A live pay-per-view broadcast of the quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship final is being available by NSide Wrestling and can be found here. Bracket results and updates can be found here.
No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J., is the prohibitive favorite to take home a 14th consecutive championship at the Beast of the East, which would be their 18th in all. The Buccaneers will be joined by ten other nationally ranked teams in this prestigious field: No. 7 Wyoming Seminary, Pa., No. 8 Massillon Perry, Ohio, No. 9 Bergen Catholic, N.J., No. 19 Brecksville, Ohio, No. 20 St. Peter's Prep, N.J., No. 23 Don Bosco Prep, N.J., No. 24 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa., No. 29 Robinson, Va., No. 47 Boyertown, Pa., and No. 50 McDonogh, Md.
Based on registered participants, and the preliminary seeds, 41 nationally ranked wrestlers are slated to compete in the tournament this weekend. Joey McKenna (Blair Academy, N.J.) at 138 pounds is the lone top-ranked wrestler, while there are five wrestlers ranked second nationally in the tournament: Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) at 113, Matthew Kolodzik (Blair Academy, N.J.) at 126, Garrett Peppelman (Central Dauphin, Pa.) up a weight class at 170, Johnny Sebastian (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) at 182, and Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) at 285 pounds.
Four wrestlers will be seeking to defend their championships from last year: Suriano, No. 10 Brent Fleetwood (Smyrna, Del.) at 120, No. 7 Alfred Bannister (Bishop McNamara, Md.) at 138, and Peppelman; while two others, McKenna and No. 5 Dylan Milonas (Blair Academy, N.J.) at 160 will be seeking to regain titles won in December 2011.
The following is a brief summary of the field in each weight class.
106: The top seed is No. 5 Ty Agaisse (Delbarton, N.J.), who placed seventh at state last year and third in the Super 32 in October. No other nationally ranked wrestlers are featured in the weight class, though it does include five wrestlers who earned All-American status this past summer in Fargo including second seed Joey Prata (St. Christopher's, Va.)
113: Suriano is the top seed in this weight class, and was an undefeated state champion last year in New Jersey. He is also a two-time finalist at the Super 32 Challenge, winning that tournament last year before his freshman season. He is a strong favorite in a weight class featuring just one other nationally ranked wrestler in sixth seed Trent Olson (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), who is ranked No. 20 in the country. Pennsylvania state runners-up Connor Sheehan (Solanco) and Luke Karam (Bethlehem Catholic) hold the second and third seeds. Injury to a pair of nationally ranked wrestlers in Jose Rodriguez (Massillon Perry, Ohio) and Kyle Bierdumpfel (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) make this weight class more barren than it would otherwise be.
120: Defending Beast champion Fleetwood will have a tough path in order to earn a repeat championship. There are five other nationally ranked wrestlers in this weight bracket; however, four of them are in the other half of the draw. The lone ranked wrestler in his half is the fourth seed Chaz Tucker (Blair Academy, N.J.), who is ranked No. 15 nationally and an opponent that Kolodzik beat 8-7 in the semifinal round this past week. Seeds 2, 3, 6, and 7 are all nationally ranked, in order: No. 7 Scott Parker (Pennridge, Pa.), returning Beast runner-up No. 13 Austin Assad (Brecksville, Ohio), No. 18 Micah Hight (Caesar Rodney, Del.), and No. 11 Luis Gonzalez (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.). The fifth seed in this weight is Anthony Cefolo (Hanover Park,N.J.), who won a state title in 2012 and was a Junior Greco-Roman All-American and Super 32 Challenge placer this off-season.
126: The two nationally ranked wrestlers in this weight have finished as runners-up in past editions of the Beast of the East. Kolodzik, ranked No. 2 nationally, was runner-up last year and is coming off of a Walsh Ironman title last week; while No. 5 Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) was runner-up at this tournament in 2010 and 2011, but missed last year's event due to injury. These wrestlers are the top two seeds in the weight class. Three other returning placers at the Beast of the East are in the weight class: third-seeded David Bavery (Massillon Perry, Ohio), fourth-seeded A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa.), and seventh-seeded Brandon Olsen (Indian River, Va.)
132: A quartet of nationally ranked wrestlers is in this weight bracket, including the top two seeds in No. 5 Anthony Giraldo (North Bergen, N.J.) and No. 13 Coy Ozias (Christainsburg, Va.). Joining them as nationally ranked wrestlers are fourth seed Anthony Tutolo (Lake Catholic, Ohio), who is No. 15 at 126 pounds; and No. 17 Chase Zemenak (Nazareth, Pa.), who is the seventh seed. Additional returning place-winners in this tournament are Zach Valley (Northampton, Pa.), the tournament's third seed, and seventh seed Christian Innarella (Delbarton, N.J.). National Prep champion Jack Mutchnik (St. Paul's, Md.) is the fifth seed.
138: McKenna, the nation's top ranked wrestler in this weight class, is the lone nationally ranked wrestler in the field. The next two seeds are returning Beast placers in Corland Schuyler (Manheim Township, Pa.) and Clay Walker (Eastside, S.C.)
145: Defending tournament champion, and last year's Most Outstanding Wrestler Alfred Bannister (Bishop McNamara, Md.) is ranked No. 7 nationally and the tournament's top seed. He is joined by three other nationally ranked wrestlers in this weight class, who are also the second through fourth seeds: No. 10 at 138 Patrick Duggan (Cumberland Valley, Pa.), No. 19 Neal Richards (Matoaca, Va.), and No. 14 at 138 David McFadden (DePaul Catholic, N.J.). The next two seeds are National Prep runner-up Walker Dempsey (Blair Academy, N.J.) and two-time Maryland public schools state champion Cameron Harrell (McDonogh, Md.)
152: Five nationally ranked wrestlers are featured in this weight class, and they hold down the top five seeds. That group is led by No. 9 Mason Manville (Blair Academy, N.J.), who was runner-up in this tournament last year. Rounding out the top five seeds are No. 11 Nick Reenan (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), No. 12 Jack Bass (Robinson, Va.), No. 14 Zach Hertling (Ocean Township, N.J.), and No. 17 Casey Sparkman (Massillon Perry, Ohio). Other notables include sixth seed Toby Hague (McDonogh, Md.), a three-time National Prep placer, and returning Beast of the East placer Chase McDaniel (Cave Spring, Va.), who is seeded eighth.
160: Likewise, it is five nationally ranked wrestlers in this weight class. The top three seeds in this weight are all nationally ranked: No. 4 T.C. Warner (Cumberland Valley, Pa.), 2011 Beast of the East champion Dylan Milonas, and No. 12 Tony Dailey (Massillon Perry, Ohio). The other nationally ranked wrestlers are seeded sixth and seventh, which mean ranked vs. ranked battles in the quarterfinals: No. 17 Logan Breitenbach (Archbishop Spalding, Md.) is the sixth seed, while No. 20 Chris Weiler (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) is the seventh seed. Seeded fourth and fifth are state champion Taylor Misuna (Grassfield, Va.) and returning Beast of the East placer Zak DePasquale (Robinson, Va.)
170: Likewise, it is a quintet of nationally ranked wrestlers in this weight class. That group is led by defending tournament champion Peppelman as the top seed. The next two seeds are No. 6 Myles Martin (McDonogh, Md.) and No. 8 Josh Llopez (St. Mary's Ryken, Md.); those wrestlers met in the semifinals last year at 160 with Martin winning 1-0, before Martin lost 3-2 in the final to Peppelman. No. 17 Luke Farinaro (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) is the tournament's fourth seed, while No. 10 at 160 Ryan Preisch (Milton, Pa.) is seeded seventh. Ironman placers Isaac Bast (Massillon Perry, Ohio) and Brandon Dallavia (Blair Academy, N.J.) hold down the fifth and sixth seeds respectively, with Super 32 Challenge placer Bobby Fehr (Northampton, Pa.) holding down the eighth seed.
182: The nation's second-ranked wrestler Sebastian, a two-time New Jersey state champion, holds down the top seed. The weight class's other nationally ranked wrestler, No. 20 Joey Balboni (David Brearley, N.J.) is the second seed. Additionally in this weight class is Dylan Wisman (Millbrook, Va.), the tournament's third seed who placed fourth in both styles this summer in Fargo at the Junior Nationals.
195: The lone nationally ranked wrestler in this weight class is No. 17 Hunter Ritter (John Carroll, Md.); however, the National Prep third place finisher and Cadet Nationals double All-American (Greco-Roman champ) is seeded fifth. The top seed is Daniel Hawkins (Mt. St. Joseph, Md.), a returning Beast of the East placer, who is a two-time Junior Greco-Roman All-American; second seed is Josh Murphy (Brecksville, Ohio), a Junior freestyle All-American; third seed is returning Beast of the East placer David Showunmi (Blair Academy, N.J.); while two-time National Prep placer L.J. Barlow (Haverford Prep, Pa.) is the fourth seed. Other notables in this weight class include Cadet freestyle All-American Matt Correnti (Holy Cross, N.J.), who is the sixth seed; and state champion Anthony Mancini (Salesanium, Del.), the seventh seed.
220: A pair of nationally ranked underclassmen features in this weight class, No. 6 Zach Chakonis (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) -- last year's runner-up at this weight class -- and No. 8 Jordan Wood (Boyertown, Pa.). Returning Beast of the East placers Antonio Pelusi (LaSalle, Pa.), Stefano Millin (Massillon Perry, Ohio) and Jake Anderson (Malvern Prep, Pa.) are the third through fifth seeds respectively.
285: Thomas Haines (Solanco), a three-time state champion ranked No. 2 in the country, is the lone ranked wrestler in this weight class at the Beast of the East. He is obviously the top seed. Returning Beast of the East placers Kevin Wilkins (St. Joseph Montvale, N.J.) and Jake Pinkston (Robinson, Va.) are the next two seeds, with two-time Junior National freestyle All-American Jake Scanlan (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) the fourth seed. Super 32 Challenge placer Andrew Dunn (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) is not listed as a seed.
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