Shane Valko gets the same question every time someone finds out he’s coaching the inaugural Pitt-Johnstown women’s wrestling team, which will take to the home mats for the first time at 7 p.m. Wednesday inside the Sports Center against Waynesburg.
“What’s it like to coach women’s wrestling?”
Valko, who won a national title in 2010 wrestling for legendary coach Pat Pecora, and has served as an assistant for the Mountain Cats’ powerhouse men’s program, gives the same answer every time.
“It doesn’t change,” Valko said. “I’m not looking at it as a female and male. They know what they signed up for. They’re wrestling like everybody else. It’s not like they were ballerinas trying to wrestle. They’re getting bloody noses, cauliflower ear, their lips busted. They know what they signed up for.”
Pitt-Johnstown burst onto the scene at the East Stroudsburg University Open Nov. 2. Tamara Humphries (117 pounds) and Makayla Paclib (131) each posted victories in the semifinals to reach the finals before closing out the tournament with 4-1 overall records. Rome Alvarez advanced to the quarterfinals, while Emma Hoppe went 4-2 at 145, and Emma Cunningham was 3-2 at 124.
Valko has seven wrestlers on his squad – not enough to fill the 10 weight classes – but he likes what he sees, both in the wrestling room and on the recruiting trail, where he’s talking to some of the nation’s best high school wrestlers.
The Pitt-Johnstown program is drawing interest from all over the U.S. While Valko has two local wrestlers in Greater Johnstown grad Isabella Taranto (138 pounds) and Penn Cambria alumna Leah Shoemaker (117), he also has two from Florida – Alvarez (124) and Hoppe (145). Paclib (131) hails from Hawaii. Humphries (110) is from Pittsburgh while Cunningham (124) is from Beaver.
The roster also includes a mixture of experience levels. Hoppe won 115 matches and a state title in Florida, while Paclib was a state runner-up in the Aloha State. Alvarez and Humphries were state medalists, while Taranto and Shoemaker had never wrestled before this season.
“It’s going to be interesting,” Valko said of the program’s first season. “We have some holes. I’m not saying we’re going to go out and dominate every team. We have two girls that have never wrestled before. The girls are going to fight to the very end. They’re going to give you everything they have.”
Jacob Ealy, who won an NCAA Division II title for Pitt-Johnstown in 2024, will serve as an assistant for both the men’s and women’s programs, while Lily Scherer, who is Lock Haven’s winningest female wrestler, is also on the staff.
“I wanted to add someone for these women to show that she’s done it,” Valko said. “She’s been an All-American. She knows a lot of the girls already. She gives me insight.”
Jody Strittmatter, a two-time national champion for Pitt-Johnstown, is also assisting Valko, while men’s head coach Tyler Reinhart – another Division II winner – is always happy to help his good friend.
That’s an impressive staff that the young Mountain Cats – all are freshmen except Taranto and Shoemaker – will lean on as they face some of the best competition in the country. Unlike the NCAA men’s programs, which are separated into three divisions, there is only one for women’s wrestling.
“If we go to a tournament and Iowa’s there, one of these girls could be wrestling Kennedy Blades or Kylie Welker, a world champion. It’s kind of crazy.”
Valko’s not worried about those reputations, and he doesn’t expect his wrestlers to be.
“We’re going to step on the line against everybody and anybody,” Valko said. “I’m not scared, and I’m beating it into their brain: Do not be scared of anybody. You work out just as hard as they do. Believe in your training, believe in your coaches and believe in yourself. I think that we can do really well.”
