There will be ten matches involving high school male athletes with an additional match involving female athletes. An overview of the matches is below, and they are listed in order of contest.
113: Malik Heinselman (Castle View, Colo.) vs. Kurt McHenry (St. Paul's, Md.)
This matchup places wrestlers that made world teams in freestyle this offseason, Heinselman as a Junior at 50 kilograms and McHenry as a Cadet at 46 kilos. At the world level, McHenry won a second straight world title. Heinselman, the Ohio State verbal commit ended the 2016-17 season ranked No. 1 nationally at 106 pounds, and is currently ranked No. 40 overall in the Class of 2018. McHenry ended last high school season ranked No. 2 nationally at 106 pounds, and is No. 8 overall in the Class of 2019
120 pounds: Robert Howard (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) vs. Patrick McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.)
While a known commodity prior to high school, Howard burst onto the scene with a runner-up at the Super 32 Challenge last fall in the 113-pound weight class. Furthermore, the nation's No. 1 wrestler in the Class of 2020 made the UWW Cadet world team in freestyle at 54 kilograms this spring.
In that same Super 32 bracket, McKee placed third; splitting matches against Antonio Mininno, a wrestler that beat Howard in the state final during the high school season. Two-time state champion McKee is ranked No. 45 in the Class of 2018, after winning a Junior National freestyle title at 120 pounds this spring, and ended the 2016-17 season ranked No. 13 at 120 pounds; Howard finished last high school season ranked No. 4 at 113.
170 pounds: Trent Hidlay (Mifflin County, Pa.) vs. Julian Ramirez (Blair Academy, N.J.)
Two-time Super 32 placer Hidlay is ranked No. 25 overall in the Class of 2018 after earning runner-up finishes in both styles at this summer's Junior Nationals in Fargo. He finished the 2016-17 season ranked as the No. 6 wrestler nationally at 160 pounds after winning a state title and a Flo Nationals title. The highlight of the 2016-17 scholastic season for Ramirez, ranked No. 7 overall in the Class of 2019, was his Beast of the East title that came with wins over both David Carr and Shane Griffith. Despite being upset in the quarterfinals at National Preps, Ramirez ended the 2016-17 season ranked No. 12 nationally at 152 pounds.
152 pounds: Brayton Lee (Brownsburg, Ind.) vs. Justin McCoy (Chestnut Ridge, Pa.)
This match places a pair of wrestlers who were Junior National freestyle All-Americans this summer at 145 pounds, Lee placing third and McCoy in sixth. During the course of the tournament, Lee beat both wrestlers whom McCoy lost to (Alex Lloyd and Sammy Sasso). Each is ranked within the top 50 of the Class of 2018, Lee is eleventh, while McCoy is 49th. Both were state champions during the past high school season at 145 pounds, Lee ended 2016-17 ranked fourth nationally, while McCoy was just outside the top 20.
126 pounds: Gavin Teasdale (Jefferson Morgan, Pa.) vs. Patrick Glory (Delbarton, N.J.)
These wrestlers met in an excellent Powerade final almost two years ago, when Teasdale beat Glory 6-5 on December 30, 2015 at 113 pounds. Three-time state champion Teasdale is undefeated for high school career, is a two-time Cadet World team participant, and won a Junior National freestyle title in 2016; while three-time state finalist Glory (2017 state champion) is also a two-time Super 32 finalist (October 2016 champion) and placed third in Junior freestyle this summer. The pair of wrestlers are ranked No. 4 and No. 21 respectively in the Class of 2018; Teasdale ended 2016-17 ranked No. 3 at 126 pounds, while Glory was No. 1 at 120.
132 pounds: Roman Bravo-Young (Sunnyside, Ariz.) vs. Joey Silva (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.)
This match pits a pair of top ten in the Class of 2018 wrestlers against one another, the Penn State commit Bravo-Young is ranked No. 5, while Michigan commit Silva is ranked No. 9. At the end of the 2016-17 season, Bravo-Young was ranked No. 2 at 132, while Silva was No. 4 nationally. Bravo-Young was a Cadet world team member in 2016 at 54 kilograms, and is a two-time Cadet National double champion (2014 and 2015); while Silva is a two-time Super 32 champion and was champion at the NHSCA freshman, sophomore, and junior nationals.
138 pounds: Jacori Teemer (Long Beach, N.Y.) vs. Mitch Moore (St. Paris Graham, Ohio)
Both wrestlers in this match are three-time state champions ranked within the top 15 of the Class of 2018. Arizona State commit Teemer is ranked No. 10 in the senior class after earning a spot on the Cadet World team at 63 kilograms, where he earned a bronze medal; while Virginia Tech commit Moore is ranked No. 13 in the 2018 class and is a three-time Super 32 placer. Both wrestlers ended the 2016-17 season ranked nationally at 132 pounds, Teemer was ninth, while Moore was third.
David Carr after winning a Junior freestyle title in Fargo (Photo/Jim Thrall)160 pounds: David Carr (Massillon Perry, Ohio) vs. Joe Lee (Evansville Mater Dei, Ind./NLWC)
This folkstyle bout will be a rubber match of sorts, as these elite Class of 2018 wrestlers split a pair of freestyle bouts this offseason, Lee winning at UWW Juniors in the spring and Carr taking home their match this summer at Junior freestyle in Fargo. Carr is ranked No. 7 overall in the senior class, and is the top uncommitted wrestler, having already won four state titles (including eighth grade in Kentucky) and earning a Junior National freestyle title this summer in Fargo. Lee is ranked No. 16 overall and is already training at Penn State; he will also forego his senior season scholastically. At the end of the 2016-17 season, Carr was No. 3 at 152 pounds, while Lee was No. 8.
Women's 125: Gracie Figueroa (Selma, Calif.) vs. Macey Kilty (Stratford, Wis.)
Both wrestlers in this match won bronze medals at the Cadet World championships in 2016.
195 pounds: Michael Beard (Malvern Prep, Pa.) vs. Gavin Hoffman (Montoursville, Pa.)
Both wrestlers in this bout are ranked among the top 15 Class of 2018 wrestlers nationally, Penn State commit Beard is sixth, while Ohio State commit Hoffman is fourteenth. Two-time National Prep champion Beard ended the 2016-17 season ranked No. 2 nationally at 195 pounds, while during the season was champion at both the Ironman and Beast of the East down at 182 before moving up a weight class. Two-time state champion Hoffman was a Cadet world bronze medalist last month, and in the previous scholastic season was a Flo Nationals champion and Super 32 runner-up; he ended the season ranked No. 6 at 195 nationally.
145 pounds: Sammy Sasso (Nazareth, Pa.) vs. Anthony Artalona (Tampa Prep, Fla.)
This is another rubber match of sorts in folkstyle, after the pair of wrestlers split freestyle matches this offseason; Sasso winning at Junior Duals, while Artalona won in the semifinal round of the Junior Nationals in Fargo. Ranked No. 12 in the Class of 2018, Sasso ended the season ranked No. 2 at 138 pounds after steamrolling his way through the competition at the Super 32, Ironman, Beast of the East, state tournament, and Flo Nationals. Two-time state champion Artalona is ranked No. 20 in the Class of 2018, ended the 2016-17 season ranked No. 10 at 152, and added a Junior National freestyle title in Fargo this summer.
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