Starpoint’s Leuer and LaPlante, Southwestern’s Hoose Place at NHSCA Wrestling Nationals

Three area wrestlers placed at the 33rd Annual National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) Nationals over the weekend in Virginia Beach, VA. Over thirty WNY athletes competed across the girls, middle school, and high school divisions at the national event.

The NHSCA ‘Nationals’ is a premier individual wrestling tournament in the United States that draws hundreds of athletes in 7th-12th grades from across the country. Dozens of nationally ranked wrestlers, state champions & place winners, and regional stars from all over the US descend on Virginia Beach to compete for the title of ‘national champion’ under the watch of top collegiate coaches and scouts. Some of America’s greatest NCAA champions and international stars have competed at this tournament through the last thirty years.

Starpoint junior JR Leuer went 5-2 on the weekend in the 106-pound bracket in the junior division to earn 5th place at NHSCA’s. In his first two matches, Leuer defeated state champions from Virginia and North Carolina, respectively, to advance to the quarterfinal round. Leuer advanced to the consolations after falling to the eventual champion in the quarters. In the critical ‘blood round’ of the consolation bracket, Leuer gutted out a win over North Carolina’s Joseph Baisley, 2-0, to guarantee a podium finish. In the match to decide who would wrestle for 5th or 7th, Leuer pinned Pennsylvania’s Landon Machado less than twenty seconds into the third period to set up a meeting with Montana’s Ethan Burkhart. Leuer was a 6-1 winner by decision over Brukhart to claim 5th place overall at NHSCA’s.

Leuer was the only wrestler in the high school divisions from WNY to place in the tournament. In Leuer’s five wins, he collected a pin, a major, and three decisions including an overtime victory.

In the middle school division, Southwestern 8th grader Tavio Hoose claimed 5th place at 180-pounds with a 4-2 tournament record earning two pins and two decisions along the way. Hoose advanced to the quarterfinal with a first round pin but fell to eventual champion Cash Colbert from Virginia by decision. Tavio went 3-1 in the consolation side, starting off with a blood round pin over Rhode Island’s Zachary Iaciofano to guarantee placement. Hoose earned a 5-3 decision thereafter to guarantee a top six finish, and then earned an impressive 10-4 decision victory over Maryland’s JJ Di Monte in the 5th place bout. Hoose was one of four Southwestern wrestlers at the recent NYS championships coming off a breakout season in which he claimed the Section VI Division II 172-pound title.

Starpoint 8th grader Griffin LaPlante landed in 8th place in the 127-pound division with a 3-3 overall record on the weekend. LaPlante advanced to the quarterfinals in impressive fashion, winning both of his first two matches by technical fall. A narrow 12-10 overtime defeat to Pennsylvania’s Jackson Butler sent LaPlante to the consolations where Griffin earned a first minute pin in the blood round to guarantee placement. LaPlante fell by narrow decision scores in the final two bouts, but an NHSCA placement to go along with his Section VI title and NYS tournament 5th place finish caps off an outstanding 2021-2022 season for the Spartans wrestler.

Over thirty wrestlers from WNY competed in the tournament. All WNY competitors at NHSCA’s:

Girls division:

Ashely Burns – St. Mary’s

Middle School:

Chase Richards – Niagara Wheatfield

Griffin LaPlante – Starpoint

Tavio Hoose – Southwestnern

Freshman division:

Aidan Gillings – Newfane

AJ Didas – Clarence

Dylan Pringle – Niagara Wheatfield

Garrett Chase – Niagara Wheatfield

Sophomore division:

Austin Zimmerman – St. Joe’s

Jordan Joslyn – Chautauqua Lake

Gage LaPlante – Starpoint

John Watson – Chautauqua Lake

Dylan Gagnon – North Tonawanda

Te’Shaun Mathews – Niagara Wheatfield

Joey Cicco – Niagara Wheatfield

Jack MacDonald – Orchard Park

Junior division:

Kenny Schmitz – Hamburg

JR Leuer – Starpoint

Amarfio Reynolds, Jr – Niagara Falls

Tremell Mathews – Niagara Wheatfield

Casey Robinson – Niagara Wheatfield

Senior division:

Zach Dellinger – Williamsville North

Brandon Heh – Clarence

Zach Dicey – Clarence

Anthony D’Agostino – Clarence

Darren Christian – Niagara Falls

Andrew Le – Clarence

Jesiere Carter – Niagara Falls

Peter Panaro – Clarence

Stefaan Fearon – Lockport

Trevon Mathews – Niagara Wheatfield