On Dec. 17, the State High Girls Wrestling Team attended its third dual of the season against Clearfield at Rec Hall. The team was just formed last year and after getting 82nd in the PIAA Girls Championships, they are ready to step back onto the mat.
“We’re going into our second season, and it’s pretty early in the season…our high school has been to a total of two duel tournaments, and at those tournaments, we get about five to six matches a piece,” Head Coach Eshia Willingham said.
The team lost all matches and did not advance to the second round, but still had some small victories. Starlynn Emel-Rash made a great comeback in her match and didn’t back down despite her lingering injury to her shoulder from a past match. She had a takedown during her second match. Sophomore Isabelle Dubler also kept her opponent in check and avoided getting pinned for the majority of the match.
“Clearfield’s a really good team, they have really good staff. A lot of their girls, even though
they’re first-year, they’re heavy hitters,” Willingham said. “They work really hard. They performed really well today.”
The team was in a unique position, most of its girls were injured or new to the sport. Of the three wrestlers the team put onto the mat, Kaitlyn McShea, Isabelle Dubler, and Starlynn Emel-Rash, two were injured.
Willingham kept her expectations for the tournament reasonable.“My expectations were to try to make it to the second round,” Willingham said. “We only were able to put out three, so the expectation was just to make it to the second and hopefully make it to the third round, given that they’re pretty injured.”
When asked how she felt before and after the match, Dubler said, “Before, I feel pumped up and ready to wrestle. A little bit nervous, like most. Then after, tired. But I’m ready to wrestle again after.” She said her season goals are to “If I could, make it to states. I want to make it as far as possible and win as much as I can.”
“The team goal for now, since we’ve had a lot of injuries, is to rest and get healed so we can finish strong for the rest of the season,” Willingham said. “Another thing would be, since all of our girls are about first-year wrestlers and they’re all so new, is to get them really good at the foundations, the techniques, the very basic techniques, and get good at those.”
The Little Lions’ effort and positive attitude were apparent on and off the mat. The loss was followed closely by a determination to improve, which will help the team achieve its goals later in the season. The next tournament will be on January 4th at Curwensville High School against Curwensville.
