Carson Manville was a runner-up at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle (Photo/Sam Janicki)The Class of 2021 becomes a "self-contained" group in the rankings, extending from a top 15 for all junior high wrestlers to a top 25 overall ranking of the rising freshmen. The unequivocal leader of this group is Carson Manville (Shakopee, Minn.), who has seemingly done about "everything under the sun" so far in his wrestling career, including winning a high school varsity title in Minnesota's big-school division at 126 pounds this past season. Most recently, Manville went undefeated in both styles at the Cadet Duals competing at 126 pounds, and was a UWW Cadet National runner-up in freestyle at 58 kilograms, as well as finishing third in Greco-Roman. Also this spring, he won double titles at the Northeast, Northern Plains, and Southeast Cadet regional tournaments.
Most notable in moving up the rankings among the rising freshman group is Ryan Sokol (Simley, Minn.), who has a pair of state medals in high school varsity competition (third at 113, fifth at 106) prior to entering the ninth grade. He jumps from being unranked in junior high to third overall in the Class of 2021. This spring, Sokol was a champion in both styles at the Northern Plains regional before going undefeated in freestyle at the Cadet Duals, including wins over an Illinois state champion and a National Prep champion from New Jersey. The third Minnesota wrestler in the top 25 is Reid Ballantyne (Stillwater), who was a state champion this year at 106 pounds in the big-school division. Ballantyne also claimed a title at the InterMat JJ Classic in the fall.
Among the ranked rising freshmen, five of them are from Ohio and California respectively.
Leading the contingent from the Buckeye State is No. 4 Padraic Gallagher (St. Edward), who placed eighth at 63 kilograms in the UWW Cadet freestyle tournament earlier this month. Also ranked is No. 7 Victor Voinovich (Brecksville), a FloNationals high school division placer; No. 9 Cole Skinner, the Cadet World Team member in freestyle at 42 kilograms; No. 17 Alek Martin (St. Paris Graham); and No. 22 Hudson Hightower (St. Edward). The Golden State contingent is led by No. 6 Isaac Salas (St. John Bosco), who was runner-up in freestyle at the UWW Cadet Nationals at 50 kilograms and a Cadet National folkstyle champion at 106 pounds; also ranked are No. 8 Ryan Franco (Clovis North), a Cadet folkstyle runner-up at 120 pounds; No. 12 Joseph Martin (Buchanan) placed fourth in Cadet folkstyle also at 120; No. 16 Richard Figueroa (Selma) was seventh in freestyle at the UWW Cadet Nationals at 46 kilograms; along with No. 24 Maximo Renteria.
Also with three wrestlers ranked is the state of New Jersey, with Travis Mastrogiovanni (Blair Academy) holding the No. 2 position, who went 5-1 in freestyle at the Cadet Duals, his lone loss coming to Manville by 16-6 technical fall. Also ranked are No. 10 Dean Peterson (St. John Vianney) and No. 13 Shayne Van Ness (Blair Academy).
Link: Top 25 Freshmen (Platinum)
Among the junior high wrestlers, which consist of those in the Class of 2022 or younger, Jordan Williams (Collinsville, Okla.) will lead the group of 15. He was a Schoolboy Nationals champion in folkstyle at 91 pounds this spring, while during the 2016-17 year he also won titles in the Super 32 Challenge and Preseason Nationals middle school divisions, and the 12U division at the Tulsa Kickoff Classic and Tulsa Nationals.
Ranked second in this group is Nic Bouzakis (Citrus Park Christian, Fla.), who won a high school varsity state title in the small-school division at 106 pounds in addition to a Preseason Nationals middle school division title and 15U division titles at the Tulsa Nationals and Reno Worlds. Third-ranked Chance Lamer (Oregon) was a Cadet National folkstyle champion at 88 pounds this spring and a UWW Cadet National freestyle runner-up at 42 kilograms earlier this month; while No. 4 Ryan Crookham (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) was a Super 32 middle school division champion in the fall and a UWW Cadet National freestyle All-American at 46 kilograms earlier this month.
Link: Top 15 Junior High Wrestlers (Platinum)
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