MCMURRAY — The AHN Arena at Peters Township High School may not be the Giant Center, but it can get as raucous, especially during the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic, which was held there Saturday.
The event — which pitted the United States all-stars vs. Pennsylvania all-stars — has been billed “The Rose Bowl of High School Wrestling.”
Twenty-eight Olympians have tangled there since the event’s inception as the Pittsburgh Press Old Newsboys Wrestling Classic in 1974 — it became the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic in 1993 and took its current name in 2017 — and 176 NCAA champions, including current Penn State coach Cael Sanderson, have hit the mat.
Be a competitor on the single mat in the final bout of tournament-opening dual meet? That would be nerve-wracking.
Manheim Township’s Isabella Baccio, who showcased her talents on that mat prior to the marquee event, knows that feeling well.
“I’m normally used to being one of the first matches, so having to wait until the end, it was weird,” Baccio said. “I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ ”
The senior was one of just four girls from District Three invited to wrestle for a Pennsylvania team that tangled with Ohio in the inaugural Girls All-Star event that kicked off this year’s tournament. The others were South Western’s Natalie Handy, Hamburg’s Shannon Govern and Cumberland Valley’s Eliana White-Vega.
White-Vega, ranked 20th nationally at 124, also was Baccio’s training partner the two days she was in Washington County.
In a dual that Ohio won 39-19, Baccio and White-Vega grabbed two of Pennsylvania’s four wins.
White-Vega won with a 14-second pin against Sienna Sanborn (Hamilton).
Baccio, in the last match of the girls event, defeated Addison Rudolph of Central Crossing, which is just south of Columbus, 7-5 at 112.
“It was almost a redemption match for me,” said Baccio, who placed seventh at the PIAA meet in March. “There was definitely a spotlight on the girls. I had to follow up on four losses; I don’t want to be the fifth and I also didn’t want to lose. But the biggest thing for me was I am already here. I already made it.”
In Rudolph, Baccio faced a four-time Ohio state place-winner who boasted a 125-30 career record. Baccio jumped to a 4-0 first-period lead. She caught Rudolph with a slide-by for the period’s final points.
Rudolph did try to put a headlock on Baccio in the second period, but Baccio got out of it, scoring two more points. By the end of two, she held a 7-1 lead.
In the third, Baccio got more aggressive from the top position. The much-taller Rudolph nearly caught her a few times, fighting back in the last 30 seconds to make it close.
“I wanted the early lead bad,” Baccio said. “I was hitting those (a slide-by) well lately, and it was one of the cleanest I ever hit. My bottom work was something I wanted to focus on, as I did not want to stay on bottom with her. It was a fun night.”
And she did all this wrestling with one contact lens after losing the other at practice.
Although undecided on a college, Baccio said she is leaning towards McKendree University, which is located in Illinois, not far from St. Louis. Since 2020, the Bearcats have won three National Collegiate Women’s national championships.
“Haylie Jaffe (of Kennett, ranked No. 1 nationally at 135 pounds) just committed to the program,” Baccio said. “So obviously, it is a high-level program, and the coach is amazing.”
Next up for Baccio is this weekend’s NHSCA High School Nationals in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Baccio will be joined by high school teammate Laila Colon; they will be coached by Elizabethtown’s Kaitlyn Blosser.
“Last year I was two matches away from placing,” Baccio said. “I was a little bummed about that one. This is my senior year. Actually, Lillian Rumsey (of Williamsport, who finished third at the PIAA tournament) is in my bracket, so hopefully, I will get a rematch with her.”
Baccio fell 8-4 to Rumsey in the third round of consolations at Hershey.
“At this point, it’s not so much about who I am wrestling,” Baccio said. “It’s when I wrestle them.”
