JEFFERSON TWP — Brittney Faust's name in women's wrestling just keeps getting bigger.

Faust, who will be a senior at Knoch, finished sixth at the recent USA National Women's Freestyle Tournament in Fargo, N.D. In March, she won a national tournament in Michigan.

"Those tournaments are big when it comes to recruiting," Faust said. "A lot of scouts are there to see who the up-and-coming girls are in the sport."

Faust attained all-America status by placing sixth at the North Dakota event. She did so despite having only one week to prepare to wrestle freestyle, something she had never done before.

A motorcycle accident three weeks earlier hindered her preparation.

"I was riding my dad's bike, flew over the handlebars and landed on my head," Faust said.

Fortunately, she was wearing a helmet. Unfortunately, she suffered a concussion.

"To do what she did at that national freestyle, with so little preparation and no experience, was simply an amazing feat," Knoch wrestling coach Mark McLaughlin said.

The U.S. Olympic Education Center thought so, too. Officials there want Faust to come to Michigan this fall, attend Marquette High for her senior year and train at the center.

"I'd be leaving Knoch a year early, giving up a lot of things around here. ... I'm just not sure about it," Faust said. "I'm mulling everything over. I guess I'm undecided right now.

"The Olympics are an eventual goal of mine, but there's other ways to get there."

And Faust has other options.

Oklahoma City University, Cumberlands (Ky.) University and Lindenwood (Mo.) are three schools with women's wrestling programs interested in Faust.

"Oklahoma City has the best women's wrestling program in the country," McLaughlin said.

Faust won four of five matches at freestyle nationals to get into the medal round. There were 28 wrestlers in her 124-pound weight class.

She pinned Emily Harvey of Texas in 55 seconds, Sarah Taylor of Washington in 31 seconds. Faust lost a 4-0, 4-0 decision to Alli Ragan of Illinois before defeating Tianna Camous of California 5-3, 5-0, and Kayla Bartosch of Kansas 2-0, 2-0.

Ragan finished second in this tournament for the second consecutive year.

Faust dropped into the fifth-and-sixth place match when she lost a 1-5, 3-0, 0-1 decision to Katy Yoder of Ohio in the medal round. Scheduled to face Roni Goodale of Iowa, whom she decisioned in Michigan last spring, Faust opted to forfeit the match.

"I had a headache that I couldn't shake," she said. "I had already placed, made all-American — my health was more important than moving up one place."

Despite entering a national tournament with no experience in freestyle, Faust was confident she would prosper there.

"I expected to do well," she said. "Wrestling is wrestling. Maybe I didn't know freestyle, but I still knew how to wrestle. Just go out there and win. That was my mind-set."

Takedowns are worth one point in freestyle and the method of the takedown determines how many more points are awarded.

"The scoring system is different, but near-fall points are easier to get. That's what I liked about it," Faust said.

Faust plans to take the rest of the summer off to allow a few nagging injuries to heal. She will return in September when Knoch's wrestling team begins conditioning.

If she opts not to go to Michigan, she will wrestle for the Knights again this winter.

"I've been wrestling since fourth grade. I was one of the first to join our elementary school program," she said. "I'm not about to quit now."