Blair looks to claim 24th Beast of the East team title, five Cadet World Team members featured in loaded field

2019 Cadet World champion Marc-Anthony McGowan of Blair Academy is the top-seeded wrestler at 106 pounds at the Beast of the East.

The Beast of the East is gearing up for the 27th time this weekend. The annual tournament, hosted at the University of Delaware, is consistently one of the toughest high school tournaments in the country. This year is no exception, with national powers like Blair Academy, Bergen Catholic, Lake Highland Prep, Malvern Prep, Brecksville, Elyria and Delbarton, just to name a few, bringing loaded squads.
Adding to the stakes this year, Blair will attempt to win their 20th-straight team title. Last year, Blair put on one of the most dominant performances in the history of the tournament, racking up seven champions, nine finalists, and outscoring second place Wyoming Seminary, 365.5 to 238.5. Since the tournament’s inception, Blair has claimed 23 of the 26 team titles.
Looking to help make it happen for Blair are the only two returning individual champions gunning to earn repeat titles, Daniel Wask and Domonic Mata. Wask took the 106 pound title in 2018 while Mata claimed first at 160 pounds. This year, they are both moved up, with Wask registered at 126 pounds and Mata slotted in at 170.
Mata, the No. 6 ranked wrestler in the country at 170 pounds, according to Trackwrestling, earned the No. 1 seed this year. In the 2018 tournament he only surrendered one point on the way to his title. The No. 2 seed in the bracket is Connor O’Neill from DePaul Catholic. O’Neill, a Rutgers commit, is currently ranked No. 11 at the weight class. Another wrestler to watch in the bracket is the No. 4 seed Angel Garcia of Mariana Bracetti Academy. Garcia, ranked No. 12 at 182 pounds, was a Junior Fargo champion in Greco-Roman this summer, becoming the first Fargo champion from a Beat the Streets Program. Garcia wrestles for Beat the Streets Philadelphia.
Unlike Mata, Wask enters as the No. 7 seed in one of the tournament’s most talented brackets. To put it in perspective, the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the country Robert Howard of Bergen Catholic is seeded No. 2. The Nittany Lion commit is a three-time Cadet World Team member and a 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion. Howard finished third at this weight class last season.
Earning the No. 1 seed at 126 pounds is Eddie Ventresca of Pope John XXIII. Ventresca is the No. 6 wrestler in the country and finished runner-up at 120 pounds at this tournament last year. He is committed to wrestle in college at Virginia Tech. Another wrestler not to be overlooked in the bracket is Ryan Crookham of Notre Dame, the No. 3 seed. Crookham is only a sophomore and ranked No. 3 in the country. Last year he finished third at 120 pounds.
In addition to Howard, the tournament features four other 2019 Cadet World Team members.
At 106 pounds, Cadet World champion Marc-Anthony McGowan of Blair earned the top seed. McGowan is also the top-ranked wrestler in the country. The No. 2 seed in the bracket is Mac Church of Waynesburg, who is currently ranked No. 4 in the country, and the No. 3 seed is Gabe Giampietro of Smyrna, who is ranked No. 8. McGowan defeated Church last weekend in the finals of the Walsh Jesuit Ironman, 6-3.
Cadet World fifth place finisher, Stevo Poulin of Shenendehowa is the No. 1 seed at 113 pounds. Poulin, a junior, is the No. 2 ranked wrestler in the country.
Clayton Ulrey of Lower Dauphin finished eighth at the 2019 Cadet World Championships at 80 kg (176 pounds) but is down at 160 pounds for this tournament. Ulrey, who is ranked No. 7 at 170 pounds, earned the No. 2 seed. The top seed went to Andrew Cerniglia of Notre Dame. Cerniglia, a Navy commit, is a 2019 Pennsylvania state champion at 145 pounds and is ranked No. 5 at 160 pounds currently.
The last 2019 Cadet World Team member in the tournament is Hunter Catka of Sun Valley at heavyweight. Catka earned the top seed and is the No. 1 ranked big man in the country. Both Catka and Ulrey are committed to Virginia Tech.
Two other top-ten ranked heavyweights will be in the bracket including the No. 2 seed Coltin Deery of Malvern Prep, who is ranked No. 6, and the No. 3 seed Max Millin of Massillon Perry, who is ranked No. 10.
The 152 and 182 pound weight classes both could present rematches from the Ironman finals. At 152 pounds, Ironman champion Dalton Harkins of Malvern Prep is the No. 1 seed, while Ironman runner-up Travis Mastrogiovanni of Blair is the No. 2 seed. Harkins, an Army commit ranked No. 3 in the country, defeated Mastrogiovanni, an Oklahoma State commit ranked No. 4 In the country, by fall in sudden victory.
At 182 pounds, Blair’s Rylan Rogers defeated Elyria’s Jake Evans, 5-4, in the Ironman finals. Now, the pair could potentially face each other in the semifinals, with Rogers, the No. 4 ranked wrestler in the country, earning the No. 2 seed and Evans, who is ranked No. 8, getting the No. 3 seed. The top-seeded wrestler in the bracket is John Poznanski of Colonia. Poznanski is ranked No. 5 in the country and committed to Rutgers.
Action will begin at 8:30 am and can be streamed live on Trackwrestling.