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    Cadet National Greco-Roman Preview

    Below is a weight-by-weight breakdown of the Cadet National Greco-Roman tournament, which starts Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. CT, with the finals at 2:00 p.m. on Monday. Participant information for this analysis is as of noon on Saturday.

    88: The nation's top-ranked junior high wrestler, Cade Olivas (California), leads the way here. Olivas won the Cadet folkstyle national title in this weight, and is after the second leg of the Triple Crown in this event. He was also champion in the 42-kilo weight class at the FILA Cadet Nationals in Greco-Roman. Among the challengers are Dylan Koontz (Wisconsin) and William Moss (Georgia), who were champion and runner-up at last year's Schoolboy Nationals in Greco-Roman respectively.

    94: Two of the nation's elite incoming freshmen are among the key players in this weight class, No. 15 Austin Gomez (Illinois) and No. 16 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma). Gomez was a Schoolboy Nationals champion in Greco-Roman at 91 pounds last summer, and won the FILA Cadet National freestyle title in late May, when Gfeller finished second in the weight class. Other contenders include returning Cadet Nationals runner-up Michael Couglin (Maryland); two-time FILA Cadet Greco-Roman All-American Louie Hayes (Illinois); and double FILA Cadet third place finisher Brent Jones (Minnesota), who is also eligible for a Cadet Triple Crown.

    100: A pair of FILA Cadet Greco-Roman All-Americans from late May are among the contenders in this weight, Coltan Williams (Texas) and Paul Fitterer (Minnesota); Williams also went undefeated in the style at this weight class in last month's Cadet Duals, while Fitterer is a returning All-American from last year in Fargo. Other returning double Cadet National All-Americans include Logan Grass (West Virginia), Joey Prata (Virginia), and Matthew Schmitt (Missouri); Schmitt also went undefeated up at 106 pounds in the Cadet Greco-Roman Duals last month.

    106: Daton Fix (Oklahoma) seeks a Cadet National Triple Crown, having already won the folkstyle title in early April. Ranked No. 6 among incoming freshmen, and a runner-up at the FILA Cadet Nationals in freestyle at 110 pounds, he'll enter this tournament as the favorite. Others to watch will include FILA Cadet Greco-Roman champion Tanner Cox (Utah), FILA Cadet Greco-Roman third placer Jaron Chavez (Idaho), returning Cadet Greco-Roman All-American Michael Murphy (Tennessee), and the nation's No. 10 incoming freshman Austin O'Connor (Illinois).

    Mitchell McKee (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)
    113: Mitchell McKee (Minnesota) will be after a second consecutive Cadet National title in Greco-Roman after winning last year in Fargo at 106 pounds. Among the primary challengers will be two of the nation's top Class of 2016 prospects: No. 20 Chad Red (Indiana) and No. 23 Kyle Bierdumpfel (New Jersey); Bierdumpfel was a double runner-up last year at Cadet Nationals in Fargo. Others to watch include Eric Hong (Pennsylvania), the nation's No. 9 incoming ninth grader, FILA Cadet Greco-Roman third place finisher Kanen Storr (Michigan), and in-season state champion Henry Pohlmeyer (Iowa).

    120: Things seem relatively open in this weight class, without a truly elite competitor at present. The slightest of favorites just might be Nick Casella (New York), a two-time in-season state runner-up, who earned All-American honors at the FILA Cadet Nationals in Greco-Roman. Also here is returning Cadet Greco-Roman All-American Sage Coy (Indiana), 2012 Schoolboy Greco-Roman national champion Isaiah Palominio (California), two-time in-season state champion Chris Debien (Tennessee), and a darkhorse of sorts is Gabe Townsell (Illinois).

    126: Zahid Valencia (California), ranked No. 5 overall in the Class of 2015, enters this tournament as the prohibitive favorite. Among the other contenders are FILA Cadet Greco-Roman champion Devin Bahr (Wisconsin); returning Cadet Nationals Greco-Roman runner-up Drake Foster (Idaho); Ricardo Montoya (New Mexico) and Jaden Enriquez (California), who both went undefeated in Greco-Roman at the Cadet Duals; Armando Molina (California), who won the Cadet folkstyle title and is after a Triple Crown; along with a pair of the nation's top 50 Class of 2016 prospects in Hayden Hidlay (Pennsylvania) and Jarrett Degen (Montana).

    132: Vincent Turk (Illinois), last year's Cadet Greco-Roman national champion at 120 pounds, is the anchor of this weight class, as he seeks a repeat title. Others to watch here include returning All-American Griffin Parriott (Minnesota), who ranks No. 35 overall in the Class of 2016; Leonard Merkin (New York), a FILA Cadet Greco-Roman All-American; and Clayton Arellano (New Mexico), who was undefeated in Greco-Roman at the Cadet Duals.

    138: FILA Cadet Greco-Roman runner-up Larry Early (Illinois), who is also ranked No. 26 in the Class of 2015, leads the field in this weight class. Others to watch include returning Cadet National Greco-Roman runner-up Brady O'Keefe (Nevada); Cameron Harrell (Maryland), who was undefeated in Greco-Roman at the Cadet Duals last month; along with Patricio Lugo (Florida) and Connor Myers (Michigan), each undefeated in both styles at the Cadet Duals.

    145: Mason Manville (New Jersey), ranked No. 3 nationally in the Class of 2016, is favored to defend his Cadet Greco-Roman national title from last year. He also was runner-up at the FILA Cadet Greco-Roman tournament held in late May at 152 pounds. Also in this weight class are returning Cadet Greco-Roman runner-up Joey Gunther (Illinois), 2012 Schoolboy Nationals Greco-Roman champion Owen Webster (Minnesota), and Austin Kraisser (Maryland), who is ranked No. 33 overall in the Class of 2016.

    152: Two wrestlers stand out at the head of this field, both are grade level ranked; Taylor Lujan (Georgia) is No. 35 in the Class of 2015 and was undefeated in both styles of the Cadet Duals held last month, while Nick Reenan (Texas) is No. 10 in the Class of 2016 and finished second in freestyle at the FILA Cadet Nationals in freestyle two months ago. Others to watch include returning Cadet Greco-Roman All-Americans Chris Almony (Maryland) and Jesse Porter (New York), along with last year's Schoolboy Greco-Roman champion Andrew Berreyesa (Nevada).

    160: Mark Hall (Colorado), ranked No. 2 overall in the Class of 2016 and a returning Cadet National freestyle champion, enters this tournament the strong favorite. Two others to watch include Jelani Embree (Michigan), who went undefeated in both styles at last month's Cadet Duals and is ranked No. 4 in the Class of 2016; along with Kamal Bey (Illinois), ranked No. 46 in the Class of 2016.

    170: The slightest of favorites in this weight class would have to be Beau Breske (Wisconsin), who is ranked No. 9 overall in the Class of 2016 and earned All-American honors at the FILA Cadet Greco-Roman tournament in May. Right behind Breske will be Keegan Moore (Minnesota), ranked No. 22 in the Class of 2016 and seeking a Cadet Triple Crown after winning folkstyle nationals in April. Others to watch include returning Cadet Greco-Roman All-American Dustin Gray (Missouri) and 2012 Schoolboy Nationals Greco-Roman champion Wyatt Koeling (Utah).

    182: Two of the nation's top Class of 2015 wrestlers lead the way in this weight class – No. 44 Hunter Ritter (Maryland), who was runner-up at the FILA Cadet Nationals in Greco-Roman; and No. 46 Justan Rivera (Georgia), a Cadet Nationals double All-American last year. Others to watch in this weight include FILA Cadet freestyle All-American Andrew Marsden (Illinois) and Mason Litz (Michigan), who went undefeated in both styles at last month's Cadet Duals.

    195: Though this is a rather deep upper-weight class for the Cadet level, it is led by defending Cadet Greco-Roman national champion Samuel Colbray (Oregon), who is ranked No. 13 overall in the Class of 2016. The two primary challengers would be Tevis Bartlett (Wyoming), a returning Cadet Greco-Roman All-American who is ranked No. 48 in the Class of 2015; and Emilio Fowler (Kansas), who went undefeated in freestyle at the Cadet Duals and is after a Cadet Triple Crown having won the folkstyle title in early April. Additonal wrestlers to watch include a pair of 2012 Schoolboy Greco-Roman national champions in Brian Barnes (Oregon) and Jacob Cavins (Indiana); Jerek Cropper (Ohio) and Isaac Florell (Minnesota), both of whom are FILA Cadet Greco-Roman All-American; and Bailey Faust (Ohio), who went undefeated in freestyle at the Cadet Duals last month.

    220: Entering this event as a prohibitive favorite is Lance Benick (Minnesota), the nation's top ranked wrestler in the Class of 2015 and a Cadet Triple Crown winner last year. Earlier in April, Benick won the Junior National folkstyle championship. Others meriting attending include returning Cadet Greco-Roman All-American Kyler Childers (Oklahoma); Michael Smith (Maryland), who went undefeated at the Cadet Duals in Greco-Roman last month; and Jordan Wood (Pennsylvania), an in-season state runner-up who is ranked No. 8 overall in the Class of 2016.

    285: Entering this event as favorite is Shawn Streck (Indiana), who went undefeated in both styles at the Cadet Duals and is the nation's No. 26 ranked wrestler in the Class of 2016. Primary challenger would have to be Jacob Marnin (Iowa), a returning Cadet Greco-Roman All-American who seeks a Cadet Triple Crown after winning the folkstyle nationals tournament in April. Others to watch include FILA Cadet Greco-Roman All-Americans in Adam Lemke-Bell (Illinois) and Kevin Vough (Elyria), as well as in-season state placer Cale Bonner (Ohio)

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