Breaking News
Local Sports

Central Mountain girls wrestling suffers road defeat at Bald Eagle Area

By HENRY HUBER 5 min read

WINGATE - Facing an 11-0 deficit late in the second period, Bald Eagle Area freshman Addison Tice stood one or two missteps away from surrendering a costly bonus-point win to Central Mountain with it still being anyone's match.

A pin would've put the Wildcats in a spot to win by criteria with a pin in the following match. And with her opponent, Central Mountain junior Emma Scarborough, flipping her into a bad spot after essentially controlling the match's entirety, it seemed likely as the period wound down.

But rather than let Scarborough's offense continue to overwhelm her, she found one opportunity to strike and made the most of it. The freshman would use Scarborough's momentum against her, flipping her on her back before working and ultimately, securing the timely pin one second before the period ended.

Rather than cutting their lead to 24-18, that pin would up it to 30-12, clinching the match for Bald Eagle. With the Wildcats winning by fall in the final match, the importance of that win was magnified, as the Eagles scraped by, 30-18.

"Most girls in that stature probably would have folded there but wrestling the boys last year (in junior high) probably got her a little gritty, ready for those tough matches. She was always in that position a lot," said Bald Eagle Area head coach Ed Hockenberry on Tice.

"It's nice to see these kids get the acknowlegements out of putting the hard and work time in, battle it out and give everything they got. Tonight, we come out on top. So, pretty excited."

Though Central Mountain ultimately came out with more wins on the night, hampered by a few forfeits, Bald Eagle pulled off the wins it needed to finish the job.

In the most anticipated match of the outing, 2024 state medalist Grace Crestani took it to fellow state medalist Kendall Wagner, shooting around and behind Wagner to get on her back for a takedown. Then, she'd work Wagner off her stomach onto her back, using her legs to steadily lower both her shoulders to the mat for the pin.

That marked Crestani's first win in the matchup, with Wagner coming out on top in previous two.

"That match was fun," said Hockenberry on the matchup. "It gives people something to look forward to. You always hear, 'Oh, it's just girls wrestling,' but I think it's on its way up."

It was still a strong day for Central Mountain, who managed to muster of 18 points despite having zero forfeits go its way.

After establishing early advantage, 2024 regional medalist Austynn Falls, who bumped up a weight class to 155, was able to secure her fourth pin of the season over Bald Eagle senior Cameron Corl-Alton. With the win, the sophomore sits at 7-0 on the year, contributing a combined 42 points through dual competition for the Wildcats.

"I was a little on the edge of my seat there at the beginning but she got her hips in front on that headlock and was able to come out on top," said Central Mountain head coach Dylan Caprio on Falls. "She did a great job working on some new technique, running that bar on top. So that was great. I was really proud of Falls."

Junior Ashlyn Miller and sophomore Kaitlyn Scarborough posted pins of their own, improving to 5-1 and 5-2 respectively, with Miller earning her fourth win by fall of the season.

Miller pulled off a takedown just 15 seconds into her match before working it into a pin. And starting the second period on top, Scarborough expertly worked to get Rebekah Guenot into a bad spot, securing the pin half a minute into the period.

"[Wagner's] teammates came back through, did their best to try and make up for that, and that's what you do when you're wrestling dual meets as a team. You suffer a loss at one weight and try to get your team to rally around that and bring it back as a team," said Central Mountain head coach Dylan Caprio when discussing the match.

"Unfortunately for us, that didn't happen. But they'll keep correcting those mistakes, keep improving and they're going to be where they want to be at the end of the season."

With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 3-4 and will look to keep making improvements in their upcoming match against Shikellamy on Thursday, who harbors a nearly full lineup. Though Central Mountain hopes to see more dual success in the coming weeks, the primary focus is shaking off its early-season jitters as it works to improve across the board.

"Win or lose on Thursday, let's make sure if we lose, it's not from making the same mistakes," said Caprio. "We want to clean those things up so that we can move on and focus on new stuff."

With the win, Bald Eagle (2-0) remains undefeated in dual competition and will look to carry that momentum into this weekend's Lady Phoenix Christmas Class Duals tournament at Sugar Valley on Saturday.

"It's just exciting to get some good quality matches in as a coach, to see these girls working to get better," said Hockenberry. "The tougher the competition, the better off you are at the end of the season. Just great to have eight girls on the team this year and see the numbers growing."

Bald Eagle Area 30, Central Mountain 18

155: Austynn Falls (CM) pinned Cameon Corl-Alton (BEA), 1:11. 170: Grace Crestani (BEA) pinned Kendall Wagner (CM), 1:27. 190: Harley Spade (BEA) won by forfeit. 235: Ashlyn Miller (CM) pinned Shaylin Harter (BEA), :30. 100: No contest. 106: Eden Eveleth (BEA) won by forfeit. 112: Lily Spicer (BEA) won by forfeit. 118: Addison Tice (BEA) pinned Emma Scarborough (CM), 3:59. 124: Kaitlyn Scarborough (CM) pinned Rebekah Guenot (BEA), 2:33. 130: No contest. 136: No contest. 142: No contest. 148: No contest.

Records: Central Mountain 3-4; Bald Eagle Area 2-0.

Starting at /week.