Hempfield’s Addison Horner is just a freshman. But what she does when she tangles with an opponent on the wrestling mat is sometimes downright scary.
At the Penn Manor Girls New Year Rumble on Jan. 6, Horner not only won all four of her matches, but did so with three falls and a 10-0 major decision at 118 pounds.
So it was funny when asked about her biggest fear of the day, she said it was stepping to the top of the podium to get her medal and the recently popular Stanley cup, one of which was given to each winner.
“It was a little high, and I was afraid I was going to trip or something,” Horner said with a hearty laugh.
Her opponents found Horner (10-2) no laughing matter.
In her first match, she pinned Northern Lebanon’s Sara Feagley in just 1:03. In the quarterfinals, she pinned Gettysburg’s Macee Bennage in 1:12.
In the semifinals, Horner defeated Wilson’s Hayley Cilento 10-0. In the final, she caught York Suburban’s Hazelin Price-Ierley with an arm bar to secure the fall in 1:56.
“I just kept going through and took it match by match,” Horner said. “I don’t look forward, because if I do, I would get too much in my head. I’m just so proud of my teammates.”
Also earning gold from the L-L were Columbia’s Alexandria Gamby (136) and Penn Manor’s Madison Wagner (170).
Gamby entered having wrestled just one match this season (a win).
Her first bout was a 17-2 technical fall in 4:35 over Souderton’s Emily Hernandez.
While she spent some time on the mat working the opposition in her next three matches, she won all three by fall.
She pinned Penn Manor’s Madison Stringer in 4:21 in the quarterfinals and Northern Lebanon’s Sadie Ostermayer in 2:57 in the semis.
In the championship match, she pinned a very tough Isabella Garrett from Gettysburg in 5:51. Garrett entered 10-2.
Wagner (11-8) pinned Red Lion’s Ava Grove in 2:39, got an 8-3 decision over Reading High’s Diamond Dejesus in the semifinals, then pinned William Tennent’s Meghan Gottschall in 3:12 in the final.
Four other girls from the L-L — Hempfield’s Cleona O’Brien (124), Octorara’s Taylor Orner (190) and Penn Manor’s Anisa Orr (142) and Brooklyn Ayala (235) — brought home silver.
Orr, despite being under the weather, still scored falls in 14 seconds, seven seconds and 17 seconds.
“This was my last tournament here at home, and I was pretty proud I placed,” Orr said. “It was hard to breathe. I came in here this morning sick and am just happy to be here.”
Placing third from the L-L were Hempfield’s Harriet Mack (100), Vanessa Houck (106) and Clementine O’Brien (112), Elizabethtown’s Gracie Woodring (118), and Ostermayer.
Coming in fourth were Penn Manor’s Jaden Emmert (100), Daniela Contin (130) and Stringer.
Placing fifth were Warwick’s Sadie McClain (100) and Lily Sell (124), Octorara’s Cassidy Jeffries (112), Northern Lebanon’s Rebecca Hilton (142) and Penn Manor’s Madelyn Frizado (155).
Elizabethtown’s Jordyn Griswold (148) came in sixth.
Jeffries’ words epitomized what girls wrestling brings to the table.
“As a first-year program, we are still learning a lot of stuff and new positions,” she said. “This builds our self-esteem. It builds confidence. It feels pretty good.”
Gettysburg, ranked third in the state by pa-wrestling.com, won the event with 152 points. Penn Manor was second with 123 points and Hempfield third with 115.
“It ran really smoothly,” Penn Manor coach Scott Shenk said. “We are bummed about the (snowy) weather. It cut out about a quarter of our competition, and the fans. But all the feedback has been positive, and we hope to do it again next year, maybe with a junior high tournament, and hope to make it one of the preeminent New Year’s tournaments.”
Iron sharpens iron
Sunday’s Cumberland Valley Duals is arguably one of the most prestigious tournaments in Pennsylvania and getting an invite is an honor. The top six girls teams in the state, according to rankings by pa-wrestling.com, are among the eight competing at Mechanicsburg.
L-L teams participating are McCaskey (ranked fourth) and Penn Manor.
The other six teams are Cumberland Valley (No. 1), Canon-McMillan (No. 2), Gettysburg (No. 3), South Western (No. 5), Parkland (No. 6) and Easton.
“You have Canon-McMillan, Gettysburg and Cumberland Valley, who just won in Ohio against one of the top teams in the nation, and Penn Manor will be there,” McCaskey coach Kevin Franklin said. “Coach (Ryan) Seagreaves (of Cumberland Valley) was selective in who was there to make it tough.
“We know it will be a rough day, but that will help because now you start to look at some of those teams and know how good good is. And if that is what your dreams are, then that is the effort and level of performance you need to be exhibiting on a regular basis to get there.”
