Chance Marsteller finally topples world champ, boosts Olympic dreams
Editor's note: Kennard-Dale grad Chance Marsteller will represent Team USA at the world wrestling championships in September − boosting his 2024 Olympic dreams, in the process.
Marsteller finally vanquished Olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion Jordan Burroughs in Saturday night's thrilling best-of-three Final X competition in New Jersey. Marsteller rallied from a controversial, opening defeat to edge Burroughs in the final two matches, which included a late four-point move to clinch victory.
Chance Marsteller has another spotlight opportunity Saturday to prove he's one of the best wrestlers in the world.
And to take another step toward making his lifelong Olympic dream come true.
The Kennard-Dale High grad will battle longtime rival and six-time world champion Jordan Burroughs in Saturday's Final X freestyle competition at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Marsteller, who will turn 28 next month, will wrestle Burroughs in a best-of-three competition, once again. Last year, Marsteller pushed Burroughs to the decisive third match before losing.
The winner earns a spot on the 2023 U.S. World Team in the 79 kilogram weight class. The team will travel to Belgrade, Serbia for the senior world championships in mid-September.
World team membership would further pave Marsteller's way to the Olympic trials at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center next April. There, he would compete at a new weight (79 kilograms is not an Olympic-sanctioned class) to qualify for the U.S. Team and the 2024 Paris Games.
Marstellar's sterling performance at April's U.S. Open in Las Vegas earned him the right to wrestle Burroughs again. Marsteller has lost four of their previous five matches − though he appeared to make significant headway at last year's Final X competition with a well-executed, defensive-styled plan.
Marsteller, farmboy phenom
Marsteller grew up and trained on the family farm in southeastern York County and was beating college wrestlers in tournaments as an eighth-grader. He compiled a stunning 166-0 record at Kennard-Dale and was named USA Today's Wrestler of the Year and was considered the nation's top recruit.
He verbally committed to attend Penn State before switching to Oklahoma State. He struggled to reach lofty expectations there and then ran into legal trouble upon transferring to Lock Haven University.
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He eventually returned to Lock Haven in good standing, saved his career and rallied to make national title runs as a junior and senior. He finished third in the NCAA Championships at 165 pounds in 2019.
He's been battling toward making his childhood dream of competing in the Olympics come true ever since, while coaching and raising a family.
Marsteller's older brother, John Stefanowicz, already made good on the Olympic pact they formed growing up. He became the first U.S. Marine in 30 years to make the Olympic wrestling team, doing so in the Greco-Roman style at the Tokyo Games in 2021. He lost in the opening rounds and did not medal.
Frank Bodani covers sports, including Penn State football, for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on Twitter @YDRPennState.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Paris Olympic Games: Chance Marsteller, Jordan Burroughs wrestling
