Cuevas

Juliette Cuevas burst upon the high school girls wrestling scene two years ago as a 100-pound sophomore at Bellwood-Antis.

Cuevas wasn’t afraid to attempt high-risk moves, and those moved helped her find success in the first PIAA-sanctioned postseason.

She finished third at the District 5-6-9 Tournament, won a Central Regional title by avenging a loss to Moshannon Valley’s Autumn Shoff, 10-6, and placed seventh at the state tournament. After the state tournament, she won the girls 103-pound title at the Keystone State Championships.

Cuevas was in Canada during last year’s wrestling season, but the senior is back for her final postseason. She’s the second seed at 100 pounds in the District 5-6-9 Tournament, which is set to take place for the first time on Saturday at the Altoona Fieldhouse.

“I expect Juliette to wrestle tough,” Bellwood-Antis coach Josh Hewitt said. “As long as she wrestles her matches, I think she’ll do just fine.

“She has a jiu-jitsu background, so that’s where her high-risk, high-reward comes from, but she’s developing into a wrestler — getting into deep shots, top and bottom wrestling. She’s come a long way with that. The big moves will always be a part of her game.”

The District 5-6-9 girls and the District 6 Class 3A boys will share the Fieldhouse. The girls begin wrestling at 9 a.m. Saturday. Wrestling for both boys and girls, including the fifth-place girls bouts, will continue throughout the morning and afternoon.

The championship finals and third-place bouts for both boys and girls will all be wrestled in the final session, which starts after the 5:30 p.m. District 6 Hall of Fame ceremony and parade of champions.

The top five girls at every weight advance to next Saturday’s Central Regional Tournament at Milton High School.

“I’m definitely looking forward to it,” Northern Bedford coach Zach Clark said. “Obviously the girls have put in a lot of hard work this. Now it’s time to show people what they’ve learned and how much they’ve grown from last year to this year.”

Should Cuevas (19-2) make the district finals this year, she’ll likely face Curwensville’s undefeated freshman McKenzie Astorino (31-0). Whatever happens, Cuevas will make it interesting.

“It’s usually a joy to watch her wrestle,” Hewitt said, “because she goes about it with the right attitude. She’s out there having fun.”

Northern Bedford won the team title of last year’s tournament, but the Lady Panthers don’t have graduated state runner-up Raegan Snider, district champ Ava Helsel and the injured two-time district and regional champ Kaylee Ebersole to pile up the points.

“The girls know that the goals and expectations I have for them are just to go out and have fun and wrestle to the best of their ability,” Clark said. “Let it all out on the mat. I’m not going to sit there and say we won a district title last year. That’s not my focus at all. I want the girls to go out and have a great time.”

The Lady Panthers do have two top seeds in returning district champion and two-time finalist Emily Dennis (18-9) at 130 and freshman star Rachel Clouse (22-3) at 106.

“Emily has been around here for a couple years,” Clark said, “and last year she was finally able to reach the top of the podium. I know she definitely has high hopes and high goals for this year.

“Clouse has had a fantastic year. She’s very hard-nosed and doesn’t let anything get in her head. She just goes out and wrestles. Good things have happened all year. The only losses she’s had are to three state placewinners — a state champ, state runner-up and a state third-placer. I know her ability and I know she can definitely battle those girls.”

Northern Bedford also has a second seed at 112 in sophomore Yasmin Miller (17-5). Miller, who placed fifth at the district tourney last year, is seeded behind Redbank Valley’s Iris Reitz (26-1).

Penn Cambria’s returning District 5-6-9 champion Bethany Watt (9-4) is seeded third at 136. Johnstown’s returning district champ and state fourth-placer Sayona Harris-Haye is the top seed at 136, while Huntingdon sophomore Noelle Rasmovicz (19-7) is the second seed.

Central Cambria’s Emily Shetler, who was a runner-up to Watt last season, is the fourth seed at 130.

Other local returning placewinners return in Altoona’s fourth-placer Lindsey Boose (235), Hollidaysburg’s fifth-placer Carina Parks (130), Glendale’s fifth-placer Elizabeth Kaufman (112) and Tyrone’s sixth-placer Brooklyn Veloz (118).

Chestnut Ridge sisters Juliet Alt (148) and Violette Lasure (155) are top seeds and heavy favorites to win their weights. Lasure (29-0) is a two-time state champ who is 94-0 with 85 falls. Alt (28-4) lost to Snider in the ultimate tiebreaker in the district finals last season, but Alt beat Snider in the regional and state finals.

Bedford’s two-time district champion Mylah Steinbuch (15-0) also returns at 235.