D2 wrestling championships: Hazleton Area earns WVC’s first girls team title

PLAINS TWP. — Still a fairly new introduction to the local wrestling scene, there are still plenty of firsts to be had in the District 2 Girls Wrestling Championships.

After two years of Lackawanna League programs winning the team titles, Hazleton Area achieved one of those firsts this weekend: bringing a team title to the Wyoming Valley Conference.

The Cougars had two district champs, eight medalists and seven regional qualifiers on their way to the District 2 team title.

They held off both the previous team champions — last year’s champ Delaware Valley came in second and inaugural champ Wallenpaupack finished third — to pull it off.

“I’m just happy to see us getting better every single year,” said Hazleton Area standout Shaniece Brown, one of the program’s two district champs. “Our hard work is not going to waste.”

It was a pair of firsts for Brown and her teammate Evelyn Sheer as well, both winning their first District 2 individual titles.

Brown, a senior who finished in fourth place in the 2024 tournament and runner-up last year, came in as the top seed at 130 pounds and lived up to the billing.

She won all four of her matches with first-period pinfalls, capturing the gold by pinning Wilkes-Barre Area’s Jacqueline Hernandez in 1:09.

While Brown’s one of the team vets, Sheer’s district title at 235 pounds capped off a sensational District 2 season for the freshman.

In the 235 title match, Sheer and Crestwood’s Samara Bailey went back and forth in the early going before Sheer took control, scoring a pinfall early in the third period after taking a 23-9 lead on points.

Though the team title was already clinched when she took the mat, Sheer’s victory officially locked it down and put a point of emphasis on a strong weekend for the Cougars.

“Usually I don’t get a lot of offense, I just do defense because that’s just what I do,” Sheer said. “It felt really good for once, I usually don’t get a bunch of good matches like that.”

The Cougars entered the championship round with a slight edge over Delaware Valley and five wrestlers in the hunt for gold. Delaware Valley only had three wrestlers left and was only able to capture one district title against Hazleton Area’s two titles.

In total, six WVC wrestlers won championship gold on Saturday. Hazleton Area led the way with their two champions, followed by one each for Nanticoke Area, Crestwood, Wyoming Area and Wilkes-Barre Area.

Emily Kivler was the first to have her hand raised, the Nanticoke Area sophomore winning her second straight title at 112 pounds with a first-period pinfall against Wallenpaupack’s Gia Silva.

It was a rematch from last year’s 112 final, but a much different bout: Kivler won a 16-10 decision last year in a matched that featured plenty of blood time and stoppages, while this year she put Silva away early.

“I knew I was going to meet her [Silva] again, it felt amazing, no blood this year,” Kivler said. “Last year was rough, I wanted a rematch last year but I never got it. This year I felt a lot better.”

Crestwood’s Rachel Shoemaker followed up at 118 with her second straight district title, pinning Hazleton Area’s Kayla Torres to win the gold.

Martyna Bonning would win one for Wyoming Area with a strong performance in the 142 final, pinning Hazleton Area’s Kaiden McFarland in the first period, and Wilkes-Barre Area’s Avah Jobarteh needed just 34 seconds to win herself a district title at 190 pounds.

Both Bonning and Jobarteh were first-time winners on the district stage, but the firsts go one step further for Bonner.

Her win marked the first-ever Girls Wrestling district championship for Wyoming Area, with the Warriors adding a third-place finish from Gia Chapman to their medal haul as well.

“I knew it was going to be hard, so I tried to finish it quick,” Bonning said. “I’m really excited [for regionals], I think I’m going to do well.

The WVC will send 27 wrestlers to the Central Girls Regional tournament next weekend, with all top-four finishers qualifying for spots in the tournament held at Milton High School.

Hazleton Area will lead the way with seven wrestlers, followed by four each from Hanover Area and Crestwood.

DISTRICT 2 GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Team Standings — 1. Hazleton Area (HAZ) 165.5; 2. Delaware Valley (DV) 152; 3. Wallenpaupack (WAL) 128; 4. Honesdale (HON) 103; T5. Crestwood (CRE) 100; T5. Hanover Area (HAN) 100; T7. Nanticoke Area (NAN) 97; T7. Wilkes-Barre Area (WBA) 94; 9. Western Wayne (WW) 76; 10. Valley View (VV) 48; 11. Wyoming Valley West (WVW) 46; 12. Wyoming Area (WA) 45; 13. Lackawanna Trail (LT) 44; 14. Abington Heights (AH) 36; 15. Mountain View (MV) 25; T16. Lake-Lehman (LL) 16; T16. West Scranton (WS) 16; 18. Berwick (BER) 13; 19. Pittston Area (PA) 11.5; T20. Blue Ridge (BR) 11; T20. Dallas (DAL) 11; T20. Mid Valley (MV) 11; 23. Elk Lake (ELK) 7; 24. Scranton Prep (SP) 3; 25. North Pocono (NP) 2.5.

Championship Round

100 — Cidney Schaffer (LT) pinned Matilda Serrano (NAN) 1:10; 106 — Rosa SanClementi (WAL) maj. dec. over Mia Gifford (WW) 11-1; 112 — Emily Kivler (NAN) pinned Gia Silva (WAL) 1:32; 118 — Rachel Shoemaker (CRE) pinned Kayla Torres (HAZ) 1:20; 124 — Saige Olver (HON) dec. Valerie Bustillo (HAZ) 10-5; 130 — Shaniece Brown (HAZ) pinned Jacqueline Hernandez (WBA) 1:09; 136 — Adysen Wargo (WW) dec. over Keira Snyder (DV) 7-4 SV; 142 — Martyna Bonning (WA) pinned Kaiden McFarland (HAZ) 1:25; 148 — Maddison Miller (HON) pinned Ella Smith (DV) 0:56; 155 — Hayden Manning (AH) pinned Leonora Orellana Anton (HON) 1:22; 170 — Kate Prior (DV) dec. over Sierra Ripka (NAN) 6-3; 190 — Avah Jobarteh (WBA) pinned Mya Statile (WAL) 0:34; 235 — Evelyn Sheer (HAZ) pinned Samara Bailey (CRE) 4:21.

Third-Place Matches

100 — Claire Gyle (HAN) pinned Mya Veira (DV) 1:34; 106 — Kylie Pearce (DV) pinned Morgan Osburn (HAN) 1:50; 112 — Emmersyn Seltzer (CRE) pinned Jocelyn Suhow Sanchez (WS) 2:47; 118 — Savannah Gonzalez (WBA) pinned Gabriella Griffith (HAN) 1:16; 124 — Kaidence Ankner (HAN) pinned Taylor Shaheen (VV) 3:25; 130 — Kaylee Newcomer (WAL) pinned Miley Okane (LL) 0:32; 136 — Miah Molinaro (HAZ) tech. fall over Emma Selfe (CRE) 16-1; 142 — Sara Balbuena (WVW) pinned Amsi Garriga-Diaz (VV) 2:11; 148 — Kim Ramirez (HAZ) dec. over Payton Laytos (LT) 5-0; 155 — Brooke Long (WVW) dec. over Meghan Rath (WW) 9-2; 170 — Gia Chapman (WA) pinned Clare Hargis (WAL) 0:25; 190 — Caitlin Luciano (DV) dec. over Lillian Morse (DAL) 4-0; 235 — Heaven Dozier (WAL) pinned Dana Martin (HON) 0:58.

Semifinals

100 — Cidney Schaffer (LT) pinned Claire Gyle (HAN) 1:41; Matilda Serrano (NAN) dec. over Mya Veira (DV) 17-11.

106 — Mia Gifford (WW) pinned Morgan Osburn (HAN) 3:07; Rosa Sanclementi (WAL) pinned Penelope Serrano (NAN) 3:19.

112 — Emily Kivler (NAN) pinned Taylor Yablonski (DV) 0:38; Gia Silva (WAL) pinned Emmersyn Seltzer (CRE) 5:50.

118 — Rachel Shoemaker (CRE) pinned Gabriella Griffith (HAN) 2:46; Kayla Torres (HAZ) pinned Savannah Gonzalez (WBA) 5:05.

124 — Saige Olver (HON) pinned Taylor Shaheen (VV) 1:42; Valerie Bustillo (HAZ) pinned Kaidence Ankner (HAN) 5:16.

130 — Shaniece Brown (HAZ) pinned Mckenzie Boyle (NAN) 0:42; Jacqueline Hernandez (WBA) pinned Kaylee Newcomer (WAL) 3:06.

136 — Keira Snyder (DV) dec. over Emma Selfe (CRE) 3-1; Adysen Wargo (WW) dec. over Miah Molinaro (HAZ) 11-7.

142 — Martyna Bonning (WA) pinned Sara Balbuena (WVW) 3:49; Kaiden McFarland (HAZ) pinned Anaya Torres (WBA) 1:01.

148 — Maddison Miller (HON) pinned Kim Ramirez (HAZ) 0:59; Ella Smith (DV) pinned Payton Laytos (LT) 2:59.

155 — Hayden Manning (AH) pinned Brooke Long (WVW) 3:18; Leonora Orellana Anton (HON) pinned Meghan Rath (WW) 5:20.

170 — Kate Prior (DV) pinned Gia Chapman (WA) 3:17; Sierra Ripka (NAN) pinned Jailah Gil (HAZ) 1:36.

190 — Avah Jobarteh (WBA) pinned Alexis Lamolly (VV) 0:19; Mya Statile (WAL) pinned Caitlin Luciano (DV) 1:08.

235 — Evelyn Sheer (HAZ) pinned Dana Martin (HON) 0:27; Samara Bailey (CRE) pinned Heaven Dozier (WAL) 0:24.