Yet again it is a star-studded field, especially for the rising seniors, with 45 of the top 100 class of 2018 wrestlers registered to compete. Information about participation in terms of being expected to compete and at what weight class is blended together from what has been published on Flo Arena and what USA Wrestling released in articles on TheMat.com.
Below is a weight-by-weight analysis of the tournament.
100: State medalist Daniel Kimball (Iowa) is after the second leg of the Junior Triple Crown, having won the folkstyle title at this weight class in early April. The lone returning Junior freestyle All-American in this weight class is Brenden Chaowanapibool (Washington). Other notable contenders include returning Cadet double All-Americans Andrew Chambal (Michigan) and Sam Latona (Alabama), state runner-up Cruz Aguilar (Oklahoma), Junior folkstyle runner-up Devin Harmison (Iowa), and 2016 state medalist Jacob Moran (Indiana).
106: Brendon Garcia (Colorado), a two-time state champion, was a double finalist at the Junior Nationals last year in Fargo winning the Greco-Roman title. However, the favorite in this weight class is state champion Justin Cardani (Illinois), a semifinalist at the UWW Cadet freestyle tournament last month competing at 50 kilos. Others to note include 2016 state medalist David Stepanian (Michigan), state runner-up Jarod Kadel (Iowa), and state champion Steele Dias (Nevada).
113: Returning Junior freestyle All-American Cody Phippen (Missouri) will be after the second leg of his Triple Crown, having won the folkstyle title in early April. A pair of Junior freestyle All-American finishers who outplaced him last year at 106 pounds are in this field: Brandon Kaylor (Washington), a Super 32 Challenge and FloNationals placer, and three-time state champion Ty Smith (Nevada). Another pair of returning Junior freestyle All-Americans are Cevion Severado (Missouri) and state champion Riley Weir (Oklahoma).
The lone grade ranked wrestler in this weight is arguably its favorite, Aden Reeves (Iowa), a two-time Cadet freestyle All-American ranked No. 41 in the Class of 2019. Additional contenders include a trio of Super 32 Challenge placers in Ben Kamali (Michigan), Logan Agin (Ohio), and Matthew Cardello (Ohio); Kamali was a Cadet freestyle All-American last year. Some more direct threats to Reeves include returning Cadet freestyle champion Corey Gamet (Michigan), returning Cadet freestyle runner-up Jace Koelzer (Kansas), and two-time state champion Kyle Biscoglia (Iowa).
Others in the field meriting attention include Junior folkstyle runner-up Blake Mateu (Louisiana); returning Cadet freestyle All-Americans Angelo Rini (Ohio), Dylan Ryder (New York), and Eric Barnett (Wisconsin); state champions Kai Orine (Missouri) and Doug Zapf (Pennsylvania); two-time state medalist Dante Mininno (New Jersey), and state medalist Anthony Molton (Illinois).
120: Starting to finally get into the meat of the tournament, though the 113 weight class served as a nice appetizer. This field includes nine grade-level ranked wrestlers, four of whom are returning Junior freestyle All-Americans. Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio), ranked No. 28 in the Class of 2019, is a three-time Fargo finalist (2015 Cadet freestyle champion) and a 2015 Cadet World Team member. Also a rising junior is No. 30 Michael Colaiocco (New Jersey), a National Prep champion. Rising seniors Tommy Hoskins (Ohio) and Patrick McKee (Minnesota) are ranked No. 46 and No. 53 respectively; Hoskins was eighth in this Junior freestyle weight last year, while McKee was third down at 113.
Three other ranked rising seniors are in this field, No. 20 Patrick Glory and No. 56 Antonio Mininno, both from New Jersey, though each is much more a folkstyle wrestler; as well as No. 67 Joey Melendez (Illinois). Glory was a Super 32 Challenge champion in the fall, and is a three-time state finalist (2017 state champ); Mininno placed fourth at the Super 32 and was a state champ in 2016-17; while Melendez is a two-time state champion coming off an excellent Junior Duals where one of his wins came over D'Emilio. The other two grade ranked wrestlers are four-time state champion Connor Brown (Missouri), ranked No. 70 among graduated seniors, and Walsh Jesuit Ironman champion Gabriel Tagg (Ohio), ranked No. 39 in the Class of 2019.
Four additional wrestlers in this weight class were Junior freestyle All-Americans last year, including two-time Fargo freestyle runner-up Rayvon Foley (Michigan). He's joined by a trio of placers from last year's 113 pound weight class in Dominic LaJoie (Michigan), Mike Madara (Pennsylvania), and Clayton Singh (Missouri). Yet more contenders include UWW Cadet freestyle All-Americans Joseph Heilmann (New Jersey) and Kyle Gollhoffer (Georgia), two-time Cadet freestyle runner-up Ridge Lovett (Idaho), and two-time Junior Greco-Roman champion Dack Punke (Illinois).
126: Six grade level ranked wrestlers head the field in this weight, led by defending Junior freestyle champion Gavin Teasdale (Pennsylvania), who ranks fourth among the rising senior class. Two contenders in this weight seek the second leg to a Triple Crown, as they won folkstyle titles in April, Paul Konrath (Indiana) and Jake Gliva (Minnesota). Konrath ranks No. 86 among graduated seniors and was a Junior freestyle runner-up in this weight last year, while two-time state champ Gliva ranks No. 84 among rising seniors.
Two additional members of this six-person group were Junior freestyle All-Americans last year, Alex Thomsen and Bryce West from Iowa, Thomsen is ranked No. 30 in the Class of 2018 while West is ranked No. 81 in the Class of 2017. Also ranked in his grade is Super 32 and UWW Cadet freestyle placer Jakob Camacho (Connecticut), sitting at No. 77 in the Class of 2018. There are two others in the field that were Junior freestyle All-Americans last year, both at 120, in Michigan enrollee Drew Mattin (Ohio) and Oklahoma State enrollee Jet Taylor (Oklahoma).
Others to watch include two-time state champions Brock Henderson (Iowa), Jack Skudlarczyk (Texas), Corbin Nirschl (Kansas), and Chase Bittle (Illinois); state champions McGwire Midkiff (Iowa), also a UWW Junior freestyle All-American, and Ryan Moore (Kentucky); returning Junior Greco-Roman runner-up Austin Macias (Illinois); two-time state placer Robbie Precin (Illinois); and NHSCA Senior Nationals runner-up Tyler Kreith (Missouri).
132: Even with three grade-level ranked wrestlers present, this weight class is soft relative to the weight classes immediately above and below it. Leading the way is UWW Junior freestyle placer Andrew Alirez (Colorado), ranked No. 9 in the Class of 2019 and also a Super 32 Challenge runner-up. The other pair of ranked wrestlers are rising seniors No. 72 Jackson Henson (West Virginia) and No. 99 Andrew Wert (Pennsylvania); Henson was eighth at 60 kilos in April's UWW Junior freestyle tournament.
Another direct contender is four-time state champion Brent Jones (Minnesota), a returning Junior freestyle All-American. Others to watch include four-time state champion Dalton Young (Washington); four-time state placers in 2014 state champ Drew West (Iowa) and 2015 state champ Rylee Molitor (Minnesota); three-time state placers Chase Zollman (California) and Gauge Perrien (Iowa); state placers Tyler Deen (California), Josh Breeding (Ohio), and Caleb Morris (Pennsylvania); along with Coltan Williams (Texas) and state champion Trevor Mansfield (South Carolina).
138: It's back to regularly scheduled programming for Junior freestyle with seven grade level ranked wrestlers in a highly robust weight class led by a pair of graduated seniors, and four-time state champions, in No. 20 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma) and No. 37 Ben Freeman (Michigan); Oklahoma State enrollee Gfeller placed third in Junior freestyle in 2015, while Michigan enrollee Freeman was a two-time Cadet freestyle All-American. There are two other top 100 graduated seniors in this weight class, No. 57 Parker Filius (Montana) and No. 85 Denton Spencer (Georgia); Filius was the Junior folkstyle champion in this weight class in April and is a returning All-American in this weight class.
The three other grade ranked wrestlers are a pair of rising juniors in No. 11 Jaden Abas (California) and No. 22 Jason Kraisser (Maryland), along with Jack Davis (Pennsylvania), who is No. 55 in the Class of 2018; Abas was a Cadet freestyle runner-up last year, while Davis was a Cadet double All-American in 2015. Another pair of notable credentialed wrestlers in this weight class are Junior folkstyle runner-up Jake Bergeland (Minnesota) and returning Junior freestyle All-American Jeremy Schoenherr (Wisconsin).
Additional contenders from this field include state champion Jaden Enriquez (California), two-time state champions Nate Keim (Oklahoma) and Michael Millage (Iowa), three-time state champion Jacob Greenwood (Colorado), and four-time state champion Dakota Galt (South Dakota).
Sammy Sasso (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)145: A mass of talent has assembled in this weight with eight grade ranked wrestlers, including seven among the rising senior Class of 2018. Leading that group would be No. 11 Sammy Sasso (Pennsylvania), a two-time Cadet freestyle finalist (2015 champion), two-time UWW Cadet freestyle runner-up, two-time FloNationals champion, also in 2016-17 picking up a Super 32 and state title. Next from the rising seniors is No. 16 Brayton Lee (Indiana), a two-time state champion and two-time Super 32 placer. Ranked No. 23 in the Class of 2018 is Junior folkstyle champion Alex Lloyd (Minnesota), seventh in this Junior freestyle weight class last year.
Three-time state champion Brock Hardy (Utah) is ranked No. 33 among rising seniors, and beat Sasso for a Cadet freestyle title last year to avenge defeat from the 2015 final. Ranked No. 49 is Brock Mauller (Missouri), a three-time state champion who beat Hardy on the way to a Junior folkstyle runner-up finish this spring. No. 81 Justin McCoy (Pennsylvania) and No. 98 Kasper McIntosh (Indiana) were both UWW Cadet freestyle All-Americans, with each having three state placements but McCoy earning the state gold this March.
The lone ranked graduated senior in this weight is No. 78 Brik Filippo (Oklahoma), a four-time state finalist and two-time champion. Also notable among college bound members of this weight is Zach Barnes (Iowa), a returning All-American in this weight and having won his Junior folkstyle title this summer by beating Mauller in the final.
Additional contenders include two-time state placer Anthony Ulaszek (Colorado), who was undefeated at the Junior Duals; state runners-up Bernard Truax (California), Kiernan Shanahan (New York), and Kendall Coleman (Illinois); 2016 state champion Garrett Model (Wisconsin); state champions Jacob Mariakis (Georgia) and Jake Benner (New Jersey); along with two-time state champions Mason Phillips (Washington) and Roderick Mosley (Oklahoma).
152: Another eight grade ranked wrestlers reside in this weight class, with six of them coming from the rising senior group. It is headlined by returning Junior freestyle champion Anthony Artalona (Florida) and UWW Cadet Nationals double champion Will Lewan (Illinois), who are ranked No. 27 and No. 18 respectively in the Class of 2018.
Additional ranked rising seniors are No. 24 Peyton Robb (Minnesota), No. 45 Justin Ruffin (Georgia), No. 76 Jared Franek (North Dakota), and No. 93 Joshua Kim (California). Two-time state champion Robb lost to Lloyd in the state final this year, lost to Lewan in the UWW Cadet freestyle final, but won gold medals in both styles at the Cadet Pan-Am tournament last week; Super 32 placer Ruffin was undefeated at the Junior Duals last month; Franek was a Cadet freestyle champion last summer; while two-time state placer Kim was third in Junior folkstyle up a weight class.
The other grade level ranked wrestlers are Cameron Amine (Michigan) and Ryan Leisure (Iowa). Amine is No. 32 in the Class of 2019 and was a Cadet double All-American last year, while Iowa State enrollee Leisure is ranked No. 94 in his grade and was a three-time state champion. Others to watch include state champion Zach Axmear (Iowa); state medalist Brian Meyer (New Jersey), a returning Cadet freestyle All-American; and state champion Ashton Habeil (Florida).
160: An absurd nine grade ranked wrestlers are slated to compete in this absolutely filthily talented weight class, one that is led by a pair of rising senior stars in No. 7 David Carr (Ohio) and No. 15 Joe Lee (Indiana); Carr beat Lee to earn the Cadet World Team spot last year at 69 kilos, where he would go onto earn world silver, but Lee beat Carr at the UWW Junior Nationals in the semifinal round this spring.
It may be lost in the midst of a potential Carr vs. Lee showdown, but last year's champion in this weight class is back, and his name is Jake Allar (Minnesota); the Golden Gopher signee finished as the No. 35 overall ranked wrestler in the Class of 2017. Also caught in the robust Class of 2018 noise will be that three-time state placer Austin Yant (Iowa) seeks the second leg of a Junior Triple Crown after earning the folkstyle title in April.
The other ranked Class of 2018 wrestlers are No. 38 Andrew Merola (New Jersey), a two-time National Prep champion; No. 75 Braeden Redlin (Texas), a three-time state champion; No. 80 Markus Hartman (Illinois), a two-time state placer and returning Cadet freestyle runner-up; No. 82 Tyler Dow (Wisconsin), a two-time Cadet National and UWW Cadet National double All-American; and No. 92 Jaryn Curry (Oklahoma), a two-time state champion and 2015 Cadet freestyle runner-up.
Two-time state placer Noah Blake (California) is ranked No. 50 in the Class of 2019. Other notable rising juniors include UWW Cadet freestyle All-American Carson Kharchla (Ohio), returning Cadet freestyle All-American Baylor Fernandes (Illinois), state champion Edmond Ruth (Pennsylvania), and Alex Cramer (Illinois). Additional contenders include three-time state champion Jaron Chavez (Idaho), along with state champions Kenny O'Neil (Minnesota) and Danny Braunagel (Illinois).
170: Four of the top 100 rising seniors headline the field in this weight class, one that is led by returning Cadet world bronze medalist Travis Wittlake (Oregon). Wittlake is ranked No. 3 in the Class of 2018 and was a Cadet Triple Crown winner last year after winning folkstyle and Greco-Roman titles in 2015. Two-time Super 32 placer Trent Hidlay (Pennsylvania) is ranked No. 22 among rising seniors and a returning Junior freestyle All-American. Ranked No. 85 is Billy Higgins (Nebraska), who was undefeated at the Junior Duals; while returning All-American in this weight class Josh Ramirez (Louisiana) is ranked No. 100, and was also the Junior folkstyle runner-up in this weight.
Two graduated seniors were Junior freestyle All-Americans last year, Max Wohlabaugh (Florida) was runner-up at 160 to Allar, while Jackson Hemauer (Wisconsin) was third in this weight class. Three other notable Class of 2017 wrestlers are Andrew Berreyesa (Nevada), Brit Wilson (Missouri), and Hayden Hastings (Wyoming).
Additional contenders include UWW Cadet freestyle All-American Jeremiah Kent (Missouri); returning Cadet double All-American Josh Stillings (Pennsylvania); state champion and Cadet freestyle All-American Zach Braunagel (Illinois); state champions Daniel Butler (Kansas), David Crawford (Ohio), and Tate Samuelson (Colorado); two-time state placers Ben Sarasin (Iowa) and Colt Yinger (Ohio); along with multi-time placer Leo Tarantino (New Jersey).
182: A group of six nationally ranked wrestlers feature in this weight class, including a pair of graduated seniors in No. 54 Max Lyon (Iowa) and No. 76 Matthew Waddell (Georgia). The Purdue enrollee Lyon won Junior folkstyle in this weight back in April, while Oklahoma enrollee Waddell is a returning All-American in this weight class. The other four are rising seniors: No. 31 Jack Jessen (Illinois), No. 40 Anthony Montalvo (California), No. 43 Aaron Brooks (Maryland), and No. 86 Tyler Barnes (New York).
Jessen was runner-up to Lyon in Junior folkstyle, is a two-time state runner-up, and a returning Junior freestyle All-American; Montalvo won state this past year and is a two-time finalist; Brooks was runner-up to Wittlake at UWW Cadet freestyle this spring, and was a Cadet National double champion last summer; while state champion Barnes was runner-up to Wittlake in both styles last summer in Fargo.
Additional notable rising seniors include three-time state placer Anthony Sherry (Iowa); state runner-up Lucas Davison (Indiana), a Cadet freestyle runner-up last year; two-time state placer Victor Marcelli (Ohio), the only wrestler to beat Wittlake in Fargo; two-time state runner-up Easton Rendleman (Oklahoma); state medalist Hunter DeJong (Iowa), a returning Cadet double All-American; and state champion Caden Steffen (Minnesota).
Other notable graduated wrestlers include state champions Myles Wilson (Colorado), Cameron Caffey (Illinois), and Jake Lanning (Illinois); as well as state runner-up Mac Southard (Iowa).
195: Five more grade ranked wrestlers make the field in this weight class, headlined by Iowa enrollee Jacob Warner (Illinois), ranked No. 7 overall in the Class of 2017. Warner ended the 2016-17 season ranked No. 1 in this high school weight class after earning bronze at Cadet Worlds last summer. Two other ranked from the graduated senior group are No. 24 Jake Woodley (Pennsylvania) and No. 79 Colton Wolfe (Nebraska); Woodley, an Oklahoma enrollee is a returning Junior freestyle All-American, while Wolfe is headed for Nebraska.
It's a pair of ranked wrestlers from the rising senior group, No. 21 Brandon Whitman (Michigan) and No. 51 Joel Shapiro (Iowa); Whitman was double fifth at Junior Nationals last summer and fifth at the Super 32 Challenge, with Shapiro an undefeated state champ in high school while also going undefeated at both the Disney Duals and Junior Duals last month.
Other contenders include returning Junior freestyle All-American Samuel Grove (North Dakota), two-time state champion Bear Hughes (Oklahoma), state champion Kendall Elfstrum (New York), state runners-up Cody Howard (Ohio) and Logan Schumacher (Iowa), along with state medalist Sergio Villalobos (Illinois).
220: A pair of top 70 rising seniors anchor this weight class in No. 66 Francis Duggan (Iowa) and No. 69 Zach Elam (Missouir); Duggan placed third in this Junior freestyle weight last year, while Elam was runner-up in Junior folkstyle this April. The third grade ranked wrestler in this weight class is No. 44 overall rising junior Tyler Curd (Missouri), a state champion and returning Cadet freestyle third place finisher.
Other contenders include Chris Kober (Pennsylvania), UWW Cadet freestyle runner-up Jace Punke (Illinois), returning Junior Greco-Roman champ Haydn Maley (Oregon), along with two-time state champions in Sam Peterson (Washington), Max Darrah (Missouri), and Chase Trussell (Utah).
285: The four wrestlers that ended the 2016-17 high school season ranked nationally in this weight class are the headline figures in this field, led by Junior folkstyle champion Anthony Cassioppi (Illinois). The Iowa commit is ranked No. 32 in the Class of 2018, the returning runner-up in this weight class, was undefeated last month at the Junior Duals, and beat Metz on the way to a semifinal appearance at the UWW Junior Nationals in April.
North Dakota State enrollee Brandon Metz (North Dakota) finished his career ranked No. 32 in the Class of 2017 and was third in Junior freestyle last summer; Iowa enrollee Aaron Costello (Iowa) was runner-up to Cassioppi in Junior folkstyle, and finished as the No. 75 overall wrestler in the Class of 2017; while Chattanooga enrollee Sammy Evans (Tennessee) was a four-time state champ and runner-up at the NHSCA Senior Nationals this spring.
A fourth grade ranked wrestler in this weight is two-time state placer Spencer Trenary (Iowa), No. 49 in the Class of 2019 and a Cadet Greco-Roman champion last year. Other contenders include returning Junior freestyle All-American Zach Muller (Illinois); FloNationals placer Brandon Reed (Kentucky); three-time state champion Brian Barnes (Oregon); two-time state placers Jon Spaulding (Ohio) and Jake Levengood (California); last year's Cadet freestyle champion Montana Phillips (Oklahoma); Super 32 placers Sammy deSeriere (Colorado), Keaton Kluever (Wisconsin), and Paul Robinson (Georgia); UWW Cadet freestyle champion Jordan Earnest (Wadsworth); along with state runners-up Austin Emerson (Michigan) and John McConkey (Iowa).
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