Feb 29, 2024 6 min read

By Eleanor Bailey

Almanac Sports Editor

ebailey@thealmanac.net

Grace O’Korn is an extraordinary female. Not because she wrestles for Peters Township High School, but rather, because she does not fear a scale.

“Weigh-in is no big deal,” said the 142-pound senior. “When I think of wrestling, making weight is so much more than that. My body serves a purpose for wrestling not societal needs. To see what my body can do is empowering.”

O’Korn noted that many females wrestling for the first time in the WPIAL and the PIAA came into the season competing at whatever weight they “fit into” rather than cutting pounds and ounces. She said that being comfortable in one’s own skin and with body image makes the sport “accessible” for anyone.

Buck O’Korn concurs. Grace’s father, he is also the Peters Township girls wrestling coach.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for girls of all shapes and sizes,” he said.

“The female athletic talent pool for wrestling in Western PA has just been tapped into. The sky’s the limit. I predict in the very near future national dominance in the sport will follow.”

The dominance can start Saturday when the PIAA Girls West Regional will be held at Canon-McMillan High School. It will be held in conjunction with the Class 3A Boys Southwest Regional, which begins today at 3:30 p.m. and concludes Saturday.

O’Korn has been a dominant name on the mats for decades.

It started with Frank. Grace’s grandfather and Buck’s dad wrestled and coached at Canon-McMillan, which now has a female program and features some of the best wrestlers in the state. Frank was a state runner-up for the Big Macs. Uncle George was a two-time state champion at Canon-Mac under Frank’s guidance. Both went on to wrestle at Pitt. As Panthers, they both wrestled for national championships. George did so while also playing football and some baseball at Pitt.

Buck and his brother, Brian, both wrestled at Peters Township. Brian accumulated around 80 wins as a four-year starter before heading to Pitt while Buck placed third at the national level in Greco-Roman before competing at Clarion University. Buck also placed second in freestyle in the veterans division at the U.S. Open as an adult.

In addition to Grace, Buck has a son, Luke, who just finished his seventh-grade season with more than 25 victories.

“We were all very fortunate and grateful to have learned about the sport of wrestling from names like Puchani, Murdock, Buckley, Phil and Chris Mary as well as Rex Peery, Randy Stotlemeyer and Bob Bubb. We all just hope we gave a little back to our communities and the families we have touched in the wrestling community,” Buck said.

Just as her relatives before her, Grace is a trailblazer in the sport. She started wrestling in fourth grade but found it hard to continue because there were not a lot of girls competing at that time.

She focused on other things instead and excelled at them.

Grace played soccer and lettered four years on the varsity team. She studied and built up her GPA to an astounding 5.0.

“I could not be more proud of Grace. Academics, athletics, kindness,” Buck noted. “She works hard at being the best she can be. She is a pretty darn good wrestler, too.”

Grace wrestles because she wants to, not because she’s forced. After the pandemic, she returned to the sport. In 2022 and 2023, she improved to the point that she qualified for nationals twice, earning trips to Fargo, N.D.. This winter, she won a silver medal by finishing second at the WPIAL Championships and gained a berth in the regional tournament with a shot at heading to Hershey for the first-ever state girls wrestling championships.

“Wrestling was my choice,” she said. “I saw all (my family) do it while I was growing up and their experiences were exciting. I have learned so much from them, and I work on things with them. They have helped me so much that I feel that I have an advantage.

“With my dad as my coach, it’s a new source of help once I come home. It’s been awesome. Really special.”

Memorable would be a trip to the Giant Center for the PIAA Championships. Grace went with the Canon-McMillan team last year and watched the boys semifinals.

“Environment is such a big factor in the competition,” she noted. “That atmosphere is electric, exciting. You don’t realize how lucky you would be to go there. To be there would be awesome, but you’d definitely be nervous. Nerves though are good as they help get you ready for your match. You just have to control them.”

Grace is only sorry that wrestling took so long to find a foothold in Pennsylvania. It wasn’t until last March that the PIAA voted to officially recognize girls wrestling for the first time for the 2023-24 season. Currently, there are 12 schools in the WPIAL that have 10 or more females on their roster and 11 others plus three City League schools have at least one girl.

The Peters Township team consisted of three girls and they were welcomed to practice and train with the Canon-McMillan girls. The Big Macs won the MyHouse girls high school state championships last season and they boast Valarie Solorio. She won a national title last summer at Fargo. Because she wrestles at the lightest weight of 100 pounds, the Iowa recruit became the WPIAL’s first-ever gold medalist and champion.

“I think since wrestling’s official, it will bring more girls to the sport,” Grace said. “It’s heartwarming when I sit back and see how many little girls look up to Val. I meet a lot of younger girls, too, and it makes me feel like I am doing something worthwhile that they can do as well.

“Wrestling has affected life in all aspects. My school, work, my friendships. It transfers over to everything I do. It’s made me a completely different person – mentally stronger. A lot of girls who try it will fall in love with it. Not just the combat side but in the fact that what you put into it is what you get out of it.”