DISTRICT 4 GIRLS WRESTLING: ATHENS CROWNS THREE CHAMPS, ADVANCES EIGHT TO REGIONALS; PLACES SECOND IN TEAM STANDINGS (2025-02-15)

Valley Sports Report
WILLIAMSPORT — Athens crowned three champs — senior Emma Renninger, junior Leah Nason, and sophomore Abigail Wagner, and advanced eight girls to Regionals here Saturday afternoon, while placing second at the District 4 Girls Wrestling Championships at Williamsport High School.

Hughesville captured the team title with 180 points, while Athens was second with 178.5 points, Montgomery was third with 167.5, Shikellamy was fourth at 138, and Selinsgrove was fifth with 124. Towanda was sixth with 100 and Northeast Bradford was ninth with 65.

Junior Hanna Rathbun, senior Mary Henry, and freshman Memphis Paul each placed third for the Wildcats, while freshman Alyssa Rinebold was fourth, and sophomore Joyce Clink was fifth.

Renninger, the third seed at 112 pounds, built a quick 7-0 lead on Milton's sixth-seeded Louis Bromley before scoring a fall at 1:20 in the quarterfinals.

In the semis, Renninger decked seventh-seeded Darrell Reyes-Ramirez of NEB, who scored an 8-4 win over second-seeded Navaho Strouse of Selinsgrove with a six-point move in the final 47 seconds.

In the finals, Renninger scored a takedown midway through the third period to win an 8-7 decision over top-seeded Arihana Moore of Hughesville.

Wagner, the top seed at 170 pounds, pinned her way into the finals. She pinned Mifflinburg's Skyline Little in 3:45 in the quarterfinals, then built an 8-0 lead against fourth-seeded Emmalynn White of Sulivan County before finishing off the fall at 2:24 in the semifinals.

In the finals, Wagner scored an escape and a takedown to take a 4-0 lead midway through the second period, and scored another takedown in the closing seconds of the third period to secure a 7-3 win over second-seeded Isabella Gottschall of Jersey Shore in the finals.

Nason, the second seed at 235, pinned her way to a title. She built a quick 9-0 lead on Williamsport's Payton Pepperman before finishing off the fall at 50 seconds in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Nason decked Hguhesville's Jatiah Peterkin in 44 seconds.

In the finals, Nason trailed top-seeded Aubrey Edgar of Central Columbia, who scored a takedown late in the second period, 3-0, but turned her for a fall at 4:52 to win the title.

Rathbun, the second seed at 130 pounds, scored a pair of quick falls to start her day, decking Sayre's Cheyanne Roloson in 33 seconds in the opening round, and pinning 10th-seeded Emma Schell of Williamsport in 43 seconds in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Rathbun lost via technical fall in 4:23 to third-seeded Zoe Furman of Montgomery, who went on to beat top-seeded Carlie Hess of Benton, 7-0, in the finals.

Rathbun bounced back in the consolation semifinals with a 17-1 technical fall of Hughesville's Avery Puderbach in 2:37.

In the third-place match, Rathbun built a 13-2 lead over fifth-seeded Aubrey Rebuck before finishing off the fall at 4:32.

Henry, the fifth seed at 106 pounds, pinned Selinsgrove's Mikayla Martin in 56 seconds in the quarterfinals, but lost via technical fall in 2:37 to top-seeded Jenna Houseknecht of Montgomery in the semifinals.

Henry bounced back in the consolation semifinals with a wild pin of Sullivan County's Kohana Yamashita in 4:04. Henry led 21-16 at the time of the fall, despite trailing 7-0 after one period, and 13-3 midway through the second period.

In the third-place match, Henry trailed 7-0 after the first period in a rematch with Martin, but took her directly to her back for a fall at 1:40.

Paul, the second seed at 142 pounds, scored a fall of Benton's Kenzie Meikrantz in 1:26 in the quarterfinals, but lost via first-period fall to third-seeded Elizabeth Varner in the semifinals.

Paul bounced back with a pair of quick falls to finish third. She decked fifth-seeded Chloe Gardner of Montgomery in 17 seconds in the consolation semifinals, and fourth-seeded Pepper Reed of CMVT in 41 seconds in the third-place match.

Rinebold, the third seed at 100 pounds, pinned Mifflinburg's Autumn Dersham in 2:48 in the quarterfinals, then dropped a 7-4 sudden-victory decision to second-seeded Julia Ritter of Hughesville, who scored an escape with 25 seconds remaining in the third period to tie the match at 4-4.

Rinebold pinned Wellsboro's Isla Twoey in 2:10 in the consolation semifinals, but lost via technical fall in 2:37 in a rematch with Dersham in the third-place match.

Clink, the eighth seed at 124 pounds, reached the podium the hard way.

She opened with a default win over Line Mountain's Patton Burgess in the opening round, then lost via technical fall in 3:54 to top-seeded Anaiah Kolesar of NEB in the quarterfinals.

Clink scored a pair of quick falls in wrestlbacks — decking Mifflinburg's Aubrey Fluman in 27 seconds, and fifth-seeded Mykia Petruskevich in 46 seconds — to reach the consolation semifinals, where she lost via first-period fall to third-seeded Rylee Campbell of Shikellamy.

In the fifth-place match, Clink trailed 7-0 after the first period, and 9-4 after the second, but reversed Selinsgrove's Quinn Smith to her back for a fall at 3:16.

Junior Haily Young, the second seed at 190 pounds, was 1-2 on the day, with her lone win a 10-0 major decision over Hughesville's Ava Swisher in the first round of wrestlebacks.

Sophomore Kaylynn Keltz was 1-2 on the day at 118 pounds, with her lone win a pin of Muncy's Zoe Kunkle in 1:52 in the first round of wrestlebacks.

Freshman Isabella Henry was 0-2 at 136 pounds, and sophomore Janaya Heinrich was 0-2 at 148 pounds.

Regionals will be held March 1 at Milton High School.

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IN PHOTO 1: Athens senior Emma Renninger. ... PHOTO PROVIDED.

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