No. 1 Red seeks to cap off an undefeated career
Chad Red (New Palestine, Ind.) enters this weekend's state tournament ranked No. 1 in the nation at 132 pounds with a career scholastic record of 179-0. His resume also includes a Super 32 Challenge title, a FloNationals title, and a Fargo freestyle title. Barring some sort of cataclysm, Red will have a semifinal rematch with Elliott Molloy (Danville, Ind.), whom he beat 11-4 last year at that stage; Molloy has an 87-2 mark these last two seasons, the other loss coming by technical fall to Nick Lee last week.
Assuming those three wins, Red will enter Saturday night's state final bout with a career mark of 182-0. The most likely opponent would be No. 4 Nick Lee (Evansville Mater Dei, Ind.), who has a career record of 81-1 entering the state tournament; the lone loss to Stevan Micic two years ago in the state semifinal as a freshman. Lee missed most of this season, but has been a ball of fire since return. His path to the state final should be a breeze except for a likely state semifinal with 2014 state placer Brendan Black (Hobart, Ind.).
The 2015-16 high school match of the year would be this one at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, opponents with a combined career mark of 266-1 meeting for a singular state title.
Other Hoosier State notables
Two nationally ranked teams are among the primary contenders for the tournament title in single-class Indiana, No. 29 Brownsburg and No. 34 Warren Central. Leading the way with eight qualifying for state is Warren Central, while Brownsburg qualified seven for state along with defending state champion Penn and Portage. Those to qualify six were Evansville Mater Dei, Indianapolis Cathedral, and Yorktown; both Mater Dei and Cathedral lost a state qualifier at the semi-state level.
In order to place at the state tournament, wrestlers must win their first match. That guarantees an eighth place finish; semifinalists are guaranteed a top four finish.
Two weight brackets other than 132 also feature a pair of nationally ranked wrestlers. Returning state champion Blake Rypel (Indianapolis Cathedral) and returning state placer Andrew Davison (Chesterton) both enter the state tournament undefeated at 182 pounds; the pair of wrestlers are ranked No. 5 and No. 19 nationally, but have been placed in the same half-bracket. Two other state placers return in this weight class, Cameron Jones (Lawrence North) and David Eli (Elkhart Memorial), each placing seventh last year; they are both in the bottom quarter bracket of the draw, Eli a semi-state champ and Jones losing to Rypel in the semi-state final.
The 220 pound weight class features all four semi-state champions having undefeated records, including nationally ranked wrestlers in No. 6 Kobe Woods (Penn) and No. 18 Mason Parris (Lawrenceburg). Woods is the defending state champion in this weight class, while Parris placed third last year at 182 as a freshman. Returning state fifth placer Gunnar Larson (Avon) is the other semi-state champion in the half-bracket with Woods, while returning state eighth placer Evan Ellis (Eastern) joins Parris as a state champion in the top half-bracket. Two other returning state placers are in this weight as well, both in the bottom half-bracket, fourth place finisher Sam Hipple (Carmel) and seventh place finisher Ryan Guhl (Indianapolis Cathedral). Hipple was runner-up to Parris at semi-state, while Guhl lost to Ellis; Hipple is in the quarter with Larson, while Guhl would hit Woods in the quarterfinal.
Cael McCormick (Yorktown), undefeated and ranked No. 13 nationally at 152 pounds is going to have a pretty stern path if he is to win a state title after finishing 4th/6th/DNP in three previous tournaments. The likely quarterfinal is against returning state fourth place finisher Elijah Dunn (Indian Creek), while a semifinal date with returning state runner-up (and two-time state placer) Steven Lawrence (Portage) is likely in the offing. The semi-state champions in the other half-bracket are Trent Pruitt (Warren Central) and Andrew Herrin (Jennings County).
No. 30 Southeast Polk vs. No. 31 West Des Moines Valley
With No. 33 Fort Dodge (Iowa) deciding to tank their district dual meet tournament by wrestling reserves, a move that in my opinion is antithetical to the competitive spirit, the Iowa Class 3A (big-school) dual meet tournament is now a two-team battle. CIML rivals Southeast Polk and West Des Moines Valley will likely wage another chapter in their month-plus saga.
The Rams, ranked 30th nationally, have swept the dual meet and individual tournament titles in two of the last three seasons (finishing 2nd in both during 2014). On the season, they beat West Des Moines Valley 34-23 (8-6 matches) on Jan. 16 in a dual meet; the Tigers responded with an individual bracket title at the Ed Winger Classic, 203-202, on January 23rd; the following Friday, Southeast Polk countered with a tournament title at the CIML meet, 233.5-196.5; and then this past Saturday, Southeast Polk won the district title ever so narrowly, 247-244.5
Southeast Polk opens the dual meet tournament on Wednesday with Clinton, who was not ranked in the most recent Class 3A top ten dual meet rankings by The Predicament; while West Des Moines Valley is matched against tenth-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock. The Rams are going to see either fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie or sixth-ranked Johnston; while the Tigers will face either fourth-ranked Dubuque Hempstead or unranked Indianola.
In the regular season dual meet, Southeast Polk went "straight up" with the exception of a backup at 160 pounds (the starter qualified for state, however he would lose decisively against West Des Moines Valley in this weight class anyway). The Tigers also went "straight up" with the exception of a backup at 113 (the starter was third at the district, while Southeast Polk's starter was the champion at district).
The results of said dual meet corresponded perfectly with the weight classes that each team placed higher in at the district tournament. The best chance for West Des Moines Valley to reverse the dual meet is some combination of lineup creativity, flipping the 152 match (Jones of Southeast Polk is 2-1 against Nicholson this year winning 5-4 and 8-6 but losing the middle meeting), and different outcomes related to bonus point accruals.
Additional Hawkeye State highlights
In the Class 3A individual bracket state tournament, the three nationally ranked teams (Southeast Polk, West Des Moines Valley, and Fort Dodge) each qualified nine to the state tournament. Lewis Central qualified the most to state in big-school with 11, but they are not even ranked top ten in the final tournament strength rankings from The Predicament; it should be noted they were the beneficiaries of a terrible district tournament.
Each team has eight wrestlers ranked in the top ten of the final individual weight class rankings; Southeast Polk has two projected state champs and six projected (mid-to-high) state placers, West Des Moines Valley has three projected state champs and eight projected state placers (five mid-to-high), while Fort Dodge has three projected state champs and seven projected state placers (six mid-to-high).
There is no showdown of multiple ranked wrestlers within the same state tournament weight class this year in Iowa. However, here are some notable weight classes with ranked wrestlers facing stern tests.
No. 11 Aden Reeves (Albia) is in the lower half-bracket of the Class 2A 106 pound weight class. The top bracket features a potential semifinal match between undefeated wrestlers in Shea Ruffridge (Pocahontas) and Eric Faught (Clear Lake).
No. 12 Alex Thomsen (Underwood) is undefeated entering his sophomore year state tournament already with 90 career wins, including a 5-4 win in last year's state quarterfinal over 2014 state champion Drew West (Highland Riverside). That quarterfinal defeat is the only loss in West's career to date, as he enters this week 148-1. Those two wrestlers are positioned to meet in the state final on Saturday night at 126 pounds in Class 1A
Though No. 4 Carter Happel (Lisbon) is an extreme favorite at 145 pounds in Class 1A, this week should culminate some extraordinary milestones for the future Hawkeye. Heading into the state dual meet and individual tournaments, Happel has an unofficial win streak of 162 and seeks the 200th win of his remarkable career on Wednesday morning against just one loss. That loss came in the district dual meet tournament his freshman year. Saturday night's state final is most likely to be against either the undefeated Trent Johnson (Dike-New Hartford) or returning state runner-up Trey Brisker (Wilton); Johnson is also a two-time state placer, Brisker was runner-up to Happel last year at state and in the district this past weekend, those two meet opening round on Thursday.
No. 7 Colton Clingenpeel (Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson) is undefeated for the season at 152 pounds and a two-time state placer in Class 3A. His de facto state final is the likely quarterfinal against two-time state placer Kyle Briggs (Cedar Rapids Jefferson), while the likely state final is against returning state placer Christian Foote (Pleasant Valley).
Regretfully at 285 pounds, there is no "super state" concept as two of the nation's top five wrestlers in the weight class are prohibitive favorites in different classifications. Gannon Gremmel (Dubuque Hempstead) is 42-0 and positioned to get the state title that has eluded him in his career (2nd/5th/3rd), while fellow three-time state placer Carter Isley (Albia) is 37-0 and seeking a second state title in a third state finals appearance; Gremmel is in Class 3A, and Isley in Class 2A.
Land of Lincoln, Land of Rematches
Of the six weight classes in the Illinois Class 3A tournament (big-school) where multiple nationally ranked wrestlers are present, five of those involve wrestlers that competed in last weekend's sectional tournaments against one another.
At 106 pounds, No. 12 Joey Melendez (Montini Catholic) beat No. 18 Hassan Johnson (Brother Rice) 2-0 in the sectional final. Johnson is in the upper half bracket paired with P.J. Ogunsanya (Oak Park River Forest) as a potential quarterfinal opponent, with Marcus Povlick (Plainfield North) -- the top rated wrestler in the weight class per Illinois Matmen -- as a semifinal opponent. It would be fair to say that Melendez is the clear favorite to clear the lower half-bracket.
At 113 pounds, No. 2 Real Woods (Montini Catholic) beat No. 20 Louie Hayes (Carl Sandburg) for the second time in as many meetings on the season, 5-2 in the sectional final. Woods is looking at a likely semifinal match against Roberto Campos (Oak Park River Forest), while Hayes is most likely to face the winner of a quarterfinal battle involving returning state qualifiers in Charles Faber (Glenbard West) and Holden Heller (Deerfield).
At 126 pounds, No. 4 Austin Gomez (Glenbard North) beat No. 17 Anthony Madrigal (Oak Park River Forest) 8-1 in the sectional final. However, a note of caution is that Gomez lost to Huskies' teammate Jason Renteria in the sectional final last year before upsetting him in the state final; though such a reversal in outcome is not likely this year. Two other returning state placers also squared off in another sectional final, Jacob Silzer (St. Rita) beat Jimmy Pawleski (Montini Catholic). Pawleski is likely to match up against Gomez in a state semifinal. Silzer has to clear David Rivera-Kohr (Evanston) in the quarterfinal round before a potential semifinal against either Madrigal or returning state qualifier Christian Kanzler (Fox Lake Grant).
At 132 pounds, No. 5 Rudy Yates (Carl Sandburg) beat No. 7 Dylan Duncan (Montini Catholic) for the second time this season, 7-5 in the sectional semifinal round; in the final, Yates beat returning state runner-up Anthony Cheloni (Marmion Academy) for a second time as well on the season, 5-4. Yates is looking at most likely facing two-time state placer Gabe Townsell (Oak Park River Forest) in the semifinal, though he would have to possibly clear Miguel Romero (Prospect) -- a wrestler that scored an upset pin over Townsell last week -- in the quarterfinal. Down in the lower half, a Duncan vs. Cheloni semifinal is most likely, though Cheloni could have the 46-1 Danny Madonia (Conant) in the quarterfinal.
Three ranked wrestlers at 182 pounds exited the same sectional and should have no problem finishing 1-2-3 at the state tournament. No. 13 Jack Jessen (Willowbrook) beat No. 20 Patrick Brucki (Carl Sandburg) 4-3 in the semifinal before losing 6-4 to No. 7 Nathan Traxler (Marmion Academy) in the final. Jessen was runner-up at state last year as a freshman, Brucki third last year as a sophomore, while Traxler won a title last year as a junior. Barring the weird, Traxler should be in the final with Jessen in a semifinal against either Brucki or the undefeated Matt Wroblewski (Prospect).
Two nationally ranked wrestlers also reside in the Class 3A 152 pound weight class, No. 12 Trace Carello (Marmion Academy) and No. 17 Nick Foster (Belleville West), both wrestlers placing third at state last year. Carello won his sectional tournament, while Foster lost 3-1 in upset fashion to returning state placer Trevell Timmons (Lockport). The resulting draw is the following: Carello and Foster are slated to meet in a semifinal match, though Dylan Geick (Stevenson) is a very dangerous first round opponent for Foster, with Timmons and 2014 state runner-up Fernie Silva (Hononegah) as the likely lower-bracket semifinal.
Rocky Mountain showdown
The opening weight of the Class 5A (big-school) state tournament features a pair of ranked wrestlers in No. 15 Malik Heinselman (Castle View) and No. 20 Mosha Schwartz (Ponderosa). Heinselman is 40-1 with his only loss of the season coming 11-6 to Schwartz in the opening weekend of the season, though Heinselman has multiple off-season wins over Schwartz across styles.
Schwartz is 40-6 on the season with the following tournament placements: 4th at the Ironman, champion at Reno TOC, 7th at Doc Buchanan, 4th at Top of the Rockies, and champion at Rocky Welton. Losses on the season are to the unranked Christian Nunez (St. John Bosco, Calif.), No. 12 Joey Melendez (Montini Catholic, Ill.), Matthew Olguin (Buchanan, Calif.), twice to Nathan Bonham (Pueblo County), and one to Andrew Lucero (Pueblo East); Bonham and Lucero are in opposite half-brackets of the Class 4A tournament at 106 in Colorado. Schwartz did avenge his loss to Lucero, and also has two wins over the third notable in this Class 5A weight class in Coltan Yapoujian (Pomona).
Schwartz beat Yapoujian 3-2 in the Reno TOC semifinal and then 6-5 in the tiebreaker in the Top of the Rockies semifinal. Yapoujian is in the half-bracket with Heinselman, while Schwartz is more or less by himself.
Results from all state tournaments so far
View results from all the state tournaments here.
Additions for this week:
Dual: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina
Individual: Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Montana, and Utah
Buckeye State showdowns
Dual team championships were decided in Ohio on Sunday at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. No. 3 St. Paris Graham cut through the Division II field like a knife through butter only losing four bouts across three dual meets. The highlight in that division was a "winner take all" last bout in the semifinal round between Wauseon and Steubenville; two unheralded wrestlers took to the mat with Wauseon leading 33-31, Alex Sosa (Wauseon) trailed 2-0 early in the second period before reversing his opponent to his back to secure the fall and a 39-31 victory.
In Division III, the small school division, No. 25 Delta emerged as champion. The Panthers secured nine match victories in every single dual meet along the way. A couple of individual bouts highlighted the competition on the day. In Delta's first round match against Shadyside, it was a battle of two-time state placers as Greg Quinn (Shadyside) upset returning state champion Drew Mattin 5-3 at 120 pounds; also in the quarterfinal round, returning state placer Luke Sorboro (Rootstown) bumped up a weight class to beat projected state runner-up Kian Thompson (Oak Harbor) at 182 pounds, a match that proved crucial in Rootstown's 30-29 dual meet victory.
In Division I, nationally ranked St. Edward and Elyria advanced to the championship match. St. Edward going a combined 23-5 in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, while Elyria only won eight matches in each of their dual meets. No. 7 St. Edward won the dual meet title 43-28 over No. 17 Elyria, as the Eagles won eight weight class. Key to the dual meet victory was the ability to secure maximum bonus points on many occasions as well as two crucial swing bouts.
Entering the 160 pound bout, St. Edward led 25-13, but Elyria was just starting their back half strength. A battle of returning state placers saw Mikah Price (Elyria) taking on normal 152 pound wrestler Jack Conway. Early in the second period Price had a 10-6 lead, and got reversed to his back. Conway now leading 11-10 subsequently secured the fall in 3:38. If that wasn't enough damage to the Pioneers cause, then there was the 182 pound match where returning state placer J.T. Brown (Elyria) led Tyler Stepic 2-0 in the early part of the second period. Brown was trying to work a cradle, then in some order a shoulder injury occurred and he was reversed to his back; after an injury timeout, it was determined Brown was unable to continue. It was 31-16 going into 182, but 37-16 St. Edward going out of that bout to clinch the dual team state title.
Pennsylvania Class 3A packs punch
Six nationally ranked teams convened in Hershey for the dual team state tournament in Class 3A (big-school division). No. 6 Bethlehem Catholic and No. 10 Belle Vernon were paired in the bottom half of the bracket based on predetermined formula, so the de facto final was held in the semifinal. In each team's quarterfinal, they beat solid opposition; Bethlehem Catholic knocking off now No. 50 Central Dauphin 38-13 (10-4 mathces), Belle Vernon beating formerly ranked Council Rock South 46-18 (10-4 matches).
In the upper half bracket, No. 21 Boyertown and No. 22 Nazareth were the advancing teams to the semifinal. Boyertown beat Canon-McMillan 37-20 (8-6 matches), while Nazareth escaped a barn-burner with No. 32 Kiski Area; the dual meet was tied 32-32 with the Blue Eagles winning on the criteria of most near-fall points scored. Kiski Area had a tough opening round battle with Cumberland Valley, needing wins in five of the last six bouts to split the matches at 7-7 and win 35-31.
Bethlehem Catholic beat Belle Vernon Area 33-30, though the last two weight classes were given to Belle Vernon on forfeits once the match was clinched. Keys to the victory for the Hawks were a pair of one-point wins in the first three bouts of the dual meet, as they jumped out to a 16-0 advantage after 145-170 were wrestled. Belle Vernon then cut the deficit to 16-12 with a forfeit and two one point victories of their own. However, an overtime decision and a 2-0 decision at 285 and 106 started the five victory streak to clinch the dual meet for the Hawks.
Boyertown came through with a 38-19 (9-5 matches) victory over Nazareth in its semifinal. The Bears went 4-1 in matches decided by three points or less, including consecutive wins at 113, 120, and 126 that turned a 24-13 dual meet score into a 38-13 rout with one match remaining.
The championship match saw Bethlehem Catholic take home eleven weight class victories in a 37-12 victory over Boyertown. The first eight weight classes were all decided by decisions, with Bethlehm Catholic winning the first seven of those (the furthest margin was five points). After technical falls at 160 and 170 from Cole Karam and Michael Labriola officially put it out of reach, three of the last four bouts were two point or less affairs, with the Hawks winning two of those.
On the consolation side of the tournament, Belle Vernon beat Kiski Area 36-26 and Nazareth 30-28 to take home the bronze medal despite missing two key starters (Derek Verkleeren and Michael Fine) on Saturday. Nazareth narrowly beat Central Dauphin 28-24 in its consolation semifinal, after Central Dauphin blew out Council Rock South 48-16 in the consolation quarterfinal.
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