There is no better holiday tournament than the crown jewel of Western Pennsylvania. Rich in history and stacked with stiff competition, Powerade is the perfect way to finish off 2019 and get your fill of high school wrestling. Once again Canon-McMillan played host to a weekend filled with megastars, fresh faces, wild finishes, high drama, shocking upsets and perhaps a very real claim to the number one pound-for-pound ranking. Let’s get you caught up on all of the madness.

Three The Hard Way

We had the 19th and 20th three-time Powerade champions crowned this weekend, but the two wrestlers involved received those honors in very different ways. Braxton Amos has been doing a bit of a senior year victory lap, picking up his third championship from Super 32 and Ironman earlier, and now adding Powerade to that collection. Amos has been so dominant in high school that I was quick to tell him afterwards that he can only follow this up with four NCAA titles (something I wouldn’t bet against).

Once again, Amos was in a bracket peppered with nationally ranked opponents, and once again he made it look like he could do whatever he wanted to. Nothing anyone tried had any effect, whether that was Dorian Crosby in the semi or highly touted Kolby Franklin in the final. Amos determined where the match was going to go and when it was going to go there. He seemed to hold back the edge he can display pretty often in the final, but he was absolutely determined to collect the spoils and there was no stopping him.

Watch Amos in the semifinals:

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Nic Bouzakis actually won a Powerade title as an 8th grader while at Lake Highland Prep, and now that he is a sophomore at Wyoming Seminary he seemed to be on cruise control to add another one for Team Greco. Unfortunately, Bouzakis and Kurt Phipps had their match finish in the way that you never want it to end, with an injury stopping the proceedings. Phipps is a two-time champ here and was more than ready for Bouzakis and his heavy hands and frantic pace. The two had a great first period with some terrific exchanges and we got strapped in for what looked to be a wild ride. 

Tied at 3 to start the second, Bouzakis gave Phipps a big trap arm mat return. Much to Phipps’ dismay, the medical staff started the concussion protocol and ruled that he could not return, giving him the championship via DQ. Bouzakis was noticeably apologetic, and while it was a heavy return, there didn’t seem to be any malice intended. It wasn’t how Phipps wanted to capture a third title, as he was quick to admit afterwards, but Kurt was proud to join the exclusive club of three-timers.

Slow And Steady Wins The Race

The 106 bracket was wild from the word go, with upsets happening in nearly every match. Mac Church emerged as the only seed left atop a blown apart field. He used his steady approach to completely control each encounter and slowly work through his progression of moves until the openings presented themselves. On the other side, Briar Parish had used a wild and frantic style to rack up points, beating Danny Sheen among others on his way to the finals. Once there, it was a calm and collected Church who put the clampdown on things and restored order.

Watch Church win a title:

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John Martin Best is as steady as they come, and one thing you can rely on is that Best will bring his well rounded game to every match and be competitive no matter the style he is up against. Rarely flashy, he has a real brown bag appeal as he constantly works hard and never cuts corners. The 160 bracket seemed to be on fire with freshman phenom Gabe Arnold dropped in unseeded. While everyone marveled at Arnold’s athleticism, Best and Jack Blumer went to the office and kept things simple, finding their way to the final with ease.

After Blumer dispatched Arnold and Best took out highly touted Luca Augustine, the final was all Best, patrolling the mat and seemingly offering no openings whatsoever across all three periods. We then moved on to a surpsingly sedate ending to the 170 pound mega bracket here, as Tyler Stoltzfus matched his Ironman title with a Powerade crown, besting Shane Reitsma.

The mannered ending was nothing like all of the drama leading up to it. 170 was absolutely packed with talent here, featuring a round of quarters that had six ranked guys and two in the in and out bubble range. Not only that, but they featured a variety of styles and attacks as well, creating intrigue before they even stepped on the mat. While Stoltzfus and Trey Kibe were putting on mat wrestling clinics, Reitsma edged Lenny Pinto and headed for a semi with returning champion Connor O’Neil.

A furious back and forth in the final minute looked to have things knotted at 4-4 and headed for sudden victory. However, following a (quite literally) last second step over from Reitsma and a ref conference, a reversal was awarded after the buzzer, sending Shane through. O’Neil responded by launching his headgear so far that it might have landed in Ohio, and then walked off with the ankle bands, earning a Flagrant Misconduct and ending his tournament. Luckily, the bracket still had a little drama left as Lenny Pinto delivered a phenomenal finish while seemingly in serious danger at the end of sudden victory to claim third over Mac Stout.

Watch the controversial semifinal bout between O'Neil and Reitsma:

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No wrestler this season has had that feeling of power and quickness that signals danger around every corner quite like Nick Feldman. In the main event, Feldman would see if the same tactics that earned him a Beast title and second at Ironman could test the rock solid Luke Stout. Luke looked to make it clear that he wasn’t interested in finding out and delivered an early mat return to send a message.

Feldman had looked to injure his elbow earlier in the tournament and then landed squarely on it, so the message was received. It definitely changed his approach afterwards, as he didn’t even attempt a second of riding to start the third, and seemed hesitant and in pain while trying to finish a deep shot to close out the second period. Feldman decided to pick his moment and in a brilliant exchange late in the third where it looked like he was about to put Stout on his back, Stout stayed focused as Feldman aggressively overpursued, allowing Luke to swoop around with the decisive takedown with seconds left on the clock.

New Phone, Who Dis?

You probably had no idea who Gabe Willochell was prior to today, but everyone in wrestling knows who he is now. After pinning everyone he could find in the tournament (I even saw him headlocking security guards and ticket takers) he rolled into the final with a very different problem to solve: Alejandro Herrera-Rondon has some of the toughest defense in the land, and he wasn’t about to invite an easy fall.

More concerning for Ale is his propensity to tighten up in big matches and leave his offense behind. The end result was a stage set for a dramatic finish, and man did Willochell deliver! Following grumbles about back bows and odd stalemates, we found ourselves with a scoreless match in the ultimate tie-breaker. Herrara-Rondon won the flip and the crowd roared, anticipating an epic fight that would inevitably end in him riding out the 30 seconds to victory. Instead, Willochell exploded off the mat and had Ale on his back in seconds to pull off the massive upset and send the place into delirium.

One of the questions coming in was how would Texas state champ and 10th ranked Dominic Chavez handle the Western Pennsylvania lightweight grinders? Chavez brought a little bit of a different flavor as he was picking up guys in the air on the edge and adding some wrist locks you don’t often see in these parts. He probably wished he had finished off one of those lifts in the finals, as he cracked the door open for Kyle Hauserman to pull a monster upset.

Hauserman had made the finals following a reversal deep in ultimate tie-breakers against Joey Fischer, and he used an escape with seconds remaining to tie this one and send it to extra wrestling. Once there, he slipped out of Chavez’s grasp once again, shocking everyone in attendance (except Grandma Hauserman).

I also want to give some shine to freshmen Meyer Shapiro and Rocco Welsh who both looked like they will find their way to the top of the podium here sooner rather than later. Getting knocked out in the 126 semi, they soon locked horns in a cagey contest for third, won 1-0 by Shapiro. Perhaps the beginning of a budding rivalry as well?

Favorite Sons

Ed Scott seemed to be flirting with danger throughout the tournament. Early matches with Sammy Starr and Caleb Dowling felt as if they could have gone either way, and when he took a huge risk early against Brayden Roberts in the final, working too hard for a head pinch, I waited for the other shoe to finally drop. Roberts avoided it easily and then proceeded to dump Scott over the coaches and directly into the MyHouse corner display. It must have snapped something in Scott though as he responded with a quick reversal and nearfall to give him some breathing room. Scott was like a new wrestler and aggressively took control of the match, claiming the title and showing everyone why he is one of the top stars in the state.

Gerrit Nijenhuis has been involved in some Powerade classics, but he has never been able to win a title here in his home gym. I was greatly concerned things might go sideways when I saw that he had locked up the majestic mullet in a ponytail for the final. We even had to take a stoppage to tie it up again. Luckily, there was a major payoff with the eventual lion’s mane shake as Nijenhuis dominated Cole Rees and took home his first ever championship amongst the Big Macs.

Additional shoutouts to Gary Steen and Cole Deery for bringing home titles and holding down the PA pride on the opposite sides of the weigh in scale. Both took decisions where they were very much in control against in state rivals in Carter Dibert for Steen and Isaiah Vance for Deery.

Number One For A Reason

After a decent build-up (including some drum beating by yours truly) the Beau Bartlett and Sam Hillegas final ended up being pretty much all Bartlett. The score was 5-3 but Beau was in control at all times and only kept things close by not worrying about riding and spending his time in reactive positions, forcing Hillegas to come to him. It was a very composed and mature victory, padding that extensive resume even further.

If anyone was hoping for tape on how to beat Lachlan McNeil, they won’t find it here. McNeil has grown into a well-rounded wrestler in all aspects, but has also added a deadly cradle that seems to appear out of nowhere every time he is on the edges. I even warned Erik Gibson about it in the preview for the finals, yet McNeil locked it on him the first chance that he saw. Gibson fought valiantly, but McNeil looks to be in a class by himself this season.

McNeil and Bartlett anchored a very strong Wyoming Seminary squad, running away with the team race. A funny comment was made that the Blue Knights had won Powerade four of the last five years, and the year they didn’t win, they didn’t attend. Paired with their Ironman victory, this squad is shaping up to be pretty interesting, especially considering how young they are in crucial spots and keeping in mind that they have a Beast champion who doesn’t even start and a top 5 heavyweight yet to touch the mat.

Special thanks to the fine organizers as Powerade more than delivered, giving us insanely great matches, incredible displays of athleticism, along with no shortage of high drama and things to debate throughout the rest of the season. That final item brings me to the last number one that needs to be locked in:

Braxton Amos at pound-for-pound.