The individual champions gather for a photo Sunday after the District 11 Girls' Wrestling Championships at Bethlehem Freedom High School. Included are Pine Grove's Geanna Lemke (second row, second from left) and Panther Valley's Brenda Banks (second row, far right). (Photo courtesy of District 11)

5 girls qualify for regionals

BETHLEHEM — Panther Valley’s Brenda Banks and Pine Grove’s Geanna Lemke dominated their respective brackets to roll to victory at the District 11 Girls’ Wrestling Championships on Sunday at Bethlehem Freedom High School.

Banks, a senior and three-time state champion, continued her dominant season. She cruised to the 235-pound championship with three first-period pins in 50 seconds, 48 seconds and 1:28. In the finals, the top-seeded Banks decked No. 2 Karla Montes of William Allen in 88 seconds.

Banks was voted the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler. She improved to 30-0 on the season and 103-2 for her career.

Meanwhile, Lemke, a sophomore 142-pounder and a No. 1 seed, proved just as overwhelming in winning all four of her bouts en route to the title. In the first two rounds, Lemke posted a pair of technical falls, outscoring her opponents by a combined 35-1. In the semifinals, Lemke (29-3) pinned Liberty’s Lidia Whistleon in 4:35; then, in the finals, Lemke pinned Northern Lehigh’s Anna Trelease in 1:39.

The league also produced two runners-up and one third-place finisher.

For Panther Valley, senior 170-pounder Alisa Williams had a fall and two decisions to make the finals. There, the second-seeded Williams (29-5) fell 11-0 to No. 1 seed Bryce Snyder of Palisades.

Pine Grove junior Rieleigh Purcell finished second at 190 pounds. Purcell, a No. 7 seed, knocked off the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds to make the finals. Parkland’s Lizkarla Grullon-Vasquez pinned Purcell (19-8) in 3:27 in the finals.

Pine Grove junior Audrey Graeff (235) came in seeded eighth but wrestled to a third-place finish. Graeff (9-6) got pinned by Banks in 50 seconds in the quarterfinals but rebounded with four straight pins in the consolations to earn her bronze. In all, Graeff went 5-1 in the tournament with five falls. Graeff stuck Northampton’s Kiera Rickard in 1:58 in their third-place bout.

For her efforts, Graeff won the tournament’s Pinner Award.

The top three placewinners in each weight class advance to the Southeast Regional Girls’ Wrestling Championships on Sunday, Feb. 22, at Quakertown High School. There, they will join the top five placewinners from District 1 for an eight-girl bracket. The top four placewinners at regionals will qualify for the PIAA Wrestling Championships, set for March 5-7 at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Pine Grove finished fifth in the 36-team field with 106 points. Parkland won the team title with 225 points. Nazareth finished second with 130.5, followed by East Stroudsburg South (117.5) and Emmaus (108).

3rd Place

5th Place

7th Place

Eagles’ Hilt places at JV districts

BETHLEHEM — Blue Mountain’s Sebastian Hilt earned a sixth-place medal Saturday at the Ray Nunemaker Memorial Junior Varsity Wresting Classic at Bethlehem Liberty High School.

Hilt, a 139-pounder, went 5-3 during the two-day event.

Easton won the team title with 171.5 points; Nazareth took second with 152.