Chance Marsteller of Pennsylvania lifts an opponent on the way to victory at 152 pounds at the ASICS/Vaughan Cadet Nationals in Greco-Roman on Sunday. John Sachs photo

Unbreakable.

That is the word Pennsylvania State Chairman of USA Wrestling Van Plocus used to describe his state’s 16 year old phenomenon, Chance Marsteller.

“He just keeps wearing you down,” said Plocus.  “You can’t break the kid.”

The farm boy from southern Pennsylvania is competing in his second USA Wrestling Cadet Greco-Roman National Championships, earning a fourth place finish and All American status at 145 pounds a year ago here in Fargo.

“Last year I came in wanting to make a statement in my first year,” said Marsteller.  “I did pretty well but not as good as I wanted.”

Since that fourth place finish, dominance is the only word one can use to describe Marsteller’s year of wrestling, though it seems hardly enough to truly depict the reign he has had on anyone who has stepped into the center circle with him.

He has only lost one match, a mere exhibition against a 171 pounder, since that day in Fargo a year ago.

The run started with a gold medal in the 2010 Cadet Nationals in freestyle, a victory over Coleman Hammond of California in the finals, 0-6, 5-0, 6-0.

Competing at 152 pounds for Kennard Dale High School, Marsteller demolished the wrestling powerhouse state of Pennsylvania, piling up a 42-0 record on his way to a state championship in the large class.

At the USA Wrestling Cadet National Duals in Daytona Beach, Fla., Marsteller went 9-0 not only in the National Freestyle Duals, but also in the National Greco-Roman duals, only allowing points against him in one of his 18 impressive wins. He was named TheMat.com Wrestler of the week for June 14-20 after his Cadet Duals dominance

For his performances this year, Marsteller was named to the 2011 ASICS All American Second Team at 152 pounds, the only freshman to make it as high as Second Team.

Through all these achievements, Marsteller has remained incredibly humble for someone who is as decorated of a young wrestler as he is.

“People ask me about how it feels to win states and go undefeated, and it is really neat,” said Marsteller.  “But all these are just more milestones along the way for me.”

Marsteller accumulated this massive list of accomplishments by the end of his freshman year in high school, but by watching him, one will notice that this is no ordinary 16 year old kid.

This is a man among boys.

“Sometimes when I’m talking to him I forget he is only 16,” Pennsylvania coach Van Dobish said.  “He is so mature for his age.”

Marsteller is back in Fargo for another run at the Greco-Roman Cadet National Championship. However, this year the tournament isn’t as scary.  This year there are no nerves.  This year he isn’t only looking to win.  He is looking to dominate.

“As soon as I step on the mat it is all business,” Marsteller said.  “I am trying to go out there and destroy everyone and show that I am the best wrestler of all the weight classes.”

Two weeks prior to coming to Fargo, Marsteller wrapped up a month of intense training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and stepped up his Greco-Roman training.

“It was a great experience training there.  It was mostly fine tuning my basic techniques,” said Marsteller.  “I hadn’t wrestled much Greco last year so this gave me a chance to work more on my lifts and throws.”

His incredible work ethic and dedication to the sport can be traced back to when Marsteller was a young boy training with a legend in Pennsylvania wrestling, 2000 Olympian and two-time NCAA champion for Lock Haven, Cary Kolat.

“He wrestles just like Kolat,” said Plocus.  “He is built almost exactly the same as him, and his style is the same.”

Marsteller credits Kolat with helping him dedicate his life to wrestling and helping him to mature into a young man. However, he isn’t eager to jump on the comparison bandwagon.

“People always say I’m the next Kolat,” said Marsteller.  “I don’t want to be the next Kolat or the next anybody.  I want to be the first Chance Marsteller.”

Certainly, Marsteller’s utter dominance over his competition place him in a league of his own, but it is another characteristic that truly sets him apart from any other competitor his age: his maturity.

“I’ve never met someone his age so far beyond in the wrestling world that also is as intelligent about the sport as he is,” said Dobish.  “His ability to work with the youth and coach others is something that kids can really look up to him for.”

Marsteller even admits that he believes he is a better coach than an athlete.

“It allows me to break down my own techniques when I teach them to others,” said Marsteller.  “If I have been through something or done something, then I can teach it to someone else.”

Dobish says he called Marsteller when he was frustrated coaching his own high school team.

“I’ll call him during the season to vent to him and he will understand what I’m talking about completely,” said Dobish.  “His superiority is just a bonus to his intelligence of the sport.”

The combination of maturity and dedication has paid huge dividends to Marsteller this year, and appear to be leading him towards even more.

On the first day of the 2011 USA Wrestling Greco-Roman National Championships on Sunday, Marsteller had a 5-0 record which includes two technical-falls, two falls and one decision.

When warming up for these matches, Marsteller keeps the same humble yet focused expression on his face while he completes his pre-match routine.  He keeps his headphones on as he calmly jumps around and intensely smacks his muscles, jolting them awake.

“I keep my head clear before my matches,” said Marsteller.  “I listen to my music and focus on it so that I don’t think about the match and get nervous.”

The music Marsteller is listening to right prior to his match is the song “Rollin’” by Limp Bizkit, because it reminds him of what he is there to do: “take one guy out and keep rollin’ through the tournament.”

Marsteller is a true spectacle to his peers.  His matches routinely attract crowds of followers who are all there to catch a glimpse of what his junior high coach Don Scarborough described as, “the LeBron James of Wrestling.”

When asked about the comparison, Marsteller just laughed sheepishly.

“I’m not to that level yet, but I’m on my way,” Marsteller said.

If Marsteller continues to improve and mature at the rate he has, he might earn that comparison to LeBron James.  However, the young Pennsylvanian doesn’t intend on taking his talents to South Beach, but rather overseas.

“The next step for me is competing at an international level,” said Marsteller.  “I want to be able to win some tournaments against those guys, but also keep beating anyone I face in tournaments here too.”

That quest for true domination continues for Marsteller as he looks to win the 2011 USA Wrestling Greco-Roman National Championships at 152 pounds tomorrow.  The first round of the day begins at 9:00 A.M Central Time and the finals are set to start at 2:00 P.M. Central Time.

Chance Marsteller is able to wrestle with a combination of maturity, patience, intensity and dominance that is rarely seen in someone his age.  However there is one other factor that plays into the equation.

“I love everything about wrestling, and in the weeks leading up to a competition am thinking about it 24/7,” said Marsteller.  “If you love something you are going to do better at it.”

It is his passion and love for wrestling that could carry him far in his wrestling career, which, in the big picture, is truly only beginning.