RALPH WILSON/for The Express Montoursville's Branden Eisenhour wrestles Parkland's Luis Moya at 107 during the semifinal rounds of the King of the Mountain high school boys wrestling tournament at Central Mountain on Saturday.

Ask any wrestler who’s had the chance to compete in the annual Powerade Tournament how tough it is competition wise, and they will all let you know it’s some of the best at each weight wrestling. Falling into the consolation bracket early on at Powerade means having to run a gauntlet against outstanding wrestlers in hopes to getting to a third-place match.

On Tuesday, that was the precise predicament that Montoursville’s Branden Eisenhour found himself in and he came up clutch and battled.

After a first-round tech fall win against Franklin Regional’s Salvatore Colangelo, Eisenhour suffered a 4-0 decision loss to Ace Chittum of Cleveland, Tenn., falling into the consolations. Eisenhour then strung together five great consolation wins in a row at 107 pounds to stay alive for the third-place championship match.

“The grit, toughness and mindset needed to secure five straight wins in the consolation bracket of the Powerade Tournament shows you how resilient and talented Branden is as just a sophomore,” Montoursville coach Matt Yonkin said. “But the most impressive part of that run was he outscored his competition, 42-1.”

Eisenhour defeated Malvern Prep’s Evan Cies by decision (4-0), earned a tech fall over Tristan Mouton of Baylor School, Tenn. (17-0, 2:16), before another decision win against Derry Area’s Mason Keesecker (7-0).

Eisenhour picked up a 10-0 major over Moon’s Bryce Thomas, a returning District 7 and West Class AAA Regional qualifier last season and then earned a hard-fought 4-1 decision vs. Canon-McMillan’s Lee Dreshman.

The Warrior ultimately fell in the third-place match to Trinity’s Arav Pandey by decision, 7-1, but that run to the third-place match is something that without question gave Eisenhour a ton of motivation in a tough Powerade Tournament, especially given Eisenhour is just a sophomore.

“The coaching staff knows exactly what Branden is capable of and this just shows that when he believes it as well,” Yonkin said. “He is one of the best in the country and a lot of fun to watch. We are so proud of him.”

Montoursville has competed in the Powerade Tournament numerous times over the last few years, and Yonkin is glad his wrestlers can experience that brutal competition.

“We are very grateful for the opportunity to compete every day and that includes the Powerade,” Yonkin said. “We are training to compete at the highest level and tournaments like this are essential to reveal and refine our skills and character. Nothing we do more prepares us for the postseason then the Powerade.”

Last year, Eisenhour went 37-15 and won a Central Sectional title, took third at the District 4 tournament and silver at the Northeast Class AA Regionals to qualify for states.

Eisenhour is already having a solid season as a sophomore as he’s 14-3 entering this weekend. That includes having won against Selinsgrove’s Colton Kratzer by fall early in the year and Shikellamy’s Max Hallman by tech fall, both of whom were District 4 Class AAA qualifiers last winter.

Montoursville’s schedule is full of talented tournaments, having already competed at Central Mountain’s King of the Mountain and this past week’s Powerade at Canon-McMillan. This weekend the Warriors are in the PHAC Division II Duals and have the PHAC Championships on Saturday, Jan. 10 and the Bison Duals in Clearfield the following Saturday.

150-WIN CLUB

Speaking of Montoursville, the Warriors had two medalists at the Powerade Tournament: Eisenhour and Gage Wentzel. Eisenhour finished fourth while Wentzel had a great run to take home a second-place finish at 172 pounds.

Wentzel, who is committed to wrestle at Division I West Virginia, beat Ponagenset, Rhode Island’s David Perez in the 172 semifinals at the Powerade Tournament to reach the finals and secure win No. 150. Wentzel lost a hard-fought matchup in the championship final to Maximus Fortier of University, West Virginia, by decision, 4-1.

“What a great accomplishment for him, something he will look back on and be very proud of. However, it’s just one step in a long journey,” Yonkin said. “He is currently eighth on the school’s all-time win list and ahead of some great wrestlers. But he realistically has the opportunity to surpass everyone and secure the all-time school win record with a strong finish to this season.”

Wentzel now is among some of Montoursville’s all-time best with 150 or more wins, joining Gavin Hoffman (176), Garrett Hoffman (167), David Kennedy (159), Branden Wentzel (158), Luke Frey (157), Keith Batkowski (154) and Wyatt Lutz (154).

His 11 wins this year moved him past Cameron Wood (144) and Dylan Bennett (141) on the all-time list as he currently is eighth.

Wentzel is in his senior season and is hoping to put together another superb campaign. He reached at least 45 wins each season he’s competed, going 45-13 as a freshman, 45-10 as a sophomore and 49-7 last year as a junior as he ended up finishing with a silver medal at the state meet, his third career state medal (fifth, fourth).

“Gage is an outstanding young man on and off the mat As a wrestler, he is everything a coach can ask for,” Yonkin said. “His growth over the past seasons has really developed him into a fantastic leader, teammate and competitor. He is a true student of the sport and is always looking to improve his skills and help develop his teammates.”

Montoursville’s wrestling program has a long history of successful and talented wrestlers, and Wentzel added his name to that list by reaching the 150-win milestone.

MOVING UP THE LADDER

Two years ago at the District 4 individual tournament, then-Montgomery senior Conner Harer became District 4’s all-time wins leader by moving past former Southern standout Jaret Lane (182) and ending his carer at states with 191.

After he moved past Lane, Harer was asked about the milestone and said while it was nice, his younger brother Brandt would break it in a few years.

Brandt hasn’t yet, but he’s slowly creeping up and last week inched closer.

Harer earned his 171st career win and now sits fourth al-time in District 4 history and moved past Line Mountain’s Kellon Balum. The Montgomery senior who committed to wrestle at Rutgers only trails Wyalusing’s Matt Fisk (175), Montoursville’s Gavin Hoffman (176), Lane (182) and his brother Conner (191).

Brandt is 14-0 this year so far and has not suffered a loss since the state tournament his freshman year. He went 54-0 as a sophomore and 57-0 as a junior.

Conner knew how talented his brother was when they wrestled together in 2023-24 before Conner graduated, so it’s not at all surprising knowing Conner knew his brother would make a run at the all-time record.

Now, he’s just 20 wins away.

CLOSING IN

While we’re on the topic of milestones, Montgomery senior Manny Stoltzfus is also closing in on a huge milestone as the Red Raider senior is at 134 career wins entering this weekend and is just 16 away from reaching the 150-win milestone.

Stoltzfus has won at least 38 bouts in a season all three years he’s competed entering this season. Reaching 150 would put Stoltzfus in very exclusive company in Montgomery’s record books.

The only Red Raiders to win 150 or more wins in a career? That would be the Harer brothers as Conner has 191 and Brandt sits at 171.

Stoltzfus is 12-3 this year and has wins against returning sectional sixth-place finisher Mason Harbst of Towanda, returning District 4 qualifier Levi Vermilya of Canton and lost a tough matchup to Class AAA sectional fifth-place finisher Corbin Strobl of Exeter.

Stoltzfus also picked up two sub-25 second pins against Kellan Smith of Hughesville (22 seconds) and Shikellamy’s Andrew Long (18 seconds).

Jon Gerardi is the sports editor at the Sun-Gazette and can be reached at jgerardi@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JonGerardi.