New York Women Shine on the Big Stage of JR & U23 Nationals
Sunkist Kids’ Michaela Beck hit a double in the Junior division en route to the finals. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com
NY alumna, King’s Cheyenne Sisenstein battles McKendree’s Felicity Taylor in the U23 semis. Sisenstein prevailed 8-1. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com
McKendree’s Joye Levendusky gets instructions from Coach Sam Schmitz. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com
by Derek Levendusky, AWW Staff Writer
New York women competed on the big stage of USA Wrestling’s Junior & U23 Nationals last weekend, earning national attention as they toed the line with the best in the country from high school to Senior level powerhouses. Entering the college scene, a new generation of New York women have emerged among the elite to show that New York women’s wrestling should be taken seriously, and showing young female wrestlers in the Empire State that they can reach their dreams from the northeast.
New York women in multiple college programs compiled an impressive weekend resume, including 3 finalists, 7 All-Americans, 4 double All-Americans, and 3 qualifying for the Junior National Team.
King’s Cheyenne Sisenstein, Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club’s Michaela Beck, and McKendree’s Joye Levendusky all made the finals, featured on FloWrestling’s live stream and watched by wrestling fans all over the country. Sisenstein was a finalist at 53 kg in the U23 division, Beck made the finals at 59 kg in the Junior (20 & Under division), and Levendusky was a finalist at 72 kg in the Junior division. Levendusky also finished 3rd in the U23 division, defeating 76 kg Junior National Champion Tristan Kelly in the Consi Semis to make the 3rd place match.
Beck, Levendusky, and Brianna Csontos all qualified for the 2021 U.S. Junior National Team by virtue of placing in the top 3.
53 kg Sisenstein had big wins en route to her U23 finals appearance in what may have been the deepest weight class of the weekend, taking out #6 Senior-ranked Alisha Howk 5-2 and #7 Senior-ranked Felicity Taylor 8-1 before falling to #5 Senior-ranked, 2015 Cadet World Champion Ronna Heaton 6-1 in the finals.
“Last year, I sat on my couch watching this tournament with a broken ankle,” reflects Sisenstein. “It was heartbreaking. This year was a little different. Wrestling at 53 kg to seek big matches was super fun. Chasing the challenge and not the hardware is where I am going to grow on and off of the mat. Adjustments will be made, and progress will show itself.”
Sisenstein also reflects on her college program’s outstanding U23 performance, where King University took 1st in the unofficial team race. “Here at King, we are a family,” said the NCAA All-American. “Together we work incredibly hard, and that shows in our performances. We are built to destroy adversity, and I think we did just that this weekend. Covid hasn’t been easy on anyone, but we have been handling it like champions. This team is special, and I think that we will continue to make big jumps together.”
Michaela Beck met an old rival in the Junior finals of the 59 kg weight class, Menlo’s Gracie Figueroa. Beck had faced her in several national finals since 2016, where she lost to the Californian at Oklahoma Folkstyle Nationals. Beck’s only win against Figueroa came in a Best of 3 finals in 2017 at World Team Trials. She won 4-2 but lost the series 2-1. It would be more of the same this time, Beck falling 4-2 in the 2020 Junior finals in a 6 minutes that would have to be described as a chess match. Even so, Beck—ranked #10 in Senior level rankings at 62 kg—dominated her way to the finals, outscoring her opponents 30-0. All three opponents had been top 10 high school wrestlers within the last year.
Joye Levendusky is co-captain of the returning national champion McKendree squad that also had a stellar performance, especially in the Junior division, where they tied for 1st place in the unofficial team race with Colorado Mesa. “I was so happy to be able to compete again after so long,” said Levendusky. “I had a lot of fun and found some areas to work on. I’m not sure when I’ll be competing again but it’s back to work for now!”
After outscoring opponents 22-0 in the quarters and semis of Junior division, Levendusky lost in the finals to high school phenom, #1 ranked Kennedy Blades of Wyoming Seminary prep school. The Bearcat’s defense was solid throughout the match, but she couldn’t stop Blades’ relentless, creative, and powerful attacks. It was 4-0 at the break, but Blades scored multiple takedowns and a pushout in the 2nd period to button up the 11-0 tech fall at 4:21. The next day in the U23 division, Levendusky defeated 3x All-American Myranda Velazquez in the quarters, but then fell to #3 Senior-ranked Dymond Guilford 12-2. She went on to defeat #1 NAIA ranked Nkechinyere “Chi Chi” Nwankwo 3-1 in the 3rd place match.
King’s 55 kg Sophia Mirabella took 6th in Juniors and 4th in U23, East Stroudsburg’s 57 kg Mia Macaluso took 4th in Juniors and 7th in U23, East Stroudsburg’s 55kg Grace Pauls took 7th in Juniors, while Columbia’s Brianna Csontos took 3rd in Juniors and 4th in U23. The Princeton club's Demetra Yancopoulos went 1-2 in the Junior division.
Mirabella had a breakout weekend. Once a youth boxer and MMA fighter, she entered the college scene having never been ranked nationally or making All-American. To make double All-American in Omaha is a testament to her work ethic and the King program’s ability to develop wrestlers.
“After I worked with Sophia in Fargo at the end of her Junior year,” King assistant coach Julia Salata wrote on Facebook, “I knew she had unlimited potential and had to snag her real quick before the secret got out. Only the beginning for her!”
Macaluso was in one of the deepest weight classes at the tournament—57 kg—and she stepped on the mat with many big names before it was all over, competing with a mettle that proved she’s going to be a contender in the days to come. In the Junior division, after starting with two tech falls, she hit McKendree’s #9 Senior-ranked Cameron Guerin in the semis. Macaluso scored against the eventual champ, but down 4-2 late in the 1st period, Guerin hit a Sadulaev-like wrap on the leg, rolling Macaluso up for the fall. After a win in the Consi semis, Macaluso ran into another Senior-ranked opponent, Emmanuel’s Emily Se, in the 3rd place match. The Minisink Valley alumna lost the match, but not before she scored 6 points, landing in 4th place. In U23, Macaluso hit #4 Senior-ranked Abby Nette—a wrestler that won the Patricia Miranda Medal last year (equivalent of the Hodge)—and only lost 12-6 before making her run to the 7th place match on the backside, where she beat WCWA All-American Serena Cervantes by injury default in a match that was 4-4 at the time of injury.
“Being at a national level tournament was tough but fun,” tells Macaluso. “I learned a lot competing against higher level girls. Competing this weekend has showed me what I have to work on and how hard I have to work to get on top of the podium.”
55 kg East Stroudsburg freshman Grace Pauls showed she’s got next-level stuff when she not only made the placement rounds, but won her 7th place match with a win over Colorado Mesa’s Nanen Aguilar by fall at the 1:18 mark. Aguilar was 3rd in Colorado Girls States and was a high school folkstyle All-American. The next day, Pauls was eliminated in the U23 Consis with a 21-10 loss to Minnesota’s Ngao Shoua Whitethorn, a barnburning thriller to an opponent that had been seeded #1 in the Junior division.
Columbia Women’s Wrestling Club’s Brianna Csontos earned a victory over King’s Viktorya Torres in the Junior division 3rd place match, an opponent that made the finals in the U23 division. Csontos was double All-American by virtue of her 4th place finish in U23.
Csontos and Levendusky have both been coaches on the New York National Team staff in Fargo.
New York has had individual stars in the past who have accomplished much at the national and international level—Kristie Davis-Marano, Jenna Burkert, Amy Golding-Whitbeck, Alexis Bleau, Hannah Grisewood, and Carlene Sluberski, to name a few—but we are now seeing the first wave of a movement that has been growing in New York over the last decade. We are finally seeing, not just an individual here or there, but a small army of women who are standing tall in the big lights of college wrestling and USA Wrestling national tournaments. And this is just the beginning. A glance down to the age level divisions, and clearly, New York has many girls that will making news at the college and Senior level in the years to come. For now, keep your eye on our current Junior and U23 women over the next few years as, it seems, the best is yet to come.
East Stroudsburg’s Mia Macaluso has an outstanding weekend in her first college competition. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com
Bri Csontos was a double All-American last weekend at Junior & U23 Nationals. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com