By Todd Irwin

sports@altoonamirror.com

Northern Bedford sophomore 106-pounder Kaylee Ebersole and junior 155-pounder Raegan Snider had very little trouble winning their weight classes last Saturday at the first girls District 5-6-9 Tournament.

Ebersole pinned State College’s Anna Lackey in 51 seconds in the finals. Snider, ranked fourth at 155 by PA-Wrestling.com, pinned Bedford senior Camryn Steinbuch in 1:21.

This week, they’ve turned their attention to the Saturday’s Central Regional Tournament at Milton High School. Ebersole (17-8) and Snider (19-3) are top seeds at their weights, so they could continue to make history by winning titles.

“I’m excited,” Northern Bedford coach Zach Clark said. “I know the girls are going to compete to the best of their ability. Like I said the other day, I think they’re going to have pretty good results.

“I believe that both Raegan and Kaylee have a great shot of standing on top of the podium this weekend as well.”

The tournament begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday with the preliminaries, followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and consolations. The second session is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., beginning with the fifth-place and third-place bouts.

The parade of champions is scheduled for 6:15 p.m., and the championship finals will follow at 6:30.

The top four wrestlers among 12 at every weight advance to the first PIAA-sanctioned state tournament, which begins Thursday at Hershey’s Giant Center.

Northern Bedford’s Emily Dennis, who took second to Chestnut Ridge’s Patron Plummer at 130, is in a bracket with Montgomery’s Emily Murphy (30-2). Murphy is ranked third at 130 by PA-Wrestling.com.

“With Emily, I know that she took second there,” Clark said, “but I feel that she has a very good chance of making the top four as well to move on.”

Bellwood-Antis has three sophomores trying to make that trip to Hershey in District 5-6-9 third-placer Juliette Cuevas (100), fourth-placer Elliana Patterson (112) and fifth-placer Hailey Loupe (106).

Bishop McCort second-ranked junior Jordyn Fouse (136), who was 14-14 wrestling for the Northern Bedford boys team as a freshman, was voted the Outstanding Wrestler of the District 5-6-9 Tournament.

Wrestlers from District 2 and District 4 will compete with the qualifiers from the District 5-6-9 Tournament.

“I know a little about them, but not too much,” Clark said of the other districts. “I know from looking at the brackets, I know the girls have a really good shot.”

The girls who dreamed of wrestling in the PIAA Championships at the start of the inaugural season are now one step away from Hershey.

“I know the girls have been really excited about it,” Clark said. “I know they’re excited to keep proving themselves. This is the last step before making it to the big stage. As long as they show up and compete well they have a great shot at making it there.

“I’m super excited because I want to see them down in Hershey. There’s nothing better than being able to be down in that arena and the feeling of being there.”