Jack Coulston Concludes Impressive Freshman Season at Penn State Mont Alto

Feature Story was contributed by Lee Goodwin, Sports Editor of The Record Herald

MONT ALTO, Pa. - Penn State Mont Alto's Jack Coulston (Carlisle, Pa. / Boiling Springs) has left himself a tough act to follow.

Coulston, who wrestled at Boiling Springs High School, completed a fantastic freshman season on March 12 at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association Championships.

Coulston competed in the 141-pound weight class became the first freshman in Mont Alto history to achieve All-American status with an eighth place finish at nationals. He's the first Nittany Lion to be named an All-American by the NCWA since Clay Kocsis who achieved the feat during the 2016-17 season.

"He could have finished even higher," said Mont Alto head coach Chris Leese, who coached Coulston in middle school. "We had four wrestlers in the blood round, and Jack was the only winner. We were told to come home, so Jack weighed in to get his All-America status secure."

Coulston, a two-time state qualifier in high school, did not finish the tournament.

"Other teams also had to leave (nationals)," Leese said.

The Carlisle resident was one of eight Mont Alto wrestlers that competed in Allen, Texas at the NCWA Championships where the team finished 21st out of 82 institutions around the country. Specifically, Coulston tallied four wins at nationals, including a huge 17-1 tech-fall win over Brian Gembarski, a 2-0 victory over Ethan Boren and earned All-American status with a 14-3 major decision over the University of Florida's Nicholas Vugman.

"It was a great season," Coulston said. "It was fun. I didn't expect to win 35 matches. I wanted to make nationals and try for the top eight."

He concluded his freshman season with a 35-9 overall record, which included a team-best 16 pins and five victories by major decision. His 35-wins were also the most in Penn State Mont Alto wrestling history by a freshman.

"I was happy Jack got that win (in the blood round)," said Leese, who finished his fourth season as head coach. "I think he could have made it to third or fourth. He had to default and default to take eighth place. You only do what you can do."

It's called the blood round because the losers fall out of contention for All-America status.

Leese, who teaches at Boiling Springs High School, has three Boiling Springs graduates on his roster. In addition to Coulston, Nick Kostyak (Carlisle, Pa. / Boiling Springs) and Eric Wilson (Carlisle, Pa. / Boiling Springs) also are on the team, and both are freshmen.

Coulston won his first five matches, three by pin in the first period. He went 4-0 in the season-opening King of the Mont Invitational. He won his first bout at the Gettysburg Invitational and finished the day 2-2.

Coulston had a busy November. He wrestled 16 matches and entered the December schedule with an 11-5 record.

After going 2-2 at the Messiah Petrofes Invitational, Coulston had cooled down and had lost five of his previous eight matches entering the winter break.

Coulston used his break wisely, working out with former teammates at the Boiling Springs High School wrestling room to prepare himself for a second-half run.

"That definitely helped," he said. "I was able to keep on the mat and work on my conditioning and style and get other people's opinions on what I should do. By the time I got back on the mat in January, I had gotten comfortable with my teammates, and we all became friends. You get to where you want to wrestle for each other."

The feeling must have been mutual throughout the lineup, because the Lions finished 16-5.

Coulston won 22 of his final 24 bouts, both to Shalek Colon of The Apprentice School. Colon barely escaped in the first contest at the USCAA National Invitational Championships on Feb. 16, winning 3-2.

Coulston, a business major, went on to reel off seven straight wins, including three straight in the NCWA nationals. His rematch with Colon ended in a 7-4 defeat in the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket.

"I knew it was going to be a tough match," said Coulston, who went 4-1 in Texas. "He had good defense against my shots. I knew whoever got the first takedown was probably going to win the match, and he got behind me for the first takedown. Neither of us could hold the other person down."

Coulston's wrestling journey was a solitary one in a way. He said he was the only person in his family to compete in the sport.

"My parents say when I was in like first grade I came home with one of those permission slips and told them I wanted to do it," Coulston said.

And of course, the rest is history, still in the making.

As for next season, Coulston said he will probably move up to 149 pounds and continue to get better.

"Jack was already a good defensive wrestler in high school," Leese said. "He had to work more on his feet at this level and be more aggressive and go for three minutes in the first period. Seven minutes is much different than six minutes. It doesn't seem like that one minute makes a difference, but it does. If you wrestle five or six matches in a day, it could be a tough haul."