What to know about Saturday's inaugural District 10 girls wrestling tournament
Andie Przybycien made a name for herself as a female wrestler with Fort LeBoeuf’s boys program.
The 2022 graduate’s greatest on-mat achievement occurred the year before, when she won the 106-pound weight class for District 10’s Section 4A tournament.
Przybycien’s varsity accomplishments, plus those of current Northwestern junior Sierra Chiesa, helped spur the PIAA to sanction girls wrestling for its 2023-24 season.
That includes Saturday’s inaugural district tournament. The historic all-girls competition at Sharon will run parallel with second-day action for its Section 2A boys meet.
Matches for each tournament will start at 9 a.m. The championship rounds will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Przybycien is scheduled to be at Sharon. While not an active participant, she’s expected to be in Abby Falk’s corner when the LeBoeuf freshman competes in the girls’ 100-pound division.
Although Falk didn’t formally wrestle before this season, she was conscious of Przybycien’s status throughout Waterford and beyond.
“It’s an honor to be in her presence,” Falk said. “She’s shown (LeBoeuf’s female wrestlers) a lot of useful stuff on the mat, and she makes it all fun.”
Falk was one of only three girls listed in Saturday’s 100 bracket. She's an automatic finalist as its top seed, and it’s there she’ll face General McLane freshman Ella Clark or Hickory junior Jillian Mount for first place.
An ensuing berth in the March 2 West Region tournament, hosted at Canonsburg’s Canon-McMillan High School, is just as important.
Falk didn’t face Clark during the regular season but did pin Mount during the Hickory Invitational last Dec. 3. The Hermitage meet was the first PIAA-sanctioned girls wrestling competition held at a district school.
“Either way,” Falk said, “(Saturday’s meet) is going to be really cool.”
Chiesa seeks different history
Chiesa was named the 2023 Erie Times-News Sportswoman of the Year in large part for her appearance in last season’s PIAA Class 2A wrestling tournament at Hershey’s Giant Center. She was the first female qualifier in the meet’s 86-year history.
Chiesa, who went on 2-2 as a 107-pounder, was one match shy of becoming the tournament’s first female top-eight medalist.
The day after that meet, Chiesa won the 118 division for the MyHouse Pennsylvania Girls State Championship at Harrisburg’s Central Dauphin High School. It served as the state’s de facto varsity female wrestling tournament in recent years.
Chiesa, though, can’t double up going forward.
Among the PIAA’s initial girls wrestling rules is that females can’t simultaneously participate in each of its tournaments. Chiesa was allowed to enter the current boys postseason because Northwestern doesn’t have an all-girls program.
Chiesa opted for the boys tournament, which is why she’s competing with the Wildcats in this weekend’s Section 1A meet at Meadville and not in the district’s girls meet at Sharon. As a 107 returnee, she seeks the first-ever state medal for a female in the boys tournament that eluded her last March.
More: Five things to know ahead of the District 10 wrestling individual postseason
Others to consider
District matches will be held in 11 of the PIAA’s 13 weight classes. Hickory’s Kailynn Adams (190) and Aryah Veres (235) are assured of region berths as the only entrants for their divisions.
Besides Falk, other female wrestlers worth following on Saturday are, in alphabetical order:
Ashley Campbell, General McLane, 106 pounds
She’s projected to be involved in one of the tournament’s more competitive semifinal brackets.
The junior must wrestle in a quarterfinal match despite her 17-6 record. The division’s top two seeds, who received byes, are Greenville’s Madilyn Enterline (16 victories) and Saegertown’s Emma Spencer (17).
Campbell would face Spencer is she advances.
Deonna Chatfield (148) and Davaya Truman (155), Erie High
The freshmen will represent the Royals. Chatfield went 3-7 and Truman 3-5 during the regular season.
Madilyn Enterline, Greenville, 106
The senior was the 112 fourth-place medalist for the 2023 MyHouse tournament. She dropped a weight class for the current postseason.
Rylee Merritt, Girard, 112
The freshman will be the YellowJackets’ tournament representative. She went 3-8 while competing with their boys program.
Kacie Mook, Saegertown, 130
The senior joined Chiesa as the district’s other championship finalist for last season’s MyHouse tournament. Kennett’s Haylie Jaffre recorded a 24-9 technical fall against her in their 136 title match.
Mook, the top seed (20-6) in Saturday’s 130 division, is already assured a berth in the division’s final.
Avry Ryhal, Hickory, 155
The senior, at 19-1, has the best record for any of Saturday’s participants. She also was the district’s highest-ranked wrestler (second) for this week’s Asics/Gear2Compete state polls.
North Allegheny senior Leyna Rumpler (26-1) was first.
Daylee Watson, Conneaut, 112
Her initial varsity season concluded with a fifth-place medal during the MyHouse tournament.
Now a sophomore, she’s bracketed to win her weight class despite a 7-13 record.
D-10 girls wrestling pairings
Championship brackets for the inaugural District 10 girls wrestling tournament at Sharon. The gold medalists in each division automatically advance to the March 2 West Region tournament at Canonsburg’s Canon-McMillan High School:
Teams: Fort LeBoeuf (FL), Hickory (Hy), General McLane (GM), Sharpsville (Sv), Conneaut (Conn), Greenville (Gv), Saegertown (Sae), Girard (G), Eisenhower (Eis), Youngsville (Y), Commodore Perry (CP), Erie High (EH), Warren (W), Reynolds (Rey)
Quarterfinals
106 pounds: Kiai Miklovic (FL) vs. Haley Hoffman (Hy); Ashley Campbell (GM) vs. Riley Knechtel (Sv)
112: Daylee Watson (Conn) vs. Myah Peterson (Gv); Ella McGuire (FL) vs. Kylie Stafford (Sae); Laney Kilgore (Sv) vs. Rylee Merritt (G); Bryndalyn Lindell (Eis) vs. Emma Johnston (Hy)
118: Emma Stoepfel (Hy) vs. Sarah Blauser (Y)
124: Autumn Tingley (CP) vs. Shelby Lobdell (Y); Marissa Tanner (Hy) vs. Kelly Enterline (Gv); Nakita Nelson (Eis) vs. Katherine Hurley (Sv)
136: Jazmyn Pisarchick (Sae) vs. McKenna Weirick (Hy)
148: Isabella Swayze-Marshall (CP) vs. Deonna Chatfield (EH)
170: Cecilia Ward (Sv) vs. Abbie Darr (Eis)
Semifinals
100 pounds: Ella Clark (GM) vs. Jillian Mount (Hy)
106: Madilyn Enterline (Gv) vs. Miklovic-Hoffman winner; Emma Spencer (Sae) vs. Campbell-Knechtel winner
118: Leah Sample (Sae) vs. Stoepfel-Blauser winner; Haley White (Sv) vs. Jenna Kophazy (W)
124: Elora Dillinger (Sae) vs. Tingley-Lobdell winner
130: Kaylee Sowash (Sv) vs. Abby Hoffman (Hy)
136: Kasey Kophazy (W) vs. Pisarchick-Weirick winner; Zamira Arnold (Sv) vs. Sophia Wise (Rey)
142: Royale Reno-Gaus (Sae) vs. Kendall Rodgers (Sv)
148: Katie Seamens (W) vs. Swayze-Marshall-Chatfield winner; Riley Tighe (Sv) vs. Cece Perman (Hy)
155: Bella Colello (Sv) vs. Davaya Truman (EH)
170: Trinity Webster (Hy) vs. Ward-Darr winner; Makenzie Glaiser (Rey) vs. Zoey Sample (Sae)
Finals
100 pounds: Abby Falk (FL) vs. Clark-Mount winner
130: Kacie Mook (Sae) vs. Sowash-Hoffman winner
142: Taylor Pears (Hy) vs. Reno-Gaus-Rodgers winner
155: Avry Ryhal (Hy) vs. Colello-Truman winner
Note: Hickory’s Kailynn Adams (190) and Aryah Veres (235) will advance as the only entrants for their weight classes.
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: District 10 history to be made with Saturday's girls wrestling meet
