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    Diakomihalis becomes three-time Super 32 champion, six top 40 seniors also win title belts

    GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic, N.J.), the nation's No. 2 ranked wrestler in the Class of 2016, used the Super 32 Challenge to make a clear statement about his ability level. Saturday's advancement to the quarterfinal round included three pins and a 12-1 major decision, with one of those pins coming against a former two-time state champion in Franco Valdes (Miami Southwest, Fla.) and the major decision against defending state champion A.J. Leitten (Rock Hill, S.C.)

    Sunday morning, his quarterfinal match was a 4-2 victory over two-time state runner-up and returning Flo Nationals placer Tariq Wilson (Steubenville, Ohio). Then, it was the anticipated semifinal showdown against Vitali Arujau (Syosset, N.Y.), the No. 10 overall junior who had beaten Arujau four weeks ago at the Journeymen Classic. This time it was not to be as Suriano used a second period escape and a three-point near fall in the third period to earn the 4-1 victory.

    The championship match, a third such finals appearance in this event for Suriano, came against two-time state champion Luke Karam (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.), a top 30 senior who had upset the nation's top ranked Class of 2017 prospect Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla.) 9-3 in the semifinal round. Takedowns in the first two periods for Suriano yielded a decisive 5-1 victory, a second Super 32 Challenge title, and the Most Outstanding Wrestler award.

    Two other wrestlers became multi-time champions in the high school division on Sunday afternoon, Yianni Diakomihalis (Hilton, N.Y.) at 132 pounds and Jordan Wood (Boyertown, Pa.) at 220. Diakomihalis won his third consecutive title in the tournament with a pin at the 1:34 mark over two-time state champion and top 100 senior Colby Smith (Holt, Mo.). He becomes the event's seventh three-time champion, but just the third to do so since the event moved to Greensboro starting in 2005; a title next year would make Diakomihalis the first four-time champion in the history of the event that started in 2000.

    Wood won his second Super 32 title in three years with the most narrow of victories over a fellow top 40 Class of 2016 prospect in Matt Stencel (Oregon Clay, Ohio). Stencel scored the match's first takedown, and led 2-1 after one period. Wood established a 5-2 lead after the second period on a technical violation penalty point, an escape, and a takedown.

    Stencel earned an early escape in the third period, and tied it up with a very late takedown. There was some controversy due to a whistle being blown right before the takedown was granted. However, it would balance out as Wood scored an escape before time expired from a sequence that started with either one or two seconds left on the clock. The final score was 6-5 for Wood.

    Other top 20 seniors to earn titles on Sunday were a trio from Wyoming Seminary, Pa. Mason Manville secured his title at 152 pounds with semifinal and final victories over top 30 prospects in the Class of 2016, 3-1 over Griffin Parriott (New Prague, Minn.) in the semifnal, and then 4-2 in the final over defending champion Thomas Bullard (Archer, Ga.) on a takedown with seven seconds left in the bout.

    Chris Weiler scored the title at 170 pounds with an 8-4 finals victory over Louie DePrez (Hilton, N.Y.), who is ranked No. 31 in the junior class. Nick Reenan earned his title at 182 pounds with a 4-3 win over top 50 senior Dakota Geer (Franklin, Pa.) in what was a lower scoring but intensely contested match. In a 2-2 match with one minute left to go, Reenan beautifully countered a very good initial attack from Geer into a takedown of his own for the winning points. Geer would escape, but was unable to get a go-ahead takedown of his own.

    Blake Rypel (Indianapolis Cathedral, Ind.) made it a sixth top 50 senior to win a weight class title at the Super 32 on Sunday, with his title at 195 pounds. In six tournament matches, he won three by fall and the other two by either six or seven points. One of those falls came in the semifinal against fellow top 100 senior Jack Harris (Urbana, Ohio) at the 4:43 mark; while his championship match was a 9-2 win over another top 100 senior in Christian Araneo (Ward Melville, N.Y.)

    It was not a day exclusively for seniors, as three sophomores ranked in the top 35 overall for that grade won weight class titles. Winning the 120 pound title was Joey Silva (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.), who used a third period rally to upend Austin DeSanto (Exeter Township, Pa.) by 6-3 decision.

    Shane Griffith (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) won the 138 championship in a most impressive tournament run, starting with a 9-1 major decision in the round of 16 against two-time state champion Bo Pipher (Paonia, Colo.). It continued with a 3-1 quarterfinal victory over fellow top 25 sophomore Alex Lloyd (Shakopee, Minn.), and then concluded with wins over a pair of top 100 seniors to close out the tournament.

    Trailing 3-1 late in his semifinal match against top 15 senior Mitch McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.), he scored the match-tying takedown with about five seconds left in regulation, and then secured the match-winning takedown in overtime. The championship match against Brent Moore (St. Paris Graham) was decided inside the last 40 seconds of the bout when Moore was called for locking hands and Griffith then escaped during the same sequence, which gave him a 3-2 lead that held up.

    Rounding out that trio was David Carr (Massillon Perry, Ohio), who beat top 15 junior Austin O'Connor (St. Rita, Ill.) by 11-6 decision to win the 145 pound weight class. Carr led 5-3 after two periods, but O'Connor took a 6-5 lead with over a minute to go in regulation. Carr earned an escape to tie the bout, then scored a well-earned takedown to take the lead; countering an O'Connor reversal attempt, Carr earned three near falls to finalize the score.

    The other three weight class champions were Adam Busiello (Eastport-South Manor, N.Y.) at 106 pounds, Sebastian Rivera (Christian Brothers, N.J.) at 113, and Andrew Gunning (Bethlehem Liberty, Pa.) at 285.

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