In a preseason interview, Panther Valley wrestling head coach Kris Nalesnik mentioned that Lehighton was going to be a good team this season.

So, he wasn’t surprised when the Indians took home a 42-30 victory Monday over his PV girls squad.

“I think it’s exactly what we expected out of them,” he said. “They’re a well-coached, good, strong team of hard-nosed girls who were out there ready to wrestle. I knew this was going to be a fight, and they definitely brought it.”

The match began at 155 with the Indians setting the tone early as sophomore Cassidy Litts pinned freshman Bailey Snyder at the 1:01 mark.

The Panthers would quickly respond with two falls — the first at 170 from junior Anelia Bennik on Kailey Evans in the second period at 2:24 and the second at 235 from two-time state champion junior Brenda Banks, who pinned sophomore Abigayle Tower in just 26 seconds.

However, after two double forfeits and two Panther forfeits, the Indians took control of the match with three straight pins in the next three matches.

First at 118, it was freshman Claudia Pagotto pinning freshman Adrianna Fiore in 48 seconds. Next at 124, it was sophomore Lillian Klotz defeating senior Mayrin Vaszquez-Frias in 1:03. Finally at 130, freshman Samantha Kauffman topped freshman Ella Vega-Santiago in 41 seconds.

“I knew it was going to be a good matchup tonight,” said Indians head coach Jennifer Lobasso. “We knew that we needed pins, not (just) wins in order to come away with the victory tonight. Three points wasn’t going to do it, and our kids came through, but they were patient with it.

“They know that they need to take their time to set those moves up and not necessarily think about that at the start.”

The two teams would trade pins in their final three matches; the first at 136 from Panthers’ freshman Kadance Wentz on freshman Kennedy Quinn in 1:20, the second at 142 from Indians’ junior Caeley Hinkson over sophomore Adrianna Cabrera in 1:03, and the third at 148 from Panthers’ freshman Kyla McQuillen against freshman Addison Streubel in the second period at 3:18.

The growth of girls wrestling continues to show at Lehighton as it improved to 2-0.

Coach Lobasso is already impressed with her team’s early success, and how much better they could eventually become.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my kids,” she said. “Most of them, this is their first year. They’ve been wrestling for about three weeks, and what they’ve learned and been able to translate out on the mat has been amazing.

“One of the toughest jobs as a head coach is getting your girls to buy into what you’re going to be teaching them, and what you’re going to be doing and the identity that you’re going to have when you wrestle. From the get go, they bought in and I think it’s a big reason why we’ve had success early on so far.”

Despite the loss, Nalesnik had nothing but a positive outlook with his Panthers’ team.

“These are some really tough girls. They go out there looking to work, looking to get that win,” he said. “They’re not just satisfied with the win, they look to pin. They want to get those bonus points. I wish I could get everybody to work as hard as my girls work.”

Whether it’s personal or simply the nature of these two programs, coach Nalesnik also sees a potential rivalry between these two schools in the near future.

“This is one that could definitely be a real rivalry moving forward. Not to mention the fact that I live in Lehighton, so it makes it more fun for me to have a rivalry with those guys. Any time you can build a rivalry, you get the girls out there ready to go, working a little bit extra hard in every one of these matches. I think we’re going to see that out of both teams moving forward.”

EXPERIENCE … The two teams had five exhibition bouts after the official match in order to give more girls on the two rosters an opportunity to wrestle.

Lehighton 42, Panther Valley 30

155 - Cassidy Litts (L) pinned Bailey Snyder in 1:01; 170 - Anelia Bennik (PV) pinned Kailey Evans in 2:24; 190 - Double forfeit; 235 - Brenda Banks (PV) pinned Abigayle Tower in 0:26; 100 - Charlotte Griffiths (L) won by forfeit; 106 - Double forfeit; 112 - Mia Hall (L) won by forfeit; 118 - Claudia Pagotto (L) pinned Adrianna Fiore in 0:48; 124 - Lillian Klotz (L) pinned Mayrin Vaszquez-Frias in 1:03; 130 - Samantha Kauffman (L) pinned Ella Vega-Santiago in 0:41; 136 - Kadance Wentz (PV) pinned Kennedy Quinn in 1:20; 142 - Caeley Hinkson (L) pinned Adrianna Cabrera in 1:03; 148 - Kyla McQuillen (PV) pinned Addison Streubel in 3:18.