Submitted photo Youngsville’s Johnathan Sullivan finished in fifth place at 252-pounds.

JOHNSTOWN — In an arena that’s played host to a plethora of legendary acts and big moments, the Cambria County War Memorial Arena proved it had a few more big moments up its sleeve as it hosted the Pennsylvania Junior High State Wrestling Championships over the weekend.

Headlining the weekend locally was Johnathan Sullivan, an eighth-grader at Youngsville Middle School who competes for the Eisenhower Middle School team.

Sullivan finished in fifth place in the 252-pound weight class. He was also the only place winner from any of the county teams.

Sullivan’s fifth-place finish is the highest of any Eisenhower or Youngsville wrestler in the junior high division since 2006 when Bobby Borton placed fifth in the 212-pound weight class.

“What makes Johnathan’s placement even more impressive is the fact that he weighed in a shade under 200 pounds” said Eisenhower junior high coach Tim Suydan. “He’s weighed more than that all season, but he just got over being sick and shed about ten pounds of weight as a result. As a former heavyweight, I can tell you from first-hand experience, it makes a huge difference. What’s more, he’s barely 13 years old. Some of the kids he wrestled were freshmen, pushing 15 years-old.”

Sullivan’s path was far from easy. He had to overcome various obstacles and a pair of setbacks in his journey to the podium.

He began his tournament with a bye in the Round of 64 and then picked up a pin in 1:10 over Armani Rivera of Central Dauphin East in the Round of 32.

His Round of 16 match was a rematch of last year’s 12U 200-pound state semifinal against Ben Corvin of Southmoreland. Sullivan made a second-period escape hold up as he edged Corvin 1-0 to move into the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, Sullivan faced a tall task — literally — as he wrestled LaVon Wade of Kiski Area. Wade stood about four inches taller than Sullivan and outweighed him by more than 40 pounds.

Reminiscent of former Youngsville standout Jim Hoffner’s run to a state title in 1993, Sullivan found ways to play to his strengths as an undersized big man. He utilized his Greco-Roman experience to throw Wade to his back from a double overhook position to go up 6-0 before surrendering a two-point reversal to end the first period. In the second period, Wade chose the down position and attempted to headlock Sullivan as they neared the edge of the mat. Sullivan calmly rolled Wade through and secured the fall to guarantee his spot on the podium.

In the semis, Sullivan proved to be the longest match of the tournament for Marion Center’s Mason Miller. Miller needed 4:08 to score a 17-0 technical fall against Sullivan before he won the title with a pin in 2:13 in the finals.

After dropping a 2-1 heartbreaker in the consolation semifinals to eventual bronze medalist Markus Williams of Trinity, Sullivan found himself opposite a familiar face for fifth place: Wade.

Wade and Sullivan battled to a 1-1 tie after three full periods of action. In sudden victory, Wade started pummeling in to try for a body lock. Sullivan looked as though he may try a headlock of his own before thinking better of it and tossing Wade to his back with another throw from the double overhook position. Sullivan collected the fall at the 4:32 mark to put an exclamation point on his tournament.

“Johnathan made a strong impression on his opponents. He came in as somewhat of an unknown to them. Then he started beating them one by one” said Suydan. “Many of them saw and/or heard about him throwing LaVon in the quarters and actively avoided trying to go upper body with him. All in all, I’m very happy for him. He worked his tail off all offseason, wrestling great competition and he came in focused on making the state podium for the fourth straight year. He put together a great tournament and accomplished his goal.”

Sullivan wasn’t the only one to make the trip, however. He was joined by teammates Ronnie Shellhouse, Hunter Vanderhoof, Brantley Coleson and Evan Huck.

Shellhouse opened his tournament with a 17-2 technical fall loss to Abington Heights’ Paeton Miller. In his consolation match, Shellhouse was edged 3-0 by Mt. Lebanon’s Kole Collins.

Vanderhoof began his tournament with a very close 8-5 loss to Portage’s Carter McCoy. In his consolation match, Vanderhoof lost by fall to Cumberland Valley’s Owen Cameron in 3:07.

See SULLIVAN / Page B2

Coleson began his tournament with a 20-3 technical fall loss to Wyoming Seminary’s Brian Corbin. In his consolation match, Coleson dropped an 11-6 decision to Dalton Daubert of Blue Mountain.

Huck began his tournament with a loss by fall to Connellsville’s Trypp Smith. In his consolation match, Huck lost by fall to Hughesville’s Tygan Sherwood.

“I say it every year, but this tournament is ridiculously hard.” said Suydan “The depth of talent is unbelievable, so each match is a dogfight for every point. Ronnie, Hunter, Evan and Brantley proved they belonged with their matches. They all went down guns blazing and, frankly, that’s all I can ask of them. Three of our five who qualified are seventh-graders so I’ll be looking for them to keep putting in the work to get back there next year and make some noise.”