HERSHEY >> As the girls poured on to the Giant Center mats to get their warmups in, the crowd let out a cheer built on years of anticipation.
The girls finally had their own PIAA tournament, sandwiched between the boys’ Class 2A and 3A tournaments, Thursday, and it was a day of continuous history being made.
“It was magical, honestly,” Souderton’s Gisele Ramirez said. “I’ve been dreaming of this since I started wrestling. When the PIAA considered not putting the girls with the guys until the two-year cycle ended, I cried. I’m very glad I got this opportunity since this is my senior year.”
Ramirez (118 pounds) was one of 16 girls from District 1 to advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round, which begins at 11:45 a.m. The semifinals will be wrestled at 7 p.m.
Ramirez and the rest of the quarterfinalists are just one win away from clinching a top-eight medal in the 16-girl brackets. For Ramirez, majoring Cumberland Valley’s Cayci McKenna was a bit of revenge after the result went the opposite way in the blood round of last season’s unsanctioned state tournament.
“It was important to get the lead because I wrestled her last year and she knocked me out to place,” Ramirez said. “It was important to secure that match not only for me, but for my past self.”
Neshaminy’s Grace Nesbitt (100) was the first-ever District 1 wrestler to win a match at the girls PIAA Championships, pinning Central Dauphin’s Kathryn Hollinger in the first period.
“That’s really cool,” Nesbitt said. “I hope the other girls do well, too, but that’s cool to be the first.”
Some of the veterans of girls wrestling got their first taste of the Giant Center but didn’t seem the least bit phased.
Kennett’s senior, Haylie Jaffe (136), needed just 56 seconds to earn her fall and Downingtown West’s junior, Sienna Landrum (142), was on to the second round in just 27 ticks.
Landrum’s teammate, Sarah Pearson (130), is not only in her first trip to states, but her first season as a wrestler. She looked like a season vet, dominating Chestnut Ridge’s Patron Plummer before pinning her in the third.
“It’s really special,” Pearson said. “I didn’t think I’d make states nor win my first match. It’s really special, making history in the first-ever girls states.”
Sun Valley’s Jameson Strickland (148) and Avon Grove’s Kaitlynn Arnold (155) gave the Ches-Mont League a couple more quarterfinalists.
Souderton is currently second in the team standings, with Emily Starr (106), Kayla Husti-Luca (130) and MacKenna Atkinson (235) joining Ramirez as first-round winners.
Garnet Valley got a pair to quarters, starting with Reese Dewar (106), who blanked Bald Eagle’s Eden Eveleth, 7-0. Later, Jessica Ayala (142) came from behind to pin Butler’s Anastasia Manchester midway through the third.
Dewar, a freshman, definitely felt the grandness of the event.
“I get nervous most times, but this brought me back to when I was younger and really felt the nerves,” Dewar said. “It’s such a big event and everyone is watching. The here and be a part of the bigger outcome is really nerve-wracking but it’s cool to be a part of.”
Pottstown’s Savannah Richards (118) fought off a third-period cradle to survive with a 17-7 win.
Other District 1 wrestlers winning on day one were Bensalem’s Payton Hinkle (100) and Maya Krieger (170), as well as Quakertown’s Caroline Hattala (190).
