Well the 16U side of the tournament has just ended in Fargo. For the state of Pennsylvania, it was a very successful tournament. Team score wise Pennsylvania took 1st place, accumulating 223 total team points and outscoring second place Minnesota by 84 points.
Pennsylvania failed to capture a national championship despite the team’s success as all 4 PA finalist took losses but the state did achieve 21 total All-Americans include 4 second place finishes and 3 third places finishes.
Biggest Suprise
One of the biggest surprises at least for me while watching this event is the fact that Mason Gibson did not reach the finals. To really understand while I feel like it was a surprise is because of how well he was doing before his eventual loss. Gibson steam rolled most of the competition by amounting 4 tech-falls in his 5 matches to the Semi-Finals. His one hiccup was in the Round of 16 when he was trailing by 1 to Colorado’s Dmitri Alarcon with 21 seconds to go. He then collected a 4 point move with 7 seconds left when Gibson shot in for a double, collected, lifted, and dumped onto Alarcon’s back to win and advance. His last hiccup was in the Semi-Finals to eventual National Champ Kyler Larkin of Arizona. This was the surprise because Gibson was leading 2-0 with 34 seconds left. Larkin popped 13 unanswered points including an 11 point burst to win. Gibson dropped down to the consolations and and picked up a tech-fall and an eventually fall on a beautiful throw on PA’s Kamdyn Williams.
Best Performance
In my eyes the person who had the best performance is Tyler Kasak. Kasak ended up placing second at 138 lbs and outscored his opponents 45-3 on his way to the finals. An absolutely dominating performance where Kasak amassed 4 tech-falls in 5 matches before the finals taking out some great competitors including Illinois’ Jaydon Robinson in the Semi-Finals winning 3-1. In the finals he took on a sort of Freestyle specialist in Joel Adams of Nebraska where he was leading by 2 with less than 20 seconds to go but like all Freestyle matches a lead is never safe. Adams scored 3 in the last 20 seconds to take the title. It was a great tournament overall for Kasak and its momentum into the high school season.
What does the Future for PA look like?
The future for the state of Pennsylvania is looking very bright for our 16 and under wrestlers. The state continues to produce top tier national talent and this tournament showcased that. Despite not collecting a national title PA showed the country that overall as a state they are still one of if not the best wrestling states in the country. It might be my bias speaking here but I do believe that the performances do not lie.