Parkland was one of the first teams in the state to start a varsity girls wrestling program.

And this year, the Trojans could be one of the first teams around to field a full line up of experienced wrestlers.

This year’s Parkland varsity team will not only have a wrestler at each weight class, the line up will likely be the most experienced in District 11 if not the entire state.

“We have a full line up and everybody has at least a year of experience,” said senior tri-captain Saige Rittenhouse. “We have no first-years in our line up. I’m expecting us to be a power team. I think it’s going to be a great year for our team.”

Parkland will have a first-year head coach at the helm this year. While Fran Volpe hasn’t coached a high school team before, he brings 10 years of coaching experience with the Parkland Elementary program and years of wrestling experience at Central Catholic, Blair Academy and Harvard University.

Volpe, whose father, Bob, was his head coach at ACC, is looking forward to following in his dad’s footsteps.

“My daughter is a freshman on the team, which is one of the reasons why it made sense for me to move up,” said Fran Volpe. “My son is on the junior high boys team. My dad was my high school wrestling coach at Central Catholic. That part of it is going to be fun. I’m looking forward to it.”

Volpe’s team should be strong this season. Parkland graduated it’s all-time wins leader in Ella Hesener, along with two other seniors. But the Trojans return seven District 11 place winners from last season and four state qualifiers.

Senior Angelina Spachman is coming off a state runner up finish last year. A tri-captain this year, she is looking to move up one spot on the podium in Hershey.

“I’m excited that I get to start wrestling next week,” she said “I’m counting down the days and putting in the work in the offseason. I want to win districts and do better at states.”

Spachman went 39-6 last season. She won an East Penn Conference title and took third place at both districts and regionals before the runner up finish at states. She wrestled last season at 142, but could go at 136 this season.

Rittnehouse is another other returning state qualifier. She was a third-place finisher at EPCs before taking second at leagues and districts.

In her fifth season of scholastic wrestling, Rittenhouse is amazed by how much the sport and her team have grown.

“I started in eighth grade and we had four girls on the team,” she said. “We didn’t have a girls team. It’s really amazing.”

This year Parkland has 25 high school girls wrestlers and 21 more in the junior high program.

Rittenhouse, who wrestled at 112 last year, is slated for the 124-pound class this year. She went 25-11 last season and is looking to improve on her finishes at each level of the postseason.

“I’m very excited,” she said. “I’m excited to take advantage of my last year and really try my best and go out with a bang. Last one, best one is my mindset.

“I hope to become a district champ and regional champ and place at states. That would be perfect.”

The team’s third captain is junior Payton Ocasio, who went 28-10 last year and finished third at leagues and sixth at districts.

“I feel pretty strong, a lot stronger than last year,” she said. “I feel no pressure. The last couple years I had to wrestle someone to make varsity. This year I have my own secure spot and at a weight I’m good at. “Goal is to make it to regionals. I want to make it to states but I’ve never made it to regionals before so I’m going to start with that.”

The team’s other returning state qualifiers are juniors Liz Karla Grullon-Vasquez and Lily Snook. Snook finished second at both leagues and districts last year before taking fourth at regionals. She posted a 27-13 mark. Grullon Vasquez was 25-13. She also took second at leagues and districts and fourth at regionals last season.

Senior Abigail Taylor is back with the team after going 16-7 last year and finishing fourth at districts, one place short of reaching regionals.

Junior Natalie Deutsch was 22-13 last season and finished third in the EPC and sixth at districts.

Some other returning wrestlers who competed for Parkland in the postseason last year are juniors Victoria Lasagna and Tegan Tremba, and sophomores Leila Palmieri, Carissa Kalmar and Chloe Grady. A number of other Trojans will look to make their first postseason in 2026, including junior ELile Jerapova; sophomores Ma’les Chairter, Abrianna Gomez, Sydney Laputka, Peyton Schneck; and freshmen Scarlett Bareither, Taya Daniels, Breylynn George, Alexa Goosley, Ellie Hembecker, Ellie Hemmer, Grace Shaffer, Emily Siglin and Laura Volpe.

The Trojans are looking to finish atop the league and District 11 in 2026. They’ll find out early in the season where they stand against the top competition in the Lehigh Valley and beyond with a challenging early schedule.

Parkland opened against Northampton Wednesday, Dec. 3, then hosts Liberty Saturday and Easton next week. The Red Rovers handed Parkland its only loss in a 10-1 season last year, which came by a 39-36 margin. Parkland took first place at the EPC Championships, but the Rovers edged them in the district team standings.

After the local tests against the Rovers, Hurricanes and Kids, Parkland heads to Lansdale on Dec. 13-14 for the Escape the Rock Tournament at North Penn High School. A week later the Trojans compete at the Beast of the East at the University of Delaware (Dec. 18-19).

After that early gauntlet, Parkland is off from competition until it hosts a dual-meet tournament on Jan. 4.