Feb 21, 2024 3 min read

Name: Val Solorio

School: Canon-McMillan

Sport: Wrestling

Class: Senior

Solorio’s week: The University of Iowa recruit won her first two matches by pin before earning a 16-1 technical fall over Montour’s Kristen Walzer in the 100-pound final Saturday in the inaugural WPIAL girls individual wrestling championships at North Allegheny High School.

Solorio and 10 of her teammates advanced to the PIAA West Regional on March 2 at Canon-McMillan.

With the WPIAL finals starting at 100 pounds, Solorio has the distinction of being the first champion in WPIAL girls wrestling history.

“I loved the energy of the crowd and I go out there to entertain people,” Solorio said. “I believe it goes beyond winning a match, but I also want to demonstrate good sportsmanship to help girls wrestling grow. I want to see more girls give wrestling a try, so I am not going to disrespect my opponents, no matter what happens in the match.”

Solorio is 9-0 with seven wins coming by fall. She also received a forfeit in a dual meet against Mt. Lebanon in addition to her victory over Walzer.

Solorio is 30-1 in the past two years and won a state championship last season, but it was not recognized by the PIAA because the sports was not sanctioned until this season. She will have that opportunity when girls participate in Hershey at the Giant Center March 7-9.

Why Iowa?: The answer to why a wrestler would want to compete for the Hawkeyes may be an easy one, but for Solorio, just being on one of the best teams in the country was not the only factor.

“The coaches at Iowa treated me like I was their daughter and the girls on the team treated me like a sister,” Solorio said. “I wanted to be around coaches who want me to be the best, and they definitely have that Iowa, as do the coaches at Canon-McMillan.

“I have five brothers and sisters, plus my parents, so the family sense at Iowa was really important to me. The campus at Iowa is huge and being on the team makes the college seem smaller.”

Solorio plans to major in pre-business.

Getting started: Solorio’s family moved to Pennsylvania when she was 7. Her brother, Alex, was wrestling, so Solorio decided to jump in and work with her brother.

“I had worked with jiu-jitsu and tae-kwon-do but once I started helping my brother train, I fell in love with wrestling,” Solorio said. “I still work with him, and he is one of my best practice partners.”

Multi-talented: Wrestling is Solorio’s passion, but she has been a cheerleader and also did pageants. She coaches younger girls in wrestling while staying focused on her studies.

“Of course, there are jokes when it comes to wrestling and participating in pageants,” Solorio said. “Cheerleading helps with wrestling because you need to have good balance to perform the routines.”

Compiled by Jonathan Guth