Xuan and Mai Graham spent a large chunk of their youth participating in Jiu-Jitsu.

The Southern Lehigh sisters then looked to find ways to get better at their craft, but instead found a new life path.

“We started doing wrestling privates to help us with Jiu-Jitsu,” Mai Graham, a senior, said. “But then I stopped doing Jiu-Jitsu because I liked wrestling better.”

Xuan, a sophomore, followed her sister to the wrestling room in middle school. Both have transitioned well to the new sport.

Mai Graham is 22-3 this season and ranked third in the state at 124 pounds.

Xuan Graham is 25-0 and ranked second at 118. She dropped to 112 for the postseason, and owns a 45-0 career record including 35 pins.

Both advanced to the semifinals of the District 11 Girls Wrestling Championships at Freedom’s Joseph J. McIntyre Gymnasium with a pair of pins on Saturday.

“I was all right,” Xuan Graham said about her performance Saturday. “I can’t wait until tomorrow.”

Nobody has helped the Graham sisters elevate their wrestling game so fast more than one another.

They are training partners. They are sisters. That combination brings out the best in each other — and the intensity.

“We get in fights a lot,” Mai Graham said. “When we first started, I used to beat her up. But she’s stepped it up lately. We have some really good matches.

“Sometimes, we fight when we drill, too. Things get testy. [Xuan] starts it most of the time,” Mai added with a laugh.

Southern Lehigh sisters Xuan and Mai Graham love training with each other since switching from Jiu-Jitsu to wrestling a few years ago. (Tom Housenick/The Morning Call)

While there is no love lost when they step on the wrestling mat against anyone, the Graham sisters love having one another there through the grind of the sport.

They transition from quiet and studious during the school day to those with an edge when they lace ’em up.

They also are more vocal at practice because they are the leaders of a young Southern Lehigh program under head coach Destiny Lyng.

“We talk more now,” Mai Graham said. “We just started a girls team last year, so that has helped. Having to be leaders in the room has forced us to come out of our shells to help the other girls on the team.”

“As we’ve grown up,” Xuan Graham added, “we’ve been able to talk more and become more comfortable in social situations.”

The Graham sisters’ wrestling has evolved as fast as their personalities.

Mai Graham was third last year at districts and regionals and fourth at states at 118. She was 33-5 in her first varsity season. The senior is the top seed at districts at 124.

Xuan Graham was 20-0 last year as a freshman but did not make weight for the postseason.

Both have elevated their skill set this season and among the state’s best at their respective weights. Xuan Graham is part of a loaded 112-pound bracket. She is the third seed and faces No. 2 Nevaeh Colon of Wilson in Sunday morning’s semifinals. Colon, 18-2 this year, was seventh in the state last season as a freshman.

Easton’s Morgan Hyland is the top seed at 112. The returning state runner-up is 23-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state. She faces Northwestern Lehigh’s Mackenzie Case, the fourth seed who spent the regular season competing on the Tigers’ boys team. Northwestern Lehigh does not have a girls program. Case, who was 8-17 this year against the boys, advanced Saturday with a pair of pins.

The Graham sisters do not study brackets. They do not look ahead. They feel best by stepping on the mat and dealing with whoever is across from them. It has worked well for them to this point.

“I didn’t even know what bout number I was for my last match,” Mai Graham admitted. “I just waited for my coach to tell me when I was up.

“I don’t like doing bracket math and saying, ‘Well, this girl beat this girl, and I beat this one by this much.’”

The Graham sisters enjoy the challenges they face and feel good about the progress they’ve made the last few years since they transitioned from Jiu-Jitsu to wrestling.

They can thank each other for a chunk of their development thanks to their sisterly scraps at home and at practice.

But their love for one another does trump their passion for wrestling, even if you don’t see it at practice.

“Sometimes, if we have a particularly tough practice,” Mai Graham said, “we get in little arguments.”

Day 1 recap

Parkland leads the team race with 101 points. It has seven in the semifinals and six alive in consolations. Nazareth (70.5 points; 2 semifinalists, 6 in consolations) is second, followed by Liberty (60; 2, 7), East Stroudsburg South (57.5; 4, 3) and Emmaus (55; 2, 7).

Action resumes at 9 a.m. Sunday with second-round consolations. Semifinals follow at 10. The finals and consolation finals are at 2 p.m. Top three in each weight class advance to the Southeast Regional tournament on Sunday, Feb. 22, at Quakertown.

There were few high seeds bounced on Day 1. Three No. 2 seeds (100, 106 and 148 pounds) and two No. 3 seeds (124 and 235) were knocked out of the championship bracket.

Dieruff’s Nalia Rodriguez is the only unseeded competitor in the semifinals. The 106-pounder had two pins, including one over the No. 7 seed, and a 13-11 decision over No. 2 seed Molly Haubert of Palisades to reach the semis.

Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com

District 11 Girls Wrestling Championships

Saturday at Freedom’s Joseph J. McIntyre Gymnasium

Quarterfinals

100: Chelsea Dressler (Naz) pinned Shyanne Escoto (PMW), 1:49; Cambria Leshko (SL) pinned Taya Daniels (Par), 1:22; Ka’ren-is Holmes (NS) pinned Leila Matejcek (Lib), 3:31; Nitzana Jamaica (Em) pinned 3:48

106: Peyton Schneck (Par) dec. Fiona Clare (ESS), 3-0; Joelys Matos Nunez (Executive) Adrianna Raschilla (Naz), 5:54; Emilee Gaughran (Nor) dec. Paige Kibler (Palm), 9-6; Nalia Rodriguez (D) pinned Maddy Fetteroff (NS), 0:40

112: Morgan Hyland (Ea) pinned Domarius Arias (A), 1:00; Mackenzie Case (NWL) pinned Kiely Kunkel (Tam), 2:53; Xuan Graham (SL) pinned Payton Ocasio (Par), 1:53; Nevaeh Colon (W) pinned Koralyz Feliciano (PME), 0:48

118: Joey Cappa (ESS) pinned Autumn Martin (PG), 2:21; Arianna Stallworth (Cat) pinned Taylor Sipel (Nor), 0:39; Lily Snook (Par) pinned Lilly Kuhs (Naz), 5:11; Danielle Williams (Ea) dec. Mia Renda (Pali), 4-1 SV

124: Mai Graham (SL) pinned Eva Trujillo (Lib), 4:36; Paige Roman (ESS) pinned Saige Rittenhouse (Par), 1:36; Carolyne Katz (PA) pinned Marissa Fogel (Nor), 2:24; Elaina Mercadante (PME) pinned Samantha Eisenhauer (PG), 4:20

130: Kamora Gilbreath (PME) pinned Madison Monberger (Cat), 3:31; Maiya Lang (Ea) pinned Kendra Cressman (Lib), 1:03; Jedah Canty (Fr) pinned Leila Palmieri (Par), 3:48; Arianna Pieretti (ESS) pinned Gabriela Chevere (Nor), 0:35

136: Angelina Spachman (Par) pinned Lea Schaible (Palm), 3:29; Kierha Castillo (Lib) maj. dec. Brynn Koberlein (Em), 9-1; Jayden Learn (ESS) inj. def. over Kennedy Quinn (Leh), 5:27; Myla Good (Naz) pinned Jessenia Lucas-Collis (Nor), 2:59

142: Geanna Lemke (PG) tech. fall Emilynn Stipeck (PV), 19-1, 5:10; Lidia Whistleon (Lib) pinned Haily Laible (Em), 1:58; Laura Volpe (Par) pinned Nickayla Tomsic (Palm), 2:14; Anna Trelease (NL) pinned Isabella Wickberg (ESS), 0:32

148: Natalie Deutsch (Par) pinned Fikirselam Alemayehu (Wh), 3:30; Alexis Horvath (Fr) maj. dec. Ellia Sales (Ea), 14-2; Jordyn Kollien (Str) pinned Josie Fetterman (PV), 3:52; Glory Joledo (PMW) dec. Ariana Koberlein (Em), 8-3

155: Olivya Kroope (Em) pinned Amilex Bernadini (Lib), 0:53; Abrianna Gomez (Par) pinned Siobhan Devlin (Pali), 2:17; Ashlie Montano-Giron (Cat) Amelia Zachmeyer (Naz), 1:53; Chloe Straub (PMW) tech. fall Isabella Altemose (PV), 17-2, 4:00

170: Bryce Snyder (Pali) pinned Alivia Reed (Leh), 0:54; Jennifer Szmak (PMW) pinned Esmeralda Serrano (Cat), 2:20; Jasmine Chapman (Str) pinned Aubrey Davison (Naz), 1:16; Alisa Williams (Panther) dec. Emily Siglin (Par), 5-0

190: Lizkarla Grullon-Vasquez (Par) pinned Anaiz Espinal (Cat), 3:11; Charlotte Sampson (Fr) pinned Brianna Szmak (PMW), 3:25; Olivia Brisebois (PME) pinned Kayla Smith (A), 0:37; Rieleigh Purcell (PG) pinned Ellie Rumbalski (Lib), 4:10

235: Brenda Banks (Panther) pinned Audrey Graeff (PG), 0:50; Jocelynn Cervenka (PV) pinned Sydney Johnson (Lib), 0:24; Nicole Jennings (Palm) pinned Kiera Rickard (Nor), 3:54; Karla Montes (A) pinned Ny’Zaiah Wyman (Fr), 0:22

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