Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon girls runner-up in WPIAL wrestling
Upper St. Clair’s Grace Nasman and Mt. Lebanon’s Paige Jox grabbed silver medals during the second annual WPIAL championships for girls wrestling.
With their runner-up showings the pair along with three other area female grapplers qualified for the PIAA West Regional to be held March 1 at North Allegheny High School. The top finishers in the 13 weight classes will then advance to the state championships to be held March 6-8 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Nasman battled a “talented” field to reach the finals in the 142-pound weight class. She started with a fall in 1:56 against NA’s Ava Anthony. Nasman then racked up major decisions against Canon-McMillan’s Alexia Ashby, 11-0, and Seneca Valley’s Alyssa Tresco, 9-0, to reach the finals before she was felled by Avella’s Abigail Dolanch.
“Grace is a true student of the sport of wrestling,” said her coach Chris Tarr. “She is always wanting to learn more. She asks lots of questions, and she enjoys watching films to learn from her mistakes. This preparation is what propelled her into the WPIAL finals against a very talented opponent.”
Tarr cited Tasman’s recent participation in the NA Tournament as perfect preparation. There she faced Tresco and lost.
“Grace learned from her mistakes and went into her match with a plan and executed,” Tarr said.
“Grace does not get rattled by losses. She figures out what went wrong and changes her approach.”
A freshman, Nasman has “unlimited potential” and Tarr predicts she can become USC’s first female 100-match winner not to mention WPIAL and PIAA champion someday, but the next round of competition will be challenging.
“With the girls in the 142-pound weight class, the Western Regional tournament is going to be very tough. These girls are very familiar with one another. They have all wrestled several times,” Tarr said.
“Grace has a good base positionally, but she will need to diversify her style a little to qualify for the PIAA tournament,” he added. “Grace has the right attitude and work ethic though to achieve all of her goals.”
Nasman has mounted a 27-6 record this winter and has helped the Lady Panthers post an 11-5 record.
Nasman was joined at WPIALs by teammates Genevieve Hanson, Anna Taube, Elena Wetzel, Defne Aksoy, and Jamie Hughes.
“They all had good WPIAL tournaments,” Tarr said. “I am ecstatic about the current status and future of our entire wrestling program at USC.”
Meanwhile, Jox repeated as a WPIAL runner-up and looks to improve upon last year’s fourth-place finish when she competes at the regionals.
The junior slipped to 26-2 overall this winter when she dropped a 7-3 decision to Knoch’s Braylee Ireland in the 118-pound final.
“Throughout the match there were little adjustments I could have made,” Jox said. “So I just have to get back to practice and work on the mistakes I made. It’s not like that match was one that I couldn’t win. I just have to make some adjustments before I get back.”
After receiving a first-round bye in the tournament because she was seeded No. 1, Jox returned to the finals by registering a tech fall against NA’ Anna Kovacic, 17-2, a pin in 3:04 against Hempfield’s Teagan Zola and a 17-5 major decision against Greensburg Salem’s Sadie Sarver.
Jox will make the trip to regionals with two teammates as Sophia Beanner and Juliana VanSlyke both finished fifth in their respective weight classes at 106 and 130.
Peters Township advanced a female grappler to the regionals as well. Liliana Giulianelli finished fourth at 190.
USC BOYS
Upper St. Clair qualified six wrestlers for the WPIAL Class 3A championships. Among the grapplers earning berths from their showings during the Southern Sectional were: Spencer Hills, Alisher Abdurakhmanov, Alex Tucker, Derek Worstell, Luca Coury, and Bryce Catanzaro.
The numbers are triple during Chris Tarr’s season as the helm. In his first year as USC mat boss, two wrestlers qualified for the district championships – Ben Cedar and Ty Shields. Last year in his second season at the helm, Tarr again coached two grapplers to the district finals – Michael Albert and Ronan Gibbons.
“I’m very proud of what we have accomplished in my first three seasons at USC,” Tarr said. “The program is growing in popularity, numbers, and quality. I’m excited about the trajectory of USC wrestling.”