Courtesy photo Courtesy photo Wrestling is taking scholastic star Jordyn Fouse out of Pennsylvania and on to places like Samokov, Bulgaria.

Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series on female wrestling in the region.

Jordyn Fouse began wrestling as a very young child growing up in the Northern Bedford County School District and eventually transferred to Johnstown’s Bishop McCort Catholic High School, where she won a state championship in the first-ever PIAA-sanctioned girls wrestling tournament at 136 pounds as a junior in 2024.

That was very fulfilling for her, but it was nothing compared to the thrill that she felt this past April, when she qualified for the upcoming U20 age division Women’s World Championships in freestyle wrestling by successfully negotiating the World Team Trials.

Fouse earned a spot on the USA team at 68kg (149 pounds) for the World Championships by winning two bouts in her best-of-three United States Marine Corps Women’s National Championship title series against Elmira N.Y. standout Zoey Lintz on April 6 in Spokane, Wash.

After being pinned by Lintz in the first match, Fouse bounced back to win 9-4 and 7-4 decisions to secure her spot on the USA team at the World Championships to be held Aug. 17-24 in Samokov, Bulgaria.

“It was so exciting, and honestly, it didn’t feel real for a while because it has been such a big goal of mine,” said Fouse, who is currently coached by her father, Dave, the head girls wrestling coach at Bishop McCort. “I’ve been working toward it since I can remember — since I got serious about the sport.

“I always told myself every day that I was going to become a world champion. I knew that I could do it, but actually making it to the World Championships is so amazing.”

It certainly didn’t come easy, though, especially after Lintz had pinned Fouse in just 1:49 in the opening match.

“It was a real scrap there,” Fouse said. “In my first match, I got pinned, and I really had to reset mentally. It’s been a hard year with a lot of obstacles, and to finally have the opportunity to be number one in the world feels amazing.”

After posting a 36-1 season record and winning her PIAA girls state wrestling title as a junior in 2024, Fouse suffered a setback in her senior year at McCort this past season, when she sustained a concussion during a practice session that forced her to miss the entire high school postseason.

“About a week before districts, I had an unfortunate accident in practice where I hit my head pretty hard and I wasn’t able to continue to compete,” Fouse said. “Although winning a championship in the first PIAA-sanctioned girls state tournament as a junior was amazing and meant so much to me, it wouldn’t have been smart to try to continue in the postseason as a senior after my injury.

“So I kind of just took a step back and it kind of showed me that rest can be good, and that taking care of your body can be good,” Fouse added. “I had about a month and a half to get ready for the World Team Trials, so I did everything I could to rest and be ready for that.”

Fouse first got interested in wrestling during her kindergarten days, and — inspired by her older brother, Alex, a former wrestler at Northern Bedford High School — Fouse competed against both boys and girls in her freshman year at Northern Bedford, logging a 14-14 overall record and a 7-0 mark against girls competition that season.

Northern Bedford didn’t start its official girls wrestling team until the 2022-23 season, but as a member of Northern Bedford’s boys wrestling team during her freshman year of high school, Fouse still gained valuable experience competing against both boys and girls.

Brian Dutchcot, coach of the Northern Bedford boys wrestling program, said that Fouse possessed a strong work ethic and sense of personal direction when she competed at the school.

“Jordyn always worked extremely hard and was goal-oriented to do her best when she wrestled here,” Dutchcot said.

Fouse’s overall high school record in her four years of high school girls competition was an eye-opening 82-4 mark with 49 technical falls and 25 true falls. Those were numbers that put her on the radar for college women’s wrestling programs, and she accepted a wrestling scholarship and will be part of the women’s wrestling team next season at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich.

“Ever since I started wrestling, I’ve loved it, and now I’m getting ready to wrestle in college,” said Fouse, who is currently ranked second in the country by USA Wrestling among female wrestlers at 145 pounds behind Chestnut Ridge High School standout Violet Lasure.

“Grand Valley has a really good women’s wrestling program — they’re a Division I team at a Division II college,” said Fouse, who plans to major in exercise science with the goal of eventually becoming a physical therapist. “My goal is to become a national champion there, and I hope that everything works out. I think that school will be really good for me, and going there will help me to continue to grow.”

At Grand Valley, Fouse will eventually reunite as a teammate with Alyssa Favara, who was also a state champion at 190 pounds for Bishop McCort in that 2024 initial PIAA-sanctioned girls state tournament.

Favara sustained a season-ending knee injury while competing in the NCAA women’s tournament last season as a freshman at Lock Haven University, before transferring to Grand Valley, where she will take a medical redshirt and sit out next season.

Favara said that Fouse has helped her to achieve her potential as a wrestler.

“I would not have won the state titles that I did without her helping me and without training with her,” said Favara, who, like Fouse, also won a non-PIAA state girls championship at McCort. “She has been a fantastic teammate and best friend, and we pushed each other so hard in practice.”

Fouse credited her brother Alex and their parents, Dave and Jennifer — as well Bill Bassett, who started the girls wrestling program at McCort — for their support and inspiration in helping her become the best that she can be in her sport.

Bassett has high hopes for Fouse as she pursues a World Championship later this summer.

“I think that if Jordyn believes in herself,” Bassett said, “the sky is the limit for what she can do, and it would not surprise me if she comes back as a world champion.”

Fouse hopes that her work ethic and ability will help her to bring home a gold medal from the World Championships in Bulgaria. She recently participated in the Grand Prix of Spain competition in Madrid, taking second place in her 68kg weight class there.

“I went up a couple weight classes to 149 pounds (68kg), but I knew in my mind that I could do it,” Fouse said of qualifying for the USA team. “I had to believe in myself, and I took one match at a time. Now I hope I can make it to the World finals and win.”