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In first girls’ wrestling state tournament, Rancocas Valley’s Kaila Mungo takes title

Four months after taking up the sport as a way to stay in shape for softball, the Red Devils' junior became the first girl from South Jersey to win a state championship.

Kaila Mungo, of Rancocas Valley, defeats Kiera Hubmaster, of Kittatinny, in the 235 lb. weight division, during the New Jersey high school wrestling tournament, at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City,
Kaila Mungo, of Rancocas Valley, defeats Kiera Hubmaster, of Kittatinny, in the 235 lb. weight division, during the New Jersey high school wrestling tournament, at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City,Read moreVERNON OGRODNEK / For The Inquirer

It started out as a lark, a whim, a deal between a bunch of softball players to try wrestling to stay in shape until the spring.

It ended up with Rancocas Valley junior Kaila Mungo on top of the podium in Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, a state champion in her new sport.

“It’s incredible,” Mungo said after defeating Kiera Hubmaster of Kittatinny by a 2-1 score in three overtime periods in the final of the 235-pound weight class.

Mungo said she and a group of her friends decide to try wrestling when they heard the sport was going to be offered in New Jersey for the first time this season.

The junior had tears in her eyes as she embraced her coaches and parents after becoming just the second state wrestling champion in Rancocas Valley history, joining Eric Church from 1988.

“I don’t even think I ever watched a wrestling match until I stepped in that room,” Mungo said. “I don’t think I had ever been around it. I had no idea this whole atmosphere existed.

“It’s so powerful to be a part of it now.”

Millville’s Diana Johnson (161 pounds) took second, and Pennsauken’s AnMarie Lebron (100) and Lower Cape May’s Joelle Klein (235) grabbed third in other highlights of the first girls’ wrestling state championships in New Jersey history.

Rancocas Valley coach Tony Bowker said he knew Mungo was championship material on the second day of practice.

“Just by the look on her face,” Bowker said. “She has that drive.”

Mungo finished her first season with a 16-1 record. She sensed her potential after Rancocas Valley’s first tournament.

“The coaches started pushing me hard,” Mungo said. “Them pushing me I knew it was them saying, ‘You can do this.’ ”

Mungo won Saturday’s taut battle with Hubmaster by riding the Kittatinny athlete through 30-second second overtime period and then scoring an escape in the third overtime period.

Mungo’s mother, Jamie, said her daughter was a “softball girl” through and through until she fell in love with wrestling.

“It’s really been amazing for her,” Jamie Mungo said. “She just loves it. We never see her. She stays at practice until 8 o’clock at night she loves it so much.”