Northeast Regionals (Kids Edition!)

Last weekend at the Phil Portuese Northeast Regional, Maryland’s youth wrestlers were on display with quite a few having success in both Freestyle and Greco Roman. The Kalahari Resorts in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania was the setting on May 9th through 11th.

Four wrestlers doubled up on championship hardware, Korbin Kiessling (14U 75 pounds), Ethan Encarnacion (12U 78), Bryce Thomas (12U 86), and Nasir White (10U 67 pounds).

Kiessling put four 10-0 technical falls on the Freestyle bracket. New Jersey’s Anthony Messina was finished off in 36 seconds in the final. Jersey’s Noah Ferrer lasted the longest of anyone in the semis before falling in 1:17. Another Garden State grappler, Marco Yodice, bit it in 1:15 in the quarters. Virginia’s Molly Mooney was set aside in 32 seconds. Kiessling’s Greco Roman crown was earned during round robin competition where he beat the second-place finisher, Vincent Foster of New York, by tech, 12-0 in 29 seconds.

Encarnacion followed Kiessling’s lead and posted four 10-0 techs for his Freestyle gold. Three of them were collected versus Pennsylvanians, including a 44 second one in the finals against Gabriel Peace. The other two came in 42 seconds with Edward Carter and 18 seconds over Brody Baxter. Connecticut’s Sam Forman was discarded in 30 seconds in the semifinals.

Encarnacion duplicated his run of tech falls en route to the Greco title, winning 8-0 in 2:00 in the finals over Pennsylvania’s Bennett Kocher. Keir Devlin (NJ) fell 10-0 in 37 seconds in the semis and another 10-0 outcome greeted Lennon Lokuta (PA) in 1:03.

Thomas used three techs for his glory in both disciplines. The Freestyle final was 10-0 (1:37) over Pennsylvania’s Preston Dorn. A 14-2 semifinal tech of Lance Bachmann Jr. (PA) came in 2:36. North Carolina’s Chase Davis fell 10-0 in 27 seconds in the quarterfinals. Thomas faced the same two opponents in the Greco finals and semis, teching both again, Dorn 10-0 in 2:00 and Bachmann Jr. 8-0 in 1:04. In the quarters, Trey Lee (VA) lost 8-0 in 48 seconds.

White stuck Pennsylvania’s Brooks Bialo in 1:30 for his Freestyle championship. In the semis, White decked fellow Marylander Bohdi Tsikerdanos, :22, and registered a 10-0 (2:12) tech of Greyson Bryant (PA). Tsikerdanos placed fifth.

White’s Greco gold came over the same finalist but was a much more difficult task as he edged Bialo, 8-7. Interestingly, White downed another Marylander in the semis, this time Elijah Jean Paul, 10-2 (3:22). White had another tight match in the quarters, just getting by New Jersey’s Nico Lissenden, 7-6. Jean Paul would place third with Ryder Seidman coming in sixth.

In 14U Greco action, Justin Wildy Jr. (115 pounds), Alvin Pinkney (126), and Jordan Drayton (225) stood atop the podium. Wildy Jr. pinned Pennsylvania’s Amari Jenkins in the finals. In the semis, Wildy Jr. needed 1:18 to tech Maryland’s Thomas Bradford, 8-0. Pennsylvania’s Kody Still was handled 9-0 in 22 seconds and in the opener, Wildy had another 8-0 tech of Virginia’s Omar Niyazou. Wildy Jr. won a silver medal in Freestyle.

Pinkney’s Greco bracket was held in a round robin fashion with him sticking the runner-up from New Jersey, Parker Humphrey. Pinkney’s three other wins came on techs. Pinkney landed in the sixth spot in Freestyle. Drayton was involved in a best-of-three situation and won two straight over Connecticut’s Kasjan Wnuke, by fall, :27, and tech, 8-0 (1:27). Drayton took second in Freestyle.

A Greco Roman crown was brought back to Maryland by Zakey Tsarni at 108 pounds in the 12U Division. Tsarni was involved in one of those round robin affairs and defeated the silver medalist, Aaron Szumowski (NJ), 8-2. Two pins (30 and 17 seconds) plus a tech fall were achieved in Tasrni’s other three victories. Tsarni came in third on the freestyle side of things.

One more Marylander secured top honors in Greco, Gabriel Beltran, who did his damage at 59 pounds in the 10U age group. Beltran’s bracket was of the round robin variety, and he took out Kaeson Pratt of New York, who finished second, in 31 seconds, 8-0. Beltran was a freestyle runner-up in the 56-59-pound bracket.

Back to the Freestyle champions and staying with the 10U grapplers where Subhan Ahmad won a best-of-three contest at 93 pounds with another Marylander, Phil Mandzik, with consecutive 10-0 techs in 27 and 48 seconds. Ahmad landed third in the 84-93-pound freestyle pecking order.

Stepping back into the 12U slate where Tanner McCray-Bey won an 82-pound Freestyle gold medal on a default from Pennsylvania’s Jack Kahley. McCray-Bey pinned New Jersey’s Raphael Logan, 2:39, in the semis and teched his first two foes, Carter Watson (PA) and Weston Cipriani (PA), 10-0, in 42 seconds and 1:14 respectively. McCray-Bey fell to Kahey, 15-6, in the Greco Roman finals.

Braidyn Taby locked down a 14U Freestyle title at 105 pounds with a 7-2 decision of New Jersey’s Elijah Logan in the finals. A close battle with New York’s Trevor Eggleston unfolded in the semis with a 13-11 result. A 10-0 tech in 1:52 ended the time Joey Pearson (PA) spent in the championship bracket. The round of 16 delivered a fall of New York’s Bran Agulis, 2:37. Taby grabbed a bronze in Greco.

For simplicity and brevity purposes, we will list the remaining placewinners by age group and style. Starting with 14U. Wrestlers mentioned in the article are not listed below.

14U Freestyle:

2nd-Caleb Tsikerdanos (80)

Ayden Leader (120)

3rd-Edward Encarnacion (92), who beat Kyle Link of Maryland in the consolation final, 2-1.

Esaias Perez (96)

Charles Cooper (100)

Terriel Cooke (132)

4th-Kyle Link (92)

Lincoln Smiddy (155)

5th-Logan Brickley (88)

6th-Daewon Nguyen (84)

Daerin Curry (105)

Thomas Bradford (115)

14U Greco Roman:

2nd-Dylan Verceles (80)

Edward Encarnacion (92)

Ayden Leader (120)

3rd-Logan Brickley (88), who teched Logan Smith (MD), 12-4 (:48), in the placement match.

Esais Perez (96)

Charles Cooper (100)

4th-Logan Smith (88)

Thomas Bradford (115)

Terriel Cooke (132)

Lincoln Smiddy (155)

5th-Kyle Link (92)

6th-Caleb Tsikerdanos (80)

Daewon Nguyen (84)

Miles Haines (105)

12U Freestyle:

2nd-Sam Levine (58)

Merrick Fraser (67)

Ryker Stover (135)

4th-Brian Flynn (98)

6th-Carter Votta (98)

12U Greco Roman:

2nd-Sam Levine (58)

Kaine Salisbury (63)

3rd-Jaxsen Brown (67), Brown teched Merrick in the third-place match, 10-0 (2:12).

4th-Merrick Fraser (67)

Brian Flynn (98), Flynn pinned Votta in the consolation semis, 1:40.

5th-Ace Hamilton (98), Hamilton pinned Votta in their placement bout, :26.

6th-Carter Votta (98)

10U Freestyle:

3rd-Jack Koenig (63)

Alexander Fernandez (84)

4th-Bryce Romero (49-53)

Calvin Thompson (77)

6th-Samuel Heath (49-53)

James Quinonez (84)

10U Greco Roman:

3rd-Bryce Romero (49-53)

Jack Koenig (63)

4th-Alexander Fernandez (84-93), was pinned by Ahmad in the bronze bout, 1:50.

5th-Samuel Heath (49-53)

6th-Carson Beyer (84-93)

8U Freestyle:

3rd-Daniel Beltran (49-53)

Paisley Grinder (62)

8U Greco Roman:

2nd-Daniel Beltran (49-53)

4th-Caleb Romero (56-62)