61 kg champion Nic Bouzakis (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)Somewhat lost amidst all of the action taking place on the Senior level from Las Vegas was the U20 tournament. The freestyle portion featured many collegiate stars, some up-and-comers, and high schoolers. Here are some fun facts about the tournament and the wrestlers that made the top-eight.
Note: Recruits, be it signed or unsigned, have been credited to their respective school's total in each category below.
# of All-Americans by School
7: NC State
5: Nebraska
4: Ohio State, Penn State
3: Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota State, Virginia Tech
2: Arizona State, Bucknell, Iowa, Lehigh, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, South Dakota State, Stanford
1: American, Army West Point, Cal Baptist, Cal Poly, Colorado Mesa, Columbia, Cornell, Dakota Wesleyan, Dubuque, George Mason, Iowa State, Little Rock, Maryland, Missouri, Navy, North Carolina, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma, Penn, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, Utah Valley, Virginia, UW Eau-Claire, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Non DI Schools with an All-American: Colorado Mesa (Braden Baumgartner - 6th at 97 kg), Dakota Wesleyan (Colten Hink - 7th at 97 kg), Dubuque (Zeb Gnida - 6th at 74 kg), UW-Eau Claire (Jared Stricker - 5th at 79 kg).
Ohio State was the only school with multiple finalists (3). Therefore, they were also the only school with two champions. Neither of the champions credited to Ohio State have entered college yet.
Penn State had four All-Americans, however, they came in only two weights (57/74kg).
Bucknell had two All-Americans, both of which were at 61 kg.
NC State's seven All-Americans came in six different weight classes.
Half of the ten champions are still currently in high school (Troy Spratley/57, Nic Bouzakis/61, Mitchell Mesenbrink/70, Ben Kueter/97, Nick Feldman/125).
Mitchell Mesenbrink and Jaxon Smith are the only two champions to have teched their way through the tournament.
Ironman Alert! Robbie Howard lost in the opening round at 57 kg to the eventual champion, Troy Spratley, then proceeded to win eight straight bouts to claim third. He was the only wrestler to lose in the first round and take the tough road back through the consi's.
Minnesota and Virginia Tech were the only two schools with three or more AA's that saw all of their placewinners victorious in their final bouts.
National Champions by conference were as follows
Big Ten: 6, ACC: 2, EIWA: 1, Big 12: 1
31 of the 80 All-American are still currently in high school. Below you'll find wrestlers sorted by their year of high school graduation, their home state and their future college, if applicable.
Class of 2022 (25)
Ryan Boersma (IL - Missouri), Nic Bouzakis (FL/PA - Ohio State), Martin Cosgrove (NJ - Penn), Jack Darrah (MO - Stanford), Nick Feldman (PA - Ohio State), Kolby Franklin (PA - Iowa), Hunter Garvin (IA - Stanford), Nathan Glass (NV - Cal Poly), Garrett Grice (NE - Virginia), Levi Haines (PA - Penn State), Chase Horne (GA - NC State), Tagen Jamison (TX - Minnesota), Kaleb Larkin (AZ - Arizona State), Mitchell Mesenbrink (WI - Cal Baptist), Noah Pettigrew (GA - North Carolina), Caden Rogers (PA - Lehigh), Matthew Singleton (GA - NC State), Brian Soldano (NJ - Rutgers), Troy Spratley (NY/TX - Minnesota), Wyatt Voelker (IA - Northern Iowa), Jore Volk (MN - Wyoming), Danny Wask (NJ - Navy), Nathan Wemstrom (IL - Nebraska), Jordan Williams (OK - Oklahoma State), Emilio Ysaguirre (AZ - Arizona State)
Class of 2023 (5)
Aden Attao (ID), Dylan Gilcher (MI - Michigan), Ben Kueter (IA - Iowa), Nicco Ruiz (CA), Rocco Welsh (PA - Ohio State)
Class of 2024 (1)
Grigor Cholayan (CA)
Final U20 freestyle placewinners
57 kg
1st - Troy Spratley (Minnesota)
2nd - Andre Gonzales (Ohio State)
3rd - Robbie Howard (Penn State)
4th - Max Leete (American)
5th - Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech)
6th - Jore Volk (Wyoming)
7th - Gary Steen (Penn State)
8th - Yusief Lillie (Utah Valley)
61 kg
1st - Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State)
2nd - Dylan Chappell (Bucknell)
3rd - Garrett Grice (Virginia)
4th - Emilio Ysaguirre (Arizona State)
5th - Grigor Cholayan
6th - Richard Treanor (Army West Point)
7th - Kurtis Phipps (Bucknell)
8th - Carter Bailey (Lehigh)
65 kg
1st - Vince Cornella (Cornell)
2nd - Kaleb Larkin (Arizona State)
3rd - Tagen Jamison (Minnesota)
4th - Dylan Gilcher (Michigan)
5th - Ryan Jack (NC State)
6th - Joe Zargo (Wisconsin)
7th - Teague Travis (Oklahoma State)
8th - Joel Vandevere (Northwestern)
70 kg
1st - Mitchell Mesenbrink (Cal Baptist)
2nd - Paniro Johnson (Iowa State)
3rd - Jordan Williams (Oklahoma State)
4th - Hunter Garvin (Stanford)
5th - Cael Swenson (South Dakota State)
6th - Chance Lamer (Michigan)
7th - Ramon Ramos
8th - AJ Kovacs (NC State)
74 kg
1st - Alex Facundo (Penn State)
2nd - Vince Zerban (Northern Colorado)
3rd - Mikey Caliendo (North Dakota State)
4th - Levi Haines (Penn State)
5th - Jack Thomsen (South Dakota State)
6th - Zeb Gnida (Dubuque)
7th - Nicco Ruiz
8th - Derek Fields (NC State)
79 kg
1st - Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh)
2nd - Danny Wask (Navy)
3rd - Rocco Welsh (Ohio State)
4th - Elise Brown Ton (Nebraska)
5th - Jared Stricker (UW Eau Claire)
6th - Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia)
7th - Matthew Singleton (NC State)
8th - Logan Messer (George Mason)
86 kg
1st - Sam Fisher (Virginia Tech)
2nd - Brock DelSignore (NC State)
3rd - Brian Soldano (Rutgers)
4th - Tate Picklo (Oklahoma)
5th - DJ Parker (North Dakota State)
6th - Nathan Haas (Nebraska)
7th - Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa)
8th - Joey Milano (NC State)
92 kg
1st - Jaxon Smith (Maryland)
2nd - Silas Allred (Nebraska)
3rd - Kolby Franklin (Iowa)
4th - Caden Rogers (Lehigh)
5th - Martin Cosgrove (Penn)
6th - Evan Bates (Northwestern)
7th - Gabe Nagel (Minnesota)
8th - Jack Darrah (Stanford)
97 kg
1st - Ben Kueter (Iowa)
2nd - Noah Pettigrew (North Carolina)
3rd - Dzhabrail Khurshidov (Michigan)
4th - Nathan Glass (Cal Poly)
5th - Nathan Wemstrom (Nebraska)
6th - Braden Baumgartner (Colorado Mesa)
7th - Colten Hink (Dakota Wesleyan)
8th - Zak Taylor (Nebraska)
125 kg
1st - Nick Feldman (Ohio State)
2nd - Ryan Boersma (Missouri)
3rd - Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech)
4th - Juan Mora (North Dakota State)
5th - Hayden Copass (Purdue)
6th - Chase Horne (NC State)
7th - Josiah Hill (Little Rock)
8th - Aden Attao
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