ERIE — Clearfield elementary wrestler Brady Collins, competing in the 8 & under 75 pound weight class, went 4-1 over the weekend at the Erie Insurance Arena to earn the silver medal at the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling Youth State Championship.
The third grader outscored his first four opponents 29-4 to reach the finals against Gabe Kubaskey of Southmoreland. However, Kubaskey pinned Collins, the Area V champion, in 3:57 to get the gold.
Collins was the lone of nine Clearfield or Curwensville-area based wrestlers to bring home a medal this year.
Clearfield’s Oliver Billotte (11-12, 145 pounds) and Mark McGonigal (11-12, 100 pounds), and Curwensville’s Trenton Guiher (9-10, 95 pounds) each fell just one win short of reaching the medal stand.
Clearfield’s Matthew Rowles (8 & under, 45 pounds) managed one wrestleback victory, as his two losses were to the eventual seventh and eighth place finishers.
Clearfield’s Xavier Lutz-Glace (8 & under, 50 pounds), Will Domico (9-10, 75 pounds), and Nolan Barr (11-12, 85 pounds), and Curwensville’s Logan Aughenbaugh (9-10, 80 pounds) were all eliminated in two bouts.
Domico lost to the eventual state champ in his first match, while Lutz-Glace lost to the eventual fifth place finisher in his first match.
Next year’s PJW Youth State Championships will be in Wilkes-Barre at the Mohegan Sun Arena on March 24 and 25.