Schools Sports

Saucon’s Scrivanich Wins National Title at Fargo

In addition to being a polite and well-mannered sixteen year old rising junior at Saucon Valley High School, Liam Scrivanich is a talented wrestler for the Panthers.  Last year as a sophomore during the 2020-2021 high school wrestling season, Liam quietly crept into the spotlight as a PIAA state qualifier in the 160-pound weight class.  Although he went two-and-out with his first trip to states, Liam continued to refine and develop his craft throughout the spring and early summer. Last week his efforts reaped reward as Scrivanich earned himself the trip to the top of a podium in Fargo, North Dakota.  Liam willed his way to beat the rest of the 160-pound field and become the 2021 U16 National Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling.

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Panther rising junior Liam Scrivanich brings home the 2021 U.S. Marine Corps National Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship from Fargo, North Dakota.

In addition to being a polite and well-mannered sixteen year old rising junior at Saucon Valley High School, Liam Scrivanich is a talented wrestler for the Panthers.  Last year as a sophomore during the 2020-2021 high school wrestling season, Liam quietly crept into the spotlight as a PIAA state qualifier in the 160-pound weight class.  Although he went two-and-out with his first trip to states, Liam continued to refine and develop his craft throughout the spring and early summer. Last week his efforts reaped reward as Scrivanich earned himself the trip to the top of a podium in Fargo, North Dakota.  Liam willed his way to beat the rest of the 160-pound field and become the 2021 U16 National Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Liam Scrivanich wrestles his way to the 2020-2021 PIAA state wrestling championships.

Investing countless off-season hours in himself by lifting weights under the watchful eye of Don Rohn and polishing his technique at Ben Chunko’s Grit Mat Club, Scrivanich remained driven to check off the boxes that reflect success.

“At Grit, I worked mostly with Bryan Israel,” Scrivanich said.  “We worked a lot on knee-fighting, pinching elbows and body-locks.”  Liam’s efforts certainly paid off.

Through a series of spring qualifiers, Scrivanich won his way onto Team Pennsylvania as a 2021 Greco state champion.  As a member of Team Pennsylvania, Scrivanich took his talents to Fargo, North Dakota for the prestigious national championships sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps.  So, after training together during the week of July 12th at Alvernia College, Team-PA loaded a bus and hit the road for Fargo.  Competitors made themselves at home in the dorms of North Dakota State University.  Representing Team-PA, Liam went on to tear up the competition half a continent away.

As a student-athlete at Saucon Valley, Liam Scrivanich proved his talents as a member of Team-PA to become a Fargo national champion.

Liam’s Journey to Victory!

  • Round of 64
    •  Defeated Ephraim Anglemyer of Wisconsin, 14-1
  • Round of 32
    • Defeated Travis Smith of Minnesota, 15-8
  • Round of 16
    • Defeated Gabriel Clark of West Virginia, 6-0
  • Quarterfinals
    • Defeated Tyler Martinez of Illinois, 10-0
  • Semifinals
    • Defeated Roman Garcia of Florida, 10-3
  • FINALS
    • Defeated Jed Wester of Minnesota, 11-4

Liam Scrivanich makes good on a body-lock and throw for a big five-point move in the first period of the 2021 Fargo National Championships.

Gold Medal Play-by-Play!

  •  Pd.1
    • Liam started as the aggressor.  He came up empty with a couple of arm-throw attempts.  About halfway through the two-minute period Liam was arm-thrown to his back for a 4-point move.  Down 4-0, Liam continued to press the action and was rewarded for his pace when he converted a bear-hug.  Scrivanich locked Wester up and threw him to his back with :07 seconds left in the opening period. Time ran out before Liam could flatten Wester and finish with a pin.  Scrivanich took a 5-4 lead to the second and final period.
  • Pd. 2
    • Scrivanich continued to push the pace and looked the much fresher of the two.  With just under a minute remaining, Liam came out on top of a scramble near the edge of the mat and was awarded a takedown to jump to a 7-4 lead.  With :29 seconds remaining, Wester worked a body-lock and attempted to throw Scrivanich.  Liam wouldn’t have it.  Scrivanich proved too strong to go air-born. The throw attempt backfired as Liam collapsed Wester to his back and tally four more points for an 11-4 lead. Scrivanich held Wester off for the remaining :20 seconds before the celebration began!

Upon Liam’s return from Fargo, Olympic Gold Medalist and four-time World Champion, Jordan Burroughs congratulates him during a chance encounter at Philadelphia International Airport.

No doubt riding high from his accomplishment Liam flew even higher when, by dumb luck (or fate?), he crossed paths with wrestling great Jordan Burroughs at Philadelphia International Airport.  Scrivanich was returning from Fargo as a national champion and Burroughs, an Olympic Gold Medalist and Four-Time World Champion, was departing for the Tokyo Olympics.

“He (Burroughs) must have seen my sweatshirt and walked up to me to ask how I did,” Scrivanich offered.  “I told him I won it all and we got the picture.”

No doubt the summer of 2021 will be a memorable one for Liam Scrivanich!

Coach’s Quote

“I think Liam’s journey is a great example for our younger kids to learn from.  As a very talented freshman, Liam was unable to crack our starting lineup.  Instead of making excuses or getting down on himself, he continued to keep a positive attitude and kept training.  Over the past two years, Liam has made leaps and bounds on the wrestling mat.  He makes sure he attends every weightlifting session, attends Grit on a regular basis, and gets extra workouts in when he can.  Liam’s success this summer just reinforces that when training properly and doing the right things, great things will happen.  It also shows there are a lot of great things happening in this small community.  And, if you put the work in, you can reach your goals not only in the local area but on a national level as well!  Our younger wrestlers have a great role model to look up to and hopefully they use Liam’s story as motivation moving forward!”

Saucon Valley wrestling coach, Chad Shirk

As a sophomore Liam Scrivanich was named by Coach Shirk and staff as Saucon Valley’s “Most Improved” wrestler.  Now, heading into his junior year, he is national champion!

Great job, Liam!  The Source is with you.

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About the author

Keith Riefenstahl

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