TIM WEIGHT/For The Expres Central Mountain’s Kendall Wagner is back at the PIAA girls wrestling championships in Hershey, which begins this morning.

Central Mountain standout Kendall Wagner was a Central Regional silver medalist and was the Wildcats’ lone qualifier for the state tournament. The senior Wildcat (25-7) has a first-round matchup against Octavia Walke of Norwin (37-10). The top-seeded wrestler is Palisades’ Bryce Snyder (35-1).

Wagner received honorable mention honors in the state rankings at 170 and is looking to be a state medalist for a third consecutive year.

Wagner took eighth as a sophomore and bronze last winter. She took fourth as a freshman in the non-PIAA sanctioned state tournament. Last year was her fourth straight year being a Central Regional runner-up and third straight year taking silver at the District 5-6-9 championships.

Wagner is one of just two area girl wrestlers to qualify for this year’s state tournament in Hershey.

The other is Bellefonte sophomore Bailee Scott who has been having a great year. Scott is 21-13 this year and has a first-round matchup against Mount Lebanon’s Camilla Hathaway, a freshman who is 34-3, in the 155 field. Scott finished the past weekend as the Central Regional fourth-place finisher.

This is the best season of Scott’s young career. Last year as a freshman, Scott went just 11-15 and took fifth at districts but couldn’t advance to regionals. This year, she’s nearly doubled her win total, has won 19 bouts by fall (compared to nine as a freshman) and took bronze at the District 5-6-9 championships before last week’s fourth-place finish at the Central Regional.

The top seed in the 155 field is Chestnut Ridge’s Violette Lasure, a junior who is 35-0. Lasure will be a tough wrestler to beat at 155. She’s a two-time state champion and has yet to lose a bout in her high school career. She went 33-0 as a freshman, 32-0 as a sophomore and is currently 35-0 as a junior. She’s a three-time district champion and three-time regional champion.