Five years ago, medaling in the PIAA Girls Wrestling State Championships was impossible. Not due to the difficulty of the league, not a figure of speech, but due to the fact that it wasn’t a officially sanctioned high school sport in the state. This week, two trailblazers of the sport in North Penn’s own Ella Maxwell and Godie Hart are looking to bring home some hardware back to Valley Forge Road.

In her debut year as a freshman in 2022, Maxwell had been in pursuit of the creation of a girls wrestling team for quite some time, and was in a sense, the first member.

“I was the first girl wrestler here and before me there was no team,” Maxwell said. “To me it shows how much can change over just a few years, we went from only 2 girls on the team to now having 20 and it’s great to see how much we’ve grown.”

Maxwell’s 13-14 record that year is a far cry from where she sits now at 34-13 (.723) this year, and 92-54 (.630) all time, making her the winningest girls wrestler in the school’s young history. She also is ranked 3rd for her weight class in the latest Districts 1/12 ranking and is an honorable mention for all districts. 

“Everything just fell into place, I started putting more things together technique wise and everything started flowing together,” Maxwell said. “I also think that my mindset has changed and I learned to have fun with wrestling this year because it’s my last year. Just trying to have fun with the journey and not put so much pressure on the outcome.”

With a pin and 3rd place finish in the Southeast Regional last week, Maxwell secured her spot in States, avenging both a loss in Districts as well as making up for missing out on States last year. The state tournament last year was the only one so far to not feature the North Penn senior.

“This trip feels different because I fell short my junior year and didn’t qualify, so qualifying this year was really big to me and it’s my last year to ever go,” Maxwell said. “It’s also different this year because I’m able to go with my teammate and share the amazing experience with her as well.”

Maxwell doesn’t view her losses as setbacks, but as a necessary step in her growth.

“Those moments have shaped me because I learned from them and came back better,” Maxwell reflected. “I’m grateful for how the postseason went last year because it pushed me to become even better and work even harder to reach my goals. All the tough losses have made me an even better wrestler and I’m happy now that they happened.”

Joining Maxwell in Hershey is junior Godie Hart, who is also in the best year of her career, compiling a remarkable 35-7 (.833) record to date, bringing her to 82-27 (.752) in her three years of wrestling. Hart sits in the same spot as Maxwell in the PA-Wrestling.com rankings, at 3rd in Districts 1/12 and honorable mention for all districts.

“I’ve been worrying a lot less this season,” Hart said. “I’m pretty tenacious, I wrestle hard the whole time and don’t let up. I just focus on doing everything I can to prepare, put my trust in God, and leave the outcome in His hands.”

Following back-to-back 6th place finishes in Districts the past two years, Hart was finally able to get over the hump this year with a 2nd place finish in Districts and 4th place finish in the Southeast Regionals to reach the state tournament for her first time.

“Just being able to compete there means a lot,” Hart said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity, and I know not everyone gets this chance. After getting hurt the last two years and not qualifying [for Regionals] it was a weird feeling going into [Districts] this time, having a lot going on and not feeling my best. I knew what was at stake, I just focused on what I’ve been working for, and had to mentally block everything out and just let my passion and what I wanted override everything else.”

The two captains have each had an effect on the other as well as opening up a leadership role for the older.

“Ella’s such a good teammate, and a great training partner and friend. She’s always so supportive and I’m so happy I got to be a captain alongside her because it’s helped me grow too,” Hart said.

“I’m able to give Godie advice because I know what it feels like to walk into the Giant Center and Hershey for the first time, it’s very nerve racking, so I’m happy that I’m able to be there for the younger girls because there wasn’t an older girl to show me the ropes,” Maxwell said.

“I’ve realized that while it’s an individual sport, it’s also a team sport,” she added. “I’m very proud of my team and what they have accomplished and I think being a leader and role model to them helps me because I relate to what they’re going through and give them advice, and by helping them with hard matches and tough losses I’m able to take my own advice and it helps me too.”

The trip to Hershey is about more than just achievements though, with the opportunity to set a ceiling that didn’t exist when they first stepped onto the mats.

“It would mean a lot to me,” Maxwell said regarding the potential of medaling. “Finally placing would be amazing, but being the first girl to medal would be very full circle. I was the girl to start the team and the first to qualify for States, so being the first to medal would be the cherry on top.”

“I want people to see how much I’ve grown as a wrestler,” she added. “I’ve been working very hard in and out of the season and I hope that I can go out there, leave it all on the mat and show people how much better I’ve gotten and how hard I’ve worked the past year to become a better version of myself.”

While there are a lot of firsts up for grabs, the legacy these two have left on the budding program is already cemented.

“I hope that the team continues to grow, the girls continue to work hard and that the girls wrestling program does amazing things in the future and grows to become the best program that I know it can be. I hope that I inspire other girls to never give up and keep trying for their goals because you never know what can happen,” Maxwell concluded.

Maxwell, the #9 seed in her class, will take on Northern Lebanon’s #8 seed Dakota Dengler in the first round and Hart, the #14 seed in her class, will matchup with Laurel’s #3 Maggie Alfera. Both matches are at 2 PM today and the pair will be playing through Saturday. Best of luck to both of these Knights!

Live brackets can be found here.