Hawkeye State monopoly in Kansas
The decision was made to upgrade the Blazer Invitational Tournament, hosted by Gardner-Edgerton High School in Kan., and it resulted in total domination by the visiting teams. The top four teams in the 16-team field were all from out of state; No. 22 Southeast Polk, Iowa, upended No. 14 Iowa City West, Iowa, for the title by a 276 to 260-1/2 score. Finishing third was Skutt Catholic out of Omaha, Neb. with 185-1/2 points, while Platte County, Mo., was fourth with 143 points.
The two Hawkeye State powers combined to produce 17 of the 28 finalists, and 11 of 14 weight class champions. The two schools met head-on in five of the finals, with Southeast Polk winning matches at 126, 152, and 195; while Iowa City West mustered victories at 138 and 160.
Seven of the Rams' nine finalists ascended to the top step of the podium: Alex Meyer (106), No. 2 Cory Clark (126), Tim Miklus (152), No. 5 Alex Meyer (170), Bud Smith (195), No. 6 (at 195) Willie Miklus (220), and Bryce Fisher (285). Runner-up finishes came from Briar Dittmer (138) and Dylan Blackford (160). For Iowa City West, eight wrestlers made it to the championship finals, with four wrestlers emerging with titles: No. 8 Phillip Laux (113), Ernest Wills (120), Sam Chalkley (138), and No. 7 Justin Koethe (160). Runner-up finishes for the Trojans came from No. 18 (at 132) Jack Hathaway (126), No. 15 (at 138) Dakota Bauer (132), Payton Kauzlarich (152), and Mickey Pelfrey (195).
Three of the five head-on finals ended in pins, while Clark earned a 5-2 victory over Hathaway for Southeast Polk at 126 pounds, and it was a 12-6 victory for Koethe of Iowa City West defeating Blackford 12-6 at 160.
Skyler Wood (Platte County, Mo.) won the tournament's featured weight class at 132 pounds with four pins preceding a 3-0 finals match victory over Dakota Bauer, who had upset No. 3 Thomas Gilman (Skutt Catholic, Neb.) in an overtime match during the semifinal round 5-4. Rounding out the weight class champions were Aaron Seybold (Pittsburg, Kan.) at 145 pounds and Spencer Wilson (Lawrence Free State, Kan.) at 182.
Mid-America Nationals
Dates: Friday, Dec. 9 and Saturday, Dec. 10
Location: Union Multipurpose Activity Center (Tulsa, Okla.)
Top Teams: No. 18 Allen, Texas; No. 17 Tulsa Union, Okla.; No. 35 Tuttle, Okla.; and No. 44 Collinsville, Okla.
Notable Wrestlers:
106: No. 19 Davion Jeffries (Collinsville, Okla.)
113: Eli Hale (Miami, Okla.); Gunnar Woodburn (Claremore, Okla.); Justin Lombardo (Tulsa Union, Okla.)
120: No. 10 Calib Freeman (Claremore, Okla.); No. 12 Josh Walker (Tulsa Union, Okla.); Will Steltzen (Collinsville, Okla.); Jett Shell (Sallisaw, Okla.)
126: Gary Wayne Harding (Collinsville, Okla.); Jarrod Trotter (Allen, Texas)
132: Brian Crutchmer (Tulsa Union, Okla.); Dylan Helm (Collinsville, Okla.); Cody Vann (Inola, Okla.)
138: Jack Bass (Allen, Texas); Sterling Hawkins (Tuttle, Okla.)
145: Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas); Aaron Seybold (Pittsburg, Kan.); Levi Berry (Tuttle, Okla.)
152: Nathan Marek (Southmoore, Okla.)
160: No. 9 Oliver Pierce (Allen, Texas); No. 19 Kyle Ash (Tulsa Union, Okla.)
170: No. 12 Zach Beard (Tuttle, Okla.); Matt Meyer (Allen, Texas); Lance Dixon (Edmond North, Okla.)
182: No. 4 Kyle Crutchmer (Tulsa Union, Okla.); Jadon Davenport (Sallisaw, Okla.)
195: Nick Cobb (Allen, Texas); Blasé Walser (Tulsa Union, Okla.); Logan Byrd (Sallisaw, Okla.)
220:
285:
Bettendorf dominates solid field at Keith Young Invitational
Even without the presence of two-time state placer Nate Shaw (220), ranked first at his weight class in Iowa Class 3A per The Predicament, No. 10 Bettendorf, Iowa, was able to dominate the 16-team field at Saturday's Keith young Invitational hosted in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Eight Bulldog grapplers made it to the finals, five earning titles, and all but one wrestler secured a top six placement.
Winning titles for Bettendorf were Jacob Swarm (106), No. 15 (at 106) Fredy Stroker (113), Connor Ryan (138), Bubba Hernandez (152), and Colby Vance (170). Runner-up finishes were scored by Jacob Woodward (126), Bryce Levsen (182), and Keaton Jurevitz (195). Of particular note was the 8-5 win by freshman Jacob Swarm against No. 17 Jake Koethe (West Des Moines Valley, Iowa).
Despite having two champions (and five finalists in all), both second most in the tournament to Bettendorf, Denver-Tripoli, Iowa, was only able to muster a third place finish with 140 points. Winning titles for the Titans were No. 7 Dylan Peters (120) and No. 11 Brandon Sorensen (132); while Gunnar Wolfensperger (138), Cory Chapin (152), and Chase Shedenholm (170) each finished in second place. Sorensen's championship victory came over No. 20 Kyle Larson (West Des Moines Valley) by a 2-1 score in the tiebreaker.
Finishing second was West Des Moines Valley, Iowa, with 163 points. Its two anchor wrestlers: Koethe and Larson: finished as runners-up, while Tarin Phillips (195) and Zach Henaman (285) won titles. Four other wrestlers advanced to the semifinals, two took third while another pair finished in fourth place.
Rounding out Saturday's champions at the Keith Young were No. 6 (at 120) Eric DeVos (Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa) at 126 pounds; Jesse Etherington (Charles City, Iowa) at 145; Max Krieger and No. 10 (at 195) Jared Bartel from Mason City, Iowa, winning titles at 160 and 182; along with Steve Ferentz (Iowa City High, Iowa) winning at 220 pounds.
Five Seasons Dual Tournament
Dates: Saturday, Dec. 10
Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Top Teams (all Iowa): No. 10 Bettendorf; No. 16 Iowa City West; West Delaware; Linn-Mar; Cedar Rapids Prairie; Waverly-Shell Rock; Urbandale; Mason City
Notable Wrestlers (all Iowa):
106: Jacob Swarm (Bettendorf), Kaz Onoo (Mason City), Patrick Woods (West Delaware)
113: No. 8 Phillip Laux (Iowa City West), No. 15 (at 106) Fredy Stroker (Bettendorf), Alijah Jeffrey (Linn-Mar), Zach Less (West Delaware), Jake Kristensen (Des Moines Roosevelt)
120: Colby Knight (Urbandale), Andres Gonzales (Mason City), Andrew Steiert (Waverly-Shell Rock), Drake Swarm (Bettendorf)
126: No. 18 (at 132) Jack Hathaway (Iowa City West), No. 6 (at 120) Eric Devos (Waverly-Shell Rock), Trey Blaha (Cedar Rapids Prairie)
132: No. 15 (at 138) Dakota Bauer (Iowa City West), Luke Kremer (Cedar Rapids Kennedy), Logan Ryan (Bettendorf)
138: No. 2 John Meeks (Des Moines Roosevelt), Connor Ryan (Bettendorf), Kegan Wakefield (Iowa City West), Nate Harms (Urbandale), Blake Spotts (Mason City), Zach Muller (West Delaware)
145: No. 9 (at 152) Gabe Moreno (Urbandale), Kolton Rottink (Waverly-Shell Rock), Ross Lembeck (Linn-Mar), Grady Gambrall (Iowa City West)
152: No. 10 Zach Witte (Cedar Rapids Prairie), Josh Pederson (Linn-Mar), Alex Hernandez (Bettendorf),
160: No. 7 Justin Koethe (Iowa City West), Max Krieger (Mason City)
170: Colby Vance (Bettendorf), Mitchell Wantock (Linn-Mar), Terry Stover (Waverly-Shell Rock), Sam Lahr (West Delaware), Cameron Rathje (Cedar Rapids Prairie)
182: No. 10 (at 195) Jared Bartel (Mason City), Bryan Levsen (Bettendorf), Mark Atwater (Linn-Mar), Jacyn Goebel (West Delaware)
195: Mickey Pelfrey (Iowa City West), Keaton Jurevitz (Bettendorf), Adam Reth (West Delaware), Nick Jepsen (Urbandale)
220: Nate Shaw (Bettendorf), Andrew Netolicky (Cedar Rapids Prairie), A.J. Garcia (Linn-Mar), Dean Broghammer (West Delaware)
285: Tyler Burrell (Cedar Rapids Washington), Kaleb Staack (Waverly-Shell Rock)
Blue Springs asserts superiority in Show Me Showdown
The top two teams in Missouri took to the mats on Friday afternoon in an assembly dual meet at Blue Springs High School just outside of Kan. City, Mo. Key to the 36-27 victory for the No. 41 Wildcats was a sweep of the three matchups involving higher profile wrestlers during the dual meet against No. 29 Kearney. State champion Darick Lapaglia emerged with a 9-2 victory over Cadet National freestyle champion Grant Leeth at 138 pounds, fellow state champion Greg Hegarty upended three-time state runner-up Tanner Minder by a 7-3 score at 145 pounds, while state qualifier Chris Lattner beat state placer Morgan Fitzgerald, 5-3, at 170 pounds.
In all, Blue Springs won nine of the fourteen contested matches. Even though Kearney did not have Cadet freestyle All-American Kevin Kinney in the lineup at 132 pounds, the Bulldogs did emerge from that match victorious as backup Joe Desciaccia eared an 11-4 victory.
Graves Invitational
Dates: Friday, Dec. 9 and Saturday, Dec. 10
Location: Brandon High School (Brandon, Fla.)
Top Teams: No. 5 Brandon, Fla.; No. 37 Glenbard North, Ill.; Camden County, Ga.; and South Dade, Fla.
Notable Wrestlers:
106: No. 10 Dylan Lucas (Brandon, Fla.); Derek Hammers (George Jenkins, Fla.)
113: James Flint (Brandon, Fla.); Alex Uhre (St. Thomas Aquinas, Fla.); Chris Gonzales (Glenbard North, Ill.)
120: Isaiah Varona (South Dade, Fla.); Shiquan Hall (St. Thomas Aquinas, Fla.); Anthony Petrone (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.); John Gosinski (Glenbard North, Ill.)
126: No. 4 Rossi Bruno (Brandon, Fla.); No. 5 (at 120) Jered Cortez (Glenbard North, Ill.)
132: No. 6 Kevin Norstrem (Brandon, Fla.); Jon Marmolejo (Glenbard North, Ill.)
138: Jake Spengler (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.)
145: Kris Iglesias (St. Thomas Aquinas, Fla.)
152: No. 3 Brian Murphy (Glenbard North, Ill.); Austin Trott (Camden County, Ga.); Travis Berridge (Brandon, Fla.)
160: No. 6 Clark Glass (Brandon, Fla.); Mario Rodriguez (Glenbard North, Ill.); Gio Jiovanetta (St. Thomas Aquinas, Fla.)
170: Jacob Haydock (Brandon, Fla.); Daniel Saintil (South Dade, Fla.)
182: Kyle Koziel (Brandon, Fla.); Gray Jones (Camden County, Ga.); Taylor Jackson (Citrus, Fla.)
195: Michael Johnson (Camden County, Ga.); Christian Hill (South Dade, Fla.)
220: Desmond James (Camden County, Ga.); William Ford (South Dade, Fla.); Brandon Mills (St. Thomas Aquinas, Fla.)
285:
McDonogh unkind to guests at Ray Oliver Invitational
With six champions coming from seven finalists (and four other place finishers), McDonogh, Maryland dominated the twenty-team field in scoring 239-1/2 points to win the title by more than sixty points. Champions for the Golden Eagles were No. 19 Jack Clark (145), Myles Martin (152), Toby Hague (160), Tyler Patrick (170), Kevin Marvel (195), and Roman Braglio (285). Logan Meister (120) finished second, while Xaviel Ramos (132) took home third place.
Despite no champions, Georgetown (DC) Prep finished in second place with 177 points due to eight wrestlers finishing inside the top four. This included a trio of runner-up finishes coming from Patrick Hutton (126), Daniel Sanchez (132), and Ryan Schneider (285).
Despite a pair of weight class titles from Kaleb LeMaire (120) and Micah Hight (126), No. 31 Caesar Rodney, Delaware could only muster a sixth place finish with 142 points. Without the services of three state finalists, the Riders only had four other place-winners; Stephen Jackson (145) took second, while another wrestler took fourth, and two others finished in sixth place.
Other weight class champions were No. 13 Brent Fleetwood (106) and John Archangelo (113) from Smyrna, Delaware; Matt Kibblehouse (132) of Salesanium, Delaware; Alfred Bannister (138) of Bishop McNamara, Maryland; Ryan Wolfe (182) of Caravel Academy, Delaware; and No. 2 Kyle Snyder (220) of Good Counsel, Maryland.
Brandon asserts strength at Cougar Invitational
No. 4 Brandon, Fla., asserted their strength over a solid field that included many of the top teams in Fla. and Georgia. Even without the presence of No. 10 Dylan Lucas (106) in the lineup, the Eagles still had seven top three finishers in amassing 245-1/2 points. Winning titles were No. 4 Rossi Bruno (126), No. 6 Kevin Norstrem (132), Jacob Haydock (170), and Kyle Koziel (182). No. 6 Clark Glass finished as a runner-up, falling to defeat against No. 4 (at 170) Geordan Speiller (Pine Castle Christian, Fla.) by a 6-4 score in the championship match. Third place finishes were secured by James Flint (113) and Travis Berridge (152). Four other wrestlers secured a top six finish.
Second in the standings, but more than 50 points back, was Camden County, Ga. with 192 points. The Wildcats were anchored by four finalists, including a trio of championships coming from Austin Trott (152), Michael Johnson (195), and Desmond Jones (220). Gray Jones (182) added a runner-up finish to the ledger, while two others finished in the top six. In one of the highlight finals, Trott upended Cody Ross from Springstead, Fla., by a 3-1 score; Ross was No. 18 in the rankings down a weight class at 145 pounds.
Despite four finalists, No. 25 Collins Hill, Ga. finished fifth in the standings with 176 points. Weight class titles came from No. 6 Sean Russell (106) and Ryan Millhof (113), while Spencer Rickman (138) and Zach Carmin (285) finished in second place. The Eagles also had wrestlers place third and fifth; but were without the services of two-time state finalist Drew Ferguson-Mitchell (120), and state runner-up Steven Bradtmuller (132) left the tournament due to injury and did not place.
Rounding out the weight class champions were Isaiah Varona (South Dade, Fla.) at 120 pounds, Fox Baldwin (Osceola, Fla.) at 138, Yoanse Mejia (Miami Southwest, Fla.) at 145, and Gavin Ricketts (Western, Fla.) at 285.
Clovis West Shootout
Dates: Friday, Dec. 9 and Saturday, Dec. 10
Location: Clovis West High School (Clovis, Fla.)
Top Teams: No. 6 Clovis, Calif.; No. 50 Vacaville, Calif.; and Clovis West, Calif.
Notable Wrestlers (all from California):
106: Gionn Peralta (Vacaville)
113: Michael Knoblauch (Clovis West)
120: Jonas Gayton (Clovis), Kasey Klaus (Vacaville), Brandon Rodriguez (Clovis West)
126: No. 14 Daniel Gayton (Clovis), Victor Trujillo (Bella Vista)
132: Matt Gay (Clovis), Chris Garcia (Clovis West)
138: Adam Pain (Rodriguez)
145: Kai Loechler (Vacaville), Racelis Cardenas (Buchanan), Tyler Zimmer (Clovis West), Jason Ladd (Clovis), Wyond Mills (Laguna Hills)
152: Isaiah Morfin (Selma), Colby Thompson (Clovis)
160: Adrian Salas (Clovis)
170: No. 6 Zach Nevills (Clovis), Jacob Pedraza (Hanford West)
182: No. 2 Nikko Reyes (Clovis West), Ryan Davies (Clovis), Chris Lai (Vacaville)
195: Dakota Gordon (Clovis), Jeremy Sweany (Vacaville)
220:
285: No. 6 Nick Nevills (Clovis), No. 19 John Schupp (Vacaville)
Don't forget about the Walsh Ironman
Arguably the nation's best in-season tournament is also being contested this coming Friday and Saturday in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, at Walsh Jesuit High School. InterMatWrestle will provide a dedicated preview of the event tomorrow, and comprehensive coverage throughout the tournament.
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