The event will be held at the Fitzgerald Field house on the University of Pittsburgh Campus this Sunday, March 27; the main event is at 6:00 p.m., with the undercard preceding it at 4:00 p.m.
When one examines a single state going up against the whole country, it's hard to imagine scenarios in which the event is competitive. Even though the USA has won nine of the last ten against Pennsylvania (2009 being the exception), some of the other Wrestling Classics were competitive, and there are always fantastic individual matches.
This year's Dapper Dan features eleven wrestlers ranked first in the country, with two weights having a No. 1 against No. 2 matchup. Here are the thirteen matches (the 103-pound weight class is not contested).
112: No. 1 Evan Silver (Blair Academy, New Jersey) vs. No. 12 Jordan Conaway (New Oxford)
Silver is a four-time National Prep champion, and was a Junior National freestyle runner-up this past summer. Conaway was state champion this past year after finishing third and sixth the prior two years. One common opponent for the wrestlers is No. 6 Ryan Taylor (St. Paris, Graham Ohio) -- Silver earned a victory against Taylor in the dual meet, while Taylor upended Conaway at the finals of the Top Gun in mid-Jauary.
119: No. 13 Earl Hall (South Dade, Florida) vs. No. 2 (at 125) Mason Beckman (Pennsylvania)
Hall is a four-time state champion, who was third at the Super 32Challenge this past October and also finished third at the NHSCA Junior Nationals last year. Beckman has won championships at the Walsh Ironman and state tournament each of these last two seasons, while he finished second and third at state during his first two years of high school.
125: No. 4 (at 119) Conor Youtsey (Mason, Michigan) vs. No. 1 Nico Megaludis (Franklin Regional)
Youtsey is the second of five wrestlers on the USA team with over 200 career wins, as the three-time state champion finished with a 203-2 record over four years of high school. Last spring he was a FloNationals champion, and during the summer he was Junior National freestyle All-American. Megaludis, one of three four-time champions at the POWERade, earned a third state title this month to cap off a 170-1 career in which his only loss was a 1-0 defeat in the state semifinals his freshman year. The Penn State bound grappler was a Junior National freestyle runner-up in 2009.
130: No. 1 Jesse Thielke (Germantown, Wisconsin) vs. No. 2 Zach Horan (Nazareth)
Thielke is the third of eight on the USA squad to earn four (or more) state titles in his scholastic career. Even though Thielke's greatest exploits have come in Greco-Roman, where he is already on the national ladder at 55 kilos; he has a strong folkstyle background, as shown by his Preseason Nationals title this fall and a 186-1 high school record. Horan earned an elusive state title this month, after runner-up finishes in his first three years of high school. This past year, Horan was a Junior National freestyle runner-up and a Beast of the East champion.
135: No. 1 Hunter Stieber (Monroeville, Ohio) vs. No. 20 (at 140) Travis Shaffer (Derry)
Stieber is one of very few wrestlers to be a four-time finalist at the Walsh Iroman, a tournament that he won as a freshman and again this past year. The younger brother of last year's number one recruit (Logan) has forged quite a reputation of his own with a 203-2 high school record. Shaffer was a state champion this year after placing fourth, fourth, and fifth at state the prior three years. During his junior season, Shaffer was champion at Powerade and the FloNationals. This season, he was seventh at 145 in the Walsh Ironman and placed fourth at 140 in the Powerade.
140: No. 2 Cam Tessari (Monroeville, Ohio) vs. No. 6 Evan Henderson (Kiski Prep)
This is a rematch of the Walsh Ironman final, a match that Henderson won 5-3 with takedowns in the first and third periods. After that match, Tessari went on to become only the third-ever four-time champion at the Brecksville Holiday Invitational Tournament; he also joined Stieber as a four-time state champion, and not losing a match other than at the Ironman. Henderson's journey to a second consecutive National Prep title was a little less “clean”, finishing third at the Beast of the East and POWERade. He also was a National Prep runner-up in 2009, and is a two-time NHSCA grade-level All-American.
145: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (Port Washington, Wisconsin) vs. No. 2 Nick Hodgkins (Wyomissing)
This is the second of two matches featuring the top two ranked wrestlers in the country, and both of them happen to involve USA representatives from the state of Wisconsin. Dieringer was a three-time state champion, finishing as runner-up during his sophomore year. During the past calendar year, he has titles at the Junior National folkstyle and freestyle tournaments, Preseason Nationals, and Cheesehead. Hodgkins has also been on a huge winning streak with titles at the NHSCA Junior Nationals, Super 32Challenge, and Beast of the East. He has four top three finishes in the state tournament -- titles as a sophomore and senior, second as a freshman, and third as a junior.
152: No. 1 Destin McCauley (Apple Valley, Minnesota) vs. Mike Ottinger (Parkland)
Not only is McCauley number one in his weight class, he is also the best wrestler in all the Class of 2011. This five-time state champion has been in the state finals every year since seventh grade (finished second as a sophomore), and earned a Junior National freestyle title this past summer. Ottinger was unable to compete at state as a junior due to injury, but pulled off an upset victory (3-2 in the ultimate tiebreaker) over No. 10 Jason Luster (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) to win the state title at 160 pounds this year.
160: No. 1 Bryce Hammond (Bakersfield, California) vs. No. 3 Travis McKillop (Burrell)
Hammond is a two-time state champion and three-time state placer in the single-class California state tournament. He also was an NHSCA Sophomore Nationals champion in the summer of 2009. After finishing fifth at state the previous two years, McKillop upended No. 4 Cody Wiercioch (Charleroi) 7-3 in overtime to earn his first state title; a victory that also clinched the team championship for No. 30 Burrell. He also defeated defending state champion Wiercioch to win a POWERade championship earlier in the season.
171: No. 1 Logan Storley (Webster, South Dakota) vs. No. 19 John Staudenmayer (Plymouth Whitemarsh)
With a state title this year, Storley joined Lincoln McIlravy and Kirk Wallman as an absolutely rare six-time state champion. Despite getting caught in a mid-season tournament by Preston Lehman (West Fargo), a match in which he was up by double digits, he has been on a superlative winning streak. This includes a NHSCA Junior Nationals championship, Disney Duals Association Division gold medal, and Junior National freestyle championship. Third in the state last year as a junior, Staudemayer was an undefeated state champion this year, and that included a Beast of the East championship. In the off-season, he was a Disney Duals gold medalist and Junior National Greco-Roman medalist.
189: No. 1 Morgan McIntosh (Calvary Chapel, California) vs. Ryan Hembury (Muncy)
Even though McIntosh is part of the “enemy” for this event, he won't be for long in front of the Pennsylvania audience. Bound for Happy Valley to wrestle for Cael Sanderson and the NCAA champion Penn State Nittany Lions, McIntosh is arguably the most dominant wrestler the nation has to offer (ranked No. 2 in all the Class of 2011). He is a three-time state champion and four-time state placer, who has not given up a single takedown during his last two high school seasons. McIntosh was also a FloNationals and Junior National freestyle champion during the past off-season, along with a third place finish at FILA Junior Nationals in freestyle. Hembry earned a state title this month with an 8-4 victory over defending state champion Stephen Ceremuga (Commodore Perry).
215: No. 1 Andrew Campolattano (Bound Brook, New Jersey) vs. No. 16 Garth Lekitsky (Tamqua)
One of two four-time state champions in Garden State history, Campolattano has the all-time victories record for the state of New Jersey with a 175-1 career record. Changing his mind from a verbal commitment to play football at Rutgers, he is arguably the top Class of 2011 wrestling talent/prospect left on the open market. Placing fourth at state last as a junior, Lakitsky capped off an undefeated senior season with a state title this month in Hershey.
285: No. 1 Donny Longendyke (White Bear Lake, Minnesota) vs. No. 15 Terrance Jean-Jacques (Wyoming Seminary)
Longendyke is a three-time state finalist, and won state titles his last two seasons. He was a double Junior National All-American this past summer after being a double Cadet All-American (freestyle champion) in the summer of 2009. Jean-Jacques finished as runner-up at National Preps in his debut season at Wyoming Seminary, after winning a New England regional title in 2009 while competing at Haverhill, Massachusetts. This season, Jean-Jacques was second at the Beast of the East, after finishing second last spring at the NHSCA Junior Nationals.
The nationally-ranked wrestlers competing in the main event of the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic representing the Keystone State is just eleven of the 37 that Pennsylvania has in all. That depth and breadth of talent is truly impressive, and it bears itself out at the next level. This past weekend, ten of the eighty NCAA Division I All-Americans were Pennsylvania natives.
This year's undercard event features a team of the best seniors from the WPIAL whom are not competing the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic main event against a group of seniors from the state of Michigan. Though there are no nationally ranked wrestlers on the Wolverine State roster, six of the 13 ranked wrestlers from the state are seniors; Youtsey is competing in the main event, Devin Pommerenke (Rogers City) is injured, while the other four -- for whatever the reason may be -- are not part of this delegation.
112: Devane Dodgens (Chippewa Hills, Michigan) vs. Paul Bewak (Hempfield Area)
119: Brandon Fifield (Leslie) vs. Derrick Nelson (Waynesburg)
125: Joey White (Dundee) vs. No. 5 Geoff Alexander (Shady Side Academy)
130: Terry Turner (Davison) vs. Dave Makara (Burrell)
135: Camryn Jackson (Lansing Eastern) vs. Jeremy Landowski (Burrell)
140: Brian Gibbs (Bedford) vs. Michael Innes (Chartiers-Houston)
145: Matt Frisch (Oxford) vs. Nick Catalano (Canon-McMillan)
152: Dan Fleet (Lowell) vs. Nick Carr (South Fayette)
160: Matt Vandermeer (Clarkston) vs. Lorenzo Thomas (Pittsburgh Central Catholic)
171: Ben Ralston (Oxford) vs. Nick Bonaccorsi (Bethel Park)
189: Anthony Abro (Canton) vs. Kyle McWreath (Trinity)
215: Jacob Hampton (Haslett) vs. Brian Beattie (Burrell)
285: Cody Wolever (Hespiera) vs. Jeff Tarley (Beth-Center)
Other than the Keystone State of Pennsylvania, which had 37 wrestlers ranked in the top 20 of their respective weight classes, four states also had more than 20 in the rankings: Illinois with 25, Ohio with 24, New Jersey with 23, and California with 22.
The following states had double digit wrestlers in the rankings: Iowa with 16; Minnesota with 15; Michigan with 13; along with Florida, Indiana, and Wisconsin with 11.
In all, 31 states had a wrestler ranked among the nation's best 20 in a weight class. Rounding out the list of states:
8: Virginia
7: Missouri
6: Maryland
5: Idaho
4: Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas, and Washington
3: Colorado, Oklahoma, and South Dakota
2: Montana
1: Kentucky, Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, and Utah
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