St. Paris Graham (Ohio) makes strong statement at St. Edward
Two weeks after a home win against currently No. 3 Blair Academy (N.J.), the No. 5 Falcons traveled to No. 7 St. Edward (Ohio) and delivered a 37-17 wallop in winning nine of the individual matches. Things started out well enough for the hosts, as Bryce Andonian earned a 15-9 victory over fellow freshman Jordan Crace in the opening bout at 106 pounds. However, it quickly turned favorable for St. Paris Graham, as the Eagles were missing state qualifier Matt Kazimir from the lineup yet again at 113 pounds; as a result Jeff Thomas was able to get a 10-4 win over reserve 106 pound wrestler Angelo Rini.
The next swing bout came at 126 pounds, where Graham's Mitch Moore, ranked No. 11 nationally, was able to make a first-period five point throw last the duration of the bout in a 5-3 victory over fellow state champion Allan Hart. At 132 pounds, another St. Edward freshman came up with a tossup match victory, Sam Dover beating returning state placer Ryan Thomas 5-3 in overtime. However, the Falcons responded with an 11-3 major decision victory from No. 7 Brent Moore at 138 pounds, as he beat No. 6 Hunter Ladnier to stretch the dual meet lead to 16-6.
At that point, barring an upset somewhere along the way, the dual meet was in the bag for St. Paris Graham. With a 7-2 decision from No. 16 Rocky Jordan (145), a 6-4 decision from state placer Garrett Jordan (160), and a pin in 2:29 from No. 2 Alex Marinelli (170), Graham was now one match from clinching the dual meet. That came at 195 pounds when returning state qualifier Kanan Sarver pinned Cody Howard at the 45 second mark.
No. 16 Jared Campbell cut the St. Edward deficit to 31-17 with a technical fall at 220 pounds. Then, the final damage was done by freshman Johnny Shafer, the normal 220 pound wrestler for Graham; trailing 6-3 in the third period, he caught Mike O'Malley poorly executing a cradle and earned the pin at the 4:39 mark.
Blair Academy wins inaugural Who's Number One Duals
No. 3 Blair Academy (N.J.) went 4-0 on Saturday at the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania to win the event put on by FloWrestling. In preliminary pool competition, the Buccaneers most notably beat No. 6 Clovis (Calif.) 47-12, winning eleven of 14 bouts; including the most notable bout, which was at 195 pounds with No. 3 Chase Singletary beat No. 5 Josh Hokit 4-3. Additional wins came against Delbarton (N.J.) 51-9 and Holy Cross (N.J.) 67-9.
In the tournament's other pool, No. 9 Bethlehem Catholic (Pa.) emerged on top after a 28-26 upset victory against No. 2 Bergen Catholic (N.J.). The teams split bouts at seven apiece in a back-and-forth dual meet where there were three ties and at least four lead changes after the opening bout. The first six matches of the dual meet were all decisions, with six bonus point bouts among the last eight, including the last four of the meet.
The opening bout was a key tossup, as Ryan Anderson (Bethlehem Catholic) upended Carmen Ferrante at 113 pounds; Ferrante placed eighth at the Beast, while Anderson was round of 12, though each lost by two points to a common opponent to end their tournaments. Bergen Catholic would take its first lead at 6-3 after victories from No. 18 Gerard Angelo (120) and No. 1 Nick Suriano (126); Angelo winning 4-3 and Suriano 4-1 over No. 2 Luke Karam. The dual meet was tied again when Joey Gould (Bethlehem Catholic) beat unexpected Beast of the East champion Chris Foca 8-5 at 132 pounds, then Bergen Catholic re-took the lead when backup 138 pound wrestler Wade Unger beat Josh Pacsy 1-0; Bethlehem Catholic tied it back up with Stephen Maloney's 5-4 decision over Ricky Cabanillas 145.
Bethlehem Catholic flipped their 152 and 160 pound wrestlers from what had been competing in tournament setting. Bergen Catholic took the lead at 13-9 through a major decision from Brady Ford over Ryan Zeiner at 152, while the Hawks snatched it back at 15-13 through Cole Karam's pin in 0:54 over Anthony Astarian. A replica of a semifinal from the Beast of the East saw the dual meet lead expand to 18-13 as No. 6 Michael Labriola beat No. 10 Joe Grello 8-5.
Three consecutive wins for Bergen Catholic would turn that deficit into a 26-18 lead with two bouts remaining in the dual meet. Those wins came courtesy a 3-2 decision from freshman Josh McKenzie against two-time state qualifier Adam Soldridge at 182 pounds, a second period pin from No. 6 Kevin Mulligan at 195, and a 12-3 major decision from state placer Danny DeLorenzi at 220.
Cutting the deficit in half was Niko Camacho with a 14-2 major decision, before Bethlehem Catholic junior 106 pound wrestler Josh Glenn became the day's hero with a pin at the 4:44 mark.
Both the Crusaders and the Hawks earned decisive victories over No. 12 Lake Highland Prep (Fla.); Bergen Catholic winning ten bouts in a 44-21 victory, Bethlehem Catholic earning nine match victories in their 43-21 victory. Most notable matches were those by No. 5 Joey Silva (126) and No. 12 Elijah Cleary (170); Silva lost 6-0 and 5-2 to Suriano and Karam respectively, while Cleary beat Labriola 4-3 but lost 7-6 to Grello.
The championship final was a decisive 36-18 victory for Blair Academy in which they won nine of fourteen bouts over Bethlehem Catholic; most notable was the Beast of the East final replica, where No. 4 Brandon Dallavia beat Labriola 1-0 at 170 pounds. The third place bout saw Bergen Catholic beat Clovis 46-15 winning ten of 14 bouts, including Kevin Mulligan avenging an overtime loss from last weekend at the Doc Buchanan, beating Josh Hokit 3-0 on this occasion.
Carl Sandburg suffers narrow setbacks to two fellow ranked Illinois teams
In hosting their annual multi-team dual meet event, No. 15 Carl Sandburg (Ill.) took on their two most direct competitors for the state dual meet title, No. 8 Oak Park River Forest and No. 19 Marmion Academy; it should be noted that Carl Sandburg and Marmion Academy will most likely meet in the mid-week qualifying matches to make the team state tournament, which occur right after the individual state tournament is done.
Marmion Academy rode into Saturday's showdown with the Eagles on a high, having earned a 54-15 victory at home over No. 31 Montini Catholic (Ill.) on Friday evening. However, things did not start so hot, as the host Eagles jumped out to a 12-0 lead through three bouts. The fourth bout saw No. 7 Nathan Traxler up a weight class, and earn a pin at 195 pound to cut the deficit in half. Three matches later, the dual meet was tied at 15-all at the hallway point, after Sean McKenna earned a 3-1 decision for Marmion at 106 pounds.
Carl Sandburg took victories in three of the next four bouts to snag a 29-18 lead headed into the last three bouts; that run of bouts ending at 132 pounds, where No. 6 Rudy Yates earned a 17-4 major decision over state runner-up Anthony Cheloni. A.J. Jaffe earned a pin in 1:00 to cut the deficit to five for Marmion Academy, where both teams wrestled a de facto backup, but if was the Cadets cut the deficit to two with a 7-0 victory from freshman Brady Gross. The last match at 152 pounds was "winner take all" with No. 18 (at 160) Trace Carello beating John Prieto 3-2.
The dual meet against the visiting Huskies started out similarly for Carl Sandburg, as the Eagles led 18-0 after three bouts; No. 18 Patrick Brucki with a pin at 182, state qualifier Cole Bateman with a pin at 195, and then a forfeit at 220 as two-time state qualifier Allen Stallings was unavailable for OPRF due to college football visits. The Huskies stopped the bleeding with a 3-2 ultimate tiebreak victory from Christopher Middlebrooks at 285 pounds, and then further cut into the deficit with an 18-7 major decision from P.J. Ogunsanya at 106.
The teams would split the next four bouts, and it would be a 24-17 lead for Carl Sandburg headed into the final five matches of the afternoon. Jamie Hernandez (138) earned a pin and No. 1 Isaiah White (160) earned a technical fall for the obvious Oak Park River Forest victories in that stretch; White's victory gave the Huskies a 31-27 lead headed into the last bout. In between Mikey Ordonez gave OPRF another victory at 145 pounds, 11-10 over Alex Hirschfeld; with John Prieto's 152 pound victory regaining the lead for the Eagles at 27-26. The last match was a 2-1 tiebreak victory for Rolan Sturkey over state placer Brian Krasowski.
Belle Vernon with strong statement at Escape the Rock
Coming off runner-up finishes at their previous two tournaments, No. 11 Belle Vernon (Pa.) sought a tournament victory to add to their season's portfolio. The Leopards exited the Escape the Rock Tournament held at Council Rock South (Pa.) with that accomplishment in hand, doing so by placing ten wrestlers and scoring 221.5 points. Weight class championships were won by No. 3 Austin Bell (170) and No. 6 Jarod Verkleeren; Verkleeren winning the featured final of the evening, 6-4 in overtime over No. 9 Eric Hong (Kiski Prep, Pa.)
Finishing second for Belle Vernon was Mitch Hartman (160); third place finishers were Zach Hartman (132), Brock Godzin (138), and Derek Verkleeren (160); Jacob Dunlop (106) placed fourth; Billy Korber (285) took home fifth; while finishing sixth were Milton Kobaly (182) and Mick Fine (195).
Tournament runners-up were No. 26 Boyertown (Pa.), who placed seven wrestlers in scoring 166.5 points despite the absence of Jakob Campbell, who is ranked No. 11 nationally at 113 pounds. The Bears were led by No. 2 Jordan Wood, who won the tournament at 220 pounds, with a 5-1 victory in the final over No. 17 Seth Janney (Malvern Prep, Pa.). Finishing runner-up was Lucas Miller (126), Tommy Killoran (285) placed third, Gregg Harvey (182) took fourth, placing sixth were John Cooley (138) and Hunter Vogels (152), while Chris Berry (145) placed eighth.
It was a close battle for third between the hosts Council Rock South (Pa.) and No. 20 Malvern Prep (Pa.); Council Rock South secured the position with 151 points, while Malvern Prep was fourth with 149, as both teams put seven on the podium. Council Rock South was anchored by top of the podium finishes from No. 12 Zach Trampe (132) and Riley Palmer (138), with Dylan Schwartz (152) placing second; while No. 7 Michael Beard (182) was the sole champion for Malvern Prep, with No. 17 Rashon Lusane (195) and Janney placing second.
Rounding out the tournament's weight class champions were Brandon Kassis (Parkland, Pa.) at 106 pounds, who pinned No. 19 Kurt McHenry (St. Paul's, Md.) in the semifinal; No. 12 Julian Chlebove (Northampton, Pa.) at 113, beating No. 7 Matthew Parker (Pennridge, Pa.) 1-0 in the final; Dan Moran (Northampton, Pa.) at 120; K.J. Fenstermacher (Bethlehem Liberty, Pa.) at 126; Dominick Mandarino (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) at 152; No. 6 Kyle Bierdumpfel (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) at 160; No. 13 John Jakobsen (Stroudsburg, Pa.) beating Lusane 3-0 in the final; and No. 20 Andrew Gunning (Bethlehem Liberty, Pa.) at 285.
Quick Hits
No. 1 Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) dominated their way to the title at the Eastern States Classic held at Sullivan Community College in New York, scoring 238.5 points from 11 placing wrestlers, including six within the top three. Leading the way were weight class titles won by eighth grader Beau Bartlett (113), No. 12 (at 195) Christian Dietrich (182), and No. 15 Will Hilliard (220). Tournament runners-up were Hilton (N.Y.) with 104 points led by weight class champions No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (138) and No. 9 Louie DePrez (170).
No. 30 Southeast Polk used victories in eight weight classes to beat No. 32 West Des Moines Valley 35-23 in a showdown between the top two teams in the state of Iowa; each already had a dual meet victory over No. 34 Fort Dodge earlier in the season.
It was a relatively disappointing week for No. 29 Platte County (Mo.) as they lost nine matches during a 37-26 dual meet defeat against No. 44 Park Hill (Mo.). Then over the next two days at the Basheor Bobcat Classic they finished a close third place; Goddard (Kans.) won with 221 points, Smithville (Mo.) was second with 206.5, while the Pirates scored 206.
Making his meaningful season debut this past weekend was Kevin Vough (285), as he won the Bill Dies Memorial this weekend in Akron, Ohio. Vough won his first four matches by fall before beating returning state qualifier Arman Samouk (Copley, Ohio). Vough was joined by J.T. Brown (182) and No. 2 Ben Darmstadt (195) as weight class champions for No. 17 Elyria (Ohio) on their way to winning the tournament.
The nation's No. 1 wrestler at 145 pounds, David Carr (Massillon Perry, Ohio) lost a tightly contested and somewhat controversial final at the Top Gun on Saturday night. Logan Lacure (Dayton Christian, Ohio) emerged with the 5-4 ultimate tiebreak victory in that battle of state champions; both having attended Dayton Christian last year, before Carr left when his father (Nate) took the head coaching job at Massillon Perry.
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