Winchester places 4th in national event
Twin Valley’s Ean Winchester earns All-American honors at 220 pounds in the 16U freestyle bracket at the USA Wrestling/U.S. Marine Corps Junior and 16U National Championships in Fargo, N.D.
When Ean Winchester walked into the FargoDome for the USA Wrestling/U.S. Marine Corps Junior and 16U National Championships earlier this month, the rising Twin Valley junior was amazed.
“It was huge,” he said. “There were like 27 mats. It was awesome.”
His experiences in Fargo, N.D., only got better from there.
Winchester went 6-2 to finish fourth at 220 pounds in the 16U freestyle bracket, becoming the first Twin Valley wrestler to earn All-American honors at Fargo and achieving the highest finish among the contingent of Berks League wrestlers who competed.
“Placing fourth in Fargo was crazy,” Winchester said.
He also helped Pennsylvania win the 16U freestyle team title at an event that included 6,646 wrestlers in six divisions. It is the largest wrestling tournament in the world.
Winchester, an All-Berks selection at 215 pounds after going 36-5 as a sophomore, said he went into the tournament with a goal to place in the top eight. He prepared by attending two camps, including one run by wrestling great Chance Marsteller.
“I felt pretty strong going out there,” he said. “I was ready.”
He went 3-0 on the first day to reach the quarterfinals, beating Owen Barton of Wyoming by technical fall in 1:31, Albert Butler of Georgia 5-2 and Rylan Kuhn of Missouri 7-5.
Kuhn had been predicted to finish fourth by FloWrestling. com.
Winchester fell into the consolation bracket when he lost by criteria to Jay Henderson of Utah after the two tied at 5-5. Henderson had beaten the wrestler FloWrestling considered the pre-tournament favorite, Nicholas Sahakian, 13-9 in his previous match.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” Winchester said. “I lost a really close one. The refs cautioned me, which ended up giving the other kid a point (to tie it). It wasn’t the best call, but it is what it is.”
Winchester needed one more win to ensure a top-eight finish, and got that with a 54-second pin of Jayden Tadeo-Gosal of California.
“I was so happy,” Winchester said. “I ran over to my parents after I knew I was placing. I gave them a huge hug. They were psyched.”
Winchester followed with a 7-0 win over Brayden Hill of Kansas to end his second day. He opened Day 3 with a win by technical fall in 1:57 over James Bechter of Ohio in the consolation semifinal, which advanced him to the third-place match against Melvin Whitehead of Nevada.
“It was really cool, especially going into the parade of champions,” Winchester said. “It was like a dream.”
Winchester lost his final match 5-1, but by then he had accomplished what he had set out to do. He was one of just 16 Pennsylvania wrestlers to place in the top eight in the 16U freestyle division.
“I was just happy to prove everyone wrong,” said Winchester, predicted to finish seventh by FloWrestling. “I had nothing to lose going into it, so I was just going to go out and wrestle my best, see what happens.
“This is a nice confidence boost. It allows me to know that I can compete with anyone. It
helps me going forward to the upcoming wrestling season knowing I can beat whoever I put my mind to.”
Other Berks League wrestlers in Fargo who competed in the junior division were Daniel Boone’s Dean Houser (1-2 at 120 pounds in freestyle) and Wilson’s James Garcia (1-2 at 126 in freestyle, 2-2 in Greco-Roman).
Participating in 16U were Berks Catholic’s Ned Kauffman (3-2 at 113 in Greco-Roman), Twin Valley’s Jacob Grzybek (1-2 at 138 in freestyle), Berks Catolic’s Gabriel Davis (1-2 at 170 in freestyle)
and Muhlenberg’s Tucker Bellanca (2-3 at 195 in freestyle, 2-3 in Greco-Roman).
Gov. Mifflin’s Jayleah Pletz went 3-2 at 106 pounds in junior women’s freestyle.
Three wrestlers from Boyertown also competed.
Kole Davidheiser, wrestling at 94 pounds, finished fourth in 16U in Greco-Roman and fifth in freestyle, going 3-2 in each. Also in 16U, Gavin Sheridan went 2-2 in freestyle and 3-2 in Greco-Roman at 132 pounds. Kade Davidheiser went 2-2 at 126 pounds in junior freestyle.