H.S. wrestling: Pemberton's Morrissey goes from underdog to royalty at Queen of the East
PENNSAUKEN – Dakota Morrissey isn’t the underdog anymore.
The Pemberton High School senior experienced the feeling of a first-place finish on Saturday, taking home the 132-pound title at the Queen of the East girls’ wrestling tournament at Pennsauken.
While she got emotional when putting the medal around her neck, Morrissey believes the feeling, and more importantly, her outlook isn’t going to be changing anytime soon.
“My attitude is completely different this year,” Morrissey said. “I’m more confident and I’m not of afraid of anything anymore.
“Winning here is such a big thrill. It’s my first time winning first place, I just wanted to start crying.”
Morrissey experienced success last spring when she placed third in regions, qualifying for the state tournament. She returned to the mat this month with different school of thought.
“I starting listening to motivational quotes and speeches to help me,” she said. “It’s totally changed my outlook and my mentality.
“There’s a YouTube video called ‘Underdog.’ It’s speech about how you don’t want to be the underdog any more and you will rise above it.”
Morrissey went 4-0, with three first-period pins, en route to the title. She needed 102 seconds to claim first place with a fall over Boonton’s Julia Fongaro.
After being introduced to the sport by her friend Trinity Guzman, Morrissey caught on pretty quickly. She won seven times as a sophomore and 7-3 last season, which included a pair of losses to two-time state champion Emma Matera, of Delran.
“I just fell in love with the sport,” she said. “It’s really a family here, and the strength and the discipline are also big reasons why I love it.”
Magnificent Maya
Cherry Hill East’s Maya Hemo said she doesn’t remember anything about the first time she wrestled at the Queen of the East.
It’s safe to say she’ll remember her return. She earned a first-place medal as a forever reminder.
Hemo went 2-2 in her first-ever scholastic wrestling action two years ago as a freshman at the tournament.
On Saturday, the second-seeded Hemo went 4-0 with three first-period pins and a 6-4 victory over top-seeded Chloe Lawler. The East junior used a five-point move to close out the second period, putting Lawler, who finished fourth in the state at 128 last season, on her back.
“It’s unreal,” Hemo said about her first-place finish. “Honestly, I just wanted to see improvement from last year. I really worked to improve on my neutral because I felt that was my biggest weakness."
Hemo won six times en route to a third-place finish at regions last season.
Queen champs crowned
South Jersey celebrated five titles in the 10 weight classes with Cedar Creek’s Riley Lerner (114), Delran’s Emma Matera (138) and Timber Creek’s Olivia Palmer (145) along with Morrissey and Hemo earned their first titles
Matera, who finished third at the inaugural tournament in 2019, and Lerner, a state runner-up at 114 pounds last season, both went 4-0 with four pins en route to their crowns while Palmer had two first-minute pins before winning the title on an injury default. Palmer trailed 8-1 before she reversed Boonton’s Samira Kupa to her back, which she twisted and forced the default.
Tough task
This wasn’t a normal afternoon at the office for Bordentown’s Lexi Mazzella.
The senior was tasked with facing a state champion in the semifinal round and then rewarded with having to wrestle a two-time state champion in the final.
Mazzella went 1-1 to earn a runner-up spot in her first appearance at the tournament.
Mazzella enjoyed a breakout season last spring when she earned a third-place finish in the state. A tough 3-2 loss in the semifinal when she almost landed a decisive takedown in the closing seconds helped fuel the fire for this season.
“She’s improved in every way you could wish for,” Bordentown coach Jimmy Gill said. “She’s a leader and she’s stingy, she just doesn’t like giving up points.
“Her biggest strength is her ability to listen and change things on the fly. She could start a match one way and finish it another. We always talk about not worry about the first point, worry about the next point. She could be down, up or even and her mindset is she’s got to get to the next position.”
Mazzella put Central Regional’s Jayla Hahn in a position she hadn’t been in much – on her back. The Bordentown senior couldn’t seal the pin but managed a winning takedown with 14 seconds left in the third period for a wild 13-11 win over Hahn. Two years ago, Hahn pinned Mazzella in 20 seconds in the semifinals of the Mustang ZOO Tournament.
“One exchange separated her from being in the state final and the wrestle backs (in April),” Gill said. “She knows how good she can be and that fuels her.”
On the rise
The Queen of the East is gaining popularity.
After last year's pandemic hiatus, the tournament returned with 43 teams from three states and 205 wrestlers, about 45 to 50 more grapplers than the inaugural tournament in 2019.
Tournament director Eric Mossop said next year’s event will likely grow to a two-day format.
“It’s growing too much, but that’s a great thing,” he said. “Hopefully there’s not a year off in between again.”
Mossop said he would like to expand the tournament to local colleges, too.
“You can’t beat this tournament,” Gill said. “We missed it two years ago. … After (Mazzella) placed at states last year, we wanted to continue this program going onward and upward and this tournament really can help these kids. It simulates the tournaments you’ll see at regions and states. If you can wrestle all day here, you can wrestle all day at those two tournaments, too.”
Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: H.S. wrestling: Pemberton's Morrissey goes from underdog to royalty at Queen of East
