Only a freshman, Garnet Valley wrestler Neve O'Byrne is already a title holder. She wants to four-peat.
Garnet Valley High School is celebrating a history-making year. The school's girls wrestling team has its first-ever individual state champion, and the new title-holder is just a freshman, setting the student-athlete and school up for more titles in years to come.
"This is the Garnet Valley wrestling room," Neve O'Byrne explains. "I'm in this room for one to three hours every day in season."
O'Byrne is proof wrestling isn't just for the boys at Garnet Valley High School.
"Almost every day, I wrestle, and if I'm not wrestling, I'm lifting," she says. "If I can't lift, I'm running."
That hustle has paid off. At just 15 years old, and during the inaugural season for girls wrestling at the high school, O'Byrne is making a statement.
"She comes in, goes right at girls, and kicks butt," Head Wrestling Coach Chris Tate says.
O'Byrne did exactly that this season, winning the PIAA Girls Wrestling State Championship at 124 pounds. It's the first wrestling state title for Garnet Valley and the first girls wrestling state title for Delaware County.
"Neve's a beast," her coach says. "You know, we call her the Hellcat."
O'Byrne's teammates say it's easy to see why.
"I remember one of the first matches I saw her wrestle, she made a girl bleed from her nose so hard that they had to wrap her face just so it stopped bleeding, and it was one of my first impressions of her wrestling," teammate Amanda Mendoza says.
But O'Byrne didn't start her season on top of the podium. Hers is a story of perseverance.
"During practice, if you ever look at her, she never stops," teammate Peyton Duffy says.
"As the season went, she started placing at tournaments," Coach Tate adds. "Then she started winning tournaments, and once she won her first tournament, she didn't lose one again for the rest of the year."
It's been a lifetime coming. O'Byrne started wrestling at just 6 years old.
Like many younger siblings, she followed in her older brother's footsteps by watching him compete at meets on weekends.
"I was always there, I was supporting him, and I was like, why don't I give it a try?" O'Byrne said.
Now the wrestling community has become her second family, and the sport has given her the confidence to navigate life.
"I'll just come on the mat and show them," O'Byrne said. "I might not have the best speech or the best reading, but on the mat, none of that matters, and I'm the Hellcat, and I can show you that I'm strong."
Competitors are on notice. O'Byrne's championship banner will soon hang in the wrestling room at Garnet Valley, and she intends to add more titles.
The young wrestler always says her most important match is her next match.
The day after she won the state title, O'Byrne was back in the gym wrestling.
She's now getting ready for the U.S. World Team trials. And, of course, she wants another state championship next year. In fact, O'Byrne is working toward a four-peat.
