"Queen of the Mountain" match was a great step for girls' wrestling in Monroe Co.
For the first time ever, two girls' wrestling teams from Monroe County had the stage to themselves Friday night.
In the first year that girls' wrestling is a sanctioned sport, Pocono Mountain East and Pocono Mountain West competed against each other in the inaugural "Queen of the Mountain" match (not officially, but it's fitting since the boys' match has long been called "King of the Mountain").
Pocono Mountain West won the match 48-24, and part of that was thanks to Seretta Manuel who earned the first-ever pinfall victory over Janalice Pellot-Feliciano, with the weight class being at 100 pounds.
"It felt really great," Manuel said. "I felt like I made the night with my match. I set the tone for how we would wrestle, and everyone after me just came out the gates hard and fast."
Manuel also mentioned how exciting it was to see the crowd turnout for a day many young women hoped for, saying, "I've been on the team for three years, and I've never been to a girls' matchup that had this kind of turnout. It's exciting. The crowd brings a lot more energy. It makes me feel a lot better, and I know it made the other girls on my team feel much better."
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The match occurred at Pocono Mountain East Junior High, and the fans in attendance were cheering and engaging in the contest, even more than some boys' matches this season. It wasn't a packed gym, but definitely a sizeable crowd of parents and supporters from both sides.
History will say that the Panthers won the first "Queen of the Mountain" match. It wouldn't be wrong, but East had to forfeit several matches since it didn't have wrestlers in those weight classes.
The Cardinals had seven wrestlers, and in the seven head-to-head matches, they won the majority of them and earned more pinfall victories.
"We're proud of our girls," East assistant coach Carmer Mercadante said about his team's performance. "We know our girls work hard. We know they're tough, good wrestlers, and it's been that way for most of the season: when our girls get on the mat, they get the victories."
Regardless of how it ended, it was a momentous occasion, and there was positive energy throughout the gym as competitors and fans exchanged pleasantries afterward. It meant a lot, especially to Joyce Hineline, an assistant coach for West who couldn't have imagined Friday night taking place when she entered the sport a decade ago.
"I saw girls with a heart of gold," Hineline said. "I've said this before, and I say this to the team: they go into the sport thinking they have something to prove. But this is a sport where they have already shown what they're capable of. So now they're at the point where they have nothing to prove to anybody but themselves. It's amazing to see the support of the community and the support that East and West both have for each other. We're building something great with these girls."
The passion, fire, and anticipation on display Friday clearly indicate that girls' wrestling has a home in Monroe County. East and West were the pioneers, and all that's left is to see what happens next.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Girls' wrestling made historic first step with "Queen of the Mountain"
