In the Land of Lincoln, there were a pair of dual meets that involved nationally ranked teams facing off against one another. In the concluding match of a tri-meet at Thornton South, No. 10 Carl Sandburg won ten weight classes in a 55-13 victory over No. 22 Washington, though it should be noted both teams were missing major contributors. The victorious Eagles started a reserve wrestler at 106 pounds, and were without No. 4 Rudy Yates, a two-time state champion at 126. More impactful were the absences for Washington: state runner-up Trey Keeley (106), 2014 state runner-up Ethan Reel (145), two-time state champion Randy Meneweather (170), and No. 6 Jacob Warner (182). Among matches that did happen, the lone notable outcome was Carl Sandburg's Louie Hayes scoring a 3-2 decision over Dack Punke in a battle of state runners-up at 113 pounds.
The other ranked collision came as part of a quad meet at New Trier, as No. 7 Oak Park River Forest upended No. 50 Dakota 50-22 in a battle of the multi-time defending big-school and small-school state champions.
Also in Illinois, No. 12 Marmion Academy opened its season on a very positive note with a tournament title at the Moore-Prettyman Invitational hosted by Barrington. The Cadets scored 266-1/2 points, anchored by six champions, to beat tournament runners-up Lyons Township by more than 50 points. Winning weight class titles were Sean McKenna (106), Anthony Cheloni (132), A.J. Jaffe (138), Trace Carello (160), Riley DeMoss (170), and No. 4 (at 182) Nathan Traxler (195).
Other place winners included Brad Gross (145), Michael Callahan (152), and Nate Jimenez (182), along with Ryan Fleck (113) in fourth; three non-starters also earned podium finishes, Trevor Chumbley (106) took second, Peter Ferraro (145) was fourth, and A.J. Rechemecher (170) earned seventh. Additional high profile champions in that event were No. 15 Travis Piotrowski (Prairie Ridge) at 126 and returning state runner-up Matt Allen (Hinsdale Central) winning a 285 pound bracket that featured arguably the three best wrestlers in Class 3A at the weight.
No. 13 Archer won the Defense Soap Duals titleNo. 38 Mesa Mountain View faced Sunnyside in a battle of the best two teams in the state of Arizona. The nationally ranked Toros came up with a 44-21 victory, winning nine of fourteen matches, on the night before Thanksgiving to extend their consecutive dual meet victory streak to 73.
Ranked No. 46 nationally last week, Shakopee (Minn.) lost a dual meet on Saturday afternoon, 38-25 against Waconia (Minn.). The Sabers have dropped out of the rankings, and are replaced by Stratford, Wis. The Tigers, who feature four returning state champions, jump into the rankings at No. 50 overall.
Moving onto this coming week, here are some of the highlights.
There are again going to be a pair of dual meet showdowns between nationally ranked squads in the state of Illinois this coming Saturday.
The first of which will happen at the Washington Super Duals, between No. 7 Oak Park River Forest and No. 22 Washington. However, it should be noted that Washington is again likely to be short-handed due to football transition and various other early season maladies. No. 49 Dakota is also part of the event, though they will be wrestling neither of the other two ranked teams this week. In other matches for Oak Park River Forest, they will face Deerfield and Lincoln-Way Central; Washington will face Carmel (Ind.) and Granite City; while Dakota has matches against Minooka, Deerfield, and Carmel (Ind.)
No. 36 Mt. Carmel will host No. 34 Montini Catholic as part of a quad meet that also features Bowen and Providence Catholic. The host Caravan is strongest in the upper-half of the lineup, anchored by 2014 state placers Jake Tucker (152) and Dru Worker (195), returning state placer David Riojas (170), returning state qualifier Cameron Lopez (160), and 2014 state qualifier Matthew Reyes (285). The lower half of the lineup includes state qualifier Joseph Eagan (106), state placer Kaleb Guzior (126), and Cadet freestyle All-American Yahya Thomas (132). Montini Catholic is limited in the upper half of the lineup, but is absolutely loaded through the lower half with nationally ranked wrestlers in No. 13 Joey Melendez (106), No. 6 Real Woods (113), and No. 6 Dylan Duncan (138); the Broncos also feature state qualifiers Holden Heller (120) and Caleb Fortuna (145), along with state placer Will Lewan (126) and state runner-up James Pawleski (132).
Western Pennsylvania is always a mecca of wrestling within the United States, and this year is no exception, with No. 18 Belle Vernon Area and No. 44 North Allegheny represented in the Fab 50. Both squads open their season at the Eastern Area Invitational hosted by Gateway on Friday and Saturday. With Kiski Area in the field, it is entirely possible that this tournament will feature the three top teams in the WPIAL this season.
Teams from five states, anchored by No. 9 Southeast Polk (Iowa), will assemble for the 16-team Gardner Edgerton (Kansas) Invitational on Saturday. Other notable teams in the field include state championship programs in Baldwin (Kansas), Broken Arrow (Okla.), and Skutt Catholic (Neb.). Also to note is a Platte County (Mo.) program that features a pair of nationally ranked wrestlers.
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