February 14th, 2023 will be not only a life-changing day in my book but for young girls all across Pennsylvania (PA). It was the day the PIAA board voted to sanction high school wrestling as an official PIAA sport. Girls across PA now have the opportunity to represent their beloved high schools and compete against each other in official dual matches. As much as I wish I could be a part of these new beginnings, I will be forever grateful for helping to drive for this sanctioning, as well as to all of the people I have met through my high school years. I’m even more thankful that I got to wrestle in one of the toughest districts in PA: District11.
The Lehigh Valley is not only creating some solid boy wrestlers but now girl wrestlers. District 11 wrestling teams, especially in the Lehigh Valley, have always been a powerhouse in PA wrestling. In the past three years, many of these powerhouses have created girls’ teams. Some of these teams include Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks, Bethlehem
Freedom Patriots, Bethlehem Liberty Hurricanes, Easton Red Rovers, Emmaus Green Hornets, Nazareth Blue Eagles, Northampton Konkrete Kids, Parkland Trojans, Pocono Mountain East Cardinals, and Pocono Mountain West Panthers. It is incredible how fast girls wrestling is growing in the Lehigh Valley.
Even though it is a newly sanctioned sport, many of these teams already have some studs on their rosters.
According to “PA-Wrestling.com” 1 , these are the rankings as of December 12, 2023.
Parkland has many studs this season which include:
#2 Shannon Fratus, Sr (170 lbs),
#4 Kelsey Gelb, Sr (155 lbs),
#5 Ella Hesener, Jr (106 lbs), and
#3 Lily Snook, Jr (100 lbs).
My alma mater, Easton, has #1 Aubre Krazer, Jr (130lbs) who is also the #1 Pound-for-Pound wrestler in the state. I was fortunate enough to be able to see Aubre blossom into not only a remarkable and hard-working wrestler but a great person. Some other studs who received Honorable Mentions (HM) are Liberty-Doniya Anwari, Jr. (136 lbs), Northampton-Mylea Lambert, Jr., (170lbs), and Pocono Mountain West-Summerose Fotit, Jr. (170lbs).
Due to these rankings, the Trojans are ranked the #5 team in PA with #10 Pocono Mountain West Panthers not too far behind. Some honorable mentions for teams are the Bethlehem Liberty Hurricanes and Easton Red Rovers.
On December 7th, the Easton Lady Red Rovers had their first match of the season defeating the Nazareth Lady Blue Eagles 66-12. The Lady Rovers won 11 out of the 13 matches that night. Two of the coaches who led the Lady Rovers to their first win of the season are Jordan Kutler and Ryan Pomrinca. I was very fortunate enough to wrestle my senior year under these two not only amazing coaches but people.
Meanwhile, the Lady Blue Eagles are led by John Fidelibus, whose kids I was also fortunate to grow up with in the wrestling community. Seven days later on December 14th, the Lady Trojans got an impressive 60-6 win over the Emmaus Lady Hornets. Parkland won 11 out of the 12 matches that night.
It is so exciting that these girls now have their own dual matches and now have the chance in March to compete at the famous Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
The weekends of Pennsylvania Wrestling States have always been some of my favorite memories. During my high school days, girls wrestling states were in a high school gym in late March. As much as I loved it there, it never compared to the electric environment of Giant Center in early March. It was so incredible to witness every year I went to watch. Now, this year from March 7th – 9th, 2024; girls across the state now get to experience this incredible electric environment. I definitely will not miss the opportunity to witness this thrilling new beginning. The growth these past three years has been amazing to see. I’m very thankful and happy to be still a part of the growing PA girls wrestling. So now all I can say is “PA Girls Wrestling is Here to Stay!”
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.
