Valley Sports ReportWILLIAMSPORT — Senior Emma Renninger was Athens' lone champion, but seven of her teammates also reached the podium to lead the Wildcats to a second-place finish here Saturday afternoon at the Williamsport Girls Wrestling Showcase.
Senior Mary Henry, and sophomores Hanna Rathbun and Abigail Wagner were runners-up, while junior Haily Young and sophomore Leah Nason each placed third, and sophomore Joyce Clink and freshman Memphis Paul each placed fifth.
Hughesville won the team title with 205 points, while Athens tallied 148 points, and third-place Shikellamy had 138 points. Williamsport was fourth with 109.5 points, while Mifflinburg was fifth with 90 points, and Central Columbia was sixth with 83 points.
Northeast Bradford was ninth with 60 points, while Wellsboro was 14th with 31.5 points, Wyalusing was 19th in 13 points, and Sayre was 20th with 9 points.
Renninger, the top seed at 112 pounds, scored quick pins in her first two matches, decking Mechanicsburg's Hannah Nguyen in 25 seconds in the quarterfinals, and Wellsboro's fourth-seeded Jordan Ramsey in 40 seconds in the semifinals.
In the finals, Renninger led 9-3 after two periods, then fought off her back in the third period to preserve an 11-7 win over second-seeded Ariana Moore of Hughesville.
Rathbun, the top seed at 130 pounds, scored a pair of pins to advance to the finals. She decked Wellsboro's Megan Robbins in 63 seconds in the quarterfinals, and fourth-seeded Aubrey Rebuck of Shikellamy in 1:52 in the semifinals.
In the finals, Rathbun ran into a familiar foe in Benton's Callie Hess and lost via technical fall in 3:19.
Wagner, the third seed at 170 pounds, pinned Williamsport's Rosalie Trimble of Williamsport in 1:12 in the opening round, then beat sixth-seeded Danielle Bottiger of Shikellamy, 6-1, in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Wagner pulled out a 2-1 overtime win over second-seeded Isabella Gottschall.
In the finals, Abigail Wagner lost via first-period fall to top-seeded Kendall Wagner of Central Mountain.
Mary Henry, the second seed at 106 pounds, pinned Mifflinburg's Makenna Walter in 1:35 in the quarterfinals, then decked third-seeded Lillyan Wise of Central Columbia in 1:34 in the semifinals.
In the finals, Henry lost via second-period fall to top-seeded Isabella Olshefskie of Hughesville.
Young, the fifth seed at 190, lost her opening round match via third-period fall to fourth-seeded Kayla Fowler of Sullivan County, then bounced back to win two matches to place third.
In the consolation semifinals, Young forged a hard-fought, 8-5, decision over second-seeded Taylor Stewart of Mifflinburg to reach the third-place match, where she beat Shikellamy's Kirsten Grubbs, 8-3.
Nason, the third seed at 235, pinned Central Mountain's Jacey Tripp in 2:L13 in the quarterfinals, then dropped a 7-1 decision to second-seeded Aubrey Edgar of Central Columbia in the semifinals.
Nason bounced back with a 13-second pin of Mifflinburg's Sadie Plank to reach the third-place match, where she decked Tripp in 2:04.
Clink registered a 4-2 record to place fourth in the 124-pound bracket.
Clink opened with a 25-second pin of Shikellamy's Adeline Dreistadt in the opening round, then lost via first-period fall to fourth-seeded Kiera Johns of Danville in the quarterfinals.
Clink bounced back with a pin of Bellefonte's Carly Blair in 1:16, and a pin of Mifflinburg's Aubrey Fluman in 1:47 to reach the consolation semifinals, where she dropped an 8-0 major decision to Williamsport's Mykia Petrukevich.
In the fifth-place match, Clink forged a 12-3 major decision over Deja Roark.
Paul, the fourth seed at 142 pounds, pinned Sugar Valley Rural Charter's Olivia Johnson in 1:34 in the quarterfinals, then lost via first-period fall to Central Mountain's Austin Falls in the semifinals.
Paul lost via second-period fall in the consolation semifinals, then bounced back in the fifth-place match with a pin of Johnson in 1:26.
Freshman Annika Lezak was 1-2 at 136 pounds, with her lone win a 10-3 decision over Benton's Kenzie Meikrantz in the opening round.
Freshman Hailey Brinkley was 0-2 at 100 pounds, senior Madison Schneider was 0-2 at 106 pounds, sophomore Kalynn Kletz was 0-2 at 118 pounds, freshman Isabella Henry was 0-2 at 124 pounds, and sophomore Janaya Heinrich were 0-2 at 142 pounds.
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IN PHOTO: Athens senior Emma Renninger. ... PHOTO PROVIDED.
