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WILKES-BARRE — You crawl. You scrape. You battle toward the top of the mountain.
Standing on the peak, you feel like you can accomplish anything.
In high school wrestling, there is one pinnacle.
Sure, state championships are the ultimate goal. District, regional titles help you reach that long-term dream of standing on top of the podium in Chocolate Town U.S.A.
But in high school wrestling, The Beast of the East is considered one of the toughest – if not the hardest – scholastic tournament in the nation.
Ask GAR grapplers Zac Faust and Saul Wilkins, who both won regional titles in Williamsport last weekend.
They experienced it.
And they’ve thrived because of it.
“That’s what I talked with my coach about,” said Faust, the PIAA Class 2A Northeast Regional champ at 195. “I wrestled great at The Beast, and I just feel that I can wrestle great anywhere. If you win there, you can win anywhere.”
The Beast always lives up to its name.
Nationally-ranked kids. Top 20 teams like Blair Academy (N.J.), Bethlehem Catholic, Bergen Catholic (N.J.) and Perry (Ohio).
In Faust’s bracket, there were 48 wrestlers. Wilkins had to roll through 36 kids at heavyweight.
“That’s such a gigantic tournament. You hear all about it, but it’s different when you actually get to wrestle there,” Wilkins said. “It’s the biggest tournament I’ve ever been in. Honestly, it helps when you get into every other tournament.”
And it helps when you have success.
Faust went 4-2, and advanced deep into the consolation round.
Wilkins, well, he almost won the whole thing. Seeded No. 7, he reached the championship where he lost to Solanco’s Bo Spiller, who already committed to wrestle at Bloomsburg next year.
Spiller, a fourth-place finisher in the 3A state tournament last year, enters this year’s event with a 37-0 record and a favorite to capture gold at heavyweight.
“I just approached it like everything else,” said Wilkins about the December tournament. “They were just high school kids like me. I wanted to work hard for all six minutes and see what happens.”
What did that tournament do for the two GAR regional champs?
In one word: Confidence.
“I think it helped them to realize their potential and how good they really are when you compare them against kids that are nationally ranked,” GAR head coach Rick Simon said. “We’ve always felt our kids can go with anyone. We were lucky enough to get invited to these big tournaments where they can wrestle on a large stage and show how good they really are.”
The results prove it.
Faust has lost just one time since The Beast. That was a setback to Port Allegany’s Ethan Budd, a bout where the GAR senior went up a weight class. Budd is currently 31-1, but remained at 220 for the postseason.
Wilkins fared just as well. He only lost three times – but all respectable setbacks. He was defeated by Hanover’s John Sheridan, Dallas’ Ryan Monk and West Branch’s Reynold Maines. Monk is considered one of the favorites in the 3A heavyweight bracket, while Maines (38-0) is the favorite in the state 220-pound 2A tournament. Sheridan would have made his share of noise as well, but an injury cut his season short.
“It’s all about getting on the podium in Hershey,” said Wilkins, a state qualifier last year. “I want to win it. I believe that I can.”
Running through a state bracket?
No nerves, according to the two.
“I went to the NHSCA and I placed there. And that boosted my confidence ten fold. Then, you had the Beast of the East,” Faust said. “That’s what I’ve been telling myself all year. Those two tournaments proved to me that I can hang with anyone on the mat.”