Gavin Sunnafrank always wanted to be more involved with wrestling. The Summit Academy sophomore has two brothers who wrestle and he believed he may enjoy the sport too. But outside of wrestling at the youth level, Sunnafrank hadn't been involved in the sport much.

When Sunnafrank, an Erie native, landed with Summit Academy this fall, he chose to join the team and has found some success. After entering the Penn Hills Holiday Tournament with a 2-1 record, Sunnafrank significantly increased his win total during his run through the 172-pound weight division.

Sunnafrank collected three pins and a techincal fall to win a tournament for the first time in his life.

"I definitely need to work harder," said Sunnafrank, who is 6-2 on the season. "But this is a big boost for my confidence."

Summit Academy was one of three schools, along with Highlands and Washington, to have more than one wrestler bring home a championship. The Golden Rams had an event-high seven winners, while the Little Prexies also had two champions.

Summit Academy coach Arthur Stewart was proud of Sunnafrank's effort. During the champion match, Sunnafrank was taken down first by Riverview's Cole Brunn. Brunn was able to trap Sunnafrank on the edge of the mat going for a pin, but Sunnafrank worked his way out of bounds.

"It's all heart," Stewart said. "No one can coach heart. I can't coach heart. He has heart."

Sunnafrank defended another takedown attempt from Brunn before ending up on top. He was able to wrap up a pin 1 minute, 20 seconds into the first round.

"I had to listen to my coach," Sunnafrank said. "I don't even remember to be honest. I was on bottom. I got up and got out of there."

Sunnafrank collected four wins on the day. He pinned teammate Brent Toy in 1:19 in the first round before sticking Woodland Hill's Brendan Luptak in 1:51 to reach the semifinals.

Stewart said he was proud of his team's overall effort. Rocco Zugai also won a championship at 127 pounds. Zugai is a much more experienced wrestler than Sunnafrank. Zugai had a 15-11 record last season at Yough.

Sunnafrank said he wanted to make his dad and brothers proud. He wasn't sure if a championship was possible at the start of the tournament.

"I was thinking if I was going to do good or not," Sunnafrank said. "It felt good to wrestle my hardest."

Josh Rizzo is the owner and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Any story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

The Penn Hills Holiday Wrestling Tournament saw Highlands win the team event. The Golden Rams had the most champions with seven.

Washington and Summit Academy also produced two winners. There will be more coverage later in the evening.

Here's a look at the rest of the winners:

107 pounds: Javeon Chambers (Highlands)*
114: Daemon Phipps (Penn Hills) pinned Caleb Mcfarlane (Allderdice), 1:47
121: Noah Patton (Washington) p. Levin Dickson (Highlands), :38
127: Rocco Zugai (Summit Academy) technical fall Evan Morgan (McKeesport), 16-1 4:48
133: Burton Babinsack (Highlands) p. Javen Woods (Allderdice), 1:32
139: Aiden Burford (Highlands) p. Levi Smith (Penn Hills), 1:53
145: Elijah Elser (Brashear) p. Dylan Mains (South Allegheny), :52
152: Caleb Patton (Washington) injury default Darnell Jackson (Penn Hills), 4:40
160: Kyren Vesaley (Highlands) injury default Alex Wylly (Riverview)
172: Gavin Sunnafrank (Summit Academy) p. Cole Brunn (Riverview), 1:20
189: Jayden Calhoun (Highlands) p. Tom Paternoster (Allderdice), :59
215: Joshua Battocchi (Highlands) p. Quentin Ainsco-Brevvard (Woodland Hills), 1:01
285: Caden Dadowski (Highlands) p. Kar'zell Daugherty (Washington), 1:30
*No tournament held, Chambers was winner of five-wrestler round robin