Jump to content
  • Playwire Ad Area



  • Photo:

    Photo:

    Elite field expected for 51st Powerade Wrestling Tournament this weekend

    In its 51st year, the Powerade Wrestling Tournament has positioned itself as the best tournament held between Christmas and New Year's Day, and among the five (or so) best regular season tournaments across the country. The field is primarily centered upon the wrestling hotbed that is the WPIAL, and more broadly Pennsylvania as a whole. There are also teams from eight other states in the 52-school field.

    Leading the way is a pair of top ten ranked teams in the country, No. 5 Wyoming Seminary and No. 7 Lake Highland Prep (Fla.). Three other nationally ranked teams are in the field, No. 37 Parkersburg South (W.Va.), No. 41 St. Paul's (Md.), and No. 50 Kiski Area; while other notable teams include Reynolds, Erie Cathedral Prep, and Canon-McMillan.

    Three weight classes will feature the wrestler ranked first in the country, Kurt McHenry (St. Paul's, Md.) at 113 pounds, Joey Silva (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) at 132, and Gavin Hoffman (Montoursville) at 195.

    No additional nationally ranked wrestler is present to challenge McHenry at 113 pounds, though there are two returning state champions, Beau Bayless (Reynolds) and Nic Bouzakis (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.). Other returning state placers include Ryan Sullivan (Shaler), Frank Bonura (Moon Township), and Christian Fisher (Mifflin County). Also in this weight class is Nic Botello (Wyoming Seminary).

    Joining Silva at 132 will be another nationally ranked wrestler in No. 6 Carson Manville (Wyoming Seminary), a Cadet National double champion this summer. However, being a freshman means that Manville will be an unseeded wrestler; the tournament as a rule seeds eight wrestlers per weight class, with freshmen not being eligible for seeding. Others to watch include two-time state placer Lucas Revano (Camden Catholic, N.J.); state placers Jordan Ward (Cincinnati Moeller, Ohio) and Bodee Tolbert (Bishop McDevitt); along with state qualifiers Caleb Morris (Waynesburg), Colton Camacho (Franklin Regional), and Nick Coy (Penn Trafford).

    A pair of additional nationally ranked wrestlers join Hoffman at 195, No. 8 Ryan Reyes (Clovis West, Calif.) and No. 16 Austin Cooley (Wyoming Seminary). Also in this weight class are state runner-up Jake Thompson (Cincinnati Moeller, Ohio) and state placer Xavier Molnar (Brookville).

    There are also a pair of wrestlers ranked second in the country in the tournament field – Gavin Teasdale (Jefferson Morgan) is ranked No. 2 at 132 pounds, but competing down at 126, while Trent Hidlay (Mifflin County) anchors the 182 weight class.

    Teasdale – yet to lose a high school match – is in a rather robust weight class, featuring two other ranked wrestlers in No. 6 Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary) and No. 11 Sam Hillegas (North Hills). Others include state champion Liam Lusher (Independence, W.Va.), state runners-up Colt Rhone (Benton) and Brayden Roberts (Parkersburg South, W.Va.), state medalist Ed Scott (DuBois), and state qualifier Patrick Noon (Stroudsburg).

    Hidlay's weight class features the most ranked wrestlers of any in this tournament, with three other ranked wrestlers joining him. No. 6 Cody Mulligan (Saegertown) is a fellow state champion, and lost 3-2 to Hidlay in the King of the Mountain final already this season, while No. 19 Jack Parr (St. Paul's, Md.) and Darrien Roberts (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) are both returning National Prep placers. Also in the field are returning state placers Tim Wallace (Albert Gallatin) and Luigi Yates (Erie Cathedral Prep).

    Another trio of weight classes feature three nationally ranked wrestlers. Returning Powerade champion Cody Matthews (Reynolds) is ranked No. 9 at 138, and is joined by No. 11 Jack Davis (Wyoming Seminary) as well as No. 12 Jackson Henson (Waynesburg) in this field. Also in the weight class are multiple-time state champions Luke Martin (Parkersburg South, W.Va.), Noah Castillo (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.), and River Curtis (Battlefield, Va.) as well as two-time state placer Noah Levett (Kiski Area) and National Prep placer Irman Heard (St. Paul's, Md.)

    Three-time state champion Frankie Gissendanner (Penfield, N.Y.) is ranked No. 6 at 152 pounds, but competing in this tournament at 145. Also present are No. 15 Ricky Cabanillas (DePaul Catholic, N.J.) and No. 16 Ryan Vulakh (Pope John II). Others in the field are state champion Max Hammond (St. Paul's, Md.), 2016 state runner-up Alex Hart (Independence, W.Va.), two-time state placer Luke Kemerer (Hempfield Area), state placer Kai Bele (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.), and 2016 state medalist Job Chishko (Penn Trafford).

    Cadet National double champion Carter Starocci (Erie Cathedral Prep) is ranked No. 8 at 160 pounds. Also in the field are a pair of Ironman placers, No. 12 Erich Byelick (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) and No. 16 Jake Hendricks (Wyoming Seminary); Byelick is a two-time Super 32 placer, while Hendricks was on the Cadet Greco world team this summer. Also in the field are state runners-up Ronald Miller (Battlefield, Va.) and Zane Hinzman (Parkersburg South, W.Va.), state medalist Gerrit Nijenhuis (Canon-McMillan), and two-time former state placer Zach Hartman (Belle Vernon).

    Two other weight classes feature a pair of ranked wrestlers, 152 and 220 pounds. No. 9 Justin McCoy (Chestnut Ridge) and No. 17 Josh Humphreys (Parkersburg South, W.Va) head the field at 152, while No. 5 Braxton Amos (Parkersburg South, W.Va.) and No. 12 Ben Goldin (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) are at 220.

    Other contenders at 152 include state champions Zach Feight (Battlefield, Va.) and Haegan Harvey (Independence, W.Va.), multi-time National Prep placer Benny Baker (Wyoming Seminary), multi-time state placer Caleb Hetrick (Brookville), and state medalist Brock Godzin (Belle Vernon). Additional wrestlers at 220 include state runner-up Ian Edenfield (Laurel Highlands), state medalists Dominic Deluca (Derry Area) and Tyler Cook (Brookville), along with 2015 National Prep placer John Urban (St. Paul's, Md.)

    Leading the pack at 106 pounds is No. 18 Will Guida (St. Paul's, Md.), while Jake Wohltman (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) and Kurtis Phipps (Norwin) are the only other returning state medalists. Additional wrestlers to watch include Junior freestyle All-American Tim Levine (Wyoming Seminary), state qualifier Trenton Donahue (DuBois), and freshman Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (Seneca Valley)

    The lone ranked wrestler at 120 is Ryan Chauvin (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.), who is No. 17 down at 113. Additional contenders include state champions Doug Zapf (Downington West) and Brandon Wittenberg (Battlefield, Va.); mutli-time state placers Louis Newell (Seneca Valley), Logan Macri (Canon-McMillan), and Chase Shields (Bishop McDevitt); and state medalist Darren Miller (Kiski Area). Impact freshmen are Cadet freestyle champion Zeke Escalera (Wyoming Seminary) and Wyatt Henson (Waynesburg).

    Josiah Jones (Bishop McCort), ranked No. 6 at 220 pounds, is up in the 285 weight class and the lone ranked wrestler present. Others contenders include two-time state runner-up Louden Haga (Parkersburg South, W.Va.), two-time state medalist Kavaun DeBoe (Erie Cathedral Prep), state placer Curtis Ruff (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.), and state qualifier Antonio Cutrie (Wyoming Seminary).

    The lone weight class without a nationally ranked wrestler is 170 pounds. Notable contenders include two-time state placer Jared McGill (Chestnut Ridge), two-time state qualifier Kyle Homet (Waynesburg), state placer Jason Montgomery (Bethel Park), and state runner-up Max Cosmides (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.)

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    There are no comments to display.



    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now

  • Playwire Ad Area
×
×
  • Create New...