By Todd Irwin

sports@altoonamirror.com

The myriad of illnesses that have taken a toll on families throughout the winter took somewhat of a toll on the Northern Bedford girls wrestling team at the Central Regional Tournament on Saturday at Milton High School.

Illness didn’t stop junior Kaylee Ebersole from repeating as Central Regional champion at 100 pounds. She defeated Marion Center’s Nina Twigg, 13-7, in a rematch of the District 5-6-9 Tournament championship finals.

But illness prevented senior Raegan Snider from finishing her showdown against Chestnut Ridge’s Juliet Alt at 155. Snider took an injury default loss at the 4:00 mark of her much anticipated finals bout against Alt.

Northern Bedford senior Ava Helsel finished in third place at 106 pounds, giving the Lady Black Panthers three qualifiers for the second girls PIAA Championships. That tournament begins on Thursday in Hershey.

“I’m really, really happy for each of them,” Northern Bedford coach Zach Clark said. “Each of our girls bust their butts and put a lot of time and effort into it. I’m really proud to be able to take that many to the state tournament.

“We’ve got a lot of sickness going on within the team. So hopefully we’re able to get that taken care off at the beginning of this week and not have to worry about it Thursday.”

Northern Bedford’s Yasmin Miller (112) and Hollidaysburg’s Carina Parks (130) went 2-2. Penn Cambria’s District 6 champ Bethany Watt (130) and Northern Bedford’s Emily Dennis (124) were 1-2. Altoona’s Lindsey Boose (235), Central Cambria’s Emily Shetler (130) and Glendale’s Elizabeth Kaufman (106) went 0-2.

Ebersole recorded pins in 30 seconds in the quarterfinals and 1:06 in the semifinals. Ebersole, who pinned Twigg for the district title, trailed 5-2 entering the second period on Saturday.

But Ebersole scored a takedown early in the seconds and notched four nearfall points later in the period to take a 9-5 lead. She added an escape, takedown and tough riding until a late Twigg reversal broke up the major decision.

“I was very happy with the way she wrestled,” Clark said. “She was kind of in the same boat. She was feeling all right for most of the day, and then toward the end of the day, she was getting a little bit under the weather as well. She battled through it and did what she had to do.”

Snider had pins in 45 seconds and 4:44 to reach the finals and set up the clash with Alt. Snider survived an ultimate tiebreaker win in the district finals to avenge two earlier losses to Alt.

But in the finals, Alt scored a takedown with 25 seconds remaining the first period before Snider took injury time. She took another injury timeout late in the second before Alt reversed with 10 seconds left. Snider had to default at the end of the second period.

“Up to that point, she wrestled very well,” Clark said. “She wrestled to the best of her ability with being sick. She was battling illness just about all day. She was throwing up. She kind of woke up like that. She wrestled through it. She showed a lot of courage and a lot of heart, and I’m very proud of her.”

Helsel went 4-1 and reached the semifinals before getting pinned by Montgomery’s eventual champion Jenna Houseknecht in 5:20. She rebounded with decisions, including a 7-0 win over Bald Eagle Area’s Eden Eveleth in the third place bout.

“She’s far exceeded her goals for the year,” Clark said. “She went with the goal of winning one match for the year. I know she’s excited for it.”

District 5-6-9 team champion Northern Bedford finished in fifth place in the team standings with 69.5 points, while Ridge (72) was fourth. Montgomery won the team title by 34.5 points, 127-92.5, over Hughesville.

Chestnut Ridge returning state champion Violette Lasure claimed the 148-pound title with three pins in 36 seconds or less.

Philipsburg-Osceola’s Charli Hunt earned the title at 136 by going 4-0, including a 12-1 win over Montgomery’s Briella Walk in the finals.

Bedford’s Mylah Steinbuch also won at 235 with two pins and a 6-1 decision over Honesdale’s Jaidyn Mikulak.

KEY, TOP 20 TEAM STANDINGS

1. M–Montgomery 127; 2. HUGH–Hughesville 92.5; 3. ATH–Athens 91.5; 4. CR–Chestnut Ridge 72; 5. NB–Northern Bedford 69.5; 6. HON–Honesdale 67; 7. B–Bedford 62; 8. S–Shikellamy 55; 9. GN–Greater Nanticoke 48; 10. BEA–Bald Eagle Area 47; 11. CM–Central Mountain and TOW–Towanda 46; 13. J –

Juniata 45; 14.P–Punxsutawney 43; 15. DV–Delaware Valley; 16. W–Wallenpaupack 39; 17. MIFF–Mifflinburg 35; 18. WVW–Wyoming Valley West 34; 19. PO–Philipsburg-Osceola and C–Clearfield 33.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

100–Ebersole, NB, dec. Twigg, Marion Center, 13-7; 106–Houseknecht, M, pinned Mayard, TOW, :52; 112–Reitz, Redbank Valley, pinned Silva, W, 3:55; 118–Rumsey, Williamsport, pinned Olver, HON, 4:43; 124–Kolesar, Northeast Bradford, maj. dec. Murphy, M, 10-1; 130–Furman, M, pinned Hess, Benton, 1:21; 136–Hunt, PO, maj. dec. Walk, M, 12-1

142–Harris-Haye, Greater Johnstown, pinned Falls, CM, 2:28; 148–Lasure, CR, pinned Kurzawa, HUGH, :29; 155–Alt, CR, won by injury default over Snider, NB, 4:00; 170–Miller, P, pinned Wagner, CM, 1:23; 190–Krepps, J, dec. Crestani, BEA, 6-1; 235–Steinbuch, B, dec. Mikulak, HON, 6-1.

THIRD PLACE

100–Dersham, MIFF, pinned Ritter, HUGH, 1:00; 106–Helsel, NB, dec. Eveleth, BEA, 7-0; 112–Kivler, GN, pinned Renninger, ATH, :44; 118–Seip, WVW, dec. Stiles, United, 4-0; 124–Campbell, S, dec. Clink, ATH, 7-1; 130–Rathbun, ATH, pinned Rebuck, S, 4:06; 136–Springer, Selinsgrove, maj. dec. Dey, CR, 11-1

142–Miller, HON, tech fall Earnest, HUGH, 15-0, 2:41; 148–Miller, Bishop McCort, dec. Bambarger, West Branch, 9-5; 155–Taylor, C, pinned Prior, DV, 4:59; 170–Ripka, GN, pinned Wagner, ATH, :59; 190–Murray, B, pinned Reichard, Central Columbia, 4:15; 235–Nason, ATH, pinned Bailey, Crestwood, 4:30.

FIFTH PLACE

100–Hershberger, B, pinned Steckley, Danville, 2:06; 106–Olshefskie, HUGH, won by forfeit over Gifford, Western Wayne; 112–Moore, HUGH, pinned Neal, P, 4:38; 118–Bryner, J, won by forfeit over Allis, TOW; 124–Brown, Hazleton, maj. dec. Watt, River Valley, 14-5; 130–Ankner, Hanover Area, pinned Wright, W, 1:47; 136–Queen, Curwensville, dec. Ziants, S, 10-5 OT

142–Shirley, Bradford, pinned Fitzpatrick, DV, 3:56; 148–Hernandez, Wilkes-Barre Area, pinned Thomas, Selinsgrove, 1:32; 155–Long, WVW, pinned Leet, M, :59; 170–Smith, DV, dec. Gottschall, Jersey Shore, 14-7; 190–Sanchez, Wilkes-Barre Area, pinned Stewart, MIFF, 3:13; 235–Edgar, Central Columbia, pinned Rine, M, 5:31 OT.