Kiski Area Junior Wrestler Ava Golding Hopes to Finish a Perfect Season with WPIAL, PIAA Titles

Golding was the inaugural 136-pound champion at the WPIAL champions last season. The junior wrestler is 23-0 for the Cavaliers and is ranked No. 2 in the PIAA rankings.

Kiski junior wrestler Ava Golding, who is ranked No. 2 in the state, was the WPIAL's inaugural champion at 136 pounds last season. She is hoping to win her second crown this weekend and improve on her third-place finish at the PIAA championships from last season. / Ava Golding

Ava Golding’s first youth wrestling practice was everything she was looking for. The Kiski Area junior fell in love, then kicked her other potential after-school activities to the curb.

Golding decided dance and gymnastics wouldn’t be for her.

“I went to one wrestling practice and quit my other sports and never went back,” Golding said. 

Golding, who is 23-0 and the top seed at 136 pounds, is one of seven returning champions from last season's inaugural Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) wrestling championships. Golding is the top seed at 136 pounds this weekend for the WPIAL tournament at North Allegheny High School and would like to defend her title.

Kiski wrestling coach Justin Tresco said he has been impressed with how Golding attacks her opponents.

“She’s willing to go out and get it done,” Tresco said. “She’s not afraid to take shots. She has no fear.”

Golding showed that tenacity as a sophomore. During wrestling’s first season as a sponsored PIAA sport, Golding finished 31-5 and finished third in the state.

Four of Golding’s five losses came to Bishop McCort’s Jordyn Fouse. Fouse is the No. 2 ranked wrestler at 148 pounds and is committed to wrestle at Grand Valley State.

“I think when I wrestled her, I went out there knowing how good she was, and I was going to lose the match,” Golding said. “I feel like I have a better mindset.”

Golding has continued to challenge herself by training with other top wrestlers at Young Guns Wrestling Club. Norwin’s Octavia Walker, along with Plum’s Alaina Claassen and Saphia Davis, all train with Golding. All three of Golding’s aforementioned club teammates won WPIAL titles last season.

“It helps to have good competition in the practice room,” Golding said. “There aren’t a lot of girls to train with, and otherwise, you have to train with the guys.”

With Golding’s experience and past success, she had a clear goal for this season. She wanted to finish with a perfect record.

While Golding said she learned a lot from losses in the past, no one has been able to give her a lesson yet this season.

Golding has pinned 17 other opponents. All four of her decision wins came against Connellsville’s Janayah Nobles.

Nobles is seeded second at 136 pounds.

In Golding’s other matches, she has focused on putting herself in a position to work on adding to her moveset to become a more well-rounded wrestler. With many girls’ wrestling programs still growing, Golding doesn’t want to pin first-year opponents quickly.

Fourty-seven schools will have entrants in the tournament, but the experience level among the competitors has a wide range of experience.

“I put myself in positions that I’m not comfortable with,” Golding said. “I just don’t want to go out and pin new girls right away. I don’t think that helps me or them. I want to wrestle through the match and work on positions where I’m not the best.”

--Josh Rizzo | rizzo42789@gmail.com| @J_oshrizzo