The field for The Clash X already includes seven of the nation's top 10 teams from the final InterMat Fab 50 poll of the 2010-11 season. Those seven teams include No. 1 Apple Valley (Minn.), No. 3 Brandon (Fla.), No. 4 St. Paris Graham (Ohio), No. 5 St. Edward (Ohio), No. 6 Simley (Minn.), No. 7 Clovis (Calif.), and No. 10 Wisconsin Rapids (Wis.).
Below is a look at the latest entrants to The Clash X.
Marist, Illi.
Marist, located in Chicago, was an all-male school until 2002. The school has a rich wrestling tradition. Marist won state championships in wrestling in 1974 and 1975, and finished as state runner-up in 1976. The RedHawks are guided by head coach Brendan Heffernan, a former Division I wrestler at Illinois who comes from a highly-successful wrestling family at St. Edward, Ohio. His oldest brother, Brian, was the first state champion at St. Edward in 1978. His older brother, Jim, was a four-time All-American at Iowa and currently serves as the head wrestling coach at Illinois. Marist was ranked sixth in Illinois' 3A by IllinoisMatman.com heading into the state series, but fell to third-ranked Minooka, 27-24, at sections. The RedHawks finished last season with a 23-6 dual meet record.
Punahou, Hawaii
Punahou was named the No. 1 U.S. high school athletics program by Sports Illustrated in both 2008 and 2009. The Punahou boys have won five straight state wrestling championships and seven overall. Last season, Punahou, coached by Matt Oney and Jimmy Takatsuka, outdistanced runner-up Kamehameha by 38 points. Punahou returns three indvidual state champions, including two-time state champion Todd Murakawa.
Anoka, Minn.
Anoka has a long and storied wrestling tradition, especially in Greco-Roman. Five Anoka alums have been on the U.S. Olympic Team in Greco-Roman. Those wrestlers include Jim Hazewinkel, Dave Hazewinkel, Dan Chandler, Brandon Paulson, and Jake Deitchler. Anoka claimed a state championship in wrestling in 1990. Jake Begin became Anoka's 49th individual state wrestling champion when he captured the title at 160 pounds in 2011.
Atwater-Cosgrove-Grove City, Minn.
ACGC will be making its Clash debut. The Falcons had five state placewinners this past season and three return this season, including 2010 InterMat JJ Classic champion Hayden Rouser. ACGC finished the regular season ranked fifth in the state by The Guillotine, but failed to qualify for the state tournament after losing narrowly in the section finals.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now