The shining stars of this year's tournament were Adam Busiello (Eastport-South Manor, N.Y.) and Joey Silva (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.), champions at 120 and 132 pounds. They became the eighth and ninth wrestlers to win three titles in the tournament that started in 2000; four having done so under the two-day format, while a fifth won a trio of titles in the single-day Greensboro era.
Ranked as the No. 13 overall junior, Busiello's first three matches came were dominant. He won by pin, major decision, and technical fall. He advanced to Sunday's quarterfinal round with an 8-5 round of 16 win over returning state champion Kai Orine (Seckman, Mo.); that quarterfinal match was a 7-3 decision over 2015 Super 32 placer Christian Nunez (St. John Bosco, Calif.). Busiello advanced to the final with a 9-5 win over state champion Malyke Hines (Osceola, Fla.).
The championship match against Travis Ford-Melton (Marian Catholic, Ill.), who is ranked No. 26 overall in the junior class, was his tightest match yet at the Super 32. Ford-Melton scored regulation's only takedown in the second period, but Busiello earned two escapes in that period and rode his opponent out in the third period to force overtime. In that period, Busiello scored a beautiful takedown via a duck-under. Those three high school division titles are augmented by three prior in the middle school division, for a total record of 34-0 across six years in Greensboro.
Also winning a third title was Silva, the No. 9 overall senior. He won five matches on Saturday to reach the quarterfinals, the first four in dominant fashion -- two pins, a technical fall, and a major decision, while the round of 16 was a 4-2 decision over Frankie Tal-Shahar (American Heriage, Fla.), the No. 24 ranked sophomore. Silva advanced to the semifinals with a 9-4 win over FloNationals placer Jackson Henson (Penn Foster, W.Va.) before beating No. 55 overall senior Quinn Kinner (Kingsway, N.J.) 4-2.
His finals match was also tightly contested, a 3-2 victory over Jesse Vasquez (Santiago Corona, Calif.), the No. 6-ranked sophomore. Silva needed a takedown with 30 seconds left in regulation to break a 1-1 tie, while having to fend off a very deep Vasquez attack right at the end. On his way to the final, Vasquez beat a top five junior in the quarterfinal and a top ten sophomore in the semifinals.
However, the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler award went to Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.), ranked No. 5 overall in the sophomore class, and champion of the 170-pound weight class. He reached Sunday's quarterfinal round with a technical fall, pin, and 13-2 major decision. It was on Sunday where he ran the proverbial gauntlet, beating three returning Super 32 placers on the way to his title.
In the quarterfinals it was an 8-5 decision over Emil Soehnlen (Massillon Perry, Ohio), who is ranked No. 61 overall among seniors. Then the semifinals match was an absolute barn-burner against Trent Hidlay (Mifflin County, Pa.), with Kennedy emerging victorious over the No. 25 senior by 3-1 decision on a reversal in the tiebreaker. In the championship match, Kennedy gave up the first takedown against Chris Foca (Bergen Catholic, N.J.), the nation's No. 19 overall junior. However, Kennedy answered with a takedown in the first period, two in the second period, and one in the third period to win 10-6.
Five other wrestlers were milestone champions on Sunday afternoon, as they were the first wrestlers from their state to win a Super 32 Challenge title; champions have now emerged from 24 states in total.
State champion and two-time Cadet freestyle All-American, 2016 champion Cullan Schriever (Mason City, Iowa) won the 106-pound weight class. His finals match was a 4-2 victory over fellow Cadet freestyle All-American Richard Figueroa (Selma, Calif.), the No. 14 overall freshman. Schriever scored the winning points in this battle of previous Super 32 middle school division champions via a takedown with eight seconds left in the bout.
No. 60 overall senior Jakob Camacho (Danbury, Ct.) rallied back from deficits in both the semifinals and finals to win the title at 126 pounds. In the semifinals, it was a 4-3 victory over No. 21 overall junior Connor McGonagle (Timberlane, N.H.); while in the finals, No. 4 overall sophomore Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) scored the first takedown, but Camacho countered with takedowns later in the first period and second period to win 6-4.
Mason Phillips (Stanwood, Wash.), a Cadet World Team member in Greco-Roman, won the 145-pound weight class. His semifinal became notable, as it involved a replay challenge reversal to decide the match. Facing No. 4 overall freshman Alex Facundo (Davison, Mich.), the match entered the tiebreaker tied at 5-5.
In said period, Phillips was thought to be close to an escape at the edge of the mat. However, on the mat, it was called out of bounds; upon review, it was determined to be an in-bounds escape and a match victory. The championship match was a dominant 13-4 major decision over three-time state champion Quincy Monday (Carrboro, N.C.), who beat top 100 seniors in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
No. 3 overall sophomore Braxton Amos (Parkersburg South, W.Va.) earned the title at 220 pounds with a 3-1 finals victory over NHSCA Junior Nationals champion Peter Acciardi (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.). Key in the victory was a second period rideout and a reversal midway through the third period. He had another pair of low scoring bouts to reach the final on Sunday after winning by pin and technical fall in his two matches on Saturday; a 3-0 decision over a California state medalist, and a 3-2 decision on a late locking hands call against Cadet National double All-American Lewis Fernandes (Voorhees, N.J.)
Iowa commit Anthony Cassioppi (Hononegah, Ill.), ranked No. 27 in the senior class, arguably had the tournament's most dominant performance in running through the 285 pound weight class. In four matches prior to the final, he had four pins in a combined 4:26, the longest of those a quarterfinal pin in 2:45 over Cadet Greco-Roman champion Eli Pokorney (Chesterton, Ind.). Cassioppi's championship match was an 8-0 major decision in which he secured a takedown in each period to beat two-time state champion Max Darrah (Whitfield, Mo.), who also was a Junior National double All-American this summer.
An additional milestone champion was Ryan Crookham at 113 pounds, who became the first junior high eligible wrestler (i.e. eighth grader) to win a high school division title; he is currently ranked No. 4 among Junior High wrestlers, though that will almost assuredly change in the next update. It was a 15-0 technical fall and 5-0 decision before the gauntlet began. Crookham beat No. 8 overall freshman Isaac Salas (St. John Bosco, Calif.) 1-0 in the round of 32 and then it was a 5-1 round of 16 victory over Junior National double third place finisher Cody Phippen (Platte County, Mo.) prior to Sunday's competition.
In the quarterfinal round, Crookham upended NHSCA Junior Nationals champion Dylan Ryder (Half Hollow Hills West, N.Y.) 5-2. Then it was a 1-0 victory over No. 14 overall sophomore Greg Diakomihalis (Hilton, N.Y.), which was keyed by a second period rideout. The championship match saw Crookham ride out state champion Eric Barnett (Hortonville, Wis.) in the second period before scoring a reversal with 15 seconds left in the bout to win 2-0; Barnett's key win on the way to the final was a 2-1 tiebreaker victory over defending champion Antonio Lorenzo (St. John Bosco, Calif.)
Round out the eight non-seniors to win Super 32 titles on Sunday were No. 18 overall junior Ryan Anderson (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) at 138 and No. 9 overall junior Brevin Balmeceda (South Dade, Fla.) at 152.
Anderson beat a state champion, two state runners-up, and a two-time state champion prior to the championship match. In that finals bout, he won despite No. 12 overall junior Jaden Abas (Rancho Bernardo, Calif.) scoring the only takedown of the bout in the second period. Anderson countered with an escape in the second period and then forcing a second stall against Abas during a third period rideout to force overtime; despite a pair of deep opportunities for Anderson to score in sudden victory, it went to the tiebreaker, where Anderson earned an escape to win 3-2.
Balmeceda reached the semifinal round without giving up a point from four bouts, including a technical fall and major decision over 2016 state placers from Ohio and New Jersey. In the semifinal, he needed a late second stall against three-time state champion Josh Humphreys (Parkersburg South, W.Va.) to tie the bout 1-1 late in regulation before also scoring the match-winning takedown in regulation. He also won via a shutout in the championship match, 4-0 over No. 79 overall senior Joshua Kim (Santiago Corona, Calif.), keyed by a two-point near fall late in the second period.
Rounding out the weight class winners were a trio of top 100 seniors: No. 63 Ryan Thomas (St. Pairs Graham, Ohio) at 160 pounds, No. 62 Cody Mulligan (Saegertown, Pa.) at 182, and No. 89 Jared Ball (Hilliard Darby, Ohio) at 195.
Thomas rallied back from giving up two first period takedowns against No. 18 sophomore Dustin Plott (Tuttle, Okla.) to force overtime via single takedowns in each the second and third periods. Thomas was able to fend off deep attacks by Plott late in regulation and during the overtime, and then rode out Plott during the tiebraker period to win a 7-7 decision.
Mulligan gave up the match's only takedown in the second period against FloNationals placer Josh Stillings (Pennridge, Pa.). However, Mulligan countered with a reversal late in that second period and then a reversal just past the halfway mark in the third period to win 4-3.
Ball won a battle of top 100 seniors against No. 93 Lucas Davison (Chesterton, Ind.) by 5-1 decision. While he did not score a takedown, Ball used a second period reversal and a three-point near fall in the third period to win the bout.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now