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In the grand scheme of things, area wrestling teams were well represented at the 55th annual Powerade tournament at Canon-McMillan High School last week.
In Pennsylvania's biggest tournament with 65 teams and many of the top programs in the country, Williamsport (17th place, 73 points), Central Mountain (18th place, 72 points) and Montoursville (19th place, 66.5 points) all finished in line with one another among the top 20 in the team standings.
All three schools featured one semifinalist heading into Day 2 and previously met at the Top Hat and King of the Mountain tournaments. Here's where each school stands after the new year.
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WILLIAMSPORT
The Millionaires are having themselves a season. The best team finish at the Top Hat in over two decades, first King of the Mountain team title in school history and now a finish among the top 20 at the Powerade, Williamsport's wrestling program is shattering the ceiling week in and week out.
"I think the confidence is running pretty high. I mean, we're not reaching all of our goals, but we're definitely heading down the road towards our big goals," Millionaires coach Brian Nasdeo said. "So, I think everything is running the course that we have planned here, so we're building it."
Nasdeo's son, Cael, reached the 113-pound semifinals but injury defaulted out of the championship bracket. According to Nasdeo, Cael -- ranked No. 4 in the state for Class AAA and No. 11 nationally -- has been wrestling through injury, though it's nothing major and the default was precautionary.
"He'll be okay. He's sore, banged up. He has an injury he's had, he was injured the whole tournament and it just came to a head there," Nasdeo said on Cael's injury default. "It was just too much so I decided he's not wrestling anymore at the tournament."
Cael, Riley and Braden Bower -- as well as Chuck Crews -- have anchored the program in the three tournaments thus far, all medaling and providing no easy outs for opposing lineups.
"They were voted the team captains by the previous group of team captains. They're definitely the leaders of the room," Nasdeo said.
Williamsport's dual meet at State College was postponed to Jan. 19 due to COVID-19 issues within State College's program. The Millionaires will host the PHAC Division I meet Saturday before gearing towards the Escape the Rock tournament next weekend.
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CENTRAL MOUNTAIN
Luke Simcox has emerged as a top talent in the area. The sophomore, having dropped from 138 to wrestle at 132, placed fourth at the Powerade and is now ranked No. 3 in the state for Class AAA in his new weight class.
Simcox posted a 13-5 major decision over Notre Dame GP's Brandan Chlestos, a state finalist. He then came out on top in a narrow 2-1 upset of Malvern Prep national champion Spencer Barnhart -- ranked No. 17 nationally -- to reach the semis.
Earning a King of the Mountain title to his name earlier this season, Simcox is coming off a freshman campaign in which he placed fifth in states and is only improving from last year's finish.
"He continued the trend that he's on from the King of the Mountain tournament. He kinda blew the competition out of the water," Wildcats coach Biff Walizer said on Simcox. "To drop into 132 for the first time this season, he continued on that focus path. He may have felt a little disrespected not being seeded in the top 12, which I think served him well as far as his attitude going into the tournament. He wanted to make a statement and he did that."
Dalton Perry, who was ranked the top incoming freshman, was automatic at 126 heading into the Powerade, going undefeated and claiming Top Hat and King of the Mountain titles to start his high school career.
It was a long time coming, but at Canon-McMillon, Perry was knocked into the consolation bracket by Wyoming Seminary's Vince Bouzakis in a 10-5 decision in the round of 16.
Walizer noted the steep competition at the Powerade will draw out ways in which Perry, among others, can improve after facing the nation's top talents.
"He's got that first loss out of the way and the sun came up the next day, so he can just focus on looking at those losses (and see) where he can improve upon for the next time," Walizer said on Perry. "Just focus on getting better every day."
While being anchored by its underclassmen, Walizer said his Wildcats haven't been at full strength yet this year, and hopes to have a full, healthy lineup prior to the postseason.
"Obviously we’ve dealt with some illness and some injury both here early in the season, but I think it’s a much better situation to have this stuff out of the way in December then come the end of January and into February," Walizer said. "I think we’re in a good spot moving forward."
The Wildcats will head to Williamsport for the PHAC Division I meet Saturday.
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MONTOURSVILLE
It wasn't Branden Wentzel's first rodeo at the Powerade, having previously made the semifinals already. The 113-pounder posted a 13-2 major decision over returning state runner-up Cooper Hornack of Burrell in the quarterfinals and placed fourth overall.
The junior has put together a solid resume that includes first and third-place finishes in states his first two years on top of other tournament titles.
"It was a really solid performance on his part," Warriors coach Matt Yonkin said on Wentzel. "He had a robust tournament."
Isaac Cory and David Kennedy also made runs at the Powerade. Kennedy took eighth place on the 120-pound podium while Cory, a three-time state qualifier and medalist, picked up three wins at 172.
"Kennedy, as a freshman to medal, was definitely a really strong statement," Yonkin said. "And possibly the one I was most proud of was Isaac Cory. He lost two really tight matches to elite kids. Returning state champ by two points, lost to a nationally-ranked kid by one point. He wrestled extremely tough, he just happened to be in the toughest weight class in the tournament."
Like Williamsport and Central Mountain, the Powerade provided a confidence boost for Montoursville. Having finished among the top 20 against powerhouse programs such as Wyoming Seminary, Malvern Prep and more, Yonkin believes his Warriors are in a good place currently.
"I thought it was a great progression in our season. I was feeling really good, coming out of there 19th with as stacked as that tournament was. I thought it was a testament to the kids," Yonkin said. "We obviously finished that far because we were able to capitalize on a lot of pins and a lot of bonus-point wins. So that gave us a lot of extra points through the tournament."
Montoursville has five dual meets on tap through the remainder of the regular season.
Evan Wheaton covers high school wrestling for the Sun-Gazette. He can be reached by email at ewheaton@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EvanWheaton.