Valley Sports ReportHONESDALE, Pa. — Senior Hanna Rathbun and freshman Skylynn Payne each won individual titles for the second weekend in a row, and led Athens to a second-place finish at the rugged Queen of the Hive Tournament.
Also reaching the podium for the Wildcats were runners-up sophomore Alyssa Rinebold and Evelyn Cummings, third-place finishers junior Abigail Wagner, senior Leah Nason, and sophomore Memphis Paul, fourth-place finisher sophomore Abigail Ahern, fifth-place finisher junior Joyce Clink, and sixth-place finisher freshman Chelsea Renninger.
Hughesville claimed the team title with 223 points, while Athens tallied 181 points. Easton finished third with 140, Delaware Valley was fourth with 126, and Pocono Mountain West was fifth with 119. Towanda placed eighth with 103.5 points, and Northeast Bradford was 15th with 47.
Payne, who is 9-0 with nine falls on the season, was 4-0 with four first-period pins to win the 190-pound title.
Payne pinned third-seeded Brianna Sumac of Pocono Mountain West in 1:48 after building an 11-0 lead.
Payne's other three pins came in 30, 22 and 41 seconds, which came in the finals against Wilson's Karley Martinez in the finals.
Rathbun, the top seed at 136 pounds, was also 4-0 with four first-period pins to claim her title.
Rathbun's first two falls came in 31 and 19 seconds. In the semifinals, she pinned fifth-seeded Emma Selfe of Crestwood in 1:05.
In the finals, Rathbun scored a fall in 1:36 over Western Wayne's unseeded Adysen Wargo, who has upended the 2-seed in the semifinals.
Rathbun is also 9-0 with nine first-period falls.
Rinebold, the second seed at 106 pounds, trailed Wilson's Emma Smith, 3-0, midway through the third period of their opening-round match when she turned a reversal into a fall at 5:17.
After a fall at the second-period buzzer in the quarterfinals, Rinebold fell behind 7-0 in the first 36 seconds against Pocono Mountain West's Jolmarie Martinez.
Trailing 8-1, Rinebold used a reversal and four near-fall points midway through the second period to close the gap to 8-7. She started on top in the third period, and turned Martinez to her back for a fall at 4:56.
In the finals, Hughesville standout and top-seeded Julia Ritter turned Rinebold to her back to end the scoreless battle with a fall at 3:05.
Cummings, who finished third at last wee's Jarvis Tournament, was 3-1 to place second in the 235-pound bracket.
She opened with pins of 1:55 and 1:17 to advance to the semifinals, where she pinned second-seeded Keira Landmesser of Greater Nanticoke in 57 seconds.
In the finals, Cummings scored the first takedown, but Hazelton's Evelyn Sheer turned a reversal into a fall at 1:40.
Nason, a three-time state qualifier and two-time District 4 champ, was the top seed at 235 and finished third with a 4-1 mark.
She scored back-to-back falls to open the day, then loss via third-period fall to Sheer.
Nason bounced back with a 33-second pin of Easton's Arianna Hall in the consolation semifinals, then decked Wilson's Alley Martinez in 1:36 in the third-place match.
Wagner, the second seed at 170 pounds, scored consecutive first-period falls to reach the semifinals, where shot lost via second-period fall to third-seeded Kate Prior of Delaware Valley.
Wagner bounced back with a pin of Western Wayne's Meghan Rath in 2:08 in the consolation semifinals, and Celeste Gildenhuys of Easton in 2:54 in the third-place match.
Paul, the third seed at 142 pounds, finished 4-1 on the day to finish third in her bracket.
Paul started the day with pins in 31 seconds and 1:21 to advance to the semifinals, where she dropped a 19-3 technical fall to second-seeded Miah Molinaro of Hazelton.
In the consolation semifinals, Paul decked Elysia Brown of Pocono Mountain West in 34 second, then pinned her teammate Abigail Ahern in the third-place match.
Ahern, unseeded in the 142-pound bracket, pinned fifth-seeded Gabriela Rivas in 2:43 in the semifinals, but fell victim to second-seeded Avery Earnest of Hughesville in 1:31 in the semifinals.
Ahern bounced back in the consolation semifinals, scoring a takedown in overtime to secure a 10-7 win over Towanda's Lia Fischer.
Clink finished 3-2 on the day to finished fifth in the 124-pound bracket.
Clink started the day with falls in 49 and 39 seconds, then lost an 8-6 decision to Hazelton's Valerie Bustillo in the semifinals.
After dropping a 4-0 decision to Hughesville's Leah Lehman in the consolation semifinals, Clink received a forfeit in the fifth-place match.
Renninger was 5-1 on the day, but finished sixth after she was unable to wrestle in the consolation semifinals due to the six-match limit.
After a pin of Ily Benjamin of Towanda in 1:49 in the opening round, Renninger was knocked into the consolation brace by Easton's Maiya Lang.
Renninger bounced back with falls of 34 and 30 seconds, then scored two more falls — pinning Wilkes-Barre Area's Jacqueline Hernandez in 2:19 and Hughesville's Makoda Charles in 2:06 — to finish her day.
Freshman Makayla Brinkley was 2-2 in the 130-pound bracket.
After losing her first bout, Makayla Brinkly scored a pair of pins — in 53 seconds and 2:36, before bowing out in the first consolation round-of-8.
Sophomore Mya Burke was 1-2 in the 112-pound bracket, her only win a pin of Dieruff's Leliah Diaz in 2:49.
Junior Kailynn Keltz was 1-2 in the 130-pound weight class, winning her first match via fall over Honesdale's Olivia Blunder in 1:19.
Freshman Charlotte Rosh (155), sophomore Hailey Brinkley (100), and freshman Millicent Steves (190) were each 0-2 on the day.
Athens returns to action Saturday at the Elizabeth Tournament.
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IN PHOTO: Athens senior Hannah Rathbun. ... VSR STOCK PHOTO.
