HERSHEY — Instead of showing a competitive expression, Garnet Valley’s Reese Dewar showed a lasting smile of victory.
It's unbeatable when you win your final match at the PIAA wrestling tournament. When Dewar achieved this on Saturday morning, the Garnet Valley freshman allowed herself to feel the emotion.
For a child who grew up wrestling for Team Chaos in Chichester, earning a fifth-place medal was a fantastic start to an upward-trending varsity career.
“It feels really good to come back,” Dewar said on Saturday. “Yesterday was really tough with my losses. I was nervous today, more than I have been in a while. So, being at this tournament and feeling this nervous, I think it gave me an extra boost.”
Dewar established a 12-3 lead and then pinned Kaylee Ebersole of Northern Bedford in the fifth-place match at the Giant Center in the inaugural PIAA girls tournament. There was no doubt about it. Afterward, she did some interviews and wished her teammate Jessica Ayala the best.
Ayala defeated Sayona Harris of Greater Johnstown, 6-1, to earn a third-place medal at 142 pounds. This is the second-highest finish in Garnet Valley wrestling history, with Pat O’Brien taking second in 2001.
“Do you know what was impressive about her wrestling? She was behind in a couple matches, close ones, and she found ways to win over the last three days,” Jaguars coach Chris Tate commented. “In her first match, she was behind 8-4 and she made a comeback. She just found ways to fight.”
Ayala will keep that in mind as she plans to continue competing in college.
“I’ve been wrestling since sixth grade at Garnet Valley Middle School,” Ayala stated. “I was around 12. I’ve looked at a couple of colleges — Ursinus, Alvernia.”
At 148 pounds, Sun Valley freshman Jameson Strickland finished her tournament in fourth place, losing a major decision, 9-1, to Marissa Rumsey of Williamsport. For the Vanguards as a whole, the results didn’t quite live up to expectations, with Strickland being the only one of the school’s four wrestlers to earn a medal.
Nevertheless, Ellis described Strickland’s medal as “An amazing accomplishment.”
“She’s a freshman,” Ellis mentioned. “If she does what she needs to in the next three years, she’ll be the first four-time medalist. But for us to come up short, it's painful. Hopefully, it will motivate her in the off-season and in the next tournament we have.”
There was a time when girls played mainly a few sports like tennis, field hockey, track, and basketball. The mothers from that time are now grandmothers and mothers, and they’ve passed that competitive instinct down the generations.
High school wrestling is just another example of the explosion of varsity sports for girls. Hopefully, the PIAA tournament will usher in a new generation of female officials and coaches for a sport that is rapidly growing on the girls' side nationally. Not that Tate or Ellis are wrong, as they are strong supporters of wrestling.
The influence Dewar’s grandfather had on her wrestling career is a perfect example of how the sport grows. Dewar’s grandfather, Ed Bailey, made the trip to see her take her place on the podium. It’s one of those basics that grow the sport.
Dewar said that his grandfather has been contacting him via phone and text messages all weekend. He mentioned that he began wrestling when he was 8 years old, and his grandfather has been the one teaching him the fundamentals since a young age. In the weeks leading up to this event, they have been reviewing things together, and Dewar believes his grandfather is a major reason for his success.
