The New Jersey state tournament starts with a 32-man bracket in each weight class, four wrestlers qualifying from each of eight regions. The top three finishers at each region are eligible to be seeded first through 24th per a set procedure that is based on previous state tournament performance, head-to-head results, and regional finish; those who finish fourth at the regional are the bottom eight seeds. Wrestling starts at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Friday evening, and concludes with the finals on Sunday afternoon.
In the Golden State, competition starts from a 40-man bracket with qualifiers allocated to each section per state athletic association guidelines. The top 16 competitors were seeded based on merit, with remaining competitors bracketed per procedures related to separating competitors from the same section, etc. Competition starts on Friday morning at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, with the finals slated for Saturday night.
Four weight classes in each of the two state tournaments feature at least three nationally ranked wrestlers. Below is an overview of those weight classes.
New Jersey 106
The opening weight this year in the Garden State is most strong with four wrestlers appearing in the national rankings, all outside the top ten, as well as two other competitors that have been ranked during the course of this season. Based on the national rankings, and being the highest returning place-finisher (third last year), No. 12 Nick Kayal (Bergen Catholic) would be the favorite. However, he enters as the sixth seed.
The lone "in-state" loss for Kayal this season is to No. 20 Nick Nardone (Delbarton), who is the fifth seed, though the wrestlers have split matches this season. Nardone has two additional "in-state" losses, falling to No. 16 Joey Olivieri (Hanover Park) during the regular season and Quinn Melofchik (Belvidere) in the regional semifinal. Olivieri is the top seed with all three of his losses coming to 113 pound wrestlers ranked within the top ten nationally, while fourth seeded Melofchik has lost to Olivieri in the district and regional finals.
In addition, Melofchik lost to third seed Brett Ungar (Hunterdon Central) in mid-January; the lone loss for Ungar came the following to No. 15 Nick Babin (Emerson-Park Ridge) the following week. Babin, who also was a Super 32 placer prior to the season, is undefeated so far this year and the tournament's second seed. An additional key win for Ungar came in the regional final when he beat previously undefeated Dean Peterson (St. John Vianney), who entered last week nationally ranked.
The other returning placer in this weight is Justin Bierdumpfel (Don Bosco Prep), the eighth seed. He lost to Peterson in the regular season and has two post-season losses to Babin, and has missed chunks of the season with injury. One sleeper type in this weight class by seed is C.J. Composto, the eleven, though he is a Super 32 placer whose lone loss came this season came to nationally ranked 113 Dylan Cedeno.
Based on seeds: Olivieri-Bierdumpfel, Melofchik-Nardone; Ungar-Kayal (Composito), Babin, Peterson
Richard Figueroa defeated Jonathan Prata at the Doc Buchanan (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)California 106
The lightweights are always strong out in California, this year proving to be no exception with three nationally ranked wrestlers present across a diversity of age groups. Entering as the top seed is No. 4 Richard Figueroa (Selma). The freshman is undefeated in the state of California with his lone losses coming at the Ironman to Ohio wrestlers ranked first and seventh nationally. Also a Super 32 runner-up, Figueroa beat defending state champion Jonathan Prata (Downey) in the semifinals of the Doc Buchanan.
Prata enters the tournament as the fourth seed, though he is ranked No. 9 nationally. Along with losing to Figueroa in the semifinals at Doc Buchanan, he lost the next round to Carlos Negrete (Clovis North). That result places Prata in a position where he will have to clear Figueroa in the semifinal round.
Negrete enters as the third seed after placing seventh at the Ironman and fourth at the Doc Buchanan, where his two losses were to Wyatt Yapoujian (Pomona, Colo.), who is not a nationally ranked wrestler. In addition to those four losses, he lost to Figueroa in the Central masters final, he lost to No. 19 Blake Fredrickson (Windsor) in the Mid-Cals final, and he has a 2-1 mark against sixth seed Ramiro Castillo (Central). Fredrickson is the second seed in this event, and was a Junior National double All-American this past summer.
New Jersey 113
Five nationally ranked wrestlers in this field make it a mess of a weight class. The group is led by last year's 106 pound finalists, No. 5 Anthony Clark (Delbarton) and No. 6 Samuel Alvarez (St. Joseph Montvale). Returning state champion Clark has a pair of losses this season, those coming against national No. 1 Trevor Mastrogiovanni; while Alvarez has only one loss in a contested match this season, that coming to Julian Tagg in the 120 pound Beast of the East semifinal, after he upset Robert Howard in the quarterfinal round. Those are your top two seeds.
The next two seeds are a pair of returning state medalists, No. 19 Dante Mininno (Gateway Regional) and Hunter Gutierrez (Lacey). Two-time state placer Mininno is undefeated this season, including a 6-4 win over Gutierrez three weeks ago; while Gutierrez had two additional losses during the season's opening week when competing at 120. Seeded fifth is No. 12 Dylan Cedeno (Fair Lawn), who enters the state tournament undefeated but failed to place last year at state, losing to Gutierrez by fall in the consolation match to place; those two could meet in a quarterfinal come Saturday.
The other nationally ranked wrestler in this weight class is No. 15 Eddie Ventresca (Pope John Paul XXIII), a returning state placer. However, he enters the tournament seeded seventh due to last week's loss by injury default in the semifinal against Logan Mazzeo (Emerson-Park Ridge), who will be the sixth seed. Mazzeo -- a returning state qualifier in this weight class -- has five losses on the season, two to Alvarez, one to Cedeno, and two that are rather clunky.
New Jersey 120
The group of lower weights this year in the Garden State is absolutely stacked, with the first three brackets having 13 nationally ranked wrestlers present in total. The quartet nationally ranked in this weight class has wrestled 140 bouts this year to the tune of just one loss, that being from No. 1 Robert Howard (Bergen Catholic) in the Beast of the East quarterfinals.
On the other hand, Howard has four wins over nationally ranked opponents this year, including three against those residing in the top ten (Michael Colaiocco, Nico Aguilar, and Joey Melendez). The other three nationally ranked wrestlers have zero matches combined against returning New Jersey state medalists.
Seeded first in this weight is 2016 state champion Joe Manchio (Seneca), who is ranked No. 11 nationally; Manchio lost in the quarterfinal last year to Howard, won his next match, and then defaulted down to eighth place. The second seed is returning state champion No. 10 Antonio Mininno (Gateway Regional), who beat Howard in last year's state final, but has no previous state placements. Howard is seeded third, so we could have a state finals rematch in the semifinal round; while the fourth seed is No. 16 Mitchell Polito (East Brunswick), who placed third last year at 113.
The other previous place-winner in this weight class is fifth seed Richie Koehler (Christian Brothers Academy), who placed sixth in the 2015 state tournament.
California 132
Nationally ranked wrestlers occupy the top three seeds in this weight class. No. 4 Jesse Vasquez (Santiago Corona) won state last year as a freshman at 113, and has been superb this "season"; he was runner-up in that brutal 132 weight class at the Super 32, beat Carson Manville in the quarters at the Ironman, and picked up a win over nationally ranked Chase Zollman to win the Battle for the Belt.
Three-time state medalists No. 12 Zollman (Poway) and No. 13 Alex Felix (Gilroy) are the second and third seeds in this weight class. Zollman has state tournament finishes of seventh, third, and fifth; while Felix has finished third, fourth, and third. Zollman has the head-to-head win over Felix in the finals at the Mid-Cals, that coming by 3-2 decision in the tiebreaker.
Two other returning state medalists populate this weight class, fourth seed Elijah Palacio (Edison) was eighth at state last year, while seventh seed Tyler Deen (Buchanan) finished seventh; Palacio was champion last year at the NHSCA Junior Nationals, while Deen added a Junior National freestyle All-American finish.
The fifth seed in this weight is Marcos Polanco (Bishop Amat), who was one match away from placing in the 2016 state tournament, and has lost to Palacio seemingly too many times to count this season; they could meet in the quarterfinal. Seeded sixth is two-time previous state qualifier Robert Areyano (Selma), while the ninth seed is Anthony Chavez (Central), who was one match from placing at state in 2016.
New Jersey 132
Even though No. 6 Nick Raimo (Hanover Park) is the clear favorite as a two-time state finalist, returning state champion, and one of the best juniors in the country -- this is an overall interesting weight class with two other nationally ranked wrestlers, another pair of wrestlers that have medaled at the state tournament before, and a closely packed challenge pack.
Seeded first, Raimo is undefeated on the season with titles at the Beast of the East and Escape the Rock. The other two nationally ranked wrestlers are No. 17 Kyle Slendorn (Howell) and No. 19 Carmen Ferrante (Bergen Catholic), the second and third place finishers in the state weight class that Raimo won last year. However, the pair are projected to meet in the quarterfinal round as the third and sixth seeds.
Slendorn was upset 2-1 in the regional final by Bryan Miraglia (Delran), who inherits the second seed despite not making last year's state tournament; the lone loss for Miraglia on the season came to nationally ranked 138 pound wrestler Jojo Aragona. Despite six wins over state medalists from out of state (CA/PA/OH), including one over the nationally ranked Jack Davis, Ferrante drops down to the six seed due to losses at the Beast of the East to returning state placer Lucas Revano (Camden Catholic) and state qualifier Jake Rotunda (Pope John XXIII), who are seeded fourth and fifth respectively.
Revano is actually a two-time state placer, placing seventh at the Beast even with that win over Ferrante (losses to Raimo and Rotunda); Revano would avenge that loss to Rotunda the next week, while other two losses came at the Powerade (Joey Silva and splitting matches against a Pennsylvania wrestler. Two of Rotunda's three additional losses were to nationally ranked opposition at the Beast, while his remaining loss came to Patrick Glory on the same day he lost to Revano. A likely "rubber match" for the season between Revano and Rotunda looms in the quarterfinal round on Saturday.
The other previous medalist in this weight is Hunter Graf (Hunterdon Central), the tenth seed and an eighth-place finisher in 2016. Another very dangerous wrestler in this weight is returning state qualifier Russell Benson (Raritan), the ninth seed as a regional champion.
California 138
Four nationally ranked wrestlers populate this weight class, led by No. 4 Jaden Abas (Rancho Bernardo, Calif.). The junior, a two-time state medalist (2nd/3rd), was runner-up at the Super 32 prior to the season and runner-up at the Ironman to start the season. He is the top seed in this weight class. Seeded second is returning state fourth place finisher Lawrence Saenz (Vacaville), who is ranked No. 13 nationally, with his two losses on the season coming to nationally ranked 145 pound wrestlers.
The third seed is No. 14 Matthew Olguin (Buchanan), state champion at 106 as a freshman two years ago and third at 113 last year; while returning state sixth place finisher Dawson Sihavong (Bullard), ranked No. 17 nationally, is the fourth seed. Olguin has beaten Sihavong the last two weeks for divisional and masters titles.
Though Olguin missed chunks of the season, he has just one loss, and that is to the fifth seed in this event, sophomore Sonny Santiago (St. John Bosco). Santiago was runner-up at the Doc Buchanan, beating Olguin in that tournament, as well as another nationally ranked wrestler in Coltan Yapoujian. He could face an interesting round of 16 match against freshman Luka Wick (San Marino), the 12th seed; the pair split matches at the Battle for the Belt, while Santiago out-placed Wick in winning the southern section masters this past weekend. That of course presumes Wick clears returning state placer Joe Romero (Lemoore) in the round of 32.
Three other returning state placers populate this weight class. Dalton Lakmann (Foothill) was seventh at state last year and is the sixth seed, Enrique Landeros (Orland) placed sixth at state two years ago and is the seventh seed, while two-time state placer Ricky Torres (Oakdale) is the ninth seed. Lakmann beat Landeros to win the northern section masters title, while Torres was the San Joaquin section runner-up to Saenz.
Seeded eighth is returning state qualifier Luis Ramos (Selma), returning state quarterfinalist Ryley Boutain (Benician) is the tenth seed, two-time state qualifier Gabriel Cortez (Northview) is the eleventh seed, and the dangerous Michael Mello (Oak Ridge) is the 13th seed; Mello is a two-time state qualifier and pinned Sihavong at the Zinkin Classic in December.
California 195
The three ranked wrestlers in this weight class all reside in the top ten of the national rankings, and have established a clear chasm between themselves and the rest of the statewide field. The seeds happen to go in order of the national rankings: No. 7 Colbey Harlan (Oakdale), No. 9 Tony Andrade (Gilroy), and No. 10 Ryan Reyes (Clovis West).
Harlan -- last year's runner-up at 182 pounds -- enters as the clear favorite, as he is 3-0 against the two other contenders in this weight. Harlan beat Reyes in both December and January, 2-1 in the Reno TOC final and 3-1 in the Doc Buchanan final; while he beat Andrade 5-1 in the Battle for the Belt final.
Andrade and Reyes were second and third respectively last year in this state tournament weight class, and have split matches during the season; Reyes winning 3-2 in the Doc Buchanan final, and Andrade winning 2-1 in the tiebreaker in the Mid-Cals final. Both wrestlers also have losses to out of state opposition; Andrade getting pinned by Jaylen Woodruff in the Doc Buchanan third place match, while Reyes lost to nationally ranked Jake Thompson in the Powerade semifinal.
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