FARGO, N.D. (EYT/D9) — Nine District 9 wrestlers represented Pennsylvania recently at the week-long U.S. Marine Corps 16u Junior Nationals held in Fargo, N.D. (July 14-22).
(Pictured above, Clarion’s Mason Gourley after winning a bout in Fargo, N.D., at the U.S. Marine Corps 16u Junior Nationals)
Five grapplers were members of Pennsylvania’s championship 16u boys freestyle team – Elijah Brosius (Cranberry), Aiden Beimel (St. Marys), Brady Collins (Clearfield), Mason Gourley (Clarion), and Gavin Hannah (Brookville).
Another three were part of the first place Pennsylvania Junior boys freestyle team (high schoolers aged 16 and over) – Weston Pisarchick (Brockway), Parker Pisarchick (Brockway), and Easton Belfiore (Brookville).
Collins, competing at 145 pounds, did yeoman’s work for Pennsylvania’s 16u team, wrestling 9 bouts and posting a 7-2 record.
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The rising Bison junior was pinned in his first bout by Jason Kwaak (N.Y.), who took sixth and earned All-American status.
After his opening round loss, Collins reeled off seven consecutive victories – shutting out Ryan Hager (Ohio), 10-0; decisioning Tyree Graham (Fla.), 7-4; taking an 11-1 win over Brodie Bedford (Texas); pinning Boden White (Iowa); blanking Jimmy Jakub (N.J.), 7-0; dominating Jeffery Huyvaert (Ind.), 12-1; and sticking Jairo Acuna (Ind.).
Collins’s run came to an end at the hands of Florida’s Zeno Moore, who scored a 12-1 victory. Moore finished the tournament as an All-American., placing seventh.
A two-time District 9 champion for Clearfield, Collins has qualified for the state tournament twice, placing fourth a year ago.
Gourley completed the 16u tournament with a winning record, going 4-2 on the mat at 170 pounds.
After earning an 11-9 decision against Xavier Smith (Ind.), Gourley lost in the second round, 8-5, to California’s Dominic Dotson.
Gourley responded to the second-round loss by winning three straight – holding Garrett Lees (Wash.) scoreless, 12-0, and then earning consecutive decisions against Tad Forsyth (Kan.), 6-5, and Body Adams (Okla.), 16-11.
The Bobcat grappler’s tournament ended by pinfall to Minnesota’s Luke Hoag, who wound up eighth to become an All-American.
Gourley, a rising junior, has finished as a district runner-up the past two seasons.
Beimel wrestled at 126 pounds, compiling a 4-2 mark for the 16u team.
The Dutch wrestler won his first bout, a 10-7 decision against Caden Briquelet (Ariz.), then fell to Indiana’s Edward Gross, 10-0.
On the consolation side of the bracket, Beimel scored a 10-0 victory against Florida’s Beau Emery before losing 10-0 to Ethan Immel (Wis.).
Beimel, who will be entering his junior year, was a district champion as a freshman and runner-up last season. He is a two-time state qualifier.
Also competing at 126 pounds for the Pennsylvania 16u team was Elijah Brosius.
Brosius won his first bout, downing Draken Miller (Idaho), 10-0, before suffering consecutive loses – first to Utah’s Austin Ellis, 6-1, and then Illinois’s Maksim Mukhamedaliyev, 10-0. Ellis was an All-American, taking eighth.
A rising junior for the Berries, Brosius is a two-time state medalist, finishing eighth each year. He was a District 9 champion as a freshman and placed second his sophomore season.
Hannah, wrestling at 220 pounds for the Pennsylvania 16u team, lost bouts to Alex Taylor (Ohio), 12-2, and then Samuel Winkels (Minn.), 6-5.
Last season was Hannah’s first at the varsity-level for the Raiders. He finished fourth at districts, qualifying for regionals. Hannah will be a junior this school year.
The Pennsylvania 16u team (183 points) finished 23 points better than second place Illinois (160 points).
Rounding out the top five were Iowa (156 points), Ohio (146 points), and California (117 points).
Both Parker Pisarchick and Belfiore were 2-2 for Pennsylvania’s championship junior freestyle team.
Pisarchick, wrestling at 145 pounds, won his opening two bouts – dominating Jack Probasco of Ohio, 10-0, and then taking a 7-2 decision against North Carolina’s Noah Tocaben.
With two victories in the books, Pisarchick lost his next pair of bouts, both by a score of 10-0. Cooper Stewart (N.Y.) relegated him to the consolation side of the bracket and then Ethan Sylvester (Minn.) ended the Rover grappler’s tournament.
Pisarchick was a District 9 champion as a sophomore. The rising junior qualified for states to conclude his freshman year.
Like Pisarchick, Belfiore, a 220-pounder, also won his first two bouts – dominating Tennessee’s Jensen Schreiber, 11-0, and Carlos Alvarado of Oklahoma, 12-1.
Two losses followed, first to Trace Schoenbeck (Wisc.), 12-8, and then Mahkyl Smith (Utah), 15-2.
Belfiore will be entering his junior season. A state qualifier as a freshman, Belfiore experienced a “sophomore slump” a year ago, not advancing past districts.
Weston Pisarchick also contributed to the Pennsylvania Junior freestyle team’s victory with a 1-2 record at 120 pounds.
The elder Pisarchick lost his first bout, 13-10, to Joshua Vazquez (Ill.) He followed with a 16-6 win against Michigan’s Colin Kuhn, before bowing out of the tournament with a 15-5 loss to Idaho’s Jaxton Packer.
Pisarchick, a junior this coming season, is a three-time District 9 champion. He qualified for states the past two seasons, finishing third last spring. Pisarchick has committed to wrestle for the Clarion Golden Eagles following high school.
Pennsylvania’s Junior freestyle team (210 points) bested runner-up Wisconsin (156 points) by a whopping 54 points. Oklahoma was third (129 points), California fourth (112 points), and Iowa fifth (111 points).
Both Brosius and Hannah competed as members of Pennsylvania’s 16u Greco-Roman squad. Brosius was 2-2, shutting out A.J. Delacruz (S.C.), 9-0, in the first round and then knocking off Jacoby Jones (Ore.), 10-1, in the second.
Two defeats followed. Brosius lost by fall to Zayn Navarrete (Texas) and then was on the wrong side of an 8-0 score against Jayden DelaRosa. Navarrete secured All-American status with a third-place finish.
Hannah was likewise 2-2.
He pinned South Dakota’s Hunter Richmond to open his Greco-Roman tournament, but was then decisioned by Hayden Smith of Indiania, 7-3.
After the loss to Smith, Hannah blanked Jack Miller (Ill.), 9-0. Hannah was eliminated in the next round, losing 11-3 to Dean Bechtold, a fellow member of the Pennsylvania team. Bechtold took seventh place, earning All-American status.
Pennsylvania’s 16u Greco-Roman team finished tied for fourth with Ohio (110 points). Illinois (213 points) was the team champion, followed by Iowa (191 points) and then Oklahoma (131 points).
The Pisarchick brothers also did double duty, wrestling as members of Pennsylvania’s Junior Greco-Roman team.
Weston, who finished eighth last year to become an All-American, was 4-2 this time out. The tournament appeared to be going his way through the first four rounds, with three consecutive pins and a decision.
Getting pinned by Weston were, in order, Elijah Lowe (Fla.), Anthony Aaron (Calif.), and Curtis White (Texas). Weston decisioned Brady Phelps of Illinois, 11-3.
The victory against Phelps would be Weston’s last, as he lost the next two – falling 11-2 to Oregon’s Isaac Hampton and losing 10-0 to Moses Mendoza (Calif.). Mendoza took sixth to be named an All-American.
Parker was 0-2 in Greco-Roman competition, losing a pair of 8-0 decisions, first to Conlan Carlson (Minn.) and then Daniel Zepeda (Calif.). Zepeda became an All-American by finishing eighth.
The Pennsylvania Junior Greco-Roman team (52 points) ended the tournament in 10th place. Idaho came out on top (141 points), with Iowa in second (120 points), Illinois third (106 points), California fourth (97 points), and Oklahoma fifth (91 points).
Jael Miller, a rising junior at Punxsutawney, wrestled as a member of Pennsylvania’s Junior girls freestyle team. She notched a 3-2 record.
Miller won her first three bouts. She stuck Brenda Zamorano (Wash.) in the first round, then shut out both Kylea Birdsong (Okla.), 10-0, and Katie Law (Utah), 12-0.
She was eliminated from the tournament with two losses following her victory against Law, getting decisioned 11-9 by Michigan’s Amarisa Manuel and then pinned by Madeline Hodges of Texas. Manuel and Hodges were both All-Americans, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.
Coming into the tournament, Miller had twice earned All-American status in the 16u division, placing sixth at the 2022 event and fourth in 2021. She was a Pennsylvania girls state champion in 2022 and runner-up in 2023.
Pennsylvania’s 16u girls freestyle team (77 points) placed fourth overall. Illinois was the victor (151 points), followed by California (102 points) and Michigan (86 points). Colorado (70 points) rounded out the top five.
