Pottstown nets 4 medals at girls’ wrestling championships

Pottstown went 4-for-4 in medal winners at the 2020 MyHouse PA Girls State Wrestling Championship on Sunday in Gettysburg.

Freshman Daishawnia Dean was the champion of the uncontested heavyweight division while junior Julianna Figueroa was the silver medalist at 122 pounds, Figueroa’s second straight runner-up finish at Pa.’s girls championship, which is currently an independent tournament due to girls’ wrestling not being a PIAA-sanctioned sport.

The Trojan contingent also saw a third-place finish from sophomore Mia Bumbarger at 140 pounds with a 4-1 run through the bracket and freshman Xiyah Robinson went 2-2 and placed fourth at 220.

Fellow Pioneer Athletic Conference athlete Samantha Reitnour, a Boyertown senior, placed third at 101 pounds.

They were joined on the podium by a number of other southeast Pa. wrestlers: Strath Haven’s Hannah Spielman, champion at 147; Chichester’s Dymanique Jones, 2nd at 147; Downingtown East’s Grace Wileczek, 2nd at 162; Souderton’s Trinity Monaghan, 2nd at 184; Philadelphia’s Zaheeda Ahabdussamad, 2nd at 222; Haverford’s Salena Weiss, 4th at 108; Hatboro-Horsham’s Alanna Barberio, 4th at 115; Philadelphia’s Samirah Conyers-Reed, 4th at 147; Philadelphia’s Porsha Linhard, 4th at 184.

The tournament featured 114 girls while being held in conjunction with the 2020 Northeast Girls Folkstyle States held for female wrestlers kindergarten through eighth grade.

Among local athletes competing in the folkstyle event, Owen J. Roberts student Emma Englehardt, representing Norchester, placed third at 80 pounds for grades 5-6.

In total, there were 400 female wrestlers competing Sunday in Gettysburg.

The event was held less than a week after the launch of the Pennsylvania Girls High School Wrestling Task Force’s SanctionPA, a grassroots effort to work towards getting high school girls wrestling approved as a sanctioned sport in Pennsylvania. The SanctionPA campaign includes advocacy efforts, education resources, promotional materials and collaboration with schools.

Currently 21 other state high school associations in the U.S. sanction a girls wrestling state championship.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) current rules require a minimum of 100 schools to have officially recognized girls wrestling programs before considering sanctioning the sport. The SanctionPA campaign is working to provide educational information and resources to help grow opportunities for girls wrestling and help to promote the addition of school girls wrestling programs.