Lehigh Valley wrestling: Medals galore in Fargo, North Dakota

Pennsylvania continued its domination this week of the U.S. Marine Corps Junior and 16U Nationals, the nation’s largest tournament, at the Fargo Dome in Fargo, North Dakota.

It repeated as the team champion in the 16U and junior men’s freestyle tournaments and several area wrestlers earned stop signs with championships in their respective weight classes. The state’s junior squad set a scoring record with 278 points. The 16U group won for a sixth consecutive year.

A few area girls also did well. Here’s a look at how area wrestlers fared:

— Palisades senior Savannah Witt was second in the junior 120-pound weight class. She won her first five bouts by a combined 52-11 score before falling to Minnesota’s Aspen Blasko in the final.

— Faith Christian’s Gauge Botero won a junior 120-pound title with an 11-2 victory over Line Mountain sophomore Brock Rothermel in the final. Botero, a senior bound for Michigan, held off Massachusetts’ Musa Tamaradze 13-12 in the quarterfinals.

— Faith Christian’s Adam Waters finished third in the junior 175-pound bracket after beating Wisconsin’s Caleb Dennee. Waters, a two-time PIAA Class 2A champion, lost to New Jersey standout Ryan Burton 8-2 in the semis before bouncing back.

— Northampton sophomore Gabe Ballard battled back to take third in the 16U 120-pound bracket. He finished 9-1 after beating Illinois’ Rocco Cassioppi in the third-place match. Cassioppi beat Ballard in the round 16 before the Konkrete Kid bounced back.

— Faith Christian sophomore Nick Singer was third in the 16U 175-pound bracket after beating Missouri’s Carter Temple 13-2. Singer was not a full-time starter as a freshman for the Lions but had several big wins, including a couple in the PIAA 2A team tournament.

— Saucon Valley’s Carter Chunko was fourth in the junior 106-pound bracket after losing 6-2 to Michigan’s Jarrett Smith in the third-place match. Chunko’s first varsity season was cut short because of a back injury.

— Wyoming Seminary’s Nathan Desmond, a former two-time PIAA 3A champion at Bethlehem Catholic, was fifth in the junior 126-pound bracket after losing to eventual champ Aaron Seidel of Northern Lebanon 7-2 in the semis. Desmond, a senior, was a national prep champion as a junior.

— Wyoming Seminary’s Vince Bouzakis, a former PIAA 2A champion at Notre Dame-GP, was fifth in the junior 157-pound weight class.

— Bishop McCort’s Keegan Bassett, Germantown Academy’s Justin Farnsworth, Wyoming Seminary’s Shamus Regan, Trinity’s Will Detar and Belle Vernon’s Elijah Brown were other Pennsylvania 16U champions.

— Northern Lebanon three-time PIAA 2A champion Aaron Seidel plus Bishop McCort’s Melvin Miller and Jax Forrest earned junior titles along with Botero. Forrest was named the junior tournament’s most outstanding wrestler.

— Panther Valley sophomore Brenda Banks won a stop sign in the girls 16U 235-pound bracket. The PIAA champion captured three of her four victories by fall, including in the final over Ohio’s Deionna Borders.

— Easton senior Aubre Krazer earlier this month won a gold medal at the U20 Pan-Am Championships in Lima, Peru. The unbeaten PIAA champion beat Mexico’s Paula Leon 9-2 in the quarterfinals, pinned Colombia’s Alex Cuero in the semis and knocked off Ecuador’s Leonela Greuzo 11-1 in the final at 59 kgs.

The Fargo event continues this weekend with the 16U and junior men’s Greco-Roman competitions.

Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com