Athlete of the Week: Lexia Schechterly, Lake-Lehman

Tyler Piccotti, The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·3 min read

Mar. 1—Lake-Lehman freshman wrestler Lexia Schechterly became the first District 2 female wrestler to qualify for regionals with her second-place finish in the 106-pound bracket last Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena. For her historic accomplishment, she was named the most recent Citizens' Voice Athlete of the Week.

How did you feel going into the district tournament? For districts, I was really nervous. My goal was to try to take first even though that didn't happen, but that's OK. I really wanted to make it to regionals, and I did that.

Was there a match or moment that the nerves went away? After I wrestled (Vinny Tomasetti of Western Wayne), one of the coaches came up to me and took a photo with me and said, "Keep on going! You got this." That was really cool.

Now that you've had a few days to process it, what do you think about what you were able to accomplish as the first District 2 female finalist? I honestly haven't thought about it too much, but I'm just really excited that it happened and it was a great opportunity for me.

Were you able to celebrate after? After I wrestled, we were actually going to get shamrock shakes, but I think the machine was broken. So, we ended up going to the store to get stuff to make our own. That was fun.

How did you approach regionals? It was more just about the experience. To be honest, I knew I wasn't going to take first. I was one of the youngest in the bracket going up against upperclassmen. I would definitely like to win states by my senior year.

Did you learn anything you can take for the future? Absolutely. I learned some new moves and more practice techniques that things I need to do to get better, so I'll definitely be trying those out.

Overall, how did the competition you faced this year in high school compare to what you were expecting? It was kind of the same as i thought it would be. I knew it was going to get harder because they're boys and ... it's just going to be harder. But I've heard people say that I was going to get destroyed and all that stuff. So, I think I did pretty good.

Did hearing those things motivate you? Yeah. It really empowers you to do better and go harder to prove them wrong.

Get to know Lexia

Hometown: Hunlock Creek

Age: 15

Family: Father, Timothy; mother, Alison; brothers, Timmy and Tommy; sisters, Lily, Trista and Maggie

Pre-match routine: "I normally just pace and bounce around a little bit."

Wrestling role model: Vayle-rae Baker

Favorite food: Popcorn

Favorite movie: "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"

Hobby away from wrestling: Jiu-jitsu. "I just started recently, a couple months into quarantine."

If Lexia were an animal, she would be ... a bird.

If Lexia could have any superpower, she would want ... ice powers, like Elsa from the "Frozen" movies.

Lexia would describe herself as ... independent and humble.

Contact the writer: tpiccotti@citizensvoice.com; 570-821-2089; @CVPiccotti on Twitter