After a stellar freshman year at Honesdale, Nathan Schuman has won a gold medal at the United States Marine Corps Junior National Wrestling Championships.
FARGO, ND — Nathan Schuman is just 16-years-old, but he’s already making a name for himself on the national wrestling scene.
A rising sophomore at Honesdale, Schuman just put the finishing touches on an incredible summer season in both freestyle and folk style competition.
Schuman traveled to Fargo (ND) this week to compete at the United States Marine Corps Junior National Championships. There he powered his way to a perfect record en route to a gold medal in the 100-pound bracket.
“It was a great tournament and I am so happy I got the opportunity to come out here and represent Team PA,” Schuman said. “I’m thrilled with how I wrestled.”
Thanks in large part to Schuman’s efforts, Pennsylvania also powered its way to a first place finish in the team standings. Ryan Chulada, Schuman’s varsity coach at Honesdale, followed tournament action every step of the way.
“I am extremely happy for Nathan and his team on this truly incredible accomplishment,” Chulada said. “To say that I am grateful for the chance to work with him at the high school level is an understatement.”
National Champion
Schuman burst onto the local high school wrestling scene last winter as a freshman starter on the varsity squad.
He hammered out a dazzling 45-6 record in his rookie campaign, winning individual titles at both the District 2 Championships and Northeast Regional tournament.
Rather than rest on his laurels during the off-season, Schuman embarked on a grueling summer schedule of national level events. Following stellar performances in Utah and Wisconsin, Schuman arrived at the Fargo Dome in North Dakota looking for nothing less than a gold medal.
Schuman opened his tournament with a 10-0 tech fall over Casey Powers of Team New York in the Round of 32. He followed that up by posting a second straight tech fall, this one at the expense of Oklahoma’s Bobby Lima, 11-0.
These victories catapulted Schuman into the quarterfinals where he battled his way to a hard-fought 11-6 decision over Aidan Ortega of Illinois. This set the stage for Schuman’s two most dominant bouts.
The tough-as-nails 100-pounder punched his ticket to the finals via a 16-6 tech fall over Simon Woods. Schuman then clinched his individual title by posting a 13-0 tech fall over Onofre Gonzalez of Team Colorado.
“My plan was to go wrestle a clean dominant match and that is exactly what I did,” Schuman said of the championship bout. “I didn’t want to force anything so I was very selective with my shots. I just tried to focus on making everything as crisp and perfect it could be.”
Schuman finished up with a perfect 5-0 record and four tech falls.
“I had this tournament circled as the one I was chasing,” he said. “I really wanted to win this one. I’m very pleased that I did it and also with how my summer season has gone.”
This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Honesdale wrestling Nathan Schuman national freestyle championship
Category: General Sports
