Canon-Mac’s Collins wins national championship in Fargo
Canon-McMillan’s Bryce Collins went from being an unseeded wrestler to a national champion.
Collins won the 190-pound title in 16U boys freestyle at the 2026 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals Sunday night in Fargo, N.D.
His win helped Pennsylvania claim the team title for 16U boys freestyle.
Collins defeated Duane Leslie of Washington via a 6-0 decision in the 190-pound championship match.
That win came off the heels of a major upset in the semifinals where Collins, who will be a junior this fall at Canon-McMillan, bested top seed Dresden Beard of Kansas.
Collins won a 4-2 decision over Beard, who is ranked by FloWrestling as the top recruit in the country for 2028 at 190 pounds.
Leslie, who was the second seed in the bracket, also boasted a pretty impressive resume, having won USA Wrestling Northwest Regional titles in March, so Collins took down two of the best in his weight class in the nation.
In total, Collins won six matches to earn his title.
Collins scored a 10-0 technical fall in 52 seconds against Idaho’s Matthew Grunig in the Round of 64.
In the Round of 32 Collins upset fifth-seeded Layth Qouchbane. He scored a 6-1 decision over Qouchbane.
Collins bested Luca Turano of New York in the Round of 16 with an 8-2 decision.
That set up a quarterfinal match against Treyton Altuve of Wisconsin. Collins cruised to a 12-4 decision against Altuve, which earned him a spot in the semifinals against the top-seeded Leslie.
Collins’ Canon-McMillan teammate Lee Dreshman went 5-2 at 113 pounds and finished one spot shy of placing. Trinity’s Parker Jennings also participated and did not place.
Collins’ win capped a good weekend for Canon-McMillan wrestling, which also had a world champion.
Marlee Solomon won the 55 kg girls wrestling championship at the U20 Pan-American Games Friday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Solomon won four matches and did not yield a point. She had a pin and three tech falls.
Both Collins and Solomon will be participating in more events at Fargo this week.
Collins and his Canon-McMillan teammates Aidan Finnnegan, Jon Emma, and Dakota Carmona are wrestling in the Greco-Roman tournament, which begins Tuesday in Fargo.
Solomon, Yunuen Ayala, Araceli Clem, Noelle Miller and Gianna Cafeo are Canon-McMillan wrestlers in the girls tournament, which starts Thursday.
Collins went 40-11 his sophomore season at Canon-McMillan, helping the team reach the WPIAL Class 3A team tournament semifinals.
In the team tournament quarterfinals, Collins wrestled on an injured ankle he sustained the week before in a dual meet with Trinity, but it didn’t deter him. He earned a 6-0 decision over North Allegheny’s Sam Vargo.
Collins placed third at WPIALs at 189 pounds and finished one win short of medaling at states.