106: Entering the tournament as the favorite is No. 12 Jack Mueller (Trinity Christian, Texas). The freshman Mueller placed second at the Preseason Nationals, fifth at the Walsh Ironman (including a win over No. 3 Austin Assad in the quarterfinals), and won the Prep Slam. Nominal challenges will be mounted by Matt Deehan (Blair Academy, N.J.); Logan Havrich (Cape Henry Collegiate, Va.), who placed eighth at the Beast of the East; Adam Whitesell (Good Counsel, Md.); T.K. Megonigal (McDonogh, Md.); and Joey Prata (St. Christopher’s, Va.), a Cadet National double All-American.
113: Charles Tucker (Blair Academy, N.J.), last year’s runner-up in this weight class and a Cadet National freestyle runner-up this summer, enters the tournament as the favorite. Leading contenders include fellow National Prep runner-up Danny Boychuck (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), National Prep third place finisher Ryan Friedman (St. Paul’s, Md.), and Beast of the East placer Steve Simpson (St. Mary’s Ryken, Md.).
120: No. 2 Matthew Kolodzik (Blair Academy, N.J.) enters the weekend prohibitively favored to add a National Prep title to the state title that he won in Ohio last year as a freshman. On the season, Kolodzik was runner-up at the Walsh Ironman and Beast of the East, and champion at the POWERade; while last off-season, he was a Cadet National freestyle champion. Leading the battle for second are impressive freshman Kevin Budock (Good Counsel, Md.), who placed seventh at the POWERade, and Will Crisco, a New England regional champion last year.
126: Two-time National Prep placer Judson Preskitt (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), who was also runner-up at this year’s Walsh Ironman, enters this event ranked No. 20 nationally and the favorite to win a maiden National Prep title. Leading the pack of challengers is two-time National Prep placer Jack Mutchnik (St. Paul’s, Md.); Zeke Salvo (Mt. St. Joseph, Md.), a state champion last year in Maryland’s public school tournament; returning placer Christian Doyle (McKinney Christian Academy, Texas); and Alex Rinaldi (Blair Academy, N.J.)
132: Joey McKenna (Blair Academy, N.J.), ranked No. 6 nationally, is a rather strong favorite to win his third National Prep title in as many seasons of competition even with the presence of No. 14 Andrew Atkinson (Liberty Christian Academy, Va.), a three-time National Prep placer. Two other returning National Prep placers are present, Geoff Verallis (Northfield Mt. Hermon, Mass.) and Scott Strappelli (John Carroll, Md.)
138: No. 5 Alfred Bannister (Bishop McNamara, Md.), Oustanding Wrestler at the Beast of the East, enters the tournament as the strong favorite to ascend one step higher on the podium after last year’s runner-up finish. Among those in the challenge pack are two-time National Prep placer Xavi Ramos (McDonogh, Md.), returning placer David Mohler (Loyola, Md.), 2012 New England regional placer Jake Savoca (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), and Walker Dempsey (Blair Academy, N.J.)
145: This is an extremely deep weight, as it is anchored by Cadet National double finalist Mason Manville (Blair Academy, N.J.), who is ranked No. 6 in the weight class below after a season that included runner-up finishes at the Ironman, Beast of the East, and POWERade. However, right on the same level as Manville is defending champion Jack Clark (McDonogh, Md.), who is ranked No. 14 in this weight class and was runner-up at the Beast of the East. Of slight relevance is that Clark earned a freestyle win over Manville at the FILA Cadet Nationals almost nine months ago. Four other National Prep placers are featured in this weight class as well: three-time placer George Weber (John Carroll, Md.), Junior Greco All-American Tyrel White (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), Michael Sprague (Georgetown Prep, Md.), and Cole Graves (Archbishop Spalding, Md.)
152: Just as deep a weight, in fact deeper, is this one led by defending champion Russ Parsons (Blair Academy, N.J.), who is No. 5 nationally after winning titles at the Walsh Ironman, Beast of the East, and POWERade during the month of December. Challengers include returning runner-up Toby Hague (McDonogh, Md.); two-time placer Bryce Pappas (St. Mary’s, Md.); along with returning placers Logan Breitenbach (Archbishop Spalding, Md.), Zack Kelly (The Kiski School, Pa.), Robert Janis (St. Christopher’s, Va.), Max Smith (MDAC, Md.), and William Crozier (Germantown Academy, Pa.)
160: One of the great showdown matches of the National Prep championships should come in this weight with No. 8 Myles Martin (McDonogh, Md.) and No. 10 Josh Llopez (St. Mary’s Ryken, Md.) anchoring the weight class. These two wrestlers split their two matches in December that reached completion – Llopez won in overtime at the Ray Oliver Invitational, while Martin scored a 1-0 victory in the semifinals at the Beast of the East. Martin was runner-up at National Preps last year as a freshman, and a Cadet freestyle runner-up over the summer; while Llopez is a two-time Maryland public-school champion, was a Junior National freestyle champion this summer, and Super 32 Challenge runner-up. Others in this weight class include returning placer Greg Bacci (Malvern Prep, Pa.), freshman sensation Chris Weiler (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), and Jack Wedholm (Blair Academy, N.J.)
170: Defending champion Patrick Coover (Blair Academy, N.J.) enters the tournament as a slight favorite, with five other returning wrestlers looking to provide a challenge. Those being Troy Murtha (Georgetown Prep, Md.), who finished third in this weight last year and fifth in the Super 32 Challenge up at 182 pounds; Nicky Hall (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), a two-time state placer in New York; Conan Schuster (Loyola, Md.), fifth last year at National Preps; Trevor Bradford (St. Thomas, Texas), sixth last year in this event; and Terrell Forbes (St. Benedict’s, N.J.), who finished seventh last year in this event.
182: Already three-times a National Prep finalist, No. 1 Eric Morris (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) seeks a second consecutive National Prep title to go with the pair of runner-up finishes that he accrued as a freshman and sophomore. He is the strong favorite to add this title to a season resume that includes titles at the Walsh Ironman and Beast of the East. Primary challengers include Addison Knepshield (Blair Academy, N.J.), fourth at National Preps in 2011, and Tyler Patrick (McDonogh, Md.)
195: Defending champion Frank Mattiace (Blair Academy, N.J.), ranked No. 3 nationally, seems to make it a pair of National Prep titles to go with his pair of Walsh Ironman titles. He is the clear favorite to do so despite a solid group of alternatives that includes returning placer Spencer Neff (Good Counsel, Md.), who was third at the Super 32; Beast of the East placer Daniel Hawkins (Mt. St. Joseph, Md.); and additional returning placers in L.J. Barlow (Haverford School, Pa.) and Matt Doggett (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.)
220: Kyle Snyder (Good Counsel, Md.) has yet to lose a high school match and is after a third National Prep title in as many seasons. Ranked No. 1 in the country, he has had one match go the distance all year, a major decision victory over No. 3 Thomas Haines, and has arguably had the best season of any wrestler in the country. If one was to take Snyder out of this field, it would still be excellent. Those headline wrestlers include post-graduate McZiggy Richards (St. Benedict’s Prep, N.J.), David Showunmi (Blair Academy, N.J.), 2011 National Prep placer Shane Cockerlie (Gilman, Md.), Walsh Ironman placer Marshall Hollerith (St. Christopher’s, Va.), and No. 11 Garrett Ryan (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), a Junior National double All-American.
285: Seeking a third National Prep title and fourth finals appearance is No. 2 Brooks Black (Blair Academy, N.J.). It is extremely likely he will wrestle No. 8 Michael Johnson, Jr. (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) in a rematch of last year’s championship bout. Others to watch include Jemal Averette (Good Counsel, Md.)
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