Alle-Kiski Valley sends crew to national 16U wrestling tourney

By: Michael Love
Friday, July 12, 2024 | 6:23 PM

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Garett Huff is no stranger to high-level wrestling competition.

The rising sophomore from Plum hopes to make his mark with a new venture next weekend, one that is steeped in tradition for the quality matches it produces every summer.

USA Wrestling’s U.S. Marine Corps Junior and 16U Nationals in Fargo, N.D., begins Saturday morning and runs through next weekend.

Huff will join eight others from the Alle-Kiski Valley along with hundreds from all 50 states in search of national championships and top-eight podium finishes.

Included in the local contingent is Huff’s Plum classmate and teammate Jake Ligo.

“It’s nice having someone you know and have worked with so much be there, too,” said Huff, who will compete with Ligo in the 16U Greco-Roman tournament for Team Pennsylvania next Friday and Saturday (July 19-20).

Huff, 15, qualified for Fargo with a fourth-place finish at 175 pounds at the PAUSA state tournament, and Ligo did so with a second-place finish at states at 157.

“Jake and I have known each other forever and have been training partners for a long time,” Huff said. “It’s great to share this experience with him and have the same goals.

“This is such a great opportunity. This was my first-year trying it. Jake wanted me to try it out, Greco-Roman and freestyle. It was pretty cool to qualify for the national tournament in my first year. I am glad to just be concentrating on Greco-Roman, because the styles are so different to work with.”

Plum has five competing as a trio from the Mustangs girls wrestling program — Saphia Davis (124), Addison Claassen (130), and Alaina Claassen (190) — will begin their 16U freestyle tournament Saturday morning at 9 along with Knoch’s Miranda Lajevic (105).

DJ Suber, a rising junior at Highlands; and Ben Linderman, a recent Valley graduate, will wrestle in the boys Junior Greco-Roman division next Friday and Saturday at 120 and 144 pounds, respectively.

Suber has continued to train and compete after a sophomore season with the Golden Rams that saw him go 16-16 in varsity matches with a sixth-place finish at sections and an appearance at WPIALs.

Linderman, in his first and only varsity season with the Vikings, went 18-11 with 13 wins by pinfall. He finished fifth in his section tournament and also competed at WPIALs.

Pennsylvania will have four teams — junior and 16U boys and junior and 16U girls — gunning for national team titles.

The top eight finishers in each freestyle and Greco-Roman weight bracket will earn points to their respective team totals.

“This is a pretty cool thing,” Ligo said. “Making it to Fargo is something I’ve always wanted to do. It also was kind of surprise. I wasn’t planning on doing it this year, but it kind of popped up out of nowhere. Going with Garett is awesome. He’s my practice partner and best friend. We’ve talked a lot about what this trip will be like and what we’ll get out of it.”

Many of the PA girls team members met for a camp in Lock Haven before traveling by bus nearly 18 hours to Fargo.

They arrived in Fargo on Thursday afternoon and have had a couple of training sessions.

“There were a lot of girls (on the bus ride) who I met at tournaments years ago, and it was really nice to catch up with them again,” Davis said.

“There also were some girls who I had wrestled this past high school season who I never had the chance to talk to, and now we’re friends. I feel I’ve built up a lot of good connections and relationships.”

Davis, who went 33-4 as a sophomore this past winter and won WPIAL and regional titles before taking fourth at states, punched her ticket to Fargo with a runner-up finish at PAUSA states.

“I am really excited to start the tournament and be able to show off my skills against some of the top girls in the country,” Davis said. “I am really proud to be able to make it this far and be able to share this with Alaina and Addison.”

Alaina Claassen, who, like Davis, is a rising Plum junior, recovered from an ACL injury to post a 23-5 record in the high school season with championships at WPIALs and regionals and a sixth-place finish at states.

Addison Claassen made her mark as a freshman with a 21-13 record and a sixth at 130 at WPIALs.

Lajevic, a rising senior at Knoch, also was a big part of the first year for PIAA-sanctioned girls wrestling. Lajevic, who will compete at 105 pounds this weekend, fashioned an 18-9 record on the boys team this winter and was 13-3 in girls matches, which culminated in third-place finishes at WPIALs, regionals, and states.

In between the girls tournament this weekend and the Greco-Roman tournaments next weekend, there will be three days of boys freestyle starting Monday, and Kiski Area rising freshman Mario Hutcherson will be right there in the mix. He will wrestle at 165 in the 16U division.

It’s been quite the year for Hutcherson, who most recently won gold in the 75-kilogram (165-pound) weight class at the Pan-Am trials from June 11-16 in El Salvador.

His victory came a month and a half after taking home the 15-and-under 75-kilogram U.S. Open title in Las Vegas, which was his second in a row.

Hutcherson went 8-0 at Pan-Am and outscored his opponents 68-1 as he competed against wrestlers from Puerto Rico, Argentina, El Salvador, Mexico and Ecuador.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Plum