Panther Valley’s Brenda Banks continued her staggering success in high school wrestling this past weekend.

Banks pinned every opponent that stepped on the mat with her in the third annual Coal Cracker Girls Wrestling Tournament, eventually winning the 237-pound championship.

The two-day tournament, held at Jim Thorpe Area High School, featured 438 wrestlers from 59 schools, said tournament director Tim Robb.

In the championship match, Banks pressed the shoulders of Esther Reed of Big Springs to the mat in just 1:04, which was one of her longest bouts of the tourney.

Reed showed apprehension toward Banks early in the match, waltzing from her while making only hand contact. Then Banks shot for a double leg takedown and pivoted sideways to force Reed’s shoulders to the mat.

Several other area wrestlers had impressive appearances as well:

• Juliette Trout, a Pleasant Valley sophomore, took second place at 114 pounds. She lost to Julia Horger of Conwell-Egan Catholic in the finals via a second-period pin.

• Alisa Williams, a Panther Valley junior, took third at 172 pounds. She scored a second-period fall over Aambur Brietich of Northern York in the third-place match.

• Lillian Klotz of Lehighton took sixth at 126 pounds.

• Claudia Pagotto of Lehighton ended in seventh place at 114 pounds.

• Isabella Altemose of Pleasant Valley finished seventh at 172 pounds.

In team scoring, Big Springs was first (163.5 points), Hughsville second (139), Athens Area third (121.0), Pocono Mountain West fourth (116.0) and Palisades fifth (104.5).

Panther Valley was the top area team, finishing 15th. Other local schools were Lehighton (17th), Pleasant Valley (34th), Palmerton (52nd) and Tamaqua (53rd).

Panther Valley assistant coach Hannah Mordaunt was obviously pleased with the performance of her team.

“We’re always proud of our girls,” she said. “It’s a hard tournament. Most of these girls (in the tournament) have placed at states. It’s always a question of who’s going to beat who this time.

“We are one of the smaller (schools participating) and ... we’re in the top 20. We only brought nine girls with us and to be a top 20 school out of 60, that’s pretty exciting.”

Banks got to the finals of the tournament with a semifinal victory of Emily Dolan of Boiling Springs. The PV grappler scooped the right leg of Dolan, pushing her to the mat and quickly covering her for a 17-second victory.

Going into the tournament, Banks had a 22-1 record this season with 14 pins and a major decision. Her lone loss was an injury default.

The affable Banks, when asked about her success, attributed it to, “I think a lot of hard work, and I think a little bit comes naturally and stuck with me.”

This is her third year wrestling. She said she’s had two losses in her career (59-2). One of those was two years ago in the finals of the Coal Cracker tournament.

Banks said she prepares for her matches by listening to music, and whenever possible, watching previous matches of her opponents.

Her classmate, Williams, entered the tournament with a 20-3 record.

Williams got to the third-place bout by facing Catasauqua’s Jaylynn Bonilla, with a pin in overtime. Bonilla had taken a 3-1 first-period lead, but Williams got an escape and takedown in the second period to make the score 4-3. A third- period escape by Bonilla tied the score late. She took a 5-4 overtime lead before putting Bonilla away with a guillotine.

BOYS COAL CRACKER NEXT WEEK ... Tim Robb, a former Panther Valley wrestling coach, hosted his third Coal Cracker Girls Tournament this past weekend. This coming weekend, the Coal Crackers Boys Tournament will be held at Lehighton Area High School. Robb has been tournament director of every such event. In fact, it was Robb who started the Coal Cracker Tournament 14 years ago at Panther Valley High School. It moved to Lehighton a few years ago.