Dec 21, 2024
MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Bella Young controls Montgomery’s McKenna Hakes in the 118 pound bout Tuesday night at Montgomery.
To say that Hughesville’s girls wrestling program has depth would be quite an understatement. Anyone at Montgomery High School on Tuesday evening was witness to that by seeing the Spartans’ wrestlers run around the mat and warm up.
How many wrestlers wear a Hughesville singlet? Try 44.
The Spartans had a huge boost of girls come out this year to wrestle for the team. The talent pool is impressive at Hughesville and there’s numerous wrestlers who can take the mat on any given night at any given weight.
It’s a good problem for coach Royce Eyer to have.
“It’s a huge blessing to have the number of girls,” Eyer said. “This year with the program we have 44 girls in, it’s a lot to manage, but gives us a lot of options and brings out competition to the (practice) room.”
No wrestler has a guaranteed spot in the lineup, and that speaks to how many talented wrestlers Hughesville has.
Hughesville has seven wrestlers on the team who wrestled at states, regionals or districts last year in state qualifiers Lexi Kurzawa (eight-place finish in 2024), Ariahna Moore and Julia Ritter, returning regional qualifiers Abbi Bowman, Alaina Hicks and Avery Puderbach, and returning district qualifier Hailey Hall.
While those seven bring a ton of experience, other wrestlers have already stepped up this year and showcased their abilities. On Tuesday, it was senior Ava Swisher — a first-year wrestler — who had the win of the night by pinning Montgomery’s Malayna Beattie in the second period in 3 minutes, 31 seconds to clinch Hughesville’s dual against rival Montgomery and secure a 48-30 win at 190 pounds.
“Ava’s brand new for the program and just started this summer, so to get a big win for her is great for her confidence,” Eyer said.
There’s also Jutiah Peterkin, a freshman who closed out Tuesday’s dual with a 14-second pin at 235.
“Jutiah is a freshman, so to step into that role and seal it like that was nice,” Eyer noted.
Leah Lehman (124) and Avery Earnest (142) both had wins on Tuesday and wrestlers like McKenna Sones, Bella Young, Deja Roark and Hicks wrestled well despite coming up on the losing end. And while obviously not every girl for Hughesville can be a starter in the lineup, the girls who don’t wrestle are more than supportive on the sideline, acting as coaches for their teammates. Numerous times on Tuesday against Montgomery fans could see wrestlers like Moore — a returning state qualifier — on the sidelines with her team instructing her teammates on the mat. The Spartans are a tight-knit group, and it’s helping lead to the team’s success.
“It’s the fastest growing sport in the country and we’re a testament to that,” Eyer said. “Probably double (the amount of girls) from last year, it’s pretty crazy.”
Hughesville has been wrestling well to start the year individually. The Spartans took second place at the Honesdale Queen of the Hill Tournament on Dec. 14 and opened the dual-meet season with Tuesday’s win vs. rival Montgomery.
Wrap all that together, and there’s a lot of confidence early on for Hughesville’s wrestlers throughout the lineup.
“Early success brings confidence and that’s what we’re hoping for with these girls. The more confident they are, the better they’re going to wrestle, so it’s exciting to see them get a win like that,” Eyer said. “You just constantly want to create these positive experiences for them so it builds their confidence (the first) time on the mat. A lot of first time (matches) for a lot of these girls, so it was nice to get a little competition. They responded very well.”
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