After dazzling the Giant Center crowd in Hershey earlier this month, scoring multiple upsets while posting a 4-1 record on her way to a third-place finish in the 112-pound bracket at the PIAA individual championships, Brashear senior Tamara Humphries thought her high school wrestling career was over.
Not so fast.
Following her inspiring performance in Hershey, Humphries received a spot on the Pennsylvania All-Star team for the 51st annual Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic at Peters Township’s AHN Arena on Saturday. The Pennsylvania Women’s All-Stars will compete against the New Jersey Women’s All-Stars in the first of three dual meets at 3 p.m., followed by the WPIAL All-Stars against the New Jersey All-Stars at 4:15 p.m. and the main event between the Pennsylvania All-Stars and Team USA All-Stars at 6 p.m.
“I’m honestly really, really excited,” Humphries said. “I’ve been super blessed by my community. This wrestling thing has really blown up. … It’s just surreal being able to represent [Team] PA.”
Joining Humphries on the Pennsylvania Women’s All-Star team will be Connellsville’s Janayah Nobles, a WPIAL runner-up who finished in fourth place at 136 pounds at the PIAA championships. Nobles will compete at 130 pounds on Saturday against North Brunswick’s Melani Contreras, while Humphries will take on Grace Riley of Paramus Catholic at 112 pounds. All competitors will be granted a 5-pound weight allowance for the postseason exhibition.
“I already know [Nobles],” Humphries said. “She’s a pretty cool girl. I’ve had some rivalries with some of her teammates. If I can meet some girls who are like-minded and make a difference, that would be pretty cool to me.”
Widely regarded as the premier postseason all-star dual meet in the country, the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic expanded last season to include a women’s dual for the first time. Humphries was in attendance with her coach, Sam Criswell, soaking in the atmosphere and hoping to get a sneak peek at what the prestigious event is like in person.
Little did either of them know that one year later, Humphries would be taking center stage with all eyes on her, ready to represent for the City League and all the inner-city youth wrestlers who might one day hope to follow in her footsteps.
“That mindset of that hard work, she internalizes it all,” Criswell said. “I wish I had a team full of Tamaras. She really put in that extra time for it. I’m just so proud of her and what she’s been able to accomplish.”
Already one of only three PIAA medalists from the City League, Humphries will join the late Godwin Nyama as the second City League wrestler to compete in the event. A 2012 Brashear grad and the City League’s first and only state champion wrestler, Nyama was named Outstanding Wrestler for the WPIAL All-Stars after posting an 18-7 major decision victory against Maryland’s Tony Farace at the 2012 Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic.
“I’ve got to carry the torch,” Humphries said. “I’m going to travel to where these girls are apparently better. I’m not interested in backing down from any girls who are supposedly better than me. … There are so many girls who don’t have this chance, and I really want to take advantage of it.
“I want to be able to reach the highest goal I can and leave my mark. … I just want to be that light people are looking for.”
In the second dual of the event, the WPIAL All-Stars will take on the New Jersey All-Stars, with a crop of local standouts taking the mat for the final time in their high school careers. Following last year’s 27-19 victory against the Ohio All-Stars, the WPIAL holds a 32-17 lead all time against the various states that have taken part in the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic.
Starting things off at 121 pounds for the WPIAL All-Stars will be Latrobe’s Leo Joseph, a Navy recruit, followed by Pitt recruit Nico Fanella of Indiana at 127 pounds. One of two teams with two WPIAL entrants, Latrobe will then send out Wyoming recruit and three-time WPIAL champion Luke Willochell at 133 pounds.
Edinboro recruit Dominic Ferraro of Pine-Richland will represent the WPIAL All-Stars at 139 pounds, then West Virginia recruit Ramil Islamov of Baldwin will follow at 145. A pair of Connellsville wrestlers will then wrestle back-to-back, with Pitt recruit Evan Petrovich taking the mat at 152 pounds and West Virginia recruit Lonzy Vielma competing at 160.
A late addition this week after some shuffling in the lineups, Burrell’s Isaac Lacinski will wrestle at 172 pounds, followed by Columbia recruit Mark Gray of Kiski Area and Brown recruit Braedon Welsh of Fort Cherry, both competing at 189. Rounding out the WPIAL All-Star team will be Cornell recruit Jake Conroy of Ringgold at 215 pounds and Pitt football recruit Shep Turk of Thomas Jefferson at 285.
As for the main event of the evening, the Team USA All-Stars are riding a 12-match winning streak against the Pennsylvania All-Stars dating back to 2011, and Team USA now leads the all-time series, 31-19. The Pennsylvania All-Stars will have a hard time reversing their fortune this year against Team USA’s star-studded lineup, which features nine wrestlers ranked among the top five in the nation in their weight class by FloWrestling.
Three of those Team USA All-Stars are ranked No. 1 in the nation — 152-pounder Daniel Zepeda of Gilroy, Calif.; 160-pounder Landon Robideau of St. Michael, Minn.; and 172-pounder LaDarion Lockett of Stillwater, Okla. Lockett is ranked No. 5 overall in FloWrestling’s pound-for-pound rankings and Zepeda is ranked No. 13.
It just so happens that the only two WPIAL entrants for the Pennsylvania All-Stars this year are Thomas Jefferson teammates Maddox Shaw at 152 pounds and Bode Marlow at 172, setting up a pair of massive showdowns on Saturday for the Jaguars greats.
“It’s awesome,” Shaw said. “The past four years — nobody sees the work that we put in behind closed doors. I’m so proud of him that he can represent PA and we can do it together. Hopefully we can put a great show on for TJ one last time.”
A two-time PIAA champion with a career record of 166-14, Shaw is rarely viewed as an underdog. But the Ohio State recruit will certainly have his hands full against Zepeda, a three-time California state champion and N.C. State recruit with a career record of 149-7.
“If you look at every single tournament ever, you can see that upsets happen all the time,” Shaw said. “I’m so excited. I’m just hungry for it. God blesses me with these opportunities, and you’ve got to take advantage of them whenever you can. It’s not about winning. It’s about learning about yourself.
“One way or another, I’m going to grow from this.”
Meanwhile, after being elevated from the WPIAL All-Star team to replace State College’s Asher Cunningham earlier this week, Marlow will face off with Lockett, a four-time Oklahoma state champion and U17 World champion, at 172 pounds.
A Pitt recruit, Marlow is a two-time WPIAL champion and two-time PIAA medalist with a career record of 162-31. He finished with a record of 50-4 as a senior while placing in the top three in the state for the second year in a row — but he will face the toughest challenge of his career against Lockett, an Oklahoma State recruit with a career record of 153-3.
It may be a daunting task, but in the eyes of Thomas Jefferson coach Michael Ladick, it’s the type of opportunity that only comes around once in a lifetime — so why not seize it?
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be and no one else I’d want to coach,” Ladick said.
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
