Area sports history was made on Jan. 28, and several girls from Steinert and Hamilton West were central figures on the big stage.
On that day, the first Mercer County Girls Wrestling Tournament was held at Robbinsville High School, and five competitors from the township schools walked away with gold medals, while five others earned Top-3 medals and one was Top-5.
It’s a sign of the times for high school sports.
“When I started coaching, this wasn’t really on my radar, and now I get pure joy out of watching the girls compete and wrestle,” Hamilton coach Gerard Belviso said. “We’ve got a lot of tough girls. I really thought if we could have filled a couple more weight classes, we could have come out of there with the team title (won by Trenton). We’re at a really good place right now as far as our girls team.”
Steinert coach Joe Panfili was in complete agreement.
“It’s freaking awesome,” he said. “These girls go at it. It’s something to see.”
And just how did it get to this level in Mercer?
“I think it’s just becoming more mainstream,” Panfili said. “They see it on TV now. A lot of the girls matches are as intriguing and as competitive as the guys matches. It’s kind of a grass roots type of thing. They see other people do it and say ‘Hey! I want to do that!’
“I think they’re breaking these barriers and kind of squashing these stereotypes that girls can’t do it. As a dad, I think it’s great my daughter (Isabella) does it. It’s empowering.”
Belviso said he had 11 girls “who came out rocking and rolling this year.”
“You wonder how you recruit, but it comes down to having two or three charismatic girls,” the coach said. “They kind of recruit themselves. Feeder program-wise, our 38-pounder had a month of experience with club. It’s not like they’ve been wrestling for 10 years like some of those guys. But they’re quick learners, they listen. They’re super coachable and show up every day.”
The inaugural champions this year were Steinert’s Dana Volb at 114 pounds, Rowan Lacy-Cancel (126) and Ella Johnson (165); and Hamilton’s Hana Abdelnabi (138) and Geri Nicole Angeles (185).
Reaching the championship round and finishing second were Hamilton’s Noelysmar Estrada (126), Jacqueline Casasola Ramos (145) and Brianna Vaccaro (152), while finishing third were Steinert’s Kallie Bousenberry (100); and Hamilton’s Karla Salguero (107) and Ashley Salguero (165). Steinert’s Panfili was fifth at 120.
Here is a closer look at the historic first MCT girls champions.
Dana Volb, Steinert (114 pounds). The senior improved her record to 15-8 by pinning Hopewell Valley’s Natalie Maldonado in 1:42.
“This means a lot to me because I worked so hard to get to where I am now and I am very happy that I was one of the girls to win the MCT,” Volb said.
“Dana’s been with the program for three years,” Panfili said. “Two years ago she placed sixth in regions and just missed qualifying for states. She’s been solid for us and won some big matches.”
Volb said she became interested in wrestling by watching her brothers at a young age, and began the sport in sixth grade.
“I’d like to say thank you to my brother for showing me what wrestling is,” she said. “I am very happy that the girls in high school are starting to wreste more, because I was the only girl for a while. This was the best seven years of my life. I want to thank everyone that has supported me in this sport.”
Rowan Lacy-Cancel, Steinert (126 pounds). Just a freshman, Lacy-Cancel decisioned Hamilton’s Estrada, 11-7, to improve to 6-9.
“We’ve been pleasantly surprised with her,” Panfili said. “She’s been doing well as a first-year wrestler. She went on a tear and she’s a tough little wrestler. She’s got a gymnastics background that helps her out a lot. We’ve been very pleased with her.”
And Lacy-Cancel is pleased with what she has done.
“Winning this was one of my biggest accomplishments,” she said. “Hitting that mat for my first match, I knew I was ready to win that day. Having the title ‘Champion’ as a first-year wrestler is so surreal and I can’t even explain how ecstatic I am. I can’t wait to see what this sport holds in store for me.”
Lacy-Cancel’s family felt that the mat was her calling due to the strength she showed as a little kid. She attended some Steinert practices in 8th-grade and “and felt like it was meant to be.”
She credits her friends and family for their support in lifting her up every day, and loves the direction her sport is headed.
“I think girls’ wrestling expanding throughout the high schools is an amazing thing,” she said. “Many girls are afraid to try wrestling because it’s a ‘boys sport’ but with the development of these teams, they can experience it also. It’s so exciting to see this sport growing among young women and I’m glad to be part of its development.”
Hana Abdelnabi, Hamilton West, 138 pounds. Another freshman, Abdelnabi ran her record to 10-3 by pinning Trenton’s Eileen Morales in 2:44. Morales entered the fray at 15-7.
“Being able to call myself the very first winner of the 138 pound weight class makes me very proud of how far I have come,” Abdelnabi said. “It helps me gain confidence for future tournaments like regionals. I was fortunate to wrestle in MCTs and hope that I inspire future female wrestlers.”
Abdelnabi feels she has come a long way, but Belviso feels she started from a good place.
“She’s a stud, it took maybe 10 seconds of her being in the room before she caught my eye,” the coach said. “I looked over and I thought ‘All right we’ve got something special on our hands here.’ She’s really tough in neutral and imposes her will. She has this special Greco Roman style. Moving forward I think she’s gonna be a real problem for people.”
Abdelnabi’s interest in the sport came from her dad, Mohamed, who wrestled in his youth. She began prior to high school and hit the brakes when Covid-19 hit, but couldn’t wait to get back on the mat.
“I was overjoyed to begin wrestling again,” she said “(Female) wrestling has definitely been growing, and is becoming more popular each year. I feel like it is significant that the amount of girls who participate in wrestling has increased. I truly hope that more females try out for wrestling in the upcoming seasons.”
Ella Johnson, Steinert (165 pounds). The daughter of former Spartan wrestler Rashone Johnson, the third township freshman to win a title improved her record to a gaudy 19-3 by pinning Ewing’s Franchesca Edouard in 1:44.
“Being a champion in the first year for girls means a lot to me,” Johnson said. “I was able to make history for Mercer County women’s wrestling and hopefully encourage more girls to take an interest in the sport next season.”
Johnson’s interest came from seeing it first-hand while watching her father coach and discovering what it was like to be part of a team.
“Now that there are more girls involved in wrestling I hope to inspire others to join the sport so that we can have more full girls’ teams in Mercer,” Johnson said. “I hope to see even more girls participate in the tournament next year.”
Panfili noted that Johnson is one of the few 9th-graders to come in with some experience.
“She was a middle school champion last year, that was a good foundation for her,” the coach said. “She’s been phenomenal. At one point she was ranked in the state. Her only losses came in the Bloomfield tournament. She’s been dominating around here and has been a powerhouse.”
Geri Nicole Angeles, Hamilton West, 185 pounds. Since this was such a thin weight class, the senior’s only bout was in the finals, where she pinned Ewing’s Khyla Villard in 3:32 to improve to 14-5.
“Even though it was a two-person bracket, it’s still a special thing to be part of the first one,” Belviso said. “Any way you cut it, I told her ‘You are the first Mercer County champ in your weight class. Be proud of being one of the pioneers of it all because it’s really gonna grow moving forward.’”
Angeles took her coach’s advice and is rightfully proud of herself.
“It honestly means so much to me,” she said. “This is my first year wrestling and I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to get this far. It’s unbelievable to be a part of something so huge in Mercer. I never could have dreamed to even get this far, and am so thankful to everyone that kept motivating me and keeping me in check to help me improve.”
Angeles was always drawn to the sport when she first learned of it in high school, and got involved through some friends.
“This is definitely out of my comfort zone, but I’m so glad I joined,” she said. “I’m so happy to see it’s been growing so well and opening up so much to women. There’s tons more resources and ways to get involved, and more opportunities to wrestle for women in Mercer. I can’t wait to see what happens in the near future.”
Neither can the coaches.
“The competition is only getting better and better,” Belviso said. “It’s something we can build on. We have 11 girls on the team. It’s not like the other girls walking the halls will say, ‘We’re gonna be just one or two girls on the team. It’s all right, we have a team.’ It’s that snowball effect that builds on itself, which is nice.”
Panfili feels it is getting comparable to boys matches when it comes to spectating.
“Sometimes the size difference can be a little bit of a struggle for the girls, but if they have the technique, it’s very similar to what the boys do,” he said. “We teach them the same moves as we teach the boys. It’s kind of like watching a boys’ match, at least for me, in regards of the level they’re at. I just think it’s awesome and I’m all for it.”
Judging by the success of the first MCT, so are a lot of others.
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In further postseason action: Steinert’s Ella Johnson won the Central Jersey Regional 165 pound championship with an 11-5 win over New Brunswick’s Zedekiah Pollard, and Hamilton’s Hana Abdelnabi reached the 138-pound consolation finals before losing a 5-4 decision to Lakewood’s Marily Dominguez and finishing fourth.
Steinert wrestlers Ella Johnson, Dana Volb, Isabella Panfili and Rowan Lacy-Cancel at the Mercer County Tournament, where Johnson, Volb and Lacy-Cancel finished as champions of their weight class.,
