QUAKERTOWN - Few people are more driven than Brenda Banks.

There also aren’t many who have more fun than the Panther Valley sophomore.

Banks turned in a determined effort Sunday to claim the 235-pound title at the first-ever Southeast Regional girls wrestling tournament Sunday at Quakertown Community High School.

The unbeaten sophomore did it in dominating fashion, posting a pair of pins before topping Souderton’s MacKenna Atkinson 7-1 in the finals in a matchup of the top two 235-pound wrestlers in the state according to PA-Wrestling.com.

“I expected it to be a hard match because it was the first time I wrestled her since my first year at the Coal Cracker, and I hadn’t seen her in a long time so I was kind of nervous because I didn’t really know how she evolved since then,” said Banks. “She’s gotten really good. But I was able to pull through, and I’m proud of myself for that.”

Joining Banks in the finals Sunday and at the first-ever PIAA girls wrestling tournament in two weeks will be Northwestern’s Katie Brensinger and Pleasant Valley’s Juliette Trout, who both had runner-up finishes.

Banks on it

While Banks might have had some nerves before the match, she didn’t show it.

“She’s always so loose,” said Panthers’ head coach Kris Nalesnik. “I tell all my wrestlers make sure you’re good and loose before you go out there. While the 190-pound third and fourth-place match was going on (before the 235-pound finals), Brenda was out there dancing ... she’s always loose. And it’s amazing. When you have that mentality to just always be loose, ready to go. You’re never unprepared to go out and succeed.”

And Banks was more than ready for Atkinson (27-4), who she had beaten twice this season, 10-1 and most recently with a pin in 1:57 on Jan. 28.

Banks got a takedown in the first period, and another takedown and an escape in the second to build a 5-0 lead.

“I just like to make sure that I’m checking all the boxes of basically knowing what I’m supposed to do,” said Banks. “Don’t ride hips too high, because you can get caught if they’re headhunting; don’t stand too high or you can get shot on. It’s just basic knowledge in order to make sure I don’t make a mistake.”

Banks got another takedown in the third period with 1:27 left, and proved to be tough on top the rest of the way to keep Atkinson down.

“It was hard to be on top, because keeping a person down their very best to fight out is very hard,” said Banks. “But I pride myself on being a very strong top-worker, so I was able to pull through and do what I needed to do to win.”

That’s been a common theme for Banks, who is now 25-0. She opened the tournament by pinning Peninah Boywa of North Penn in 0:34 in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Banks was scoreless with Peyton Fries (23-10) of Quakertown, an Honorable Mention choice at 235 pounds in PA-Wrestling.com rankings, until she got a reversal in the second period and eventually finished the match with a pin in 3:58.

“Even when she makes mistakes, they’re usually not terrible mistakes. It’s enough that she’s able to come back from it,” said Nalesnik. “And that just comes with the way she works in the room. She’s constantly working positions where she is a little it off-kilter and has to recover from it. I think that’s another step that people don’t realize, when you’re just wrestling from positions of, you’re in charge, you’re in where you want to be, you’re not ready for those scramble moments when adversity hits. And she really does work at all times (on that).”

With a district and regional title under her belt, Banks has her sights set on Hershey and bringing home a PIAA title.

“I’m very, very excited for states this year. Now that it’s PIAA sanctioned, this is a seriously big deal,” said Banks, who won non-PIAA regional and state titles last season. “And it was a year ago, but this is something completely different from that, and I’m really excited to be able to try my best there.”

Advancing to States

Brensinger, a district champion last week, powered into the 148-pound finals with two pins. The senior topped Pennsbury’s Eliana Riva (12-14) in 2:47 in the quarters before dispatching Neshaminy’s Annette Barry (15-11) in 1:41 in the semis.

She faced Sun Valley freshman Jameson Strickland, who is 30-1 and fourth at 148 in the PA-Wrestling.com rankings, in the finals.

“I’ve known her for two years, since I’ve been wrestling on the national team,” Brensinger said of Strickland. “I knew she was good, I knew it was going to be a good match. Obviously, I always want to win. I thought I was going to win. I got caught in a couple of moves, made some mistakes and it cost me in the end.”

Strickland led 1-0 heading to the third period before securing three back points and eventually finishing the match with a pin in 4:33. Brensinger, who is tied for fifth in the PA-Wrestling.com rankings, will now turn her attention to states, where she hopes to turn in a strong performance.

“The wrestler I am, I always think, ‘Yeah, I’m going to win. I’m going to advance,’” said Brensinger, who will continue her wrestling career at East Stroudsburg University. “But having to work toward that, it really makes me determined, and when I win, it makes all the hard work payoff.”

Trout (4-2) continued her stellar campaign to reach the 112-pound final. She posted a technical fall (16-0, 2:28) win over Upper Merion’s Kyla Riley in the quarters before delivering a 13-4 major decision against Anjaleen Siddiqui (23-7) of William Tennent in the semis.

That meant a rematch of last week’s district final with East Stroudsburg North’s Andi Bibeau, who pinned Trout in 1:16.

Bibeau (5-0) led 4-0 after the first period in the rematch, and got a takedown in the second period before winning the title with a pin in 2:34.

“We did better than last week, so that’s all that matters,” said Trout. “And hopefully at states I can do even better.”

Both Trout and Bibeau are Honorable Mention selections in the PA-Wrestling.com rankings at 112.

“I think I’m doing all right this year,” said Trout. “I think I can definitely put a lot more work in, and do better next year. But this was awesome. I had so much fun this weekend.”

MEDALISTS

... While only the top four advanced to states, Pleasant Valley’s Lily Decker placed fifth at 235 pounds, while Lehighton’s Addison Chavanic was sixth at 190. Decker was trailing 6-2 against Northampton’s Danielle Glaser in the third period before rallying to get the pin in 4:03. Chavanic reached the semifinals by pinning Alyssa Crespo of William Tennent in 3:34 before falling to Daniella Maxwell of North Penn in 3:07. Chavanic met Bryce Snyder of Palisades, a rematch of last week’s district final, in the consolation round but was unable to finish the match due to injury and then forfeited her fifth-place bout.

SOMETHING TO BUILD ON

... Northwestern sophomore Angelina Spachman qualified for regionals as a first-year wrestler and after making it to a district final last week. While Spachman went 0-2 Sunday, she has plenty to look forward to next year after an impressive postseason.

CHAMPS

... Parkland won the team title with 87 points, ahead of Souderton (72) and Liberty (63).

LOOKING AHEAD

... The girls will now look forward to competing at the Giant Center in Hershey for the first-ever PIAA sanctioned state tournament, which will be run in conjunction with the boys event March 7-9.

Southeast Regional Tournament Results

First Place

100

- Grace Nesbitt (Neshaminy) pinned Payton Hinkle (Bensalem) in 1:57

106

- Taya Wuchter (Kennett) pinned Seretta Manuel (Pocono Mountain West) in 4:37

112

- Andi Bibeau (East Stroudsburg North) pinned Juliette Trout (Pleasant Valley) in 2:34

118

- Savannah Witt (Palisades) tech. fall Gisele Ramirez (Souderton), 17-1 (2:29)

124

- Madacyn Rivera (Pen Argyl) won by forfeit over Julissa Ortiz (Mariana Bracetti Academy)

130

- Aubre Krazer (Easton) pinned Kayla Husti-Luca (Souderton) in 0:43

136

- Haylie Jaffe (Kennett) pinned Ruth Rivera (Whitehall) in 2:00

142

- Sienna Landrum (Downingtown West) pinned Jessica Ayala (Garnet Valley) in 1:17

148

- Jameson Strickland (Sun Valley) pinned Katie Brensinger (Northwestern Lehigh) in 4:33

155

- Kelsey Gelb (Parkland) dec. Mylea Lambert (Northampton), 6-3

170

- Gracie Haflich (Bethlehem Liberty) pinned Maura Case (Easton) in 3:11

190

- Caroline Hattala (Quakertown) pinned Daniella Maxwell (North Penn) in 1:09)

235

- Brenda Banks (Panther Valley) dec. MacKenna Atkinson (Souderton), 7-1

Third Place

100

- Ella Hesener (Parkland) pinned Chelsea Dressler (Nazareth) in 0:27

106

- Emily Sarr (Souderton) dec. Anya Abel (Pennsbury), 3-2

112

- Sylvyn Parham (Parkland) maj. dec. Macayla Needham (Central Bucks), 8-0

118

- Savannah Richards (Pottstown) maj. dec. Ashae Branch-Huston (Cheltenham), 9-0)

124

- Abigail Taylor (Parkland) pinned Gracie Clift (Abington) in 1:24

130

- Sarah Pearson (Downingtown West) dec. Emma Arnold (Avon Grove), 6-4

136

- Doniya Anwari (Bethlehem Liberty) pinned Gabrielle Costa (Coatesville) in 1:32

142

- Rylee Netter (Upper Dublin) pinned Olivia Capra (Easton) in 0:48

148

- Eve Kurtz (Pine Grove) pinned Symarah Drey (Bethlehem Liberty) in 3:31

155

- Kaitlynn Arnold (Avon Grove) pinned Kaylyn Adair (Upper Perkiomen) in 0:54

170

- Shannon Fratus (Parkland) dec. Maya Krieger (Bensalem), 5-4

190

- Bryce Snyder (Palisades) dec. Vida Torres (Pottstown), 2-1 (TB-1)

235

- Peyton Fries (Quakertown) pinned Addyson Munro (Bethlehem Liberty) in 2:23

Fifth Place

100

- Taya Wuchter (Kennett) pinned Seretta Manuel (Pocono Mountain West) in 4:37

106

- Ashley Stank (Quakertown) dec. Carlie Ciresa (Pocono Mountain East), 12-9

112

- Anjaleen Siddiqui (William Tennent) pinned Kyla Riley (Upper Merion) in 1:48)

118

- Autumn Kanas (Pocono Mountain West) won by injury against Kara Diviny (Abraham Lincoln) (3:29)

124

- Danielle Williams (Easton) dec. Hawa Konate (Penn Wood), 6-3

130

- Olivia Lessing (Palisades) pinned Ava Akacha (Upper Merion) in 0:19

136

- Raylyn Schwoyer (Owen J. Roberts) pinned Angel Coley (Academy Park) in 1:25

142

- Ciara Rodriguez (Cheltenham) won by forfeit against Alana Burnette (Pocono Mountain East)

148

- Annette Barry (Neshaminy) dec. Eliana Riva (Pennsbury), 8-5

155

- Lane Harrington (Strath Haven) dec. Savanah Kirk (Chichester), 2-1

170

- Isabella Priano (Central Bucks) pinned Mariyatta Idris (Penn Wood) in 1:16

190

- Alyssa Crespo (William Tennent) won by forfeit against Addison Chavanic (Lehighton)

235

- Lily Decker (Pleasant Valley) pinned Danielle Glaser (Northampton) in 4:03