A pair of wrestlers ranked first in the country earned their third Powerade gold medals on Friday night, with each remaining undefeated during their high school career. Gavin Teasdale (Jefferson Morgan) won the 120 pound weight class title with a 10-4 decision over Logan Macri (Canon-McMillan), who had upset No. 5 Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary) 3-2 in the semifinal round. Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional) won the 126 class with a 9-0 finals major decision over No. 17 Jack Davis (Wyoming Seminary).
Three others ranked second nationally earned championships on Friday evening as well. Kurt McHenry (St. Paul's, Md.) took the title at 106 pounds with two technical falls and two major decisions leading up to a 9-3 finals decision over Darren Miller (Kiski Area). Jarod Verkleeren (Hempfield Area) won his first title at this tournament with a 2-1 victory in the final over No. 9 (at 152) Frankie Gissendanner (Penfield, N.Y.). Cameron Coy (Penn Trafford) stood on top of the podium after a 2-1 victory over No. 5 Stephan Glasgow (Bound Brook, N.J.) in the 152 pound final, Glasgow had beaten No. 8 Shane Griffith (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) 3-2 in the semifinal.
The other three top four ranked wrestlers to earn titles were No. 4 Trent Hidlay (Mifflin County) at 170 pounds, No. 3 Nino Bonaccorsi (Bethel Park) at 182, and No. 4 Noah Adams (Independence, W.V.) at 220. Adams beat Josiah Jones (Bishop McCort) 2-1 in the final, after Jones had upset No. 7 Francis Duggan (Cedar Cliff) 3-1 in the semifinal round.
Another trio of nationally ranked wrestlers also won championships at the tournament: No. 12 Cole Matthews (Reynolds) at 138 pounds, No. 7 Mekhi Lewis (Bound Brook, N.J.) at 160, and No. 8 Jake Woodley (North Allegheny) at 195. Matthews beat No. 17 Josh Humphreys (St. Alban's, W.Va.) 5-4 in the finals bout; Lewis beat Zach Hartman (Belle Vernon Area) 11-5, after Hartman upset No. 10 Trevell Timmons (Lockport, Ill.) with a 2-2 ultimate tiebreak rideout victory in the semifinal; and Woodley upended No. 4 Gavin Hoffman (Montoursville) 5-2 in the final, after Hoffman beat No. 14 Cole Nye (Bishop McDevitt) 10-2 in the semifinal.
In terms of the team dynamic, it was No. 13 Wyoming Seminary taking home the team title with 161 points on the strength of seven placers, anchored by the weight class title earned by Jake Riegel (132). Runner-up in the tournament were No. 40 Kiski Area with 129 points on the strength of five placers, led by runner-up Darren Miller (106). Third place went to No. 19 Lockport, Ill. with 128 points on the strength of five placers, led by runner-up Ronald Tucker, Jr. (285).
No. 9 Bergen Catholic, N.J. only earned 90 points to finish in tenth place, but was missing three nationally ranked wrestlers in No. 6 Robert Howard (113), No. 15 Gerard Angelo (138), and No. 20 Josh McKenzie (195); Howard and Angelo placed top three at the Beast, while McKenzie missed that season-opening event.
The other two ranked teams in the event finished tied for seventh with 96 points, No. 42 St. Paul's (Md.) and No. 44 North Allegheny. St. Paul's placed three wrestlers, led by the title from McHenry, but were missing three-time National Prep placer Daniel Planta (126); while North Allegheny placed four, anchored by the title from Woodley.
Rounding out the weight class champions were freshman phenom Sam Hillegas (North Hills), who dropped down to 113 pounds for the first time in this event, and Super 32 champion Brandon Furman (Canon-McMillan) at 285.
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