Dec 29, 2025 By Jonathan Guth 6 min read

CANONSBURG — Zoey Murphy’s bout in the finals didn’t go according to plan, but the Southmoreland senior took it all in as she was able to participate in the Parade of Champions prior to taking the mat on Sunday in the girls Powerade wrestling tournament at Canon-McMillan High School.

Murphy lost in the 235-pound final to Abby Radabaugh of Buckhannon Upshur, W.Va., but she was pleased to be center stage after finishing in third place last year.

“I am actually really happy I took second because I had to get over the hump of placing third and got to wrestle in the finals this year,” Murphy said.

To get to the final, Murphy had to go through Albert Gallatin sophomore Jenna Chapman, who handed Murphy her other loss this season.

During their semifinal bout Sunday morning, Chapman was in on an arm spin in the first period but wasn’t able to finish and Murphy scored for a 3-0 lead. Chapman escaped before the period ended and Murphy took a two-point advantage into the second period.

Chapman scored a reversal in the second to tie the match. She rode out Murphy the remainder of the period but had to take injury time after the frame ended.

Murphy turned Chapman for three near-fall points before adding an escape for a 7-3 lead due to Chapman needing a second injury timeout. Murphy scored another takedown as time wound down in the third frame.

Chapman rebounded to win by fall in 1:57 in the consolation semifinals after building up a 7-0 advantage. She trailed 3-0 in the second period in the consolation final before scoring a reversal and winning by fall in 2:45.

“I just have to get back to the wrestling room and work on my technique,” Chapman said. “In my match against Zoey, I got behind and had to take a desperation shot at the end of the match. It still feels good to come back and place third. I am also thinking of wrestling at 190 moving forward. I don’t want to have this tournament define my season. I still have high goals, and I will be ready to go next time.”

The girls Powerade was a two-day event this year, which eliminated a wrestler not being able to complete her tournament due to having completed the maximum amount of matches, but it also meant long wait times for Chapman and Murphy, who had byes into the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Both agreed they would have preferred a one-day event, but they understood why the tournament was set-up for multiple days.

Connellsville finished in a tie for eighth in the team standings with 53 points. The Lady Falcons were fourth among WPIAL squads.

Connellsville’s Ravyn Cameron-Botti earned a 5-2 victory in double overtime to place fifth at 190.

The Lady Falcons’ Jayden Wiltrout (148) and Olivia Shultz (155) stood on the podium in sixth place. Cameron-Botti, Shultz and Wiltrout all placed at Powerade for the first time.

The Lady Scotties’ Rylee Mains lost in the blood round at 106 to finish one victory shy of placing.

Canon-McMillan’s Marlee Solomon completed the Triple Crown of high school wrestling in winning the championship at 118. The junior had won the women’s Ironman tournament on Dec. 14 and the Beast of the East on Dec. 19. She won her finals bout by fall and was awarded a championship belt for conquering what are considered by wrestling pundits as the top three tournaments in the country.

“I am really proud of myself for growing and continuing to get better at wrestling,” Solomon said. “It is so awesome for girls to have opportunities to wrestle in tournaments like this. I hope it continues to grow.”

Solomon had extra incentive to win Powerade this year after she was disqualified for a slam in her first match last season. Solomon was ahead by eight in the bout when she was penalized.

Solomon wrestled all the way back to the consolation finals, but she wasn’t able to compete for third place due to having wrestled six times that day.

“That made me so mad that I couldn’t come back and wrestle for third,” Solomon said. “They fixed that this year, which is great, but they wouldn’t have done that with the boys.”

Solomon, who won the state title last year at 112, improved to 16-0 this season. Her “closest” match was a 10-2 major decision in the finals at Ironman.

Solomon won her first bout by 15-0 technical fall on Saturday in Day 1 of the Powerade before recording back-to-back falls to reach the semifinals. She won her semifinal bout by technical fall.

Solomon upped her career record in Pennsylvania to 55-3. She wrestled as a ninth grader in California.

Solomon wasn’t the only Canon-McMillan competitor to win a championship, as teammate Yunuen Ayala earned a 9-5 decision over Caitlin Rankin of Riverbend, Va., for her first Powerade title.

“I broke out of my shell a lot this weekend,” Ayala said. “I got over a lot of fears because I definitely had mental blocks when it came to cutting and shooting. My confidence wasn’t as much as it is now. I wasn’t expecting to win this, so I am really overwhelmed.”

Ayala led the 124-pound final 6-3 after two periods following a late reversal by Rankin. The deficit was cut to two when Rankin escaped, and a penalty for stalling on Ayala pulled Rankin within one before Ayala scored a takedown as time expired in the match for the four-point victory.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match, but I am glad I was able to pull it out,” Ayala said. “I train with Marlee (Solomon) in the wrestling room and she is super tough, but she also teaches me a lot, and it makes the matches not seem as bad when I wrestle her in practice.”

Ayala won her first two bouts at Powerade by fall before a 5-0 decision over South Park’s Anna Duncan in the semifinals.

Ayala, who is a two-time state qualifier with a sixth-place finish in 2004, upped her season record to 16-5. She has aspirations to wrestle at the collegiate level.

The Lady Big Macs’ Alaya Henderson placed second at 148 and teammate Audrey Calgaro was third at 170. London Ellis (4th/235) and Giana Wingfield (6th/190) medaled in the top six to lead Canon-McMillan to its third straight team championship at Powerade. The Big Macs scored 171.5 team points. Cleveland, Tenn., was second with 139 and Mount Lebanon third with 111.5.

“It’s great to win Powerade three years in a row,” Canon-McMillan coach Ron Totterdale said. “Obviously, what Marlee (Solomon) did was unbelievable, and she and Yunuen (Ayala) really push each other in practice. We have some tough competition coming up in January, but we are excited to get in more matches.”