Her numbers speak of superhuman powers. Regular season record of 37-0. Subtract five wins by forfeit, and including the post season, she pinned 24 of her opponents in under a minute.

Brenda Banks of Panther Valley High School is the 2026 Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Girls Wrestler of the Year.

“The most incredible thing about her success coming up to this year,” said her coach, Kris Nalesnik, “is she showed up with a friend who wanted to wrestle with us during her freshman year, and she decided to try it out without knowing anything about the sport.”

Learn fast, she did. Besides being undefeated this season, Banks swept through the district and state tournaments. With so many early pins to her record, once she came up against a formidable opponent, the question would be is Banks the Mike Tyson of wrestling? Could she last into the later minutes of a match and have the stamina to win?

In the state tournament, Banks proved she was up to the task. She won a 10-0 major decision against an opponent from Central Dauphin, but her toughest challenge was in the final gold medal match. After a scoreless first period, she pinned her opponent from Southmoreland at 4:43 to win her fourth straight state championship.

Banks’s journey to perfection on the wrestling mat began ironically on the football field.

“I played Pee Wee Panther Valley football as a running back, tight end and multiple defensive positions,” she said. “I enjoyed the contact and the competition, but football is a team sport and once I got to wrestling, I wanted to know how I could do as an individual.”

“When Brenda began wrestling, we had no established girls team,” said Nalesnik. “She had to compete against boys and since she was just learning the sport, she made a mature decision to wrestle at the junior high level to gain experience.”

With what he called “an incredible work ethic and physically gifted talents,” Banks improved her wrestling IQ that progressed to a career record of 110-2, with 84 of her victories by pins.

She achieved her 100th win this year on Jan. 31, pinning her opponent in 57 seconds in the championship match at the Battle of the Buck Tournament.

One of Banks’ losses came by one point in her third-ever match in the Coal Cracker tournament, and the other occurred last year when she injured her ankle in the first few seconds of a match. Although she was winning, Nalesnik decided to forfeit in order to prevent further injury.

“She wouldn’t talk to me for two weeks,” he said, with a laugh. He added, “Brenda is a special, special athlete, not just with strength and power, but also with speed.”

This past January in Jim Thorpe, Banks won the Coal Cracker crown winning every match by first-period pins.

Her rise to the top of the high school wrestling world has been nurtured by a compilation of technical advice from Nalesnik to state and national coaches. Banks has had no private instruction, and has never wrestled at the club level.

“I’ve had plenty of help along the way learning that wrestling is not just about winning with a big body, but it requires strategy and technique,” Banks said. “I work very hard to improve my performance.”

At the Fargo National Tournament, Banks placed third a year ago and was named to the All-American team, and she won gold in the National 16U Freestyle Tournament.

Banks is currently ranked second in the country at the 235-pound level with district, regional and state titles. Her rise to super-stardom has been a carefully calculated plan that she calls her “head space.”

“I wrestle in the moment, match by match and I don’t get nervous. I thrive on the competition.”

She gives credit to the sport for changing a “shy, nerve-racked” young girl into a “sociable, outgoing, and much more approachable person.”

Off the mat, Banks is a beacon of kindness to everyone she meets, and expressed her gratitude to her family, coaches, school and community.

Next year, Banks will continue her wrestling career at East Stroudsburg University where she intends to compete at the 205-pound level.

“I was recruited by a handful of schools, but I wanted to be close to my home and my mother and sisters. ESU girls wrestling is ranked ninth nationally. I know that the college level will be more intense, and I’m ready for the challenge.

“The coaches work you hard, but they make it fun, too. The other big draw was they have what I want academically. I want to double major in political science and criminal justice. My longer-term goal is to go to law school and become a defense attorney.”

Coach Nalesnik calls Banks “the consummate professional”, and that he and her school community are looking forward to following her success at the collegiate level.