CONGRATULATIONS GIRLS!!!
Over the weekend, the boys and girls varsity teams took to Hershey, PA for their individual state championship tournaments. The girls rode out on the coat-tails of their team Western Regional championship with eight wrestlers in the state tournament and were able to place five. The most for any participating school in the PIAA. With these five place winners, the girls team accumulated 93 team points to become the first PIAA team state champions! It should be a great spot of pride for these girls and anyone involved with Canon-McMillan wrestling to cement our legacy as a top wrestling program in Pennsylvania. The state championship is the cherry on top of all of their accomplishments this year. Champions at Queen of the Mountain Duals, Cumberland Valley Duals, Powerade, WPIAL, and Western Regional.
Highlighting the group of girls place winners is Iowa commit and senior, Valarie Solorio. Val became the first sanctioned female PIAA state champion by pinning her way through! Even through the qualifying tournaments, Val was unstoppable. During the WPIAL tournament, opponents could muster only 1 point against her while she collected two falls and at tech fall. At the Western Regional tournament, opponents scored 3 points while she pinned them all. She even only allowed 6 points during the state tournament run. Val has amassed a laundry list of firsts to go along with this first team and individual championship. She became the first girl to win a youth state champion for Canon Mac, the first female CM PJW state champion, first CM girl to win a bout on the boys varsity team, first female WPIAL champion, first female state champion in PIAA sanctioned history! The list of first could continue on and on. For now, congratulations and we’ll continue to track and root for her as her wrestling career only seems to be starting. Check out her interview with FloWrestling on this historic year!
The other girls that made their way to states shouldn’t be overshadowed by Val’s performance. Also making her way to the finals was Natalie Rush. She fell just short in the finals and gathered second place. Natalie is a Junior this season and will look to grab that top spot next year. Natalie secured the WPIAL and Western Regional championships to secure her spot at the state tournament. So far, Natalie has collected 71 wins with only 7 losses, three state medals (second in 2023, third in 2022 both unsanctioned), a WPIAL championship and two western regional championships. Falling in the semi-finals was Audrey Calgaro. However, she rebounded by pinning her way to third place. Audrey is only a Sophomore for the Lady Macs and has already compiled a 49 and 12 record. This marks her second state medal (5th in 2023 unsanctioned). While Audrey wasn’t a WPIAL champion this year, she avenged that loss at the Western Regional tournament by a 7 - 0 decision to become a Western Regional Champion this season. Senior Dynisty Williams and Freshman Yunuen Ayala both fought to sixth place finishes. Dynisty made her way to the state tournament by way of third place finishes in both the WPIAL and Western Regional tournaments. During her time with the Lady Macs, Dynisty has a 55 - 30 record with two state medals (4th in 2023), two third place finishes at the Western Regional tournament, and a third place WPIAL showing. Dynisty has committed to East Stroudsburg for her future. Yunuen vaulted her third place WPIAL and fourth place Western Regional medals into a great state medal showing. She overcame a first round loss and avenged her Western Regional loss for fourth place on the way to her sixth place medal this year. So far, Yunuen has a 28 - 14 record. Others who made it to the state tournament were Senior Capri Chambers, Junior Eva Gray, and Freshman Malia Ramos. Capri went into the state tournament as the WPIAL Champion and third in the Western Regional. She finishes her time with a 41 - 18 record. She is not planning to continue wrestling in college but carries a 4.77 GPA into the future of her academics. Eva found herself at the state tournament via fourth place finishes at the WPIAL and Western Regional tournaments. She currently has a 27 - 34 record. Malia collected second in the WPIAL and fourth in the Western Regional tournaments.
Way to work hard, boys!
The boys took four wrestlers to the state tournament. Of the boys, only returning runner-up and senior Andrew Binni was able to find the podium. Andrew dropped a tough 1 - 0 loss in the semi-finals but then had to default out of the 3rd/4th place match to gather fourth place. Andrew placed first in the section and was a WPIAL champion this year enroute to the state tournament. Andrew finishes with 133 - 34 record. He has two section championships, one WPIAL Championship, and two state medals (second in 2023). Andrew has committed to the US Naval Academy to continue his wrestling and academic career. Geno Calgaro and Ryder Joseph are also seniors that competed in the state tournament. Geno went into the tournament on a section championship and a third place WPIAL. He fought hard and fell short in the “blood round”. He finishes with a 60-18 record over the last three seasons. He committed to St. Francis to continue with his football and academic career. Ryder made his path to the state tournament with a second place showing in the section and a fourth place WPIAL outing. He finishes with a 45 - 29 overall record. Collier Hartman is a sophomore that paved his way to the state tournament with a second place showing in the section and third place finish in the WPIAL tournament. He pulled off an upset with a come from behind victory in the round of 16. The Observer was impressed with his results on the first day of the tournament. On day two, he took very close quarterfinal and blood round losses. We’ll look to find Collier on the podium in the coming years. He has already amassed a 53 - 25 record over his two seasons with the Big Macs.
The End of the Season
Congratulations to all of the wrestlers that put in such hard work all year long. While the varsity boys and girls have completed their work, the boys and girls from the CCNS and middle school programs are continuing their quest for state medals at the upcoming Keystone and PJW youth state championship tournaments. We’ll get an update again when those tournaments are completed.