C-M grad Solorio forced to injury default in finals at Fargo
Canon-McMillan graduate Val Solorio had a four-point lead after the first period of Sunday’s final in the 2024 U.S. Marine Corps Junior & 16U Nationals at the FargoDome, but an injury forced an injury default and the future Iowa wrestler had to settle for second place.
Solorio, who won the first sanctioned state championship for girls for Pennsylvania in March at the Giant Center in Hershey, had a 4-0 lead in the first 40 seconds of the match against Katey Valdez of Colorado.
Valdez tied the match with 1:23 left in the second, but Solorio had to go into concussion protocol after hitting her head on a throw.
According to social media reports on X (formerly Twitter), Solorio wanted to continue but had to default out of the match and Valdez won the championship in junior freestyle at 100 pounds.
Solorio, who was the second seed, received a bye in the round of 64 before winning her first match by fall in 27 seconds. She won her next three bouts by technical superiority (winning by 10) to reach the finals.
Solorio, who graduated this year from Canon-McMillan, will focus on wrestling for the Hawkeyes.
Solorio was joined by two Big Mac teammates at Fargo in Natalie Rush (190) and Sienna Williams-Van Balen (125). Rush won two matches and will return to Canon-McMillan for her senior season.
Peters Township graduate Grace O’Korn was 2-2 at 145 pounds. She will wrestle in college for West Liberty University.
Pennsylvania finished third in the junior freestyle division for women with 100 points and one champion.
The 16U Pennsylvania women won the team title with 157 points and four champions.
The men will begin action today through Wednesday in freestyle for the 16U and junior divisions at 10 a.m.
Action can be followed on arena.flowrestling.org where the results are posted live. A subscription is needed to watch the matches.