Lackawanna Trail’s Cidney Schaffer entered the District 2 Girls Wrestling Championships Feb. 20 as the eighth seed at 100 pounds.
Schaffer left Wilkes-Barre Area High School a day later as not only a gold medalist, but the event’s Outstanding Wrestler.
The Lackawanna Trail freshman was joined by Hayden Manning, also a freshman at Abington Heights, in winning championships.
Schaffer entered the tournament as a low seed because of her limited credentials in girls wrestling with just four bouts. But that was because she spent most of the season competing quite effectively with the Lackawanna Trail boys team, going 20-9 with 10 pins while never being pinned.
With a move to girls competition for the individual postseason, Schaffer remained unbeaten through seven bouts with three straight pins in the district tournament.
After needing 3:43 to get past top-seeded Rheagan Wargo from Western Wayne, Schaffer pinned Hanover Area’s Claire Gyle in 1:41 of the semifinals and Nanticoke’s Matilda Serrano in 1:10 of the final.
Schaffer was ahead of Wargo 13-1 when she ended the bout. She also was up 7-0 before pinning Gyle.
Serrano took down Schaffer 14 seconds into the championship match, but Schaffer quickly managed a reversal, leading to the pin.
Manning dominated the 155-pound bracket on the way to her title, outscoring opponents 17-0 before pinning three of them in a total of 4:51. She won the quarterfinal in just 11 seconds before beating Wyoming Valley West’s Brooke Long in 3:18 and Honesdale’s Leonora Orellano Anton in 1:22.
Payton Laytos, the other Lackawanna Trail entry, finished fourth at 148 pounds. She won by first-period pin in the quarterfinals and went 2-2.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class earned spots in the regional tournament in Milton.
Hazleton Area won the team title 165½-152 over Delaware Valley.
Lackawanna Trail was 13th out of 25 teams with 44 points. Abington Heights was 14th with 36 and Scranton Prep was 24th with three.
Zoey Hearst won two bouts for Abington Heights at 118 pounds and Courtney Evans had a 21-second pin at 112, but neither was able to advance.
Willow McDonnell, Scranton Prep’s only entry, won once at 100.
