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PIAA GIRLS WRESTLING: NEB'S KOLESAR REACHES PODIUM WITH SEVENTH-PLACE FINISH AT STATES (22 PHOTOS) (2023-03-13)

By TIM BIRNEY
Northern Tier Sports Report
HARRISBURG — Northeast Bradford freshman Anaiah Kolesar posted a 3-2 record to reach the podium here Sunday with a seventh-place finish at the MyHouse Pa. Girls State Wrestling Championships.

Her Athens wrestling teammates, fellow freshmen Hanna Rathbun and Leah Nason, each ended up one victory shy of winning a medal.

Kolesar, the fourth seed at 112 pounds, had an up-and-down day, winning her first match, before dropping a hard-fought, 2-0, decision in the quarterfinals. She bounced back with a major decision win in wrestlebacks, but lost a 4-0 decision in the “blood round,” before ending her day with a win in the seventh-place match.

“Anaiah had a great tournament at Regionals,” said Athens coach Jay White. “She was beating a girl who was in the state semis last year only to get caught in a five-point move in the last 15 seconds to lose it, so she’s good enough to be in the state semis, she just made some mental errors today.

“Anaiah is a tough kid … she ran into a super-tough girls (Madilyn Enterline) in the quarterfinals, who was 28-10 against the boys this year. She is really good.

“Anaiah will get better. She doesn’t like to lose,” added White. “She’s use to winning, this will be a little bot of motivation for next year. I expect great things out of her.”

After a scoreless first period in her opening match against Parkland’s Sage Rittenhouse, Kolesar rode top in the second period until sinking in an arm bar and turning Rittenhouse for the fall at 3:59.

Kolesar’s quarter-final match-up against fifth-seeded Enterline was also scoreless after the first period. Kolesar rode top in the second period, until Enterline scored a reversal with 28 seconds remaining.

Enterline was then able to ride Kolesar out for the entire third period to preserve the win.

In her first consolation bracket match, Kolesar found herself trailing 2-0 after Selinsgrove’s Tamiah Fegley registered a takedown with 11 seconds remaining in the first period.

Kolesar chose neutral to start the second period, and dominated the middle two minutes. She scored a four-point move 30 seconds into the stanza, and added another three-point set of back points to take a 7-2 lead into the final two minutes.

Fegley chose top to start the third period, but Kolesar managed a reversal midway through the stanza, then finished the bout with a three-point near-fall move for a 12-3 major decision.

In the consolation round-of-4, Kolesar dropped a 4-0 decision to Conneaut Area’s Daylee Watson, who scored a reversal midway through the second period, and a takedown with 46 seconds left in the third period for the win.

In the seventh-place match, Kolesar recorded a 6-2 decision over Parkland’s Abigail Taylor.

Kolesar scored a takedown midway through the first period, and maintained the 2-0 lead after successfully riding top the entire second period.

In the third period, Kolesar scored a four-point move, and led 6-0 when Taylor registered a reversal with 46 seconds remaining.

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IN PHOTOS: Anaiah Kolesar.

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