MILTON — The Clearfield and Curwensville girls wrestling teams will compete in Saturday’s Central Regional Tournament at Milton High School.
The Lady Bison are sending six to the tournament, while the Lady Tide have four regional qualifiers.
Clearfield seniors Alara Quickel (148) and Makayla Taylor (155), sophomores Finley Gilbert (118) and Angela Rougeaux (130) and freshmen Ashley Rougeaux (112) and Jocelyn Nixon (190) along with Curwensville senior Emily Neeper (235) and freshmen McKenzie Astorino (100), Brylee London (142) and Allison Neeper (155) are all in the tournament with 14 girls in each weight class. The Top 4 finishers in each weight class will advance to the PIAA Tournament the following week at Hershey’s Giant Center.
Astorino, ranked No. 2 by PA-Wrestling.com at 100 pounds, headlines the weight class. The undefeated District 5-6-9 champ brings a 33-0 record into the tournament where she will face off with the winner of Hughesville sophomore Isabella Olshefskie (34-9), the District 4 third-place finisher and honorable mention in the rankings, and Hanover senior Claire Gyle (19-13) in the quarterfinals. Astorino pinned Olshefskie at the Queen of the Mountain Duals. Lackawnna Trail freshman Cidney Schaffer (7-0), Montgomery freshman Brooke Knoebel (30-8), Williamsburg sophomore Malaina Comfort (24-4) and Bellwood-Antis senior Juliette Cuevas (21-4), all honorable mentions in PA-Wrestling’s rankings, are on the opposite side of the bracket.
At 112, Ashley Rougeaux (22-6), the D5-6-9 runner-up, has a preliminary round matchup against West Scranton sophomore Joceyn Suhow Sanchez (9-4), District 2’s fourth-place finisher. The winner would likely get a quarterfinal bout against Milton freshman Kyleigh Ficks (34-6) in the quarterfinals. Greater Nanticoke sophomore Emily Kivler (35-3), the D-2 champ and an honorable mention at the weight, is also in the half of the bracket with Rougeaux. Redbank Valley sophomore Iris Reitz (31-1), ranked fifth at the weight and a returning regional champ and fourth-place PIAA medalist, tops the bracket.
Gilbert (20-9), another Lady Bison who placed second at districts, begins her tournament with a Round of 16 bout with Shikellamy junior Skyler Wiest (27-9), the fifth-place District 4 finisher. Williamsport’s Lillian Rumsey (19-1), the District 4 champ headlines the bracket and is a potential semifinal opponent for Gilbert. Rumsey, ranked third in the state at the weight class, is a three-time regional champ and three-time bronze medalist at PIAAs.
Angela Rougeaux (25-9), the D5-6-9 runner-up at 130, gets Shikellamy sophomore Aubrey Rebuck (29-6), the District 4 fourth-place finisher, in the Round of 16. Rebuck, who placed fourth at 130 last season, is an honorable mention in the rankings. District 4 champion Anaiah Kolesar (34-1), a senior from Northeast Bradford, is also on the same side of the bracket. She is ranked fourth in the state and was the regional champ at 124 last season when she also took fourth in the state for the second straight season. Athens senior Hanna Rathburn (32-4), ranked sixth in the state, is on the bottom of the bracket. She is a three-time state qualifier that placed third at 130 at regionals last season.
At 142, District 5-6-9 champ London (32-7) gets a bye before a quarterfinal round bout with either Selinsgrove junior Elizabeth Varner (28-8) or Wyoming Valley West senior Sarah Balbuena (11-6). The lone ranked girl in the weight class is Hughesville sophomore Avery Earnest (33-3), the District 4 champ and honorable mention in the rankings, that placed fourth at regionals last season. She is in the opposite side of the bracket from London along with Central Mountain sophomore Austynn Falls (19-3), who was second in the region last season at 142,
Quickel (17-10), the D5-6-9 fourth placer at 148, has an opener with Hughesville sophomore Caroline Hicks (26-11), the District 4 runner-up. Chestnut Ridge sophomore Juliet Alt (31-4), the top-ranked District 5-6-9 champ, tops the bracket and could be a semifinal matchup for Quickel should she win her first two bouts. Alt won regional and PIAA titles last season at 155.
Another returning state champion is at 155 in Alt’s teammate Violette Lasure (32-0), who has a 97-0 career record and a pair of regional and PIAA titles. The Lady Lion junior is in the top of the bracket away from both Neeper and Taylor, who could meet in the quarterfinals if they both win their openers. Taylor (19-6), fifth-ranked in the state, gets Western Wayne freshman Meghan Rath (20-11) in her Round of 16 bout. Taylor was third in the region and fourth in the state at 155 last season. Neeper (18-19) has a Round of 16 bout with Jersey Shore junior and state honorable mention Isabella Gotschall (25-2), the District 4 champion who was sixth at 170 a season ago.
At 190, Nixon (15-7), the D5-6-9 runner-up, begins her tournament with Shikellamy’s Kirsten Grubbs (13-11), the fifth-place finisher out of District 4. The D-4 champ – Central Columbia sophomore Morgan Reichard (19-4), who placed fourth at the regional tournament at the weight last season, is in the top half of the bracket with Nixon. Central Mountain senior Ashlyn Miller (21-7), the District 5-6-9 champ, is at the bottom of the bracket.
Emily Neeper (31-9), who placed third at the D5-6-9 Tournament at 235, has a Round of 16 bout against Honesdale junior Dana Martin (1-10), the fourth-place finisher from District 2. The winner advances to face Athens senior Lean Nason (23-3), a three-time PIAA qualifier that took third in the region at the weight a season ago. Nason is an honorable mention in the rankings. Hazelton freshman Evelyn Sheer (26-1), the District 2 champ and third-ranked in the state, is also on this side of the bracket. Bedford junior Mylah Steinbuch (17-0), the D5-6-9 champ, tops the opposite side of the bracket. She is the returning regional champ and state eighth-place finisher at 235.
The Central Regional is a one-day tournament that begins Saturday at 9 a.m. with preliminary and quarterfinal rounds followed by semifinals, consolation quarterfinals, consolation semis and the fifth-place bouts. Session II begins at 4:30 p.m. with the consolation finals. The Parade of Champions and championship finals start at 6:15.
Complete tournament brackets can be found HERE
