Hazleton Area’s Evelyn Sheer (background) helped seal the team championship for the Cougars with a win over Crestwood’s Samara Bailey in the final match of the 235-pound round robin competition at Saturday’s WVC Wrestling Championships.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Crestwood’s Emmersyn Seltzer (top) won a conference title in her first try with a pinfall victory over Nanticoke Area’s Penelope Serrano in the finals of the 112 pound division.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Nanticoke Area’s Matilda Serrano goes for the pin against Hanover Area’s Claire Gyle in the 100 pound championship match.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
PLAINS TWP. — Coming out of last season’s inaugural Wyoming Valley Conference Girls Wrestling tournament, Miah Molinaro stood alone for Hazleton Area as the team’s lone gold medalist.
Fast-forward a year later, and Molinaro was right back at the top of the podium — but she had plenty of company from her teammates.
The Cougars captured four individual conference championships — three in the traditional championship brackets and a fourth in round-robin competition — and Hazleton Area edged out Nanticoke Area and Hanover Area to win the WVC girls team title.
“We knew what we had to do today, and everyone showed up,” Molinaro said. “This year, everyone’s pushing each other more and more every day to be better and be more confident.”
In addition to Molinaro’s win at 142 pounds, Hazleton Area surged ahead on the scoreboard in the final round with championship wins from Valerie Bustillo (124 pounds) and Shaniece Brown (130).
One final Cougars victory came in round-robin format, with Evelyn Sheer winning both of her 235-pound matches to help seal the deal for Hazleton Area.
Of the 13 contested weight classes in Saturday’s tournament, seven were decided via the traditional tournament format. The other six, classes with lower numbers, were contested in round-robin formats.
The three Hazleton Area winners in the traditional format were joined by two winners from Nanticoke Area, Matilda Serrano (100 pounds) and Emily Kivler (118), and the Crestwood duo of Emmersyn Seltzer (112) and Emma Selfe (136).
Seltzer, just a freshman, knocked off both finalists from last year’s 112-pound conference final to win go. She defeated Kelianet Hernandez by major decision in the semifinals before denying Penelope Serrano a chance to repeat, pinning her in the first period to capture the championship.
“There’s definitely nerves, but once I get out there and get in the zone, they really just go away,” Seltzer said. “I was not expecting this, but I’m very happy I pulled through.”
The first of the round-robin winners, Hanover Area’s Morgan Osburn, won her first match by pinfall and then scored a tech fall in her finale to win the title with a 2-0 mark.
Nanticoke Area’s Sierra Ripka (170) and Sheer (235) would follow similar paths, winning both of their round-robin matches to win the titles.
Crestwood’s Alexis Richmond (148) and Dallas’ Lillian Morse (190) only had one opponent to face, but each wrestler swept what was functionally a best-of-three series to be crowned champions. At 155 pounds, Berwick’s Angelina Rivera was the only competitor in the field and therefore won the championship. Rivera did bump up to 170 pounds for the tournament to get some matches under her belt.
Ripka was the most decorated wrestler on the mat entering Saturday’s tournament. In addition to a win in last year’s inaugural conference tournament, the Nanticoke Area senior is a two-time district champ and two-time state medalist, currently ranked fourth in the state at 170 pounds according to pa-wrestling.com.
She didn’t have much issue winning her two matches to repeat as conference champ, even under a different format.
“I definitely prefer the traditional tournament style … I was trying to watch my competitors wrestle in the first round because I had a bye,” Ripka said. “I didn’t warm up to begin with because of the bye.”
WVC Girls Wrestling Championships
Team Scores
1. Hazleton Area (HAZ) 124.5, 2. Nanticoke Area (NAN) 117, 3. Hanover Area (HAN) 104.5, 4. Crestwood (CRE) 94.5, 5. Wilkes-Barre Area (WBA) 62, 6. Berwick (BER) 49, 7. Wyoming Area (WA) 39, 8. Lake-Lehman (LL) 21, 9. Wyoming Valley West (WVW) 20, 10. Dallas (DAL) 16, 11. Pittston Area (PA) 4.
Championship Round
100 — Matilda Serrano (NAN) pinned Claire Gyle (HAN) 2:44; 112 — Emmersyn Seltzer (CRE) pinned Penelope Serrano (NAN) 1:27; 118 — Emily Kivler (NAN) pinned Kayla Torres (HAZ) 1:12; 124 — Valerie Bustillo (HAZ) pinned Kaidence Ankner (HAN) 3:02; 130 — Shaniece Brown (HAZ) tech. fall over Jacqueline Hernandez (WBA) 18-1; 136 — Emma Selfe (CRE) pinned Kimberly Ramirez (HAZ) 0:33; 142 — Miah Molinaro (HAZ) pinned Martyna Bonning (WA) 2:21.
Round Robin Champions
106 — Morgan Osburn (HAN); 148 — Alexis Richmond (CRE); 155 — Angelina Rivera (BER); 170 — Sierra Ripka (NAN); 190 — Lillian Morse (DAL); 235 — Evelyn Sheer (HAZ).
Girls Round of 16
130 — Miley Okane (LL) pinned Mia Cardona (HAN) 0:44; Gabriella Griffith (HAN) pinned Brittney Santos (HAZ) 1:43; Laina Kendzor (PA) pinned Cecilia Esquivel-Troiani (BER) 1:05. 142 — Gabriella Rivas (WBA) pinned Sumayyah Selby (WVW) 4:00; Olivia Morales (WBA) pinned Antonio Pagarelski (CRE) 3:00
Girls Quarterfinals
100 — Gia Yannone (BER) pinned Josneiki Garrido (WBA) 0:38. 112 — Samantha Graboske (HAN) pinned Kaylen McIntosh (WBA) 0:25; Emmersyn Seltzer (CRE) pinned Gabby Olswfski (BER) 2:56; Kelianet Hernandez (HAN) pinned Taila Hindmarsh (WA) 0:33. 118 — Julia Carl (WVW) pinned Alexis Moyer (LL) 1:51. 124 — Kaidence Ankner (HAN) pinned Shayna Winter (BER) 0:17; Valerie Bustillo (HAZ) pinned Zoey Elliot (HAN) 1:29; Rachel Shoemaker (CRE) pinned Ashley Mijangos (WBA) 0:34. 130 — Shaniece Brown (HAZ) pinned Carmen Pineda (BER) 1:22; Miley Okane (LL) pinned Elisabeth Ajayi (WBA) 0:51; Mckenzie Boyle (NAN) pinned Gabriella Griffith (HAN) 0:49; Jacqueline Hernandez (WBA) pinned Laila Kendzor (PA) 1:27. 136 — Roxy Brandollino (HAN) pinned Mckayla Gregg (BER) 2:40; Dayanne Rivera (BER) pinned Courteny Grabinski (NAN) 3:21; Kimberly Ramirez (HAZ) pinned Rosie Kleyman (LL) 3:36. 142 — Aibreann Mullin (HAN) pinned Sophia Cromer (NAN) 2:29; Miah Molinaro (HAZ) pinned Olivia Morales (WBA) 0:15; Martyna Bonning (WA) pinned Angelie Gonzalez (HAZ) 1:08; Gabriela Rivas (WBA) pinned Ava Rivera (CRE) 1:26.
Girls Semifinals
100 — Claire Gyle (HAN) pinned Jolian Suarez (WBA) 1:32; 2. Matilda Serrano (NAN) pinned Gia Yannone (BER) 1:44. 112 — Emmersyn Seltzer (CRE) maj. dec. over Kelianet Hernandez (HAN) 9-0; Penelope Serrano (NAN) pinned Samantha Graboske (HAN) 0:45. 118 — Emily Kivler (NAN) pinned Julia Carl (WVW) 0:28; Kayla Torres (HAZ) pinned Savanah Gonzales (WBA) 2:56. 124 — Valerie Bustillo (HAZ) dec. over Rachel Shoemaker (CRE) 4-2; Kaidence Ankner (HAN) pinned Sherlyn Acosta (WBA) 0:15. 130 — Shaniece Brown (HAZ) pinned Miley Okane (LL) 1:32; Jacqueline Hernandez (WBA) pinned Mckenzie Boyle (NAN) 1:50. 136 — Kimberly Ramirez (HAZ) maj. dec. over Dayanne Rivera (BER) 11-3; Emma Selfe (CRE) pinned Roxy Brandollino (HAN) 1:38. 142 — Miah Molinaro (HAZ) pinned Aibreann Mullin (HAN) 0:34; Martyna Bonning (WA) med. forfeit over Gabriela Rivas (WBA).
