It was a good enough winter on the high school wrestling mat for Jackson Polifka, but when the season came to an end, he found himself wanting a little bit more.
After closing out his sophomore campaign at 14-5, the Greencastle-Antrim grappler shifted his focus to last weekend’s Keystone State Championships, held at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center.
Qualifying for the state tourney is an honor in and of itself, but Polifka took it a step further with a march through the bracket that took him all the way to the championship match. Competing in the boys 15-16 division, Polifka placed second at 145 pounds to lead a group of local medalists that included Chambersburg’s Mirra Harbaugh (3rd place, girls 13-14) and a trio of Waynesboro wrestlers: Aven Beltz (3rd, girls 7-8), Ace Beltz (4th, boys 9-10), and Emma Swope (7th, girls 11-12).
Polifka exploded out of the gates by outscoring his first four opponents 42-4 and punching his ticket to the state final with a 1-0 (TB2) decision over Mars’ Sam Passarelli. He built a 4-0 lead in the title bout, but Wattsburg’s Kaleb Komisarki stormed back to claim an 8-5 win.
Harbaugh made her second state podium of the season when she scored a 15-0 technical fall in 0:59 over Selinsgrove’s Kyleigh Yohe in the third-place match at 160. Earlier this winter, she was the runner-up at 164 at the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling (PJW) Junior High Championships.
Aven Beltz secured the third Keystone State medal of her young career, while older brother Ace earned his first. Swope won three matches, all by fall, on her path to the awards stand.
At Donegal, three area champions were crowned at the St. Paddy’s Day Brawl: Waynesboro’s Amaree Knott (6U Novice) and Addilynn Warnick (12U Novice), and Fairfield’s Storm Smith (6U Novice).
Below is a team-by-team, tournament-by-tournament, wrestler-by-wrestler look at how club grapplers from the Local.News1 coverage area performed on the mat last weekend:
Waynesboro
Keystone State Championships
Friday-Sunday, March 13-15, in State College
Boys 6U
61: Jaxin Baker (0-2)
Round of 32: L, by fall in 0:30 to Lincoln Kuhn (Trinity)
Cons. 2nd Round: L, by fall in 0:27 to Landyn Wright (West Greene)
Boys 7-8
45: Luke Swope (0-2)
Round of 32: L, 10-0 to Greyson Augustine (Danville)
Cons. 1st Round: L, by fall in 0:43 to Enzo Anker (Penn Hills)
Boys 9-10
60: Noah Swope (0-2)
Round of 32: L, by fall in 2:28 to Maverick Elliott (Delaware Valley)
Cons. 3rd Round: L, 4-2 to Torin Atwood (Armstrong)
65: Ace Beltz (5-2, 4th place)
Round of 32: W, by fall in 1:53 over Liam Babcock (Delaware Valley)
Round of 16: W, 3-0 over Kipton Myers (Jefferson Morgan)
Quarterfinals: L, 13-1 to Beau McKeown (Wilkes-Barre)
Cons. 6th Round: W, 8-0 over Joseph Rodak (North Allegheny)
Cons. Quarterfinals: W, 2-0 over Owen Brink (Punxsutawney)
Cons. Semifinals: W, 2-0 over Wesley Rappo (Central Bucks)
3rd Place: L, 9-1 to Henry Roxby (Forest Hills)
Girls 6U
45: Aleeah Fann (0-2)
Round of 16: L, 17-1 (1:12) to Willow Dingle (Penncrest)
Cons. 3rd Round: L, 10-1 to Zalaiyah Walker (Kiski)
Girls 7-8
45: Aven Beltz (3-1, 3rd place)
Quarterfinals: W, 11-0 over Maisie Morgante (Norwin)
Semifinals: L, 5-3 to Quinn Brink (Punxsutawney)
Cons. Semifinals: W, by fall in 1:22 over Eleanor Stare (Bermudian Springs)
3rd Place: W, 8-1 over Carmen Scalise (Belle Vernon)
Girls 9-10
108: Ava Baker (0-2)
Round of 16: L, by fall in 0:23 to Gabriella Fiscus (Edinboro)
Cons. 3rd Round: L, by forfeit to Aleya Estela (Muhlenberg)
Girls 11-12
70: Emma Swope (3-2, 7th place)
Round of 16: W, by fall in 2:01 over Lexi Williams (Loyalsock)
Quarterfinals: L, by fall in 1:20 to Kynlee Boozers (Redbank Valley)
Cons. 2nd Round: W, by fall in 1:44 over Gabriella Zamaris (Mt. Lebanon)
Cons. Quarterfinals: L, 7-4 to Kaiah Anzardo (Pottstown)
7th Place: W, by fall in 1:55 over Lexi Williams (Loyalsock)
95: Ariel Fann (0-2)
Round of 16: L, by fall in 0:40 to Shaylie Parrish (Upper Perkiomen)
Cons. 3rd Round: L, 3-0 to Fiona Yablonski (Delaware Valley)
Donegal St. Paddy’s Day Brawl
Sunday, March 15, at Donegal
6U Novice
45-47: Jaxon DeShong (0-4)
Round-Robin 1: L, by fall in 0:41 to Bennett Wentzel (Palmyra Mat Cats)
Round-Robin 2: L, 7-5 to Kanan Barnes (South Western)
Round-Robin 3: L, by fall in 2:26 to Maxwell Robbins (Exeter)
Round-Robin 4: L, by fall in 0:56 to Weston Ohliger (Dallastown)
53-59: Jackson Kline (2-1, 2nd place)
Round-Robin 1: W, by fall in 1:11 over Roman Trimboli (Stallions)
Round-Robin 2: W, 17-2 (2:12) over Romeo Sanchez (Harrisburg)
Round-Robin 3: L, 9-3 to Kane Schuster (FSK Eagles)
60-63: Jaxin Baker (1-3, 4th place)
Round-Robin 1: W, by fall in 1:58 over Brantley Minieri (Spring Grove)
Round-Robin 2: L, by fall in 0:30 to Demar Bowers (Manheim Township)
Round-Robin 3: L, by fall in 1:00 to Declan Strayer (East Pennsboro)
Round-Robin 4: L, by fall in 0:32 to Storm Smith (Fairfield)
80-82: Amaree Knott (2-0, 1st place)
Round-Robin 1: W, by fall in 1:52 over Brayden Fleming (Cumberland Valley)
Round-Robin 2: W, by fall in 0:41 over Brayden Fleming (Cumberland Valley)
8U Novice
51-52: Elias Crummitt (1-3, 4th place)
Round-Robin 1: L, by fall in 1:23 to Wyatt Engle (Kutztown Mat Club)
Round-Robin 2: W, by fall in 0:23 over Lucas Hill (Northeastern)
Round-Robin 3: L, by fall in 1:00 to Blake Youngblood (Zero Wrestling)
Round-Robin 4: L, 9-0 to Cohen Morgan (Ephrata)
56-57: Preston Warnick (2-2, 3rd place)
Round-Robin 1: W, by fall in 0:19 over Lincoln Reiber (Northern Lebanon)
Round-Robin 2: W, by fall in 0:28 over Zakkariah Thompson (Donegal)
Round-Robin 3: L, 18-3 (2:29) to Ziggie Austin (Red Lion)
Round-Robin 4: L, by fall in 0:36 to Maddox Merook (Tamaqua)
65-66: Asher Dice (3-1, 2nd place)
Round-Robin 1: W, 10-3 over Silas Fishburn (Cumberland Valley)
Round-Robin 2: W, 9-0 over Owen Nischalke (Blazer Mat Club)
Round-Robin 3: L, by fall in 0:20 to Christopher Vazquez (Reading)
Round-Robin 4: W, by fall in 1:35 over Hunter Ricker (Central Dauphin)
10U Novice
68-72: Peighton Warnick (1-2, 3rd place)
Round-Robin 1: W, by forfeit over Zimri Carver (Manheim)
Round-Robin 2: L, 15-2 to Logan Smith (Central Dauphin)
Round-Robin 3: L, by fall in 1:20 to Carlito Montanez-Pietzke (Donegal)
78-82: Jaxson Wesoloski (1-3, 4th place)
Round-Robin 1: L, by fall in 2:28 to Conner Klingler (East Pennsboro)
Round-Robin 2: W, 9-6 over Cecelia Levarto (West Perry)
Round-Robin 3: L, 7-6 to Ethyn Orner (Hershey)
Round-Robin 4: L, by fall in 0:52 to Skyer Nierer (Team 209)
98-99: Ava Baker (1-2, 2nd place)
Round-Robin 1: L, 7-6 to Julian Mendoza (Reading)
Round-Robin 2: W, 6-2 over Julian Mendoza (Reading)
Round-Robin 3: L, 1-0 to Julian Mendoza (Reading)
12U Novice
101-105: Addilynn Warnick (2-0, 1st place)
Round-Robin 1: W, by fall in 0:34 over Alessandra Silimperi (Central York)
Round-Robin 2: W, by fall in 0:50 over Tucker Pickett (Marple)
12U
72-75: Freedom Young (2-1, 2nd place)
Quarterfinals: W, 8-0 over Brodie Serbu (Upper Perkiomen Braves)
Semifinals: W, 14-0 over Caden Anspach (Pottsgrove)
Final: L, 7-0 to Colton Zeamer (Hempfield)
100-103: O’Connor Stoops (0-2)
Quarterfinals: L, by fall in 0:20 to Drew Fry (Cumberland Valley)
Cons. Semifinals: L, 16-0 (3:00) to Abel Mathieu (Keystone Stars)
GREENCASTLE-ANTRIM
Keystone State Championships
Friday-Sunday, March 13-15, in State College
Boys 6U
40: Walker Reitz (1-2)
Round of 32: W, 10-3 over Tanner Wray (Mifflin County)
Round of 16: L, 10-2 to Bryce Sutter (Wyoming Area)
Cons. 2nd Round: L, by fall in 1:20 to Weylon Coulter (West Allegheny)
Boys 11-12
145: Liam Dietrich (3-2)
Round of 32: L, 13-0 to Landon Hartman (Bellwood Antis)
Cons. 1st Round: W, by fall in 0:19 over Jase Owens (North East)
Cons. 2nd Round: W, 10-2 over Hunter Dembowski (Shaler)
Cons. 3rd Round: W, 3-2 over Ryan Tomlinson (Bensalem)
Cons. 4th Round: L, 8-0 to Grayson Leiva (West York)
Boys 13-14
140: Ethan Allen (3-2)
Round of 32: W, 8-1 over Easton Berg (Conemaugh Township)
Round of 16: L, 17-0 (4:15) to Dylan Brown (Yough)
Cons. 4th Round: W, 9-2 over Ayden Fowler (Lackawanna Trail)
Cons. 5th Round: W, 6-2 over Jordan Selby (Erie)
Cons. 6th Round: L, 9-1 to Yefraim Sadchikov (General McLane)
Boys 15-16
145: Jackson Polifka (4-1, 2nd place)
Round of 32: W, 17-0 (2:08) over Omar (Whitehall)
Round of 16: W, 14-4 over Ethan Wodrig (Hughesville)
Quarterfinals: W, 10-0 over Ethan Voelker (Harborcreek)
Semifinals: W, 1-0 (TB2) over Sam Passarelli (Mars)
Final: L, 8-5 to Kaleb Komisarski (Wattsburg)
Chambersburg
Keystone State Championships
Friday-Sunday, March 13-15, in State College
Boys 9-10
75: Knox Bryan (5-2)
Preliminary Round: W, 8-3 over McCoy Mishler (Somerset)
Round of 32: L, 16-0 (3:21) to Jackson Bish (Harborcreek)
Cons. 2nd Round: W, by fall in 1:33 over Austin Shaffer (Cranberry)
Cons. 3rd Round: W, 8-0 over Tate Johnson-Young (Shikellamy)
Cons. 4th Round: W, 2-0 over Levi Strayer (Forest Hills)
Cons. 5th Round: W, by fall in 1:29 over Jaxson Schwartz (Catasaqua)
Cons. 6th Round: L, 4-0 to Christian Kessler (Garnet Valley)
120: Benjamin Mayhugh (0-2)
Round of 32: L, by fall in 2:20 to Grant Casselberry (Southern Tioga)
Cons. 3rd Round: L, by fall in 1:55 to RJ Esbensen (Methacton)
150: Samuel Stoner (3-2)
Round of 32: W, by fall in 2:15 over Eric Towner (Towanda)
Round of 16: L, 15-4 to Bryce Lorenzo (Belle Vernon)
Cons. 4th Round: W, by fall in 0:55 over Garrett Tucker (Montoursville)
Cons. 5th Round: W, 3-0 over Xavier Payne (Lawrence)
Cons. 6th Round: L, 5-0 to Drew Blan (Methacton)
Boys 11-12
85: Frankie Bryan (2-2)
Preliminary Round: W, 14-3 over Charles Johnson (Erie)
Round of 32: L, 18-2 (0:53) to Griffin Doroshenko (North Pocono)
Cons. 3rd Round: W, 4-3 over Maxwell Bhandari (Upper St. Clair)
Cons. 4th Round: L, 5-0 to Billy Smith (Greensburg Salem)
115: Gabriel Creamer (2-2)
Round of 32: W, 1-0 over Benson Boetsch (Shikellamy)
Round of 16: L, 6-5 to Jagger Locke (North East)
Cons. 4th Round: W, 7-0 over John Boyd (Juniata Valley)
Cons. 5th Round: L, 4-1 to Chase Brown (Bishop McCort)
Boys 15-16
130: Corey Rivera (1-2)
Round of 32: L, by fall in 4:01 to Parker Thompson (Southmoreland)
Cons. 1st Round: W, 8-7 over Blaide Weyandt (Claysburg Kimmel)
Cons. 2nd Round: L, 13-3 to Andrew Rush (Trinity)
Girls 11-12
108: Atlee Spidell (2-2)
Round of 32: W, by fall in 0:56 over Olivia Zanolli (Ringgold)
Round of 16: L, 9-1 to Lillyauna Ackerman (Titusville)
Cons. 2nd Round: W, 15-0 (2:42) over Kinslee Bates (Line Mountain)
Cons. 3rd Round: L, 4-0 to Ashlyn Fiorilli (Apollo-Ridge)
Girls 13-14
160: Mirra Harbaugh (3-1, 3rd place)
Quarterfinals: W, by fall in 1:07 over Kyleigh Yohe (Selinsgrove)
Semifinals: L, by fall in 4:10 to Lucia Montoya (Williamsport)
Cons. Semifinals: W, by fall in 0:57 over Delilah Jones (Berlin)
3rd Place: W, 15-0 (0:59) over Kyleigh Yohe (Selinsgrove)
Donegal St. Paddy’s Day Brawl
Sunday, March 15, at Donegal
8U Novice
79-86: Witten O’Farrell (2-2, 3rd place)
Round-Robin 1: W, by fall in 1:19 over Krystoffer Roth (Donegal)
Round-Robin 2: L, 14-0 to Liam Fowler (East Pennsboro)
Round-Robin 3: L, by fall in 0:24 to Dalton Boone (FSK Eagles)
Round-Robin 4: W, 10-6 over Jacob Saenz (Donegal)
Fairfield
Keystone State Championships
Friday-Sunday, March 13-15, in State College
Girls 6U
55: Carlee Miller (0-2)
Quarterfinals: L, 7-0 to Gladys King (Knoch)
Cons. 2nd Round: L, by fall in 0:45 to Anika Koteski (Franklin Regional)
Girls 9-10
77: Lainey Miller (1-2)
Round of 16: L, 16-0 (2:18) to Khloe Glass (Warwick)
Cons. 2nd Round: W, by fall in 0:39 over Addyson McCurdy (Reynolds)
Cons. 3rd Round: L, 14-1 to Payton Pees (Greensburg Salem)
Donegal St. Paddy’s Day Brawl
Sunday, March 15, at Donegal
6U Novice
60-63: Storm Smith (4-0, 1st place)
Round-Robin 1: W, 17-3 over Demar Bowers (Manheim Township)
Round-Robin 2: W, by fall in 0:16 over Brantley Minieri (Spring Grove)
Round-Robin 3: W, by fall in 1:57 over Declan Strayer (East Pennsboro)
Round-Robin 4: W, by fall in 0:32 over Jaxin Baker (Waynesboro)
8U Novice
43-45: Trey East (1-3, 4th place)
Round-Robin 1: W, 18-2 (2:00) over Luke Tully (Donegal)
Round-Robin 2: L, 18-2 (2:10) to Chase Thomas (Pequea Valley)
Round-Robin 3: L, by fall in 0:33 to Colton Krupiak (Bullet Mat Club)
Round-Robin 4: L, by fall in 1:59 to Jameson Reigle (Northern Lebanon)
10U
93-98: Troy Hewitt III (1-3, 5th place)
Round-Robin 1: L, 18-2 (2:10) to Michael Mendick (Colonial Pride)
Round-Robin 2: L, by fall in 2:35 to Mason Stoner (East Pennsboro)
Round-Robin 3: L, 6-1 to River Hertz (Keystone Stars)
Round-Robin 4: L, 7-0 to Hunter Lenker (WV Mat Rats)
