Mount Carmel’s Ryan Boersma has added a huge exclamation point to what already had been a crazy, memorable and successful junior year.

Boersma transferred from Providence before the school year.

The Illinois High School Association’s state series was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, he won an individual championship in the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association’s state tournament and helped the Caravan capture the Class 3A team title.

He committed to Missouri.

Then he capped it all off with the 285-pound title in the junior Greco-Roman division at the USA Wrestling junior national championships in Fargo, North Dakota, on July 23.

“It’s awesome,” Boersma said. “It’s been one of my goals for a really long time, and to finally achieve it feels great. The last two months have really been something, committing to college, winning a state title and now winning a national title.”

Boersma was dominant on his way to the national title. He won all six of his matches by at least eight points and had technical falls in five of them.

“I just used my fundamentals,” he said. “A lot of heavyweights, in general, wrestle a lot more Greco style, so it carries over a lot more than lighter weights. Greco is all about positioning, and I just stayed in good position and worked my offense.”

In the semifinals, Boersma faced Oregon resident Jacob Barnes, who won the national championship in a lower age group at the same event the last time it was contested in 2019. Boersma rolled to an 11-1 win.

“The first period was close, but I started to pull away in the second period and finished him off with a five-point move,” Boersma said. “That was really exciting. That was probably my favorite match.”

That put Boersma in the final against Idaho resident Aden Attao.

“I was a little nervous,” Boersma said. “I had wrestled on big stages before. That was the biggest, though. But I knew it was the same deal. As long as I stayed in my positions and wrestled my match, I was going to win.”

Boersma did just that, earning a 13-2 victory to become a national champion.

“They pulled me right off for an interview,” he said. “When I came back, that’s when it really hit me because I was getting my bracket board and podium pictures.”

Boersma was a double All-American in Fargo, also placing third in freestyle. After losing his second match in that division, he had to win 10 straight matches in wrestlebacks.

The Greco-Roman tournament began two days later.

“My conditioning got me through it,” he said. “My coaches tell me that these guys who have wrestled a lot of matches start to wear down. Since there were so many matches, I got to take advantage of my conditioning more than I usually do.”

Wrestling for Missouri, Boersma would be part of a perennial top-10 program. The Tigers finished seventh last season.

“It was important to me to be on a great team,” he said. “I went down to Columbia in June, and it just felt right. I can’t wait to get there.”

Boersma, who also is a lineman for the Caravan football team, is ready for a big senior year. He finished fifth at 285 pounds in Class 3A as a sophomore and hopes to win his first IHSA state title.

“I’m excited to be part of a really great team,” he said. “We’re going to have a really solid team, and hopefully we can repeat that team state championship that we just won.”

Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.