EXETER, Pa. — It's dubbed the Rose Bowl of high-school wrestling. And two local wrestlers will compete Saturday night in the 2023 Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic at the AHN Arena at Peters Township High-School for the Pennsylvania All-Star team.
Cael Nasdeo from Williamsport and Jaden Pepe Wyoming Area made the team from the Keystone state and will take on a USA All-Star team in one of the most prestigious high-school All-Star dual meets in the country.
“It feels good. It's been a goal of mine since I was little to wrestle in that. I watched it just about every year. So it's really cool some of the kids that I have been wrestling with my whole life. So it's just cool to be on the team just one final time,” said Cael.
“Yeah I know it's awesome. You know it's a big deal. It's a lot bigger deal than I thought it was. I have a lot of people asking me about it. Obviously, the news is involved with it. There is just a lot going on now,” said Jaden.
We'll Nasdeo wrestles Saturday night in the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic and his opponent is a kid from Blair Academy. In the state championship match at Hershey Nasdeo won 4-0 not giving up a point in that championship match.
“I know that he is tough. He is one of the best in the country. I am excited to go out and compete against him,” added Cael.
Pepe who recently committed to Harvard is coming off a performance at Hershey where he captured his 3rd state championship improving to (157-5) in his career. He now faces 4-time state champion Cael Hughes from Oklahoma. The future Oklahoma State Cowboy is no joke.
“Yeah he is a real tough opponent. I wrestled him my 8th grade year and I lost at Fargo in the semifinals. But I haven't seen him a while. He is undefeated. He went undefeated his whole high-school career and he is a 4-time state champ so it will be a good match,” added Jaden.
Memories are made on the mats. It should be an exciting evening of wrestling in Western PA.
Steve Lloyd Newswatch 16 sports Luzerne and Lycoming Counties.