GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Being a favorite during the Sunday portion of the first two-day Super 32 Challenge was not a good position. This was a day marked by many upsets of perceived favorites. However, that in no way minimized the high quality of competition. From 8:00 a.m. through the finish, the atmosphere was electric with belts and medals on the line.
Sophomore Darian Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic, PA) won the first final of the afternoon with a 5-3 overtime decision over fellow sophomore Nathan Tomasello (CVCA, OH) at 103 pounds. Cruz scored a first period takedown, but was extended to overtime when called for two stalling penalties in the last half-minute of regulation. Then in a great scramble and counter situation during overtime, Cruz scored the match-winning takedown.
His two earlier matches were decided by similarly narrow margins, 3-2 over Ryan Diehl (Berkeley Springs, WV) and 3-1 over Dalton Macri (Canon-McMillan, PA).
"It feels real good to win the title, but I'm really tired," were the comments of Cruz after winning the championship.
Fellow sophomore Anthony Ashnault (South Plainfield, NJ) was the champion of the 112 pound weight class, which was a true meatgrinder. The last five matches that Ashnault won were all against state tournament champions. He was absolutely dominant in the finals against fellow sophomore Zain Retherford (Line Mountain, PA) in securing four takedowns to earn an 8-3 victory.
That came after a 5-4 semifinal win in the tiebreak against Junior National double champion Freddie Rodriguez (Grand Ledge, MI). In the opening match of his Sunday, Ashnault dominated fellow sophomore Jacob Schmitt (St. John's, MI) by 11-1 major decision; Schmitt had won prior meetings between the two in both styles of the Cadet Nationals this past summer.
"I really opened up my attack and seized the right moments," commented Ashnault about his wrestling during the tournament. "I wanted to win the title, and was not worried about the opponents in my way."
A second overtime bout of the championship finals came at 119 pounds, where junior Nathan Kraisser (Centennial, MD) upended defending Super 32 champion Joey Dance (Christiansburg, VA), 4-2, after countering a very deep Dance scoring opportunity in sudden victory overtime. Key to the victory was a second period ride-out while trailing 2-1 after Dance scored a first period takedown.
"I had been doing well on top (throughout the tournament)," observed Kraisser about that key sequence. "However, I knew I had to stop (Dance's) explosion from bottom. I had to take things one point at a time to come back in the match."
The second day of the Super 32 really served as an eye-opener for national wrestling pundits and college coaches about senior 125-pound champion Geoff Alexander (Shady Side Academy, PA), who has never placed higher than third in the state. On this day, it was Alexander making the statements with three wins over state champions -- all of whom placed at the Super 32 last year.
To open the day, Alexander beat prospect Joe Rendina (Dundee, MI) 7-3. Then, by a pair of 2-1 victories, he upended the Brandon duo of Kevin Norstrem and Rossi Bruno. In the Norstrem match, Alexander used a third period ride-out to secure the victory. Then in the final, it was a very late reversal to earn the victory over Bruno.
"The field was really tough," commented Alexander. "However, I just kept getting better as the tournament moved on."
Just in order to reach the final, senior Ethan Raley (Indian Creek, IN), a two-time state finalist, had to defeat three different state champions; pinning Alec Mooradian (Detroit Catholic Central, MI) yesterday before scoring a 9-2 victory over Nick Soto (Springstead, FL) and a 6-4 victory over Junior National double champion Tyler Liberatore (Brandon, FL) earlier in the day.
Scoring a last second foot sweep takedown to secure a 5-3 victory, Raley relegated Brandon Jeske (Cox, VA) to a second place finish for the second straight year.
"I don't let big picture things bother me, just listening to music between matches to prevent distraction," said Raley. "The last second takedown was awesome, especially after the attempt prior was derailed."
Some degree of order returned in the 135 pound weight class where junior Steve Spearman (Erie McDowell, PA), a state champion this past year, earned the tournament championship with a 5-3 win over Dan Neff (Solanco, PA). Spearman used takedowns in the first and third period to earn the victory.
When asked about his outside double-leg takedown attack, Spearman observed that, "It's my strength, so if it's not broke, don't fix it." Hence he keeps going to that attack for points.
The 140 pound weight class saw a second wrestler earn runner-up honors at the Super 32 for a second consecutive year. Earning the victory was senior Roger Wildmo (Durand, MI), a 6-5 result over junior Jason Tsirtsis (Crown Point, IN). This was Wildmo's fourth appearance at the Super 32, placing eighth last year ... after failing to place in his freshman and sophomore years.
"It feels great to finally overcome the (gauntlet of a) tournament and earn a belt," said Wildmo, who sealed the victory when he scored the go-ahead takedown with approximately 25 seconds left in the match. After giving up the first takedown, Wildmo scored that takedown and one in the second period to earn the victory.
"The little mistakes fire me up," continued Wildmo in discussing the championship match. "I'm also working on being more aggressive with my technique."
While this was a tournament in which one could say every weight was loaded, along with the 112-pound weight class, it was the bracket at 145 pounds that took the cake as being toughest. The bracket featured InterMat Top 100 Class of 2011 prospects as the top six placers, with a pair of multi-time Pennsylvania big-school state placers finishing seventh and eighth.
During Sunday's competition, senior Nick Hodgkins (Wyomissing, PA) earned a 1-0 win over Mitch Minotti (Easton, PA) as well as a 4-2 overtime victory against Pete Baldwin (Osceola, FL) prior to the final. To reach the final, senior James Green (Willingboro, NJ) earned a 9-3 victory over Josh Clark (Matoaca, VA) and a 7-1 win over Eric Roach (Crown Point, IN) in a battle of FloNationals champions.
Both Green and Hogkins earned escapes during the five minutes of regulation in a match with many scrambles and battles, which meant the score was 1-1 headed into sudden victory overtime. During that period, each wrestler was able to get deep on the opponent but was fended off.
Having scored first, Green chose down in the tiebreaker. However, Hodgkins was able to ride Green out for the victory.
"I just had to keep pushing, work through being tired," commented Hodgkins about the tiebreak period.
Having earned a 6-0 shutout victory over two-time state champion, and one of the nation's top Class of 2012 wrestlers, Felipe Martinez (Oregon Clay, OH) in the quarterfinals -- and earning a tiebreaker ride-out victory in the semifinal round -- senior Jonathan Rivera (Kennesaw Mountain, GA) reached the 152 pounds final with lots of momentum on his side.
However, senior Codey Combs (Sussex Central, DE) was able to end the momentum string with a second period go-ahead takedown as part of a 3-1 victory. After falling short in the semifinals the last couple of years, Combs finally earned a championship. "This wasn't easy, it was a tough road," commented Combs. "Finally being healthy, I was able to take it all the way."
Despite being one of the nation's top sophomores after earning Outstanding Wrestler honors at the Powerade and winning a state title, 160 pound champion Cody Wiercioch (Charleroi, PA) entered this tournament as somewhat of an unknown commodity. That would change after a Sunday morning semifinal bout with the No. 1-ranked junior in the country, Taylor Massa (St. John's, MI).
Though the match was not without controversy during the sudden victory overtime, the match reached the tiebreaker with a 2-2 score.
Video - http://www.flowrestling.org/videos/coverage/view_video/237445-2010-super-32-flonationals-major/362610-160-lbs-s-taylor-massa-mi-vs-cody-wiercioch-pa
Wiercioch had the choice and choose the down position. Midway through the tiebreak period, he was able to earn the victory on a reversal. "I was optimistic heading into the match," said Wiercioch. "I wanted to have fun, hopefully it would work out, and so it did."
The championship final placed him against yet another nationally-ranked junior in Nikko Reyes (Clovis West, CA). With a single takedown in the first period, and a pair in the third period, Wiercioch earned clear and convincing 7-3 decision and the Super 32 Challenge title.
"I've been working out at Quest for three years now, and there are always good partners," he responded to questions about his early high school success. Continuing on, "Consistency, practice, and being relentless are the keys to my success."
All the way from the Pacific Northwest came junior Brandon Griffin (Sprague, OR) to win the Super 32 title at 171 pounds. He got the belt with a 2-1 victory in the tiebreak against senior Wally Figaro (Brandon, FL).
"This was a really tough tournament, kind of like Fargo (which is a short-hand name for the annual Cadet and Junior Nationals held in freestyle and Greco-Roman during late July) in a way," observed Griffin.
The match itself was a real grind, with scoring opportunities for both opponents that each had to fend off. The pair of Greco-Roman stars, Figaro finishing third at the Junior Nationals and Griffin a FILA Cadet champion, gave the fans an exciting show despite the low score.
Senior 189-pound champion Kenny Courts (Central Dauphin, PA) was the tournament's most dominant wrestler, winning all five matches by major decision, including a 14-1 victory over senior Cody Johnston (Warrensburg, MO) -- a Junior National Greco-Roman All-American -- in the championship final. Finally healthy, Courts was able to demonstrate his full arsenal of leg attacks, rides, and tilts.
"It feels good to be healthy, as it seems like there's always something ailing me," said Courts, champion in his return Super 32 Challenge appearance after a runner-up finish as a freshman in 2007. "It's a big difference, allows me to demonstrate my full arsenal, and enables me to work on and learn different stuff."
Despite a Beast of the East championship last December on the resume, senior Matt Idelson (Garnet Valley, PA) entered this weekend's 215-pound weight bracket as a relative unknown commodity never having even made the state tournament in his career. Any reservations about Idelson should be removed after a pin in the semifinals against NHSCA Junior Nationals champion Josh DaSilveira (Cardinal Gibbons, FL) and a 3-1 victory against three-time state qualifier, and 2009 state placer, Scott Syrek (Owen J. Roberts, PA).
It was a second period takedown that served as the key factor in the championship match victory. "I like to wrestle at a quick pace, and dislike having to hug the big guys," commented Idelson about his wrestling style.
After last year's Beast of the East title, Idelson sustained a concussion shortly thereafter which kept him out until early February. Not being fully prepared for the state tournament series, he fell short of the state tournament.
"I really want to just make it down (to state), need to get there, hopefully place high and even possibly win it," Idelson stated.
The final match of the tournament was the only championship final not to go the full five minute regulation match (Sunday matches at the Super 32 had a format of 2-1:30-1:30, instead of the 2-1-1 and 1-1-1 of Saturday and for all matches in prior years). Senior Jacob Aiken-Phillips (Central Gwinnett, GA) had a 1-0 lead midway through the third period, and was riding fellow senior Colin Campbell (Person, NC) in the top position. However, at that point, Campbell was disqualified for misconduct for biting Aiken-Phillips in the lower arm or wrist.
"I had a great tournament and fought hard," said Aiken-Phillips. "Even though the match ended early, I still thought I was going to ride him out for the win anyway." Based on brief research, Aiken-Phillips could possibly be the first ever wrestler from the Peach State to come home with a championship belt.
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