Western Wayne’s Mia Gifford, top, wrestles Honesdale’s Alexa Skelton in the 112-pound match Friday night at Western Wayne. JESSE CAREY / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Western Wayne’s Morgan Malloy pins Honesdale’s Leah Klinkiewicz in the 118-pound match Friday night at Western Wayne. JESSE CAREY / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Show Caption
1 of 2
Western Wayne’s Mia Gifford, top, wrestles Honesdale’s Alexa Skelton in the 112-pound match Friday night at Western Wayne. JESSE CAREY / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
S. CANAAN TWP. — After a solid first year of wrestling, Adysen Wargo entered this season looking to improve her offense and shoot more.
The Western Wayne junior did just that Friday night, when she took down Honesdale’s Olivia Blundell and pinned her in 45 seconds during the 136-pound bout.
“I thought I did pretty well,” Wargo said after the Lady ‘Cats’ 36-18 victory over the Lady Hornets at Western Wayne. “Just not getting in my head, just going out there and wrestling like you should.”
The other change for Wargo is her freshman sister, Rheagan, now wrestles alongside her on the varsity squad.
“We always used to joke about it when we were kids, like oh imagine when we get to high school because we only played softball at that point and then we both joined wrestling,” Adysen said. “And now it’s like, oh my sister’s on the team. That’s my sister. I think it’s so fun. I love having her around.”
So does Western Wayne, as Rheagan, who won by forfeit Friday, is 15-5 this season with nine pins. The freshman also has a Battle on the Delaware title, ranks 15th in the state at 100 pounds according to PA Power Wrestling and is a state honorable mention according to pa-wrestling.com.
“I think I’ve been doing really well, very good offensively and decent defensively,” Rheagan said. “I’m doing very good, but I think I can do better. And I hope to do better.”
Although they are far apart in weight classes, with Adysen hovering around 136-142 and Rheagan at 100, they still work with each other and have a natural rivalry.
“It’s cool, but also really annoying, because obviously siblings,” Rheagan said with a laugh. “But it’s fun. We do multiple sports together.
“We still could shoot on each other and everything. We still try to run pins and everything, but other than that we can’t really do much, because live is very unfair.”
They not only have an effect on each other, but also on the room.
“They’re both relatively new to wrestling, it’s just their second year, but their work ethic and attitude it’s contagious for the girls,” Western Wayne coach Harry Harrison said. “They really push each other.
“Adysen really takes that leadership role without even being asked to. It’s like it comes natural to her. With the junior high girls being in the same practice room, it’s rubbing off on them. So, both of them are excellent role models and good examples of what it’s like, not just to be a wrestler, but also what being a student athlete is about.”
Adysen, who is 16-7 this season with 16 pins and is ranked 21st in the state at 136 according to PA Power Wrestling, placed fourth in District 2 at 130 last season to qualify for the Central Regional in her first year of wrestling.
“I’m just an aggressive person,” Adysen said. “I like contact. I was always told I was strong. My friends all used to do it in high school, and I was like why not?”
Her leadership is a huge value to the team, as veterans Mia Gifford and Katelyn Nunez are in their final high school seasons.
Gifford is a two-time district champion, and fell just short of states two years in a row because of a concussion and a torn ACL she suffered at regionals, placing fifth as a sophomore and sixth as a junior. Last season, she gutted out the state-qualifying match with the torn ACL and only lost, 3-2.
She pinned Alexa Skelton on Friday night to improve her record to 15-4 with 10 pins and her career mark to 62-19. She is ranked 21st in the state at 112 according to PA Power Wrestling.
“Mia’s experience, not only during the wrestling season, but her experience during the postseason, she’s really helping these girls mentally get ready for what it’s like,” Harrison said. “Next week, we’ve got Coal Cracker, it’s a two-day tournament, so (she helps) getting them mentally ready for that.”
Nunez wrestled with the program since Western Wayne became the 11th girls team in Pennsylvania in 2021. She is 8-6 this season and 59-28 in her career.
“Katelyn’s been wrestling a long time,” Harrison said. “Her technique is very good. It’s their experience and their technique. They’re very helpful with their teammates. They’re good examples. Mia’s work ethic is above and beyond. She’s like a bulldog, so that mentality. People don’t realize, a lot of wrestling is mentality. So, what Mia, Katelyn and Adysen bring to the table, if we didn’t have them I don’t think we’d be as successful as we are now. It’s not just them winning. It’s what they’re doing for the rest of their team and bringing them up.”
Besides Rheagan, Meghan Rath, who got a forfeit victory Friday, is another freshman thriving for the Lady ‘Cats with a 14-7 record. Morgan Malloy (118) added a first-period pin Friday.
The Lady ‘Cats will face undefeated Wallenpaupack on Jan. 21 at Wallenpaupack.
“I think they’re doing very well,” Harrison said. “For a small team, we don’t have a full roster, we’re staying competitive. Even against teams that do have full rosters. It’s a good core. We’ve got a nice mixture of some seniority and some experience and some young wrestlers. So, it’s a nice mixture, and they push each other. I’m very proud of them.”
Honesdale’s Saige Olver pins Western Wayne’s Katelyn Nunez in the 124-pound match Friday night at Western Wayne. JESSE CAREY / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
101 for Olver
After becoming the first District 2 girls wrestler to surpass 100 career victories Dec. 28, Saige Olver added to her total Friday night with a second-period pin of Nunez in the 124-pound bout.
“It showed how my dedication paid off, and all my hard work,” the Honesdale senior said of her milestone win.
Olver, the 2024 Times-Tribune Girls Wrestler of the Year, is 17-3 with 15 pins this season and 101-18 in her career. As a sophomore, she captured district and regional titles before earning state bronze. Last season, she battled through torn labrums to place first at districts, second at regionals and eighth at states.
“I’m working on recovering, building some muscle and going on with the season,” said Olver, who is ranked fourth in the state at 124 according to pa-wrestling.com and fifth in the state according to PA Power Wrestling.
Honesdale’s Maddison Miller is also off to a stellar start at 16-2 with 12 pins. Last year in her freshman season, she placed second in the district, third in the region and eighth in the state. Ranked sixth in the state at 142 according to pa-wrestling.com and seventh at 148 according to PA Power Wrestling, Miller secured Battle on the Delaware, Queen of the Hive and Hanover Area Holiday Classic titles this season.
Honesdale travels to Wallenpaupack on Monday. Next weekend, they’ll compete in the Coal Cracker Invitational.
“(We’re) a good team,” Olver said. “They’re all really nice. They’re super hard-working. We might not win a dual because of our numbers, but I think that if we had the numbers, we would definitely be winning.”
100: R. Wargo (WW) by forfeit; 106: Smith (WW) by forfeit; 112: Gifford (WW) pinned Skelton, 1:59; 118: Malloy (WW) pinned Klinkiewicz, 1:50; 124: Olver (HON) pinned Nunez, 3:11; 130: No contest; 136: Wargo (WW) pinned Blundell, :45; 142: Whalen (HON) pinned Markulin, 3:25; 148: No contest; 155: No contest; 170: Rath (WW) by forfeit; 190: No contest; 235: Martin (HON) by forfeit.
Perfect ‘Paupack
The Lady Buckhorns stayed unbeaten with a 41-36 win over Delaware Valley on Wednesday night at Delaware Valley.
Alayna Atos (136) secured her 50th win with a first-period pin, and Gia Silva (112) and Lillian Schock (148) returned to the mat for Wallenpaupack and also had first-period pins.
Silva, a junior, wrestled her first match of the season to push her career record to 42-19. The Times-Tribune All-Region wrestler earned silver at districts and regionals to qualify for states last season.
Schock last wrestled at the Queen of the Hive tournament, where she placed second, in December. The junior is 6-1 this season and 41-22 in her career and ranks 15th in the state at 148 according to PA Power Wrestling.
Rosa SanClementi is off to a strong start to the season. Ranked 23rd in the state at 112 according to PA Power Wrestling, the junior is 12-3 this season and 45-26 in her career and earned bronze at the Hanover Area Holiday Classic.
Delaware Valley wrestler Kate Prior, center, holds her school record banner with head coach Evans Bates, left, and assistant coach Karley May. COURTESY OF THOMAS PRIOR
For the records
Although the Lady Warriors lost to Wallenpaupack on Thursday, they celebrated Kate Prior securing two school records. The Delaware Valley senior pinned Mya Statile in 52 seconds to set to school records for wins (64) and pins (52), surpassing Sarah Seltzer.
The 2025 Times-Tribune Girls Wrestler of the Year and a state bronze medalist, Prior is 15-1 with 15 pins this season and is ranked second in the state at 170 according to pa-wrestling.com and PA Power Wrestling.
Manning the ship
Hayden Manning is 9-0 this season, including six pins, and ranks 19th in the state at 155 according to PA Power Wrestling and is a pa-wrestling.com honorable mention. Along the way, the Lady Comets freshman captured Queen of the Hive and Hanover Area Holiday Classic titles.
She will try to stay unbeaten this weekend, as Abington Heights is wrestling at the Souderton Big Red tournament.
Two for the show
Before Wednesday night’s Lackawanna League Division I boys matchup between Abington Heights and West Scranton, the Lady Invaders’ Jocelyn Suhow Sanchez and Kamiah Green secured wins in the two contested girls matches at West Scranton.
West Scranton’s Kamiah Green, right, and Abington Heights’ Grace Welch compete in the girls 124-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. Green won the match with a pin. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Sanchez secured a late takedown for a 10-8 win over Abington Heights’ Zoey Hearst in the 118-pound bout before Green pinned Grace Welch in the first period at 124.
Fresh start
Cidney Schaffer is ranked second in the state at 100 according to PA Power Wrestling. The Lady Lions freshman is part of the boys team and wrestled mostly boys this season, compiling a 16-8 record with seven pins.
She placed third at the South Williamsport Mountaineer Invitational, fourth at the Lackawanna League Championships, fifth at Battle on the Delaware and sixth at the Frank Wadas Memorial Tournament.