Ohio Division II 152 pounds: Colt Sponseller vs. Josh Rohler
The general consensus in Ohio is that this is the biggest showdown of the 2006 state tournament. Sponseller, only a junior, crushed the opposition to win state at 140 last year as a sophomore and then placed at Junior Nationals in freestyle as well. Sponseller scored a technical fall in the state finals.
Rohler is probably the best wrestler in the nation who has not won state. As a sophomore, he finished second at 140, losing 5-3 (giving up a number of bizarre penalty points) in a match in which he was favored. As a junior, he twice defeated two-time Junior National Freestyle All-American Dave Rella, only to get inexplicably upset in the semifinals by a wrestler that Rella would then technical fall. Rohler would finish third. In the post-season, he redeemed himself by winning the NHSCA Junior National Championships. Not only has Rohler defeated Rella twice, he has also defeated since-graduated stars Dave Erwin (now nationally ranked for Penn State) and three-time Pennsylvania state champion Joey Eckloff. However, he has been hampered this season by a knee injury suffered at the Beast of the East and missed over a month of the season.
The contrast of styles makes this match-up even more interesting. Sponseller is a takedown artist who attacks relentlessly. Rohler is an outstanding counter specialist and mat wrestler. Ohio's ranking services, meanwhile, are as split as the fans as to which wrestler to favor. Legendary wrestling analyst Brian Brakeman picked Sponseller, and had this to say about the match-up:
I think Sponseller will win, though this choice will undoubtedly motivate Rohler. There are three critical factors. It's been more than a month now and Rohler must still have issues with that knee that "no more than two weeks out" now rings as very optimistic. Second, I think Sponseller is better on his feet--a half-step quicker and a great finisher. Third, I wonder about Rohler's reaction in these big bouts. He's wrestled a lot of them in life, but twice now he has struggled at a crucial moment in the state tournament process. This tendency could be exacerbated if his knee is not 100%.
By contrast, OhioWrestlingSite.com picked Rohler, focusing on the elite wrestlers he has defeated in past seasons.
RevWrestling.com Prediction: Rohler over Sponseller
California 112 pounds: Trevor Machado, Justin Paulsen, and Nikko Triggas
Nikko Triggas (Photo by Jon Malinowski)Not so fast. Paulsen stunned the wrestling world by defeating Triggas in double-overtime at the Five Counties tournament in California. Paulsen, himself, is a three-time state place-winner in single-division California. Further complicating this weight is returning state champion Trevor Machado. Machado actually defeated Triggas 13-11 in overtime last season in the state semifinals. Machado would then go on to win easily in the finals, while Triggas scored a technical fall in his third place bout. This year, Triggas avenged his defeat, handing Triggas his only loss of the year by a 4-2 count.
Two other tough competitors who are possibly national caliber wrestler here are Justin Durham and Nicolo Naranjo. Durham had a win over Machado last season, but failed to place at state. Naranjo had a win over Triggas, but Triggas came back to technical fall him in their third place bout. Expect for others to challenge -- as California lower weights are always loaded.
RevWrestling.com Prediction: Triggas over Machado
Pennsylvania AAA 140 pounds: Ashtin Primus vs. Nick Nelson
Here we have a tremendous contrast of styles. Senior Ashtin Primus is the deadliest cradler in the nation, having wracked up 111 pins and counting in his career. The junior Nelson is a control wrestler- a master of winning close bouts. Though they did not wrestle, these two were in the same weight at the 2005 Pennsylvania AAA State Tournament, where Primus won his first state title and Nelson finished third. How tough was this weight class? Zack Kemmerer, this year's Ironman and Beast of the East champion, placed fifth, losing to both Nelson and Primus. Alex Krom, the only wrestler to defeat Adam Frey (Senior National and double Junior Nationals champion) in 2005, placed only fourth, losing to Nelson in the third place bout!
This year, Nelson drew first blood, scoring a fall over Primus at the Super 32 challenge, although Primus was leading at the time. Nelson also defeated Bubba Jenkins at that tournament (considered by many the best 145 in the nation). However, at Powerade, Primus scored a four-point move in the final 15 seconds, to avenge his preseason loss 7-4. Both wrestlers have defeated very tough cadet national champions this fall- with Primus winning over Blair Academy's Mario Mason and Nelson defeating Luke Ashmore of Bishop Lynch in double overtime. These two both rank in the top six in the nation at 140 (along with Lance Palmer, Garrett Scott, Matt Vacanti, and Zach Bailey)- but like last year, only one can be state champion! Look for Nelson to avoid the cradle and pull off the upset in a one-point bout.
Rev Wrestling Prediction: Nelson over Primus
Iowa AAA 119 pounds: Nate Moore vs. Russell Weakley
Nate Moore (Photo by Jon Malinowski)Weakley is himself a two-time state champion. Moore is rated as the No.10 sophomore. He may be rated too low. Both wrestlers are easily among the top ten 119's in the nation. This will be by far the premier match-up of the Iowa state tournament.
Rev Wrestling.com Prediction: Nate Moore over Russell Weakley
Ohio Division II 130 pounds: Adam Kriwinsky, Coby Boyd, Willie Saxton, and Chase Skonieczny
Ohio has packed four national-caliber 130's into a single division in what promises to be the best competition of the 2006 state tournament. Adam Kriwinsky was a state champion at 112 pounds as a sophomore and runner-up at 119 as a junior. Not one for freestyle, he really made a name for himself at the Ironman against Billy Murphy, the nation's best 130. For the first half of that match, Murphy was taking down Kriwinsky and letting him up in what looked like a rout. However, with the score 8-4, Kriwinsky suddenly struck back with a counter takedown of his own. From there, the relentless Kriwinsky had Murphy on the run, falling just short in a 10-9 loss. Kriwinsky uses his long arms to hit cradles and his single-leg, which he typically finishes on the mat.
The wrestler with the most national credentials, but no state finals appearances thus far, is Willie Saxton of Buckeye Local High School. Saxton won the NHSCA Juniors last spring at 125 pounds -- and was a Junior National Freestyle All-American in Fargo as well. He is also a former Cadet National Freestyle runner-up. This year, he has been untouchable -- thrashing defending Division I state champion Kevin Hardy by a 17-6 score early in the season. The only question mark for Saxton may be is schedule -- other than Hardy, he has not faced nearly the competition the others (who compete for top-flight programs) have.
Coby Boyd is one of the top sophomores in the nation (currently ranked as the No.15 sophomore in the Rev Power Rankings). Boyd was FILA Cadet National Freestyle champion last spring and may have more impressive national-level wins than any wrestler in this group. Among his victims over the past two seasons have been junior national All-American Brandon Precin, senior national fourth place finisher Jordan Lipp, Luke Silver (the No.21 junior), Chase Skonieczy, and Quentin Wright. Boyd is hard to score on and can be a pinner -- how a match between him and offensive machine Saxton might go is completely unpredictable.
Skonieczny placed third at Ironman, losing by fall to Boyd but beating Kriwinsky (Boyd beat Skonieczny, Skonieczny beat Kriwinsky, and Kriwinsky beat Boyd). While he failed to place at Beast of the East, he rebounded by winning the Powerade in impressive fashion, beating state champ Hardy for the second time this year and the beating tough Virginia state champ Collin Dozier in the finals (rated as the No.48 junior).
Rev Wrestling.com Prediction: Saxton over Boyd, Kriwinsky third, Skonieczny fourth
Pennsylvania AAA 119 pounds: Nine-headed monster!
We've saved the best for last. There is no class in the nation that can even compare to the depth of the donnybrook that will take place at 119 pounds in Pennsylvania's "AAA" division. There are no fewer than nine wrestlers who would literally win 90% of the state tournaments in this country. Seven state placers return at this weight, including two state champs and two third place finishers. Two other wrestlers have not yet placed but can beat anyone at this weight on a given day. No fewer than four cadet or junior national All-Americans will be competing in this weight.
Let's start with the returning state champions. Matt Kyler is favored by many observers in Pennsylvania, and with good reason. Kyler was the undisputed No. 1 103 in the nation last year. Kyler then moved to 112 for Fargo without missing a beat, finishing first in Greco-Roman and fourth in Freestyle. Continuing to grow, he is now at 119 pounds. However, Kyler hit a snag when he lost for the first time since his sophomore year to Walter Peppelman by an 11-8 count. Peppelman finished third at state last year in a ridiculously tough 103-pound class, losing only two matches all year -- both to Kyler.
The other returning champ is the surprising Chris Sheetz, who sort of came out of nowhere to win over a tough field at 112 last year (there are no easy fields in Pennsylvania "AAA" division- particularly in the lower weights). Sheetz got off to a rocky start, placing fourth at Ironman at 112, (majored and pinned in his losses), then moving up to 119 for Beast where he failed to place, getting pinned by fellow member of the this weight class Matt Bonson (who placed seventh at 103 last year). Since then, Sheetz has rebounded with a 13-5 win over returning state placer Andrew Flegler and a fall over another returning state placer in this weight, Rudy Chelednik. Based on these impressive wins, Sheetz cannot be counted out.
My pick at this weight, however, is none of the aforementioned wrestlers. Russ Souders is a three-time state place-winner transferred from Wilson Area into Easton this year after placing third in the AA division despite being probably the best wrestler in the class. Souders probably should have won state as a sophomore as well, losing in the finals to a wrestler he defeated 7-1 at the previous week's District Finals. This year, Souders vaulted into the national spotlight at the NHSCA Final Four Duals, where he rallied from a 4-0 deficit to defeat the consensus No.1 119-pound wrestler in the nation, Ben Ashmore of Bishop Lynch (TX) High School, by a 9-6 score. Souders has also pinned the very tough Billy Chamberlain.
Chamberlain could be the dark horse here. Though he went 0-2 at state last year, he placed third at the Beast of the East that season and third at Junior Nationals in Greco-Roman. This year he has wins over Chelednik, Flegler, and Bonson but was pinned by Souders. Chelednik is another possibility. A returning seventh-place finisher at 112, he split with Peppelman at Powerade, but has lost to Chamberlain and Sheetz. However, Chelednik posted a recent win over nationally ranked, overwhelming "AA" favorite Troy Dolan. A final dark horse could be Jason Deluca. Deluca is a junior who failed to place at state last season. However, he was beaten at state by the arguable pre-tourney favorite and eventual third place finisher. This year, from my information he appears to be undefeated, with an overtime win over Peppelman. Last year, Chamberlain defeated him by a point.
Rev Wrestling.com Prediction:
1. Russ Souders
2. Matt Kyler
3. Billy Chamberlain
4. Walter Peppelman
5. Matt Bonson
6. Chris Sheetz
7. Rudy Chelednik
8. Jason Deluca
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