Match
124: Isabella DeVito, Kiski Area, dec. Isabella Duvall, P-O, 6-1 (SV)
Consolation Semifinals
124: Sienna Landrum, DW, dec. Duvall, P-O, 2-0; 155: Grieb, BEA, pinned Hawa Swaray, PW, 2:12
Semifinals
155: Reid, ESS, dec. Grieb, BEA, 7-4
Consolation Quarterfinals
124: Duvall, P-O dec. Anna Kalcich, S, 3-0
Consolation Third Round
124: Duvall, P-O, dec. Ruth Rivera, WH, 2-0
Consolation Second Round
170: Victoria Depew, DV, pinned Grace Crestani, BEA, :27
Quartersfinals
124: Eliana White-Vega, CV, major dec. Duvall, P-O, 9-1; 155: Grieb, BEA, pinned Marty Morrison, WP, 1:08
First Round
124: Duvall, P-O, dec. Leilani Ramos, C-M, 4-1; 155: Grieb, BEA, pinned Savanah Kirk, CHC, :39; 170: Mariyatt Idriss, PW, pinned Crestani, BEA, :41
