Show-Me the dominance
In the now annual battle between two of Missouri and Oklahoma's top programs at the open of the high school season, Missouri schools won all four of the contested matches this past Friday at Blue Springs High School outside of Kansas City, MO. Park Hill defeated Tulsa Union 43-22 and Catoosa 68-12. Blue Springs, the host squad, defeated Tulsa Union 33-32 and Catoosa 48-27.
However the biggest statement of the event was made by Ronnie Balfour (Tulsa Union). The University of Oklahoma signee, ranked 12th at 160, weighed in at 171 and bumped up to 189 pounds to wrestle John Eblen (Park Hill). In that match, Balfour dominated the 20th ranked wrestler at that weight class, who is bound for Missouri next fall, by a 13-4 major decision.
Best of the Hawkeye State showcase why in season opener
The season opening Keith Young Invitational hosted by Cedar Falls this past Saturday had a lot of pre-tournament hype. One could say that was for very good reason, and even quite possibly exceeded expectations. Defending small-school state champions Don Bosco led throughout the day and had ten wrestlers in the placement round. However, beyond a pair of championships from Brandon (125) and Clay (160) Welter, the Dons lost all eight of their other matches.
Their struggles in the finals dropped them down to third place with 194 points. It set the show for a shootout between the defending big-school champion Waverly Shell-Rock and Denver-Tripoli, the returning runners-up in the medium-school division. It came down to the 215 pound championship match, where defending state champion Cody Krumwiede (Waverly Shell-Rock) needed bonus points for the Go-Hawks to secure the team victory. Coming off a 52-0 sophomore season, which included 40 falls; Krumwiede got the pin, which was his fourth of the day in four matches.
That result was enough for a 204 to 202-1/2 victory in the team race. However, Denver-Tripoli did not go home empty handed. In his high school debut, Brandon Sorensen (Denver-Tripoli) validated his place in the national rankings at 119 pounds with wins over the pair of wrestlers that appeared in the big-school final at 112 pounds last season. First, in the semifinal round, Sorensen upended state champion Brandon Jones (West Des Moines Valley) 5-3. Then, in the final, Sorensen defeated Eric Devos (Waverly Shell-Rock) 3-2; Devos was a state champion the previous two years in Minnesota (at Apple Valley). That performance earned the freshman Sorensen MOW honors. In addition, the Titans had the most placers for the tournament with eleven in the top six -- compared to ten for Don Bosco and nine for WSR.
Tournament champions: WSR -- Tanner Werner (112), Jordan Rinken (130), Jacob Ballweg (140), Cody Caldwell (145), and Krumwiede; Denver-Tripoli -- Dylan Peters (103), Sorensen, and Levi Wolfensperger (125); Don Bosco -- Brandon and Cody Welter; Michael Kelly (152) from Cedar Falls; Joey Trizzino (160) from Bettendorf; Walt GIlmor (171) from North Scott; and Derrick Lange (285) from West Des Moines Valley.
California Dreamin'
Even with many of the Golden State's top wrestlers headed east towards the Walsh Ironman, the Clovis West Shootout will still feature many of the top wrestlers and programs in the state of California. In fact, teams in this field combine for a total of 15 state championships over the years.
Seven of the top 15 teams in the state tournament standings appear in the field. Buchanan, Clovis, Gilroy, Bakesfield, and Clovis West finished inside the eight -- while Vacaville was 14th and Languna Hills took 15th. Rounding out the 13 team field is Clovis East, Stockdale, Bella Vista, Hanford West, El Dorado, and Ventura.
Teams are split into the “home” and “away” clusters. Each group will face all opposition from the other one. The “home” team consists of Bakersfield, Buchanan, Clovis, Clovis East, Clovis West, and Stockdale. Bella Vista, El Dorado, Gilroy, Hanford West, Laguna Hills, Vacaville, and Ventura constitute the away team.
Three nationally ranked wrestlers are present in the field -- Martin Fabbian (Buchanan) at 160, Bryce Hammond (Bakersfield) at 160, and Adam Delagarza (Vacaville) at 171. Depending on the Walsh Ironman field, it is possible that Dominic Kastl (Gilroy) at 160 will also be in this event.
Other key wrestlers sorted by weight: 103- Shayne Tucker (Bella Vista); 103/112 -- Jonas Gayton (Clovis); 112 -- Stephen Knoblauch (Clovis West), Adrian Rodriguez (Buchanan); 119 -- Zach Zimmer (Clovis West), Natrelle Demison (Bakersfield), Adrian Gonzalez (Gilroy), Juan Jaime (Laguna Hills); 125 -- Ben Omata (Clovis), Bobby Morales (Laguna Hills), Willie Fox (Gilroy), Chris Martinez (Clovis West); 130 -- Damien Arredondo (Buchanan), Timmy Box (Bakersfield), Juan Salas (Clovis); 135 -- Coleman Hammond (Bakersfield), Blake Kastl (Gilroy), Jake Briggs (Bella Vista); 152 -- Adam Fierro (Bakersfield); 160- Nikko Reyes (Clovis West); 189 -- Brian Schoene (Bakersfield); 215 -- Ben Holmes (Vacaville); 285 -- Kyle Papendorf (Buchanan), Max Howard (Clovis).
Depth leads to dominance for Wyoming Seminary
With half of its starting lineup featuring wrestlers that have committed to wrestle for NCAA Division I institutions next fall, Wyoming Seminary has an incredibly deep lineup and is clearly among the nation's elite teams. Even with one not competing in the event (Donald McNiel, 215) -- and another having to pull out during his third match (Bryce Caiazzo, 152) -- they still won the event by more than 100 points over the two top teams from Virginia.
Dominick Malone (112) anchored the Knights' performance, as he was one of six champions with wins over a pair of nationally ranked wrestlers on the way to his title. Malone, ranked 12th by InterMat, defeated the nation's top 103 pound wrestler in the semifinals -- Joey Dance (Christiansburg) -- by an 8-3 score. Then in the final, it was a defeat of the 20th ranked wrestler in his weight class -- Caleb Ricardson (Cox) by a 3-1 score.
Evan Botwin (103), Eric Morris (130), Simon Kitzis (135), Chris Moon (160), and Mike McMullan (285) were the five other Wyoming Seminary wrestlers to win titles. In fact, other than Caiazzo pulling out at 152 pounds, no Knights wrestler placed outside the top three. Garrett Hammond (125) and Cohl Fulk (140) took second place; while Kyle Johnson (119), Adam Morris (145), Jay Wieller (171), Matt Bilodeau (189), and reserve Ben Puza (215) finished in third place.
Bryan Whitt (119) led Cox to a second place finish over Christiansburg by a 241-1/2 to 218-1/2 point margin. In his championship final, the nation's 15th ranked wrestler at 119 defeated Brandon Jeske (St.. Christopher's) 2-0; Jeske is ranked 5th at 112 pounds. Another pair of Falcons won weight classes with Ben Dorsay (145) and Conor O'Hara (215) joining Whitt as champions. Cox split first place matches - as Cody Stageberg (103), Richardson, and Ross Burbank (285) fell short in their title bouts.
Christiansburg split their four finals bouts -- Devin Carter (125) and Brady Epperly (140) winning championships, while James Linkous (145) and Rich Eva (152) finished in second place.
The host squad, Hopewell, won a pair of titles from Cody (152) and Clint (171) Allala. The other weight class title was won by the nationally ranked Austin Fallon (189) from Westfield.
Heavy statement seals St. Mark's victory at War on the Shore
With three teams in the hunt for a tournament championship this past Saturday night at the Ocean City Convention Center, two of the nation's best 285 pound wrestlers battled it out. In a rematch of the 2008 Beast of the East final, it was No. 2 in the nation Bobby Telford (St. Mark's, DE) upending No. 4 Karl Green (Mt St. Joseph's, MD) 4-2 in the tiebreaker. That result catapulted St. Mark's to the War on the Shore championship with 188-1/2 points.
Along with Telford, the Spartans also won the other final that involved a pair of nationally ranked wrestlers. Sean Dolan (119), who is ranked 10th at the weight by InterMat, pinned Patrick Prada (DeMatha Catholic, MD) in the first period at the 1:40 mark; Prada is ranked 20th at 125 pounds. Nick Schenk (130) was a third champion for St. Mark's, who survived an upset loss by Sean Boylan (125) in the finals and competing without the services of Tyler Pendergast (112). Pendergast -- the tournament's number one seed and a defending state champion -- failed to make weight, while Aaron Runzo (Kellam, VA) beat the 14th ranked Boylan 6-4 on a late takedown.
Finishing a point behind St. Mark's, and also with four finalists was Sussex Central, DE. The squad had a trio of champions in Codey Combs (145), Jay Matheus (160), and Joey Spicer (215) on the way to 187-1/2 team points. Finishing in second place was Shane Miller (152). Another five points back were Mt St. Joseph's MD with 182-1/2 points. Like the two teams above them, the Gaels had a quartet of finalists; however, only Bobby Bowman (171) came home with a championship. Runners-up were Matt Mullett (189), Tyler Tippett (215), and Green.
Two other teams had a pair of champions -- Caesar Rodney, DE and Archbishop Spaulding, MD. Kaleb LeMaire (112) and Issah Meade (152) were the winners for Caesar Rodney, while Charlie Lynch (140) and Kvante Smith (189) finished in first for Archbishop Spauling. Rounding out the tournament champions were Thomas Payne (103) of Poquoson, VA; Runzo; and Wendell Cannon (135) of Sussex Tech, DE.
Apple Valley dominates competition from the Badger State
Traveling to the east, it was Apple Valley, MN which dominated the competition at the Oconomowoc Cooney Ten Team Tourney. In the four preliminary dual meets, the Eagles rotated wrestlers in and out of the lineup which made the match margins seem closer than they were expected to be on paper. The victories came over the hosts Oconomowoc 51-23, Muskego 55-20, Janesville Craig 48-22, and Arrowhead 50-19.
These matches set up an anticipated final match against a fellow nationally ranked Wisconsin Rapids team, which had steamrolled its four opponents heading to the final round. The Raiders victories came over Baraboo 75-3, Arrowhead 61-9, DeForest 69-3, and Muskego 52-19.
Despite the absence of state champion Dakota Trom (119/125) and Destin McCauley (152), who is ranked fourth in the weight class; it was the Eagles who steamrolled the Raiders 40-17 in the final match, as Apple Valley won ten of the fourteen bouts. Most notably of those was a 7-2 victory for Jake Waste (Apple Valley) over Devin Peterson at 171 pounds in a battle of nationally ranked wrestlers; Waste is ranked 17th at 160, while Peterson is 19th at 171 according to InterMat.
Wrestling in all five matches and finishing undefeated for the dual meet tournament were the following wrestlers:
112 -- Hunter Mulock (Baraboo); 119 -- Justin Scherkenbach (Muskego); 119/125 - Keegan Einerson (Wisconsin Rapids); 125/130 -- Zach Mommaerts (Oconomowoc); 130 -Siven Firseth (Janesville Craig); 135 -- Chris Pierce (Janesville Craig); 140 -- Kyle Welzen (Wilmot) and Brandon Kingsley (Apple Valley); 145/152 -- Nate Bruner (Apple Valley) and Zak Benitz (Wisconsin Rapids); 152 -- Derek Olson (Muskego) and Ryan Gartner (Wilmot); 160 -- Al Yde (Arrowhead); 189 -- Jordan Gruettner (Muskego); 215/285 -- Mike Spaulding (Janesville Craig); 285 -- Dustin Edmonds (Wilmot) and Curt Fuller (Wisconsin Rapids).
Events for the coming week
Opening weekend for the Keystone State; the best wrestling in the country is in Pennsylvania, and its season starts now with a few notable events: Top Hat Invitational, Nazareth Invitational, and Boyertown Duals among others.
Walsh Ironman; Cuyahoga Falls (Walsh Jesuit), OH -- Friday 12/11 and Saturday 12/12. Preview coming on Thursday morning.
Clovis West Shootout; check out the section of this article, “California Dreamin'”
Tulsa Mid-America Nationals; Tulsa Union, OK -- Friday 12/11 and Saturday 12/12.
The event includes five nationally ranked wrestlers according to InterMat, with a pair each at 145 and 215 pounds.
In the 145 pound weight class, Ryne Cokeley (St. James Academy, KS) is ranked 18th while Jeremy Davenport (Sallisaw, OK) is ranked 15th at 152 pounds. Other wrestlers to watch here are freshman sensation Oliver Pierce (Allen, TX) and 2008 Cadet National freestyle All-American Kyle Ash (Tulsa Union, OK). The 215 pound weight class features 9th ranked Cody Dauphin (El Reno, OK); 19th ranked Cody Davis (The Woodlands, TX); and state champion Shane Woods (Tuttle, OK).
The event's other nationally ranked wrestler is Ronnie Balfour (Tulsa Union, OK) -- ranked 12th at 160 pounds -- but slated to compete at 171 pounds.
Three of the top teams to follow in this event are the host school, Tulsa Union; Allen, TX; and Tuttle, OK.
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