Four of the nation’s #1 high school girls held serve earlier this month at the Beast of the East, one of the most prestigious regular-season tournaments in the country. 

Top-ranked Jaclyn Bouzakis (105), Taina Fernandez (140), Violette Lasure (145) and Ella Paolillo (155) all took home titles. 

The event also featured under-the-radar wrestlers making their mark as several unranked competitors pulled upsets and won their respective weights at The Beast. Pennsylvania’s Xuan Graham (115), Virginia’s Abigail DeBerry (135) and New Jersey’s Giavonna Farrell-Byers (235) also claimed titles. DeBerry pinned her way through the tournament. 

Leydecker Commits To Iowa

One of the nation’s most coveted recruits announced her future plans last week when Everest Leydecker committed to Iowa. The senior from Arizona will join the Hawkeyes next fall, and don’t be surprised if the U20 World champion and four-time Who’s Number One winner is an immediate national title contender when she arrives on the college scene. 

Pennsylvanians Protect Home Turf At Powerade

Some of the nation’s best high school girls gathered Sunday in Canonsburg, Pa., to battle for Powerade titles. The event was marked by Cinderella performances by unranked wrestlers previously unproven or unknown on the national scene while some top-5 ranked girls also earned titles. Pennsylvania showed up strong, holding the #1 and #3 spots in the team race as host program Canon-McMillan won the title with 171.5 points and Mt. Lebanon earned 111.5 points. Tennessee’s Cleveland High School landed in second with 139 points.

At 100 pounds, Pennsylvania’s unranked Mckenzie Astorino took out fifth-ranked and top-seeded Easton Dadiomoff 3-2 in the finals. Pennsylvania’s unranked state champion Ashley Stank won the title at 107.  Pennsylvania’s unranked Yunuen Ayala captured the title at 124. Unranked Haley Smarsh beat #5-ranked and #1-seeded Caroline Hilton in the finals at 130. 

Three more unranked wrestlers — Ohio’s Talea Guntrum (136), Pennsylvania’s Cydney Rea (170) and West Virginia’s Abby Radabaugh (235) — also won titles. 

Meanwhile, top-5 nationally-ranked girls showed their mettle, as #1 Taina Fernandez followed up her Beast of the East title with a Powerade title, earning a technical fall in the finals. #1 Violette Lasure had the same script, dominating the field at Powerade like she did at The Beast, this time winning by fall in 24 seconds in the finals. At 118, Pennsylvania’s third-ranked Marlee Solomon also doubled up Beast and Powerade titles, running the table with pins. And at 190, Pennsylvania’s fourth-ranked Caroline Hattala also reached the top of the podium, just like she did at Beast of the East last week.

On Deck

Get ready for an exciting next two months at the state level in girls high school wrestling, as state championships will be held all over the country. Top high school states like California, Pennsylvania, Texas, and others will likely feature numerous state finals with nationally-ranked matchups.