The next wrestler to make the state finals was future Youngsville standout and Warren County Sports Hall of Fame inductee Andy Horn in 1976. Horn made the finals again in 1980, but no Little Eagle wrestler made the PJW state finals again until 22 years later when Jordan Cooke reached the finals in 2002.

Fast-forward to this past weekend and the Little Eagles had a PJW state finalist for the second year in a row. Something that has never been done in the program’s history.

Another bit of history for the Little Eagles happened this weekend as well, the first time in program history that they’ve brought home three PJW state medalists in the same year. Collin Havers brought home an eighth-place medal from the PJW Junior High state tournament earlier this month. Kinsley Dean and Johnathan Sullivan added to that total with their performances at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg.

The first to clinch their spot on the podium was Sullivan. Competing in the 12U 200-pound bracket, Sullivan had a tough field to navigate in his march to the finals. After beginning his tournament with a 37-second fall over Nazareth’s Nicco Ventin, Sullivan squared off with familiar foe Owen Smith of Canon-McMillan, himself a former state finalist. Sullivan got out to a 4-1 lead heading into the third period before icing the match with a takedown to win 7-1.

Kinsley Dean, eighth place in the girls 10U 70-pound division, and Johnathan Sullivan, second place in the 12U 200-pound division, both medaled at the 61st annual PJW Youth State Tournament in Harrisburg over the weekend. Submitted photo

Sullivan then matched up with Jed Watson of Burgettstown, whom Sullivan had beaten for third place at the Keystone State Tournament last week, in the quarterfinals. Sullivan used a takedown in the first period and a full set of nearfall points in the second period to power himself to a 7-3 win.

In the semifinals, Sullivan was tasked with facing reigning Keystone State Champion Ben Corvin of Southmoreland. Sullivan lost to Corvin 6-1 the week prior. This time it was all Sullivan as he rolled to a 10-2 major decision to make the finals.

In the finals, Sullivan matched up with friendly rival Isaac Beebe of Maplewood. Sullivan jumped out to a 3-1 lead after one. In the second period, Sullivan started in the down position. Sullivan quickly came up to his feet and turned into Beebe to try for a reversal. Sullivan had Beebe off his feet and as Sullivan went to return him, Beebe threw Sullivan to his back. The head official declared Sullivan pinned. However, at the time of the fall, Sullivan’s feet appeared to be off the mat and on the arena floor, meaning Sullivan was out of bounds. The assistant official yelled to the head official that Sullivan was out of bounds, but the head official overruled him and said the pin call stood. Thus resulting in an anticlimactic and murky end to a match that was otherwise shaping up to be another classic between the two.

“Man, that one stung,” said coach Tim Suydan, “Johnathan was justifiably upset and Isaac seemed less than satisfied winning the match like that. I don’t begrudge Isaac at all for what happened. None of us coaches do. He’s a great kid and a great wrestler. He and Johnathan always bring the best out of each other on the mat. We never did get an explanation from the official as to how he missed Johnathan’s feet being so clearly out of bounds. But, at the end of the day, Johnathan put together a great tournament. As his dad pointed out, he beat the fifth-, fourth- and third-place finishers in that order to reach the finals.”

Dean had herself a great weekend as well. Dean made her first trip to the state tournament memorable as she was able to walk away with an eighth-place medal in the girls 10U 70-pound division.

Like Sullivan, Dean had a less than easy road to travel. Dean dropped a heartbreaking first match against Emma Gray of Conneaut 9-6 to drop to the consolation rounds. Dean then bounced back with an 8-0 major decision over Hazleton’s Angelina Guzman to move into day two.

Dean started her Saturday morning off with an exciting 4-3 win over Bermudian Springs’ Perry Alouise to move into the blood round.

Her blood round match with Cornwall Lebanon’s Phoenix Logan was as thrilling as they come. Having battled to a scoreless tie throughout the entirety of regulation and sudden victory, Dean and Logan needed the ultimate tiebreaker period to declare a winner. Dean won the toss and chose the top position. Dean was able to maintain control of Logan for the final 30 seconds and earn the tiebreaking win. The win also guaranteed Dean a podium finish.

Dean went on to lose her final two matches and finish in eighth place. Nevertheless, Dean is the first girls PJW state medalist for the Little Eagles since 2023 and their second overall girls PJW state medalist.

Two other Little Eagles wrestlers came agonizingly close to the podium.

Sam Hagg, battling in the 8U 110-pound bracket, opened his tournament with a 10-2 major decision over Penns Manor’s Ben Sulkosky. Hagg then pinned Tri Valley’s Bryce Zerbe to move into the quarterfinals. Hagg lost by 16-0 technical fall to Wesley Reichert of Hamburg to fall into the blood round. Hagg unfortunately was on the losing end of a high scoring bout with McGuffey’s Tucker McAdoo to conclude his tournament.

Maci Hodak was the other Little Eagles wrestler to come agonizingly close to stepping on the podium. Hodak exacted a measure of revenge in her first match as she flipped the script on Ava Vought of Derry winning 3-2. Vought had beaten Hodak a week prior at the Keystone State Tournament. Hodak dropped her quarterfinal bout by 13-0 major decision to move into the blood rounds. It was there that she was unable to turn Danville’s Ryleigh Alexander to her back before time expired as she lost 3-0.

Also competing for the Little Eagles were Levi Eger (8U 55 pounds) and Brian Riel (12U 160 pounds).

Eger opened with a technical fall loss to Baldwin’s Ilimdar Islamov. In his consolation bout, Eger squared off with Southern Columbia’s Daniel Merva. Merva scored a takedown in the first and second period, but was otherwise stymied by Eger. Eger bowed out with the 6-0 loss.

Riel opened his tournament against Mifflin County’s Nolan Harmon. Harmon came out hot as he raced out to a 15-1 lead before pinning Riel in 2:39. Riel then faced Hickory’s Trevier Carr in his consolation bout. Carr too raced out to a quick lead before pinning Riel and ending his tournament.