Trending
By Todd Irwin
sports@altoonamirror.com
HERSHEY -- As expected, Northern Bedford's Raegan Snider made the semifinals of the inaugural PIAA-sanctioned girls state tournament.
But her goal of making the state finals ended in the semifinals when she was pinned in the ultimate tiebreaker by North Allegheny's Leyna Rumpler.
She beat Avon Grove's Kaitlynn Arnold, 7-1, in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals.
Bellwood-Antis' Juliette Cuevas (100) and Northern Bedford's Kaylee Ebersole (106) lost in the quarterfinals, but will place in the tournament.
Here's a closer look at the area girls:
Cuevas, Ebersole place
In the quarterfinals, Snider got a takedown 45 seconds into the first period, pressured Arnold and forced a stalling call with 15 seconds left in the period.
"I feel like I was resting a little bit," Snider said. "I was a little nervous and a lot more reserved than I should have been. It wasn't close, but it should a lot more than it was."
Snider immediately reversed in the second and got a stalling point to make the score 5-0. Snider got another reversal in the third and rode the rest of the way for the win.
"She was ready," Northern Bedford coach Zach Clark said. "We had a little bit of anxiety going on, but she found her head space."
Cuevas suffered a heartbreaking loss in the quarterfinals. She was up 9-4 on Bensalem's Payton Hinkle in the second period when Hinkle defended a Cuevas offensive move by taking Cuevas to her back and pinning her in 3:45.
It didn't take her long to bounce back mentally and emotionally.
"My coaches were talking to me and said 'That last match, it happens. You're going to get caught in stuff.' I think with him telling me that I bounced back in 10 minutes ready for my new match."
"That match was a tough one," Bellwood-Antis coach Nick Torsell said. "We were smashing that girl and we wanted to win that one, but that's okay. Anything can happen. Your dreams can be realized and crushed in this tournament."
Cuevas rebounded with 6-4 overtime win over Nazareth's Chelsea Dressler in the blood round. Cuevas was losing, 4-2, in the third period when she got a takedown with 29 seconds left. She rode the rest of the period, sending the bout into overtime, where Cuevas got a takedown with 40 seconds left to win it.
"She was good, strong, fast, but bouncing back after that loss was a confidence booster for me," Cuevas, "because I was bummed after my second match. Qualifying for a state medal is such a huge accomplishment.
"That girl was aggressive. I really like that about her. I thought she was going to sprawl on me, but I said it's my first year and I went to states. Even being here is a huge pleasure. And I got a medal. I'm on that podium. It's amazing how much you can improve from what your last match was."
Torsell pounded his chest in celebration in his wrestler's corner.
"That was the toughest match we've had in this whole postseason," he said. "As good is it is to dominate, it's good to have a tough, gritty win like that."
Cuevas was pinned in 55 seconds by Parkland's Ella Hesener, so Cuevas will wrestle for seventh place today.
Ebersole was knocked into the consolations by Alysiana Price-Lerley, 9-3, in the quarterfinals. Ebersole rebounded with a pin in 1:11 of Hempfield's Clementine O'Brien in the blood round to earn a medal.
Ebersole followed that with a pin of South Western Natalie Handy in 4:31.
In the finals
Bishop McCort's Jordyn Fouse made the 136-pound finals and will face Haylie Jaffe of Kennett.
McCort also has Lane Fordyce in the 112 finals and Alyssa Favara in 190 finals.
Chestnut Ridge's Violette Lasure is in the 142-pound finals and will meet Downingtown West's Sienna Landrum.