What championships are being held this week?
Individual bracket: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina (2/19-2/21); Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington (2/20 & 2/21)
Dual meet: Iowa (2/18), North Dakota (2/19), Delaware (2/24)
Which states have already concluded their championships?
Individual bracket: Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Montana, Tennessee, and Utah
Dual meet: Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee
Four things to look forward to this week:
1. Yet another chapter in the Bettendorf vs. Southeast Polk battle for Iowa supremacy
The two present dynasties are strong favorites to meet in tonight's Class 3A dual meet state final before doing battle for the individual bracket state tournament title over the next three days at the Wells Fargo Center in Des Moines. No. 8 Southeast Polk won both tournaments in 2013, was runner-up to Bettendorf in both events last year, while also finishing runners-up in the individual event in 2012. The 20th-ranked Bulldogs counter with runner-up finishes to the Rams in both 2013 events, while winning titles in both events during 2012 and 2013.
This season saw just one common event for the two teams, the Ed Winger Classic one month ago, where Southeast Polk won that tournament title by approximately 40 points over Bettendorf (210 to 170). The Rams also qualified 13 to the state tournament, something that has just been done three times prior in Iowa state tournament history. Furthermore, 12 of those wrestlers won their qualifier last week, and six are ranked in the top three state-wide (two first, two second, two third). Bettendorf counters with 11 state qualifiers of their own, including four ranked first in the state (with another ranked second, and two more in the third position).
Last year's dual meet final saw Bettendorf take a 23-12 lead through nine weight classes, before Southeast Polk responded with a 4-1 decision and two falls from 195-285 to take a 27-23 lead headed to the last two weight classes of the dual meet. Pins from Jack Wagner and Jacob Schwarm yielded a 35-27 victory for the Bulldogs. The individual tournament was similarly tight, as Bettendorf led throughout the finals session, before a major decision from Ethan Andersen in the 220-pound championship match cut the Southeast Polk deficit to four. A decision victory by Jacob Marnin would have meant co-champions; however, Marnin lost to Kaleb Staack in the 285-pound final, a wrestler whom he had beaten in the dual meet semifinal.
2. Best weight class of the weekend? 220 pounds in Iowa 3A, with three ranked wrestlers
Ethan AndersenThis year, The Predicament rankings have the order as Gremmel, Eaton, Andersen, and Baker; while the national rankings by InterMat have Eaton at No. 10, Andersen as No. 11, and Gremmel in at No. 16 in the country. The state bracket gods have slated Gremmel and Eaton to meet in the top quarterfinal, presuming each clears their opening bout; while Baker and Andersen are positioned to meet in the lower half-bracket semifinal.
During this season Gremmel is undefeated, though he has yet to face any of the other top ranked 220-pound wrestlers in Class 3A; his highest quality win on the season was an 8-3 decision in an early January dual meet against Dalton Kuehl (Cedar Rapids Jefferson), this classification's second ranked 285-pound wrestler. Eaton has just one loss on the season, falling in overtime against No. 5 Ryan Parmely (Maquoketa Valley), who is prohibitively favored to win a second Class 1A title; while possessing wins over both Baker (5-1) and Andersen (4-1) at the Ed Winger Classic. Baker has two losses, one is particularly perplexing (8-7 to Keaton Hulett of Creston), the other is to Eaton; finally returning state champion Andersen has just one loss on the season, that coming to Eaton.
3. The abundance of undefeated wrestlers in Indiana, who completes the process?
For it being a single class state, there seems to be a large number of undefeated wrestlers headed into the state tournament on a year-to-year basis in the Hoosier State. This year, the number is 21, with 12 of 14 weight classes having at least one undefeated wrestler (for the sake of context, Ohio -- a state with more wrestling schools and three divisions -- has seen 20 or more wrestlers enter state undefeated just one in the previous eight seasons).
Furthermore, seven weight classes have multiple undefeated wrestlers, including a pair of weight classes that have three. Of additional interest is that from the five wrestlers that have previously won an Indiana state title, just two will enter this year's state tournament undefeated. The following chart documents the undefeated wrestlers.
113: No. 7 Garrett Pepple (East Noble) and Drew Hildebrandt (Penn); also in this weight class is No. 16 Paul Konrath (Mount Vernon); Hildebrandt and Konrath are in the same half
120: Sawyer Miller (South Adams) and Breyden Bailey (Indianapolis Cathedral) in the top half bracket, Brock Hudkins (Danville); defending state champion Jeremiah Reiz (Griffith) in the same quarter as Bailey
126: No. 3 Chad Red (New Palestine) and Elliott Molloy (Danville) both in the bottom half bracket
132: No. 4 Nick Lee (Evansville Mater Dei)
138: No. 9 Brandon James (Perry Meridian); defending state champion Tommy Cash (Lawrence North) has lost to James in the final each of the last two weeks
152: No. 8 Tommy Forte (Mishawaka)
160: No. 19 Drew Hughes (Lowell) and Jacob Gray (Delta)
170: Dylan Lydy (Benjamin Davis); defending champ Jacob Stevenson (Franklin Community) has lost to Lydy the last two weeks in the final
182: Seniors Corey Hinkle (Western) and Chase Osborn (Penn), as well as freshman Mason Parris (Lawrenceburg); Parris and Osborn are both in the bottom half bracket
195: Nick Fowler (Calumet) and No. 10 Blake Rypel (Indianapolis Cathedral) are both in the bottom half-bracket
220: Kobe Woods (Penn)
285: No. 9 Norman Oglesby (Benjamin Davis) and No. 8 Shawn Streck (Merrillville)
4. The single best potential state tournament match of this weekend? No. 3 Jason Renteria (Oak Park River Forest) vs. No. 4 Austin Gomez (Glenbard North)
This pair of dynamite sophomores met last weekend in the sectional semifinal round, an action-packed match that Renteria won 8-6 in the tiebreaker. Last year at state, Renteria was runner-up to Austin O'Connor (St. Rita) -- now ranked No. 14 nationally at 132 pounds -- in the 106-pound weight class; while Gomez finished third in this weight class, including a win over Rudy Yates (Carl Sandburg) -- now ranked No. 4 nationally at 126 -- in the consolation final. Should the Illinois 3A final at 113 be something other than Renteria vs. Gomez, it would be an astonishing event.
Four thoughts from last week's state championship competitions:
1. How about the shock of the state tournament season? Brecksville wins state duals in Ohio Division I
Most of the talk within the Buckeye State was about how No. 15 St. Edward had returned to the catbird seat in the state's big-school division, after seeing Massillon Perry take both the dual meet and individual tournament titles last year. The predictions of almost everyone were that the Eagles and the Panthers, the state's wrestling powers in Division I since the turn of the 21st century, would meet again for state supremacy.
Both semifinals in Division I were matches that featured Fab 50 nationally ranked teams going against one another. St. Edward won eight of fourteen weight classes in a 34-24 victory over No. 42 Elyria, while it was Brecksville pulling off the 27-21 upset over No. 22 Massillon Perry in the other semifinal. The first major domino in that dual meet was the coin toss, which Brecksville won to force Massillon Perry to have to present first in the opening weight class. This enabled the Bees to follow Panthers' starter Zac McCauley to the 113-pound weight class with their returning state placer Jarrod Bronstrup; while the backup 106 for Brecksville scored a pin, and Bronstrup beat McCauley 4-2 (a 9-0 team point sequence, instead of what otherwise was going to be 6-3).
The dual meet went mostly to plan through 170 pounds, with the notable tossup match at 126 pounds between No. 7 Austin Assad and No. 9 Jose Rodriguez going in favor of Brecksville; Assad winning 3-1 in overtime. Headed to 182 pounds, Massillon Perry held an 18-15 lead. At that point, a second strategic maneuver for the Bees came into play -- 195-pound starter Jimmy Suhayda weighed in at 182, which enabled them to flip normal 182 Luke Strnad up a weight class. The result was a 9-2 Suhayda decision at 182; while Strnad scored a 5-2 decision at 195 against Brady Durieux, a wrestler that beat Suhayda 3-2 at the Beast of the East (again Brecksville turned a likely 6-3 advantage into a 6-0 team point situation).
This set up the 220-pound weight class, Brecksville leading 24-15 needing one more win to clinch the dual meet. It came from junior Eddie Sternad, who scored a third period reversal and tilt to win a 6-3 decision, and a date in the final with St. Edward.
In terms of the match-specific outcomes, the first 12 weights of the state dual meet final were reasonable, with Brecksville winning the two tossup bouts. Bronstrup beating freshman Matt Kazimir at 106 by a 5-2 score, keyed by a takedown and cradle in the first period; while Assad rallied to beat returning state placer L.J. Bentley (St. Edward) 7-5 in overtime, needing a takedown inside the last 15 seconds of regulation to force a sudden victory period. Other keys for Brecksville were pins from Jason Bronstrup (120) and Austin Hiles (152), while holding St. Edward returning state placer Allan Hart (113) to just a major decision.
Once Jared Campbell for St. Edward beat Suhayda by 5-0 at 195 in a battle of state alternates to cut the Eagles' deficit to 29-24, it set up the last strategic gambit of the evening for Brecksville. At 220 pounds, St. Edward was forced to present first, and they sent out returning state placer Parker Knapp. Instead of putting out normal starter Sternad on the mat, a backup wrestler went out; Knapp pinned him in 1:05. This enabled the Bees to bump Sternad up to 285 to face fellow junior Mike O'Malley in a winner take all bout at 285. Sternad hit a cow-catcher towards the end of the first period to score the match's only points; he won 5-0, and Brecksville won the state dual meet title 32-30. This week, they move up 15 spots to No. 26 in the country.
2. Bergen Catholic reign of terror through the Garden State continues
This past week saw No. 11 Bergen Catholic win their fourth straight team state title in the Non-Public Group A classification. The Crusaders also concluded an undefeated dual meet season against fellow NJSIAA teams, with their two losses coming against National Prep squads, No. 3 Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) and No. 4 Blair Academy (N.J.)
The big matches for Bergen Catholic in Non-Public Group A come within the North section. They dominated arch-rival Don Bosco Prep, ranked No. 29 nationally, in a 42-15 victory on Wednesday night; while on Friday night, it was a 41-14 mauling of No. 37 St. Peter's Prep. Between those two dual meets, the Crusaders had a match record of 21-7. The coronation came Sunday afternoon in a 56-9 state final victory over St. Augustine Prep, as Bergen Catholic won eleven weight class matches.
3. Slight underachievement for Mesa Mountain View?
To see one question a state tournament for which ten wrestlers placed including seven within the top three, that may seem a bit nit-picky. However, the standards are very high for a nationally ranked team competing within the Arizona state tournament -- especially one that turned competition within Arizona this season into their own personal playground.
When push came to shove on Saturday night in Prescott Valley, the Toros ended up with four less points than they scored at state in 2014 (193 vs. 197), and a lower gap between themselves and the second place team (35 vs. 55 to Sunnyside on both occasions). They also just had one state champion, Kieffer Taylor (170), and just two other state finalists -- Blake Monty (152) and Weston Taylor (160); Monty's defeat in the state final dropped him out of the national weight class rankings.
Due to these results, the Toros dropped three spots in the Fab 50 this week, and now are ranked No. 32 nationally.
4. Weighty matters in the Keystone State opening layer
Certain districts in certain classifications started their journeys to Hershey and the GIANT Center this past weekend, while others wait until this weekend to commence the state series in Pennsylvania. A couple of notable wrestlers failed to make weight class in their sectional tournaments. The projected big-school state champion at 106 pounds, Riley Palmer (Council Rock South) was one of them. His absence creates a really open weight class, with notable contenders including Matt Parker (Pennridge), Chris Wright (Central Dauphin), Will Kaldes (Cumberland Valley), and Vince Destefanis (Hempfield Area).
Also in DNMW news, No. 31 Cumberland Valley lost a potential low state placer in junior Felix Belga (138) to the scales this past weekend. His points could adversely impact the Eagles in their hunt of a second or third place finish in the big-school individual state tournament; No. 7 Franklin Regional is going to win going away, while No. 10 Bethlehem Catholic is the early favorite for the runner-up trophy, with the Eagles and three other Fab 50 teams in the classification as well.
The other weight class news with Cumberland Valley involves three-time state placer Patrick Duggan dropping down to 145 pounds from the 152 weight class. He is the favorite in neither weight class, as it's No. 1 Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional) at 145 and No. 2 Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) at 152. Nationally ranked wrestlers joining Kemerer and Duggan (now No. 5) at 145 are No. 6 Hayden Hidlay (Mifflin County) and No. 11 Jared Verkleeren (Belle Vernon); while it is now just No. 7 Josh Maruca (Franklin Regional) and No. 9 Kaleb Young (Punxsatawney) at 152 along with Joseph as ranked contenders.
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