MERCER — Youngsville left Mercer with a pair of place winners during the annual VFW Tournament held this past weekend at Mercer High School.

Aidan Mancuso earned a fifth-place finish at 189 pounds while teammate Carsyn Branstrom finished in eighth at 152 pounds.

“From a team standpoint, I thought the kids wrestled particularly well this weekend,” said Youngsville coach David Myers. “With few exceptions, everyone picked up a win this weekend. It was nice to see Aidan (Mancuso) back on the mat. He’s dealt with injury since the opening week of the season and is slowly knocking the rust off.”

Mancuso finished the weekend 3-2, opening with a technical fall victory over Fort Cherry’s Ethan Mugaviri, 18-2. After dropping a bout in the quarterfinals, Mancuso rebounded with a third period pin of Central Clarion’s Rudy Shetler before a second loss sent him to the fifth-place match for the weekend.

There, Mancuso emerged with a 3-1 decision to secure a top-five finish in the tournament.

Branstrom ended the weekend 2-3, earning a pin over West Shamokin’s Ryan Booher as well as a quick 43 second pin of Central Clarion’s Jadyn Scheftic.

“Carsyn was another that managed his bracket how we thought he would,” said Myers. “He’s slowly coming down with his weight and we’re seeing a definitive improvement with technique with the lighter wrestlers. Eighth place was a solid effort for Carsyn.”

Also earning wins on the weekend were Graeme Minnis (215 pounds), who was a two-time winner; Michael Carnahan (133), who pinned Bradford’s Nick Martin in 47 seconds; Kenneth Shellhouse (139), who defeated Laurel’s Ashton Campbell; and Gavin Olson (145), who pinned Bradford’s Payton McCool.

The Eagles will return to action Wednesday when they host county rival Eisenhower in Alumni Night at Youngsville High School. Wrestling is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.