BVA’s Brown brings home 16U national title

Elijah Brown entered the U.S. Marine Corps and USA Wrestling national championships as the No. 13 seed.

The Mon Valley has long known about the prowess of Belle Vernon wrestler Elijah Brown, but the rising junior announced himself to the country as he won at the 2024 USA Wrestling 16U National Championships Thursday in the 190-pound weight class.

AWPIAL champion and the No. 13 seed, Brown earned a comfortable 8-2 decision over Connecticut’s Maximus Konopka to capture the title. In the process, he dispatched of the top seed in California’s David Calkins in a 12-9 decision and entered himself among the elite wrestlers in the country as the champion in Fargo.

“It was very rewarding,” Brown said about the win. “All the sacrifices that I’ve made over the past seven years doing this sport, it just feels like it’s all paid off. It made everything that I’ve done worth it.”

The victory comes off of a dominant 44-5 high school campaign that Brown felt was a bit of a let down due to his performance at the state tournament, where he battled through a severe fever and failed to place. Brown said that frustration fueled him as he prepared for nationals, and he made no mistake with his performance.

“I took fourth at states and there were a few wake-up calls where I lost to people that I shouldn’t have,” Brown said. “I really put my head down to work hard for a month and a half, and it all paid off.”

The national champion said that he joined up with Belle Vernon teammate Luke Bryer, who has a wrestling room at his house, and two former Division I wrestlers in coaching to train. Former University of Buffalo, Clarion and Bloomsburg wrestler Taylor Cahill and former Rutgers and Clarion wrestler Greg Bulsak “beat the crap out of” Brown, in his own words. He said that their training helped him tremendously.

In alignment with his humble personality, Brown didn’t offer up his sickness as an excuse for his finish at states, either. Belle Vernon wrestling coach Bob Bove said that very few people knew about his ailment heading into the state tournament.

“This is a big boost for him because he was really sick at states,” Bove said. “He had like a 103.5 temperature and hadn’t eaten much. People see his record coming in and see that he’s a regional champ and they might’ve thought he came down to earth at states, but it’s really amazing that he even got on the mat.

“Unfortunately, he was sick at the worst time. … But he didn’t make any excuses. I don’t think anyone knew he was sick other than a few of us. He never once offered it up; he just went to work like he always does. I think this tournament validated who we thought he was for him. We keep telling him he’s one of the best in the state and in the country. When you’re one of the best in the state of Pennsylvania, you’re one of the best in the country. This was validation for him after he couldn’t wrestle healthy at states.”

Ever since Brown moved to Belle Vernon in middle school, Bove said that he has been an extremely hard worker and an intelligent student. Combine those attributes with Brown’s still-growing frame, and you have the makings of a national champion grappler.

“He’s a super smart kid,” Bove said. “He’s in high level classes and he gets good grades. Learning is something he enjoys. He’s a super coachable kid. He picks up on the weaknesses that he has and he works hard on them.”

Moving forward, this result will open doors for Brown in terms of wrestling at the next level.

“It’s the biggest tournament in the country, so my phone has been blowing up,” Brown said. “Coaches and everybody have come out of the woodwork to contact me, so it’s been huge.”

At the same time, Brown will be sure to keep his head down and continue to grind as he looks to reach even bigger aspirations. After all, wrestling has a very special place in his heart.

“I wanna wrestle in college for sure, but then I want to compete after college too,” Brown said. “Maybe trying to make the world team or the Olympic team would be a big dream of mine. In the near future, I could possibly make the U17 World Team or the U20 World Team, so that would be awesome as well.

“Wrestling is the most important thing in my life next to my family. I’ve had to lose a lot of friends and end a lot of relationships just to pursue wrestling. I’ve missed things and I’ve made lots of sacrifices, but it’s all worth it now.”