Northern Tier Sports ReportMILTON — NEB’s Anaiah Kolesar won the 124 pound title at the PIAA Girls’ Central Championship on Saturday, beating state number one, Montgomery’s Emily Murphy, along the way.
Kolesar has lost twice to Murphy this season but defeated her 10-1 in the finals to take the title.
“I’m super happy for Anaiah punching her ticket to Hershey and becoming a Regional Champion,” said her coach Tyler Wheaton. “She wrestled a great tournament to reach the finals against a real tough familiar opponent (number 1 ranked girl in the state). She had a great game plan and wrestled a smart match and had faith. This should give her some momentum and confidence heading into next week, but we just have to take it one match at a time.”
Kolesar opened the tournament with an 18-0 tech fall, then got back to back pins to reach the finals.
Ava Lambert (148) went 1-2 over the weekend. She opened with a fall in the first round, but then lost by fall in the second, and dropped out of the tournament with a 6-0 loss in the consolations.
Cora Franklin (155) went 0-2 on the day. She was pinned her opener, then fell 11-0 in the wrestlebacks.
“I’m super proud of these girls,” Wheaton said. “To have three regional qualifiers, I'm happy about that and the effort that they put in today. I'm proud of Ava and Cora for their effort today. The improvements that they made from last year to this year to not make it out of districts to becoming regional qualifiers is something as a coach. I’m proud of their accomplishment.”
The PIAA Championships start Thursday of this week.
— —
PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
