Here is a look at the top 10 teenage wrestlers in the United States ...
Aaron Pico, Age: 18
It's scary to think Aaron Pico could still be wrestling high school competition had he chosen the more conventional route. Since focusing strictly on freestyle and turning professional, Pico has established himself as one of the nation's top 65-kilo wrestlers on the senior level and become a contender on the world stage. The 2013 Cadet World champion and 2014 Junior World silver medalist won a gold medal at the Cerro Pelado International in Cuba earlier this year where he defeated two-time U.S. World Team member Reece Humphrey in the finals. Pico's signature win to date, though, is his victory over 2013 World champion David Safaryan of Armenia in the gold-medal match at the Henri Deglane Challenge in France.
Kyle Snyder defeated J'den Cox in the NCAA semifinals (Photo/Rob Preston)Kyle Snyder, a Maryland native, was the nation's No. 1 recruit from the Class of 2014. As a prep wrestler, Snyder compiled a perfect record of 179-0 and won virtually every major event for a high school wrestler. He became a Junior World champion in 2013, and last year earned a bronze medal at the Junior Worlds, losing only to Russia's Georgii Gogaev. He became the youngest two-time Junior World medalist in American history. This year as a true freshman at Ohio State he reached the NCAA finals before losing by pin to Iowa State's Kyven Gadson.
Mark Hall, Age: 18
Mark Hall has been a household name in wrestling circles for several years. The Apple Valley (Minnesota) High School junior was recently named the 2015 InterMat High School Wrestler of the Year. Hall won a Cadet World title in freestyle last summer. He has claimed five Minnesota state high school titles, and next year will look to become Minnesota's first-ever six-time state champion. This past fall Hall dominated the nation's No. 1 recruit high school wrestling recruit Anthony Valenica, 10-2, at FloWrestling's Who's Number One event. He will enter his senior season as the nation's No. 1 recruit. Hall recently said he expects to make his college decision by the start of next wrestling season, and has official visits planned to Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Ohio State and Wisconsin. He hasn't ruled out spending next season at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
Anthony Valencia won his third state championship (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Anthony Valencia, the nation's top recruit, has had a meteoric rise since his freshman season at St. John Bosco High School in California. Early in his high school career he showed flashes of his potential, but lacked the consistency of the nation's elite prep wrestlers. Victories over top wrestlers were mixed in with head-scratching losses. As he grew, he became more consistent and dominant. This year, Anthony and brother Zahid captured their third state championships in California. Anthony beat Mark Hall at the Southwest Kickoff in the fall of 2013, but Hall avenged the loss a year later. Last spring Anthony dominated Isaiah Martinez in two straight matches, 10-0, 10-0, in the best-of-three finals of the FILA (now UWW) Junior World Team Trials.
Jason Nolf, Age: 19
Jason Nolf helped put Penn State on top of the recruiting class rankings a year ago, and will now look to put the Nittany Lions back on top of the college wrestling world. As a high school wrestler, Nolf went 176-1 and claimed three PIAA titles. He put together a tremendous redshirt season in Happy Valley, going 15-1, with his only loss coming to four-time All-American James Green of Nebraska in the finals of the Southern Scuffle. Nolf's impressive run to the Scuffle finals included a victory over Cornell's Brian Realbuto, who would go on to reach the NCAA finals at 157 pounds.
Joey McKenna, Age: 19
Joey McKenna, a Junior World silver medalist last year, deferred enrollment at Stanford this year. In late December, McKenna placed third at the Midlands competing unattached. In February, McKenna, a Blair Academy product, won a gold medal at the Cerro Pelado International, which was his first gold medal on the senior level. He is currently ranked No. 20 in the world at 65 kilos.
Spencer Lee dominated his competition at the Walsh Ironman (Photo/Rob Preston)Lee, a high school sophomore from Franklin Regional, Pennsylvania, is light years ahead of his competition at the high school level. In two years of high school wrestling, Lee has amassed a perfect record of 97-0. In addition to his two PIAA titles, he has won both the Super 32 Challenge and Walsh Ironman two times. Like Mark Hall, Lee won a Cadet World title in freestyle last summer. His mother Cathy was a Pan-American silver medalist in judo and Olympic alternate; his father Larry is former judo national team coach and served as the head coach for the visually impaired judo team for both the 1992 and 1996 Paralympic Games. Lee has drawn comparisons to four-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber, who recently tweeted about Lee: "Great workout this morning with @LeeSpencerlee36 wow he's a beast!!"
Zain Retherford, Age: 19
Zain Retherford redshirted this past season at Penn State after earning All-American honors as a true freshman in 2014. He won a Cadet World title in freestyle in 2012. Last year he sent shockwaves through the wrestling world when he beat Logan Stieber in a dual meet. He came up short of making the Junior World Team in 2014, losing to Aaron Pico in the best-of-three finals of the World Team Trials.
Chance Marsteller, Age: 19
Marsteller has been under a watchful eye ever since his eighth grade year when he competed in a college open and won a match. Amazingly, he lived up to the lofty expectations in high school, finishing his career as a four-time undefeated state champion in wrestling-rich Pennsylvania. Marsteller started his redshirt season at 157 pounds, and after a bit of a slow start moved up a weight class to 165 pounds and showed great promise, placing fourth at the Southern Scuffle. His future looks bright in Stillwater, but with two-time NCAA champion Alex Dieringer returning to the Cowboy lineup next season, and 174-pound All-American Kyle Crutchmer back, it remains to be seen where Marsteller fits into OSU's plans next year.
Zahid Valencia, Age: 18
At one point Zahid Valencia was the nation's No. 1 wrestler in the Class of 2015. He has hovered in the top five in the Class of 2015 for much of his career and finished ranked No. 3 overall, two spots below brother Anthony. The three-time California state champion went through a major growth spurt between his junior and senior years, moving up six weight classes from 132 pounds to 182 pounds. The weight jump didn't seem to hinder his performance, though. In fact, Zahid might be even more dominant now as an upperweight because of his ability to wrestle like a lightweight. This past season he become only the second wrestler ever to win four Walsh Ironman titles, joining David Taylor in that elite club. Zahid and his brother Anthony signed with Arizona State.
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