With three challenging dual meets and two iconic tournaments – Escape the Rock and Beast of the East – part of Parkland’s early season schedule, many stars have emerged in the opening few weeks of the season for first-year coach Fran Volpe.

While the likes of returning stars such as Liz Grullon-Vazquez, Peyton Schneck, Angelina Spachman, Lily Snook and Natalie Deutch have continued to shine to begin the year, Sunday’s Parkland Winter Duals Tournament opened the opportunity for several others to take advantage of their opportunities and make a name for themselves.

Sophomore Sydney Laputka was one of those wrestlers as she finished the afternoon 3-0, including a decisive victory over Emmaus freshman Julianna Garcia to kickstart a 48-21 championship win over the Green Hornets in the championship.

“One of our players in the varsity lineup was injured, so I got a chance to step up and cut weight to fill in the spot,” Laputka said. “All of the people in our lineup, JV or varsity, we all work really hard and we’re all really determined, so whenever we get chances, we just go for them. We all just want to be successful.”

From Laputka’s pin to Teagan Tremba and Ahrianna Young making their season debuts, it was the depth of the Trojans stepping up that allowed Volpe to add another championship to his first season leading the program.

“We had a couple starters that were out today, and I guess one of the good things about having a team with so many girls that have experience like we have … to see some of these other people step in and get wins and wrestle hard was really awesome,” Volpe said.

Snook and Tremba added to Laputka’s opening win to put the Trojans ahead 15-0 early before Saige Rittenhouse delivered another six points with a pin in the second period to make it 21-0 Trojans.

Kadence Yannolli put the Green Hornets on the board with a reversal in the final five seconds against Leila Palmieri, but returning state finalist Angelina Spachman and freshman Laura Volpe earned back-to-back wins to extend the lead to 30-3.

Volpe is another young star who, like Laputka, was able to watch the sport begin and develop while they were still in middle school. Now, it’s their turn to shine and both are among a large contingent for the Trojans taking advantage of that opportunity.

“When I started two years ago in eighth grade, it was a really small team and we were just getting started. It wasn’t really a super official sport everywhere,” Laputka said. “But just getting people to join and seeing everyone coming around and coming together to make this a great team, we’re all just kind of like family and we all just work super hard because we want to be successful. It doesn’t matter who you are, you always have an opportunity no matter who you’re against.”

Volpe’s group will turn their sights to a dual meet with Whitehall on Wednesday before travelling to the Cumberland Valley Duals next weekend with some of the top teams in the state preparing for an exciting tournament with a similar setup.

Sunday’s win and the tremendous experience of competitive tournaments are nice, but Volpe is hoping these events help prepare his team for the part of the season that matters most.

“We just keep talking about taking steps forward and working on who we have in front of us right now. We knew that we were going to have a couple matches today that we didn’t know how they would go, but we’re taking a step forward because next week we’re going out to Cumberland Valley,” Volpe said. “So, this was a nice warm up for us to get ready for that.”

Freshman phenom delivers to complete Emmaus comeback against Northampton

Emmaus freshman Nitzana Jamaica is off to an outstanding start to her career but was faced with a tall task in Sunday’s semifinal as she stepped to the mat needing a technical fall or better to complete a monumental comeback against Northampton.

With the Konkrete Kids claiming the first five bouts by fall to storm ahead 30-0, the Green Hornets responded with 31 straight points to take a one-point lead heading into the final two matchups. Northampton junior Danielle Glaser stopped the bleeding with a pin at heavyweight to reclaim the lead, setting the stage for Jamaica to make up five points in the dual’s final contest with Honour Raub.

The freshman entered the day with 11 wins on the season and perhaps none were bigger than Sunday’s semifinal.

“She’s a second-year wrestler and from day one last year – I remember wrestling against her last year – she was very athletic and just doesn’t really have that stop button. She just goes,” Emmaus coach Thad Smith said.

That relentlessness was evident against Raub as she secured a takedown late in the first period and added another early in the second, turning the latter into exactly what her team needed. Jamaica circled her opponent and found the strength to drive Raub onto her back for a match-clinching pin in 3:00.

“I think most of the development is her choices. She’s making the right choices. She’s in the room working hard every day, she’s asking the right questions, and it’s certainly paying off,” Smith said. “She’s found herself in a couple tight ones, last weekend too, that ended up with her pinning the girl. It’s been exciting to watch.”

Brynn Koberlein deserves credit for starting the rally with a 9-4 decision over Jesenia Lucas-Collis before Hailey Laible and Olivya Kroope earned pins with a major decision by Ariana Koberlein sandwiched between, cutting the deficit to just 11. Jocelyn Vargas’ win by forfeit and Petra Perez’s second-period pin gave the Green Hornets their first lead at 31-30.

Still, it was Jamaica who delivered the dagger, solidifying her status as one of the brightest young wrestlers in the area, especially after another pin of talented Parkland freshman Taya Daniels in the championship round.

Other notes and standouts

Emmaus senior Olivya Kroope extended her undefeated record to 16-0 with three convincing wins on Sunday. The senior Edinboro commit is looking to defend her district championship at 155 pounds and looks poised to do so with all of her wins coming with bonus points so far this season.

Panther Valley senior Brenda Banks, a three-time defending state champion at heavyweight, continued her unbeaten start to the season with three victories on the day for the Panthers.

East Stroudsburg South’s Joey Cappa, Jadeyn Learn and Arianna Pieretti rattled off three consecutive victories for the Cavaliers against Parkland before the tournament hosts pitched a shutout for the rest of the semifinal to cruise to a 57-14 win. Cappa defeated Lily Snook in a bout between two of the top-three finishers in District 11 last season while Pieretti remained perfect on the season with a win over Leila Palmieri.

Derek Bast is a freelance writer who can be found on Twitter/X at @derek_bast or reached by email at derekbast11@gmail.com. 

Parkland Winter Duals

Sunday at Parkland H.S.

First round

Parkland 64, Panther Valley 11

East Stroudsburg South 40, Pennsbury 35

Northampton 42, Delaware Valley 31

Emmaus 36, Freedom 22

Second round 

Parkland 57, East Stroudsburg South 14

Emmaus 37, Northampton 36

Freedom 40, Delaware Valley 34

Pennsbury 54, Panther Valley 24

Placement round 

1st place: Parkland 48, Emmaus 21

3rd: East Stroudsburg South 47, Northampton 30

5th: Pennsbury 45, Freedom 29

7th: Delaware Valley 42, Panther Valley 30