Local wrestlers shine at national tournament

Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com

Competing against some of the best the nation has to offer, Genoa duo Scott Fuller and Ethan Powell showed that they are more than capable of answering the call.
Powell finished third at 100 pounds in the freestyle and was 2-2 at 106 in Greco-Roman at the USA Wrestling Junior National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota.
Fuller, meanwhile, wrestling at 113, went 3-2 in freestyle.
Genoa coach Bob Bergman talked about how his wrestlers did on the biggest of stages.
“Scottie has been there multiple times – it might have been his third time,” said Bergman. “ He went 3-2, beat some credentialed wrestlers, state placers from other states. I’m super proud of him. Ethan took third, which is remarkable. Earning All-American status is a feather in his cap
“In Greco-Roman, Ethan didn’t place; he lost Round 1, and he wrestled his way back and went 2-2, a weight class up.”
Bergman reflected about wrestling at such a prestigious tournament like the one in Fargo.
“It’s the Who’s, Who of wrestling; it’s considered the toughest tournament in the country,” he said. “There are more collegiate coaches there than at any tournament. It’s like a national Olympics for the United States. It’s an endeavor.
“Both of them have wrestled a boatload of matches. I hope they reset a little bit here, but I know that’s not in their DNA. It’s a blessing to have self-motivating guys. They don’t take much time off. They’ve wrestled 30 matches or more since June.”
“Ethan Powell wrestled with Team Ohio at the national duals and flew out and joined us at Disney Duals,” said Bergman. “Then he went right to the training camp for Fargo, and he was on two different dual teams and his own individual. That’s pretty incredible.”
Fuller said it was great to compete.
“I love competing and being out there with the best; it really means a lot to me,” he said. “This shows I can do it at the state level, and hopefully at the national level (in the future).
“My expectations are always to win it, but I fell short, but I just have to keep working. I just have to keep working, go to practice, be consistent and keep getting better every day. I’m very stoked; I fell short last year at the state tournament, I can’t wait to get back and be on top at state.”
Powell said he needs to get stronger.
“I think I wrestled pretty well throughout the whole tournament. Overall, I think I did pretty well. A lot of wrestlers there, with the kids that I had, a lot of them knew the stuff they were doing, and I had to work through the moves they were doing, so I definitely had a lot of good competition in the tournament,” he said.
“I definitely noticed how strong they’ve gotten; I have to work on getting stronger. There were a lot of kids man-handling me, I relied on my technique more. Once I improve my strength, I’ll definitely get a lot better,” he said.