You never want to put unreasonable pressure on the shoulders of a youth wrestler, but when they show you hints of greatness — like Waynesboro’s Aven Beltz and Greencastle’s Jackson Polifka did at last weekend MAWA Eastern Nationals — one can’t help but wonder what the future holds.
Beltz and Polifka didn’t just win championships at Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury, Md., they steamrolled their respective paths to the top of the podium.
Beltz, competing at 41 pounds in the girls Bantam division, rolled through her round-robin competition with a 4-0 record, stacking up two pins and a technical fall along the way. She completes her wrestling season with a 28-3 record.
Polifka also went 4-0 at 115 pounds in the Intermediate division, winning all four of his matches by bonus, including a fall in 4:07 over Wayland’s Garrett Mehlenbacher in the championship bout.
Beltz and Polifka were joined on the awards stand by a handful of other locals. Waynesboro’s Kenadee Shockey finished second at 190 pounds in the High School Girls division, and Greencastle’s Kolston Piper placed sixth at 98 pounds in the Junior division, while Chambersburg saw three of its grapplers log Top 8 finishes in the Intermediate division: Nathan Chambers (4th at 136), Aidan Yarnell (6th at 90), and Isaac Brambley (7th at 105).
Club wrestling season rolls forward in the weeks to come as a number of locals are set to compete at the PAUSAW Freestyle/Greco-Roman State Tournament on May 17-19 at Alvernia University. Among those who have punched their tickets to the dance is Chambersburg’s Jessica Li, who won the freestyle qualifier at 106 pounds in Altoona on April 27.
Below is a team-by-team, tournament-by-tournament, wrestler-by-wrestler look at how area youth grapplers have performed in recent weeks:
CHAMBERSBURG
PAUSAW Freestyle/Greco-Roman Qualifier
Friday, March 29, at Warrior Run
Junior Freestyle
144: Ashton Romberger (2-1, 2nd place)
Quarterfinals: W, 10-0 over Nicholas Cain (Pennsylvania)
Semifinals: W, 16-10 over Levi Richmond (Pennsylvania)
Final: L, by forfeit to Bo Bassett (Bishop McCort)
Junior Greco-Roman
144:Ashton Romberger (2-1, 2nd place)
Quarterfinals: W, by fall in 2:23 over Jackson Orrell (Steller Trained Wrestling)
Semifinals: W, 8-0 over Nicholas Cain (Pennsylvania)
Final: L, 8-0 to Griffin Walizer (M2 Training Center)
PAUSAW Freestyle Qualifier
Saturday, April 13, in Downingtown
16U Freestyle
138:Gabe Nolan (2-1, 2nd place)
Quarterfinals: W, by fall in 0:53 over Mikel Basilio (Beat the Streets Philadelphia)
Semifinals: W, 11-8 over Caleb Dreibelbis (Steller Trained Wrestling)
Final: L, 10-0 to Anthony Montegari (Steller Trained Wrestling)
PAUSAW Freestyle/Greco-Roman Qualifier
Saturday, April 27, in Altoona
12U Greco-Roman
105:Samuel Stoner (0-3, 4th place)
Round-Robin 1: L, 9-0 to Coy Crane (The Stable)
Round-Robin 2: L, 8-0 to Bryce Harrington (Pennsylvania)
Round-Robin 3: L, 9-0 to Lucca Giacobbi (Young Guns)
16U Greco-Roman
190: Jaccob Stoner (1-1, 2nd place)
Semifinals: W, by fall in 0:51 over Jeremy Hajzus (Pennsylvania)
Final: L, 10-6 to Brady Brown (All-American Wrestling Club)
12U Freestyle
108:Samuel Stoner (0-2)
Round-Robin 1: L, by injury default in 0:22 to Luca Giacobbi (Young Guns Wrestling)
Round-Robin 2: L, 12-2 to Coy Crane (The Stable)
16U Freestyle
150: Justin Deneen (2-2, 3rd place)
Round-Robin 1: W, 13-3 over Jacob Brinkerhoff (Pennsylvania)
Round-Robin 2: L, 10-0 to Will McNeal (TD Wrestling)
Round-Robin 3: W, 10-0 over Joey Torres (Pennsylvania)
Round-Robin 4: L, 10-0 to Nolan Savage (Buffalo Valley)
190: Jaccob Stoner (1-2, 3rd place)
Round-Robin 1: L, 12-1 to Brady Brown (All-American Wrestling)
Round-Robin 2: L, 12-1 to Eli Knight (Clarksburg)
Round-Robin 3: W, by fall in 1:30 over Michael Colyer (Pennsylvania)
18U Freestyle
132: Zach Sherman (2-2, 3rd place)
Round-Robin 1: L, 14-12 to Caden Judice (M2 Training Center)
Round-Robin 2: W, 12-1 over Nicholas Berrena (M2 Training Center)
Round-Robin 3: W, 13-6 over Liam Lawler (Pennsylvania)
Round-Robin 4: L, 18-5 to Rylan Campbell (Pennsylvania)
Girls 16U Freestyle
106: Jessica Li (2-1, 1st place)
Round-Robin 1: W, 8-7 over Bryn Evans (Primus Wrestling)
Round-Robin 2: L, 10-6 to Bryn Evans (Primus Wrestling)
Round-Robin 3: W, by forfeit over Bryn Evans (Primus Wrestling)
MAWA Eastern Nationals
Friday-Sunday, May 3-5, in Salisbury Md.
Intermediate Division
90: Aidan Yarnell (2-3, 6th place)
Round of 16: W, 4-2 over Patrick Winseman (Honeoye Falls)
Quarterfinals: W, 5-4 over Chase Franks (Hanover)
Semifinals: L, 4-1 to Drew Telesky (Norwich)
Cons. Semifinals: L, 2-0 (SV) to JP McKeown (Bear Creek)
5th Place: L, by fall in 2:19 to Kurt Pellegrino (Point Pleasant)
95: Hunter Johnson (0-2)
Round of 16: L, 20-4 (4:30) to Liam Vance (Pottstown)
Cons. 2nd Round: L, 11-4 to Ryder Linker (Spring Grove)
105: Isaac Brambley (3-2, 7th place)
Round of 16: L, 18-4 to Vincenzo Mannello (Hawthorne)
Cons. 1st Round: W, by fall in 3:30 over Riley Borruso (Dalton)
Cons. 2nd Round: W, 7-2 over Jacob Evans (Bellwood)
Cons. Quarterfinals: L, by fall in 1:00 to Van Ferguson (Spring Grove)
7th Place: W, 4-0 over Aidan Tanzini (Hallstead)
136: Nathan Chambers (3-2, 4th place)
Quarterfinals: L, 3-2 to Cade Feger (Herndon)
Cons. 2nd Round: W, by medical forfeit in 3:56 over Kaiden Proctor (Berkeley Springs)
Cons. Quarterfinals: W, 3-2 over Kowen Proctor (Berkeley Springs)
Cons. Semifinals: W, 5-0 over Garrett Till (Newark)
3rd Place: L, 3-0 to Matthew Miranda (Harrisonville)
WAYNESBORO
MAWA Eastern Nationals
Friday-Sunday, May 3-5, in Salisbury Md.
Bantam Division
65: Keyzlin Hollimon (0-2)
Quarterfinals: L, 14-1 to Mason Williams (New Tripoli)
Cons. 2nd Round: L, 9-0 to Wyatt Smith (Selinsgrove)
Junior Division
62: Freedom Young (0-2)
Round of 16: L, by fall in 0:39 to Ethan Bostard (Cape May Court House)
Cons. 1st Round: L, 5-4 to Sergio Bolano (Paramus)
Intermediate Division
128: Brady Myers (1-2)
Round of 16: W, 4-1 over Dylan Yannick (Chester Springs)
Quarterfinals: L, by fall in 2:52 to Micah Engelman (Mountain Top)
Cons. 2nd Round: L, 6-5 to Zachary Russell (Springfield)
Advanced Division
115: Samuel Young (0-2)
Round of 16: L, 15-0 (4:13) to Kohl Muller (Walton)
Cons. 1st Round: L, by fall in 1:08 to Andrew Adell (Ridgewater)
189: Devyn Swope (0-2)
Quarterfinals: L, by fall in 3:42 to Gabe Black (Wellsville)
Cons. 1st Round: L, 6-0 to Julian Reyes (Upper Marlboro)
Bantam Girls
41: Aven Beltz (1st place, 4-0)
Round-Robin 1: W, by fall in 1:12 over Avery Decker (Plainfield)
Round-Robin 2: W, by forfeit over Eliannah Stover (Smithmill)
Round-Robin 3: W, by fall in 0:21 over Sophia Greene (Wellsboro)
Round-Robin 4: W, 15-0 (2:48) over Reagan Andel (Spring Grove)
School Girls
130: Macy Clopper (0-2)
Round of 16: L, by fall in 2:23 to Ada Chamberlin (New Milford)
Cons. 2nd Round: L, by fall in 2:14 to Nina Balakina-Govorova (York)
High School Girls
190: Kenadee Shockey (2-1, 2nd place)
Quarterfinals: W, by fall in 2:27 over Jilnae Davis (Frederick)
Semifinals: W, by fall in 3:51 over Skylynn Payne (Sayre)
Final: L, by fall in 3:32 to Katelyn Krepps (Mifflin)
GREENCASTLE
MAWA Eastern Nationals
Friday-Sunday, May 3-5, in Salisbury Md.
Intermediate Division
115: Jackson Polifka (4-0, 1st place)
Round of 16: W, 10-0 over Brennan Zimmer (Candor)
Quarterfinals: W, 11-2 over Seth Milligan (Millsboro)
Semifinals: W, 9-0 over Hunter Neuhard (Cogan Station)
Final: W, by fall in 4:07 over Garrett Mehlenbacher (Wayland)
115: Silas Robertson (1-2)
Round of 16: W, 6-4 over Alexander Zelna (Dumont)
Quarterfinals: L, 11-2 to Seth Milligan (Millsboro)
Cons. 2nd Round: L, by fall in 1:56 to Brennan Zimmer (Candor)
Junior Division
98: Kolston Piper (2-3, 6th place)
Round of 16: W, 16-0 (2:58) over Maxwell McCulough (Wallingford)
Quarterfinals: W, 4-3 over Jason Isbell (Wysox)
Semifinals: L, by fall in 2:25 to Lucas Dorrman (Basking Ridge)
Cons. Semifinals: L, by fall in 4:30 to Taysean Giles (Blakely)
5th Place: L, 3-0 to Carter Kindig (New Bloomfield)
