St. Francis’s LaPlante Eighth at Prestigious Powerade Tournament

Cover photo courtesy of Jeff Pataky

St. Francis sophomore Griffin LaPlante placed 8th at the nationally regarded Powerade Wrestling Tournament on Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School in western Pennsylvania. LaPlante was the only wrestler from New York State to place at this year's edition of the event.

The annual two day competition draws many of the country's top ranked high school wrestlers representing over fifty schools. Some of the very best teams in the nation send multiple highly touted wrestlers and compete amongst one another for the team title.

Griffin reached the quarterfinals of the 152-pound bracket as the 6-seed after winning his first two bouts on Friday. In the quarter, LaPlante met 3-seed Jaxon Joy from Wadsworth, OH but fell by a 4-0 decision to the #7 ranked wrestler in the country to drop into the Saturday wrestle backs.

In the Saturday morning 'blood round,' LaPlante met Montoursville's (PA) Gage Wentzel with guaranteed tournament placement on the line.

Griffin scored the only point of the match with an escape less than ten seconds into the second period. In the third, LaPlante was able to stay in control of Wentzel on the mat for the whole two minutes as he held on to win 1-0 to guarantee a podium finish. Griffin fell just short of placing at 2022 Powerade falling in the round before the blood round as a freshman.

LaPlante fell to Chantilly, VA's 7-seed Ben Weader and then Malvern Prep's (PA) 8-seed Nathan Rickards to conclude the tournament with his 8th place finish on Saturday.

"Griff demonstrated that he belongs on the stage with the top wrestlers in the country," said St. Francis assistant coach Steve Hart. "As a 10th grader he shows poise and perseveres through adversity."

Griffin LaPlante match results:

Championship bracket

1st rd: bye

2nd rd: LaPlante p. Gavin Pollock (Thomas Jefferson), 3:50

3rd rd: LaPlante dec. #14 nationally ranked Zach Ballante (St. Jospeh’s Regional, NJ), 4-2

Quarterfinal: 3-seed Jaxon Joy (Wadsworth, OH), dec. LaPlante, 4-0

Consolation bracket

1st match/blood round (day two): LaPlante d. Gage Wentzel (Montoursville, PA), 1-0

2nd match (day two): 7-seed Ben Weader (Chantilly, VA) dec. LaPlante, 6-3

7th place match: 8-seed Nathan Rickards (Malvern Prep, PA) md. LaPlante, 8-0

St. Francis 7-seed senior Gage LaPlante placed at the 2022 Powerade but missed the podium this time posting a 2-2 tournament record.

Gage LaPlante match results:

Championship bracket

1st rd: bye

2nd rd: LaPlante p. Gabe Jordan (Saegertown, PA), 1:15

3rd rd: LaPlante dec. Braedon Welsh (Fort Cherry, PA), 3-0

Quarterfinal: 3-seed #7 nationally ranked Dominic Federici (Wyoming Seminary, PA), dec. LaPlante, 6-1

Consolation bracket

1st match (day two): Omer Barak (Lake Highland Prep, FL) p. LaPlante, 4:10

Lewiston-Porter brothers Jaron (junior) and Caden (senior) competed at Powerade for the first time. Both were unseeded but won matches in the championship bracket before falling into the wrestle back rounds on Friday. Both won three matches apiece but bowed out of the tournament after falling in the consolation bracket on Friday evening.

Jaron Barrientos match results:

Championship bracket

1st rd: Barrientos dec. Zach Rehak, (Thomas Jefferson, PA), 5-2

2nd rd: Barrientos dec. Teli Bobtas (Montoursville, PA), 10-9

3rd rd: 1-seed Dominic Deputy (Chestnut Ridge, PA), dec. Barrientos, 3-2

Consolation bracket

1st match: Barrientos dec. Noah Young (State College, PA), 6-2

2nd match: Carter Shin (Chantilly, VA), dec. Barrientos, 5-1

Caden Barrientos – Lewiston-Porter – unseeded – 127-pounds

Caden Barrientos match results:

Championship bracket

1st rd: Barrientos dec. Keegan Oler (Erie Prep, PA), 5-4

2nd rd: Logan Stewart (Reynolds, PA) dec. Barrientos, 6-2

Consolation bracket

1st match: Barrientos p. Nicholas Berrena (State College), 2:49

2nd match: Barrientos md. Bryan Santangelo (Mt. St. Joseph, MD), 9-1

3rd match: 7-seed Chris Vargo (Bentworth, PA) md. Barrientos, 10-0