In the first PIAA sanctioned girls state wrestling tournament, Northampton’s Mylea Lambert claimed a spot on the podium and a place in history by finishing fourth in the 155-pound weight class in Hershey last weekend.

Lambert spoke about her accomplishment, “I definitely am excited. It’s still a big achievement. Not everybody can take first, so being on the podium, being top eight is great. Working my way up through the places, knowing I can’t take less than sixth, then knowing I couldn’t take anything but third or fourth was good.”

She opened her tournament with a first-period pin against Ysabella Patti of Central Dauphin.

In the quarters, she faced off against North Allegheny’s Leyna Rumpler, a defending (unofficial) state champion and the top-ranked wrestler in the state at 155. Lambert lasted until the second period but was ultimately pinned to drop into consolations.

The first consolation match was the pivotal blood round where the winner would secure a medal and the loser’s tournament would be over. Lambert reflected, “I actually went out there and was barely nervous at all. I just knew I had to go out there and wrestle hard and give it my all and if I didn’t win, so be it. At least I would have wrestled my hardest.”

She pinned Ashlyn Van Fleet of Athens in 3:46 to clinch a medal and give herself a chance to work her way up the podium. Another third-period pin, this time against Kaitlynn Arnold of Avon Grove, boosted her into the consolation semis.

There she scored her 22nd win and 20th pin of the season by decking Kylie Monroe of Gettysburg in 2:46.

Her inaugural season of varsity wrestling came to a close with a 3-2 loss to Raegan Snider of Northern Bedford in the consolation final.

Lambert summed up the experience, “I’m just very thankful for my coaches, family, siblings, everybody that has helped push me through like my teammates. It was fun. I’m glad I did it with the people I did it with. I’ll be back out here next year.”