The Coal Cracker is an event that embodies wrestling.

A two-day tournament that draws teams from across Pennsylvania, producing a level of competition often seen in the postseason.

This year was no different, with over 40 teams and over 700 wrestlers packing Lehighton’s Elementary Center and High School gymnasiums for one of the biggest weekends of the year.

What was new this season was a separate girls’ tournament that took place Saturday.

It was a moment that showcased the continued growth and interest in girls’ wrestling, and a chance those competing were grateful for.

“It was an amazing opportunity, and it was an amazing experience,” said Palmerton sophomore Gretchen Schaible. “To see that many girls at a competition, just girls wrestling girls, it was a very interesting experience and I thought it was a lot of fun.”

There has been a groundswell of support for girls’ wrestling, with Sanction PA advocating such efforts.

Sanction PA is a grassroots effort to work toward getting high school girls wrestling approved as a sanctioned sport in Pennsylvania through cooperation with local schools and The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA). The Sanction PA campaign includes advocacy efforts, education resources, promotional materials, and collaboration with schools. The goal is for 100 PIAA-member schools in Pennsylvania to officially recognize and approve a girls wrestling program at the high school level and ultimately have the sport sanctioned at the state level.

Having a separate girls’ tournament as part of the Coal Cracker was discussed previously before last year’s tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The girls’ thing has just grown,” said tournament director Tim Robb. “Before, I think we had two weight classes where we had enough girls to put together a small bracket. Two years ago when we ended the tournament I talked to Brooke Zumas (coach and Sanction PA chairperson) from Parkland and she said, ‘We should try to do this.’

“So we planned on trying it last year and then obviously the tournament fell apart. But since then with all these teams getting sanctioned, it just blew up. And I think it’s going to keep going. It’s really a cool thing. A lot of us were standing up on the stage (at the elementary center) getting ready for the weigh-ins for the boys’ tournament, and just kept saying, ‘This is awesome.’ The girls love it, and you could see the excitement on their faces. It was a really big deal. It was really cool to see.”

The girls’ tournament started at 9 a.m. Saturday, an hour before the boys began and used six mats at the elementary center. The girls were the only ones wrestling during that time before switching over to two mats at the elementary center.

Parkland and Easton both have sanctioned girls’ teams and competed at the tournament over the weekend.

Pennsylvania high school wrestling has experienced over a 200 percent growth of girls on high school boys teams in the past several years.

The majority of states have sanctioned girls wrestling at the championship level, and more states are adding to that number every year. There were over 32,000 high school girls competing in the US in 2020-2021.

In Pennsylvania, all 12 PIAA district areas have girls wrestling within their area schools.

In addition to Schaible, who wrestled at 132 pounds, two other girls from Times News area schools participated at the Coal Cracker - Northwestern’s Josephine Wehr and Lehighton’s Layla Bravo.

Wehr pinned Navaeh Fegley (Selinsgrove) in 4:48 for third place at 113 pounds. After losing her first match, Wehr had two pins on her way to another fall in the third-place match.

Bravo was fourth at 132 pounds. She had a pin and a decision to reach the third-place match after losing her opening bout.

“Layla did a nice job,” said Indians’ head coach Floyd Brown. “She came back after losing her first match and was able to get two wins. She kind of tweaked her knee a little bit so she didn’t get to wrestle the third- and fourth-place match, but she did really well.”

Bravo wrestled as a freshman before returning to the sport this season as a junior.

“You can see how much she improved from the beginning of ninth grade until now,” said Brown. “She really has made tremendous improvements and you can see it. Sometimes she gets matches on our varsity squad, and she’s wrestling boys at practice all the time, so it was nice for her to get those matchups with the girls to see where she’s at, and I think she was pleasantly surprised.

“I had a good feeling that she was going to do pretty well because I can see the improvements as a coach, but for her to see that on the mat, getting wins, against other girls who have been wrestling about the same amount of time as her, was nice for her, and I think she got a lot of confidence from the weekend. I wish we’d have more of those opportunities, but she was excited about it, so it was a great day for her, and a great day for our tournament to showcase that, and hopefully that will spur some more interest in those programs in the area.”

Schaible’s first girls’ tournament with Palmerton came at Governor Mifflin in late December.

“I knew some of the girls I saw at Coal Cracker because I had met them at Governor Mifflin,” said Schaible. “And I would say I had more experience and more skill because I was able to compare myself to the same girls that I had seen at Governor Mifflin.

“I’d certainly like to see more girls in the sport in the future, and I think that’s very possible. It’s already happening. There are so many more girls every year. Hopefully there are more girls tournaments.”

At the Coal Cracker, there were 752 wrestlers, with 453 being varsity, 237 JV and 62 girls.

The girls competed across nine weight classes.

“I think it’s gaining a lot more momentum each year,” said Palmerton head coach Justin Petersen. “I think it’s time. It needs to be sanctioned. It’s been sanctioned elsewhere, and Pennsylvania, we consider ourselves to be the leader in terms of wrestling compared to the rest of the states in the country.

“So I think that’s one key, that we have to get it sanctioned, and I think the way we do that is by showing all the ADs and the PIAA that we have a big following. We have a large number of athletes who want to compete, and they’re doing that.”

The competition across the board at the Coal Cracker – and its proximity to the postseason – makes it an ideal opportunity at all levels.

“I think it’s great,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Dan Heaney. “The guys that have been around it for a while, they look forward to it every year. It’s a good tournament, it’s competitive and it kind of gives you the opportunity to see where you’re at because there are a lot of tough kids. I think for my guys, it’s probably their favorite tournament of the whole year.”

Most teams would probably echo that sentiment.

And that’s not about to change anytime soon.

“In the main varsity tournament, the kids that make it to the second day, they’re looking to get as many matches in as possible,” said Tamaqua head coach Jim McCabe. “Our goal is at least five (matches). But if you’re placing, you could get up toward seven or eight matches in. If you can get seven or eight matches in on a weekend, and continue to wrestle a high level of competition, you’re certainly going to improve. You’re going to mature as the weekend goes on. And those one point victories that earned you that extra match, helps you prepare yourself for the end of our season.

“As far as the kids that lose out Friday night in the varsity tournament, then they have the luxury of going down to the JV tournament. So I think every one of my kids, got eight matches in this weekend. And that’s Tim’s (Robb) pure goal with this tournament ... get experience and matches. And he’s accomplishing that by doing the tournament the way he does. It’s a very smart way to run the tournament, and then with the addition of the girls’ tournament I think it’s going to continue to flourish.”

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YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD OF HIS DAD ... On Saturday, a familiar name will be coming to the Lehigh Valley as LeBron James’ son, Bronny James, and his Sierra Canyon (Calf.) team will take on Camden, New Jersey in the nightcap of a high school basketball doubleheader at the PPL Center in Allentown. The game will feature several of the top high school recruits in the nation, including Camden’s DJ Wagner, the No. 1 ranked high school junior in the country. The game is part of ESPN’s GEICO High School Basketball Showcase series.

The opening game of the doubleheader will have some area flavor as Pottsville Nativity and Allenbtown Central Catholic - a pair of defending PIAA State Champions - will kick things off at 6 p.m. The Sierra Canyon-Camden game is slated for an 8 p.m. start.

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ONE PV STREAK ENDS ... The Panther Valley boys recently enjoyed a six-game winning streak, which was snapped Tuesday at the hands of North Schuylkill. The six consecutive victories are the most by the Panthers since the 1999-2000 season when Dan Matika’s club, which was led by the scoring of Brad Yuricheck and Scott Marek, reeled off eight wins in a row from Jan. 12 through Feb. 2. That PV team finished with an 18-10 record and reached the Schuylkill League championship game.

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ONE PV STREAK CONTINUES ... While the Panthers’ winning streak ended, a different streak continued for PV. With five three-pointers in Tuesday’s loss to North Schuylkill, the Panther Valley program has now recorded at least one trey in 269 consecutive games - easily the longest in the Times News area. The last time the Panthers failed to hit at least one three-pointer in a game was Feb. 13, 2010 in a 44-28 victory over Tamaqua. Marian’s current streak of 153 straight games with a three is the next closest.

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ICYMI

... The Coal Cracker Tournament produced several standout performances from Times News area wrestlers this past weekend. Palmerton’s Dennis Lombardi was second at 145 pounds. He opened with three straight pins to reach the quarterfinals. Lombardi, who was seeded third, rolled past Corbin Christiano (Palisades) in 1:05 before topping Anthony Curra of Abington Heights in 2:56 and Wyoming Area’s Rocco Pizano (5:30) to advance to the quarters. He posted a 13-11 decision over Hazleton’s Devin Youngcourt in the quarterfinals and an 11-10 win over Kennett’s Tyler Maier in the semis. His run ended with a loss to top seed Jaryn Hartranft of Catasauqua in the final.

Jim Thorpe had three wrestlers land on the podium at the two-day, 45-team tournament. Thorpe’s Gabe Heaney (152) was seventh, while Cameron Tinajero (160) and Jared Newhall (172) both placed eighth.

Tamaqua’s Aiden Schlier (106) was sixth, while Northern Lehigh’s Matt Frame (215) and Northwestern’s Mason Brensinger (160) were seventh.

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WINNING TIME

... A pair of area teams recently scored overtime victories. The Tamaqua boys’ basketball team rallied in overtime to come out on top with a 73-71 nonleague win over Mount Carmel Monday. The Blue Raiders used an 8-4 run in the overtime period to escape with a victory. Connor Dillon sparked the Blue Raiders with a game-high 27 points, while teammates Nathan Gregoire and Steven Hoffman chipped in with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

On Tuesday, the Pleasant Valley girls pulled out a 45-42 overtime victory against East Stroudsburg North in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference matchup. The teams were tied at 38 at the end of regulation, but three field goals and a free-throw in overtime sealed the win for the Bears. Aryn Stivala led Pleasant Valley with 24 points in the contest. Drew Morgan added nine points, while Kelly Williams tallied eight.

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BUZZER BEATER

... During a timeout with the score tied and just :12.8 left in regulation, Northwestern Lehigh coach Cory Cesare set up a play to get what he hoped would result in a game-winning shot against Salisbury last Thursday.

When the buzzer sounded, Cesare had gotten his game-winner, but it was not the play that he drew up for his team. After the Tigers’ initial shot missed, Cade Christopher pulled down an offensive rebound. The bad news was that while he was in a good spot on the court to shoot, his back was toward the basket. With no other option, he put a shot up over his shoulder as he fell away from the basket. When he was finally able to turn around and see the hoop, he witnessed the ball going in to give the Tigers a 41-39 win.