Let's briefly discuss some of the championships from the past weekend that won't get in depth coverage.
Alabama: Thompson won the Class 6A title with 186 points, which was enough to beat out runner-up Vestavia Hills (150.5); Arab earned the Class 5A title with 148.5 points, which outlasted (Southside-Gadsen (109.5) and Scottsboro (99); while Tallassee was champions in Class 1A-4A with 143.5, which was almost 50 more points than second place St. James (96.5). Results
Arizona (Divisions 3 & 4): Holbrook upended Ampitheater 195.5 to 173.5 to win the Division 3 title, while Camp Verde beat St. Johns 229.5 to 219 to earn the Division 4 title. The Division 1 & 2 tournaments will be held this weekend, as they were delayed by one week. Results
Arkansas: Catholic High won the Class 6A-7A title with 255.5 points, which outlasted Bentonville (229) and Han-Ber (208.5); while Maumelle dominated the Class 1A-5A tournament with 352.5 points, as the battle for second waged between three teams more than 150 points back in the standings. Results
Montana: Great Falls dominated the Class AA tournament with 353.5 points, while runner-up Bozeman scored 225. Results The Class A tournament was a slightly closer title race, with Havre outlasting Sidney by a 294.5 to 268.5 margin. Results Lastly, the Class B/C tournament was won by Calstrip with 224 points, as Choteau came in second with 169 points. Results
Tennessee: Father Ryan won the Division II tournament with 233 points, which was more than 50 points than runner-up McCallie (182.5) and third place The Baylor School (171). The Class AAA tournament was won by Cleveland with 215 points, while Wilson Central came in second with 166.5; and the tightest of the three tournaments was in Class A-AA, where Hixson (163.5) was able to outlast Alcoa (155) and Pigeon Forge (134.5). Results
Texas: Perennial power Allen won the Class 5A title with 98.5 points, while Martin came in second with 78. In Class 4A, first place Centennial amassed 119 points, which was more than 30 points greater than second place Highland Park (85) and third place Amarillo (80). Results
Utah: No. 38 Pleasant Grove dominated their way to the Class 5A title, as they were led by five state champions on the way to a 269.5 point finish, while second place Layton mustered 163.5 points. Mountain Crest and Maple Mountain waged a close battle for the Class 4A title, one that Mountain Crest secured by a 226 to 217 margin. Payson emerged with the Class 3A title, as they scored 218 points, which outlasted both Juab (173.5) and Uintah (166.5). Champions in Class 2A were Delta with 260 points, while Millard came in second with 218. Finally, the Class 1A was won by Monticello with 205 points, with second place Altamont accruing 180.5 points. 4A/5A Results | 3A Results | 1A/2A Results
And now we'll move on to some of the more notable events of last weekend.
No. 9 Bergen Catholic among six teams crowned New Jersey group champions
This past Sunday afternoon in Toms River, four public schools and two non-public schools were crowned as group champions through dual meet competition. Even though the title was really won beforehand, No. 9 Bergen Catholic confirmed their status as Non Public A group champions with a 52-9 assault of St. Augustine Prep.
The key result for the Crusaders was a 33-18 North sectional finals victory over No. 24 Don Bosco Prep on Saturday afternoon. Results They won eight of the weight classes, anchored by a major decision from No. 2 Nick Suriano (113) and a technical fall from No. 1 Johnny Sebastian (182).
Of further interest were the sectional semifinal matches held on Wednesday night, as both dual meets involved a 7-7 split of the bouts. Bergen Catholic upended Delbarton 36-29. Results; while Don Bosco Prep earned a second very narrow victory over No. 25 St. Peter's Prep, this time it was 29-27. Results
Most notable among the other group champions was No. 20 Bound Brook, who dominated the proceedings on Sunday in Group 1. Those Crusaders won eleven matches in a 48-12 semifinal victory over Kittatiny and ten matches in a 46-16 finals victory over Paulsboro.
Rounding out the public school group champions were Phillipsburg (Group 4), Clearview (Group 3), and High Point (Group 2). Despite only winning six bouts, along with trailing 24-4 midway through the dual meet and 33-10 with four bouts to go, four consecutive pins gave High Point a 34-33 victory over Hanover Park in the Group 2 final. Those pins came from Colby Brands (170), Antonio Porraspita (182), Kyle Stoll (195), and Robert McDonnell (220). The other non-public champion was DePaul Catholic in Group B. Coverage
Oklahoma state duals highlighted by Broken Arrow's pair of wins over fellow Fab 50 teams
Broken Arrow, now ranked No. 11 in the country, came through with a pair of storybook victories on Saturday to win the Class 6A title in the Oklahoma state dual meet tournament. The three Fab 50 teams in Class 6A opened the day with dominating victories in the quarterfinals: No. 11 Broken Arrow upended Southmoore 57-15, No. 12 Stillwater defeated Midwest City 76-3, while No. 15 Edmond North defeated Muskogee 52-12. Stillwater scored a 33-24 victory over Tulsa Union in the semifinal round, while Broken Arrow faced Edmond North.
In a match starting at 170 pounds, Edmond North ran off six straight victories to jump ahead 29-0, as the five Huskies nationally ranked wrestlers all were involved in this stretch. Joel Dixon (170) and Paxton Rosen (106) scored major decisions; while Lance Dixon (182), Derek White (195), and Andrew Dixon (220) scored pins. The other match in this stretch was a 3-2 decision for Nolan Malloy over Trenton Lieurance at 285.
The turnaround began with a pin from Tajuan Daniels at 113 points, as the Tigers would add six more match victories to take a 33-29 lead before the last bout of the dual meet. Additional victories came from pins by two-time state champion Davion Jeffries (126) and two-time state placer Paden Bailey (152), a technical fall from three-time state placer Zack Edwards (132), a 20-6 major decision from No. 17 Markus Simmons (120), along with decisions from state champions Shea Conley (138) and Tanner Bailey (145). Edmond North countered with a 10-3 victory from Zach Walton at 160 pounds to end the dual meet, but it was too little, too late.
In the championship final, which started at 182 pounds, there were three ties and three lead changes after the first match of the night. Tanner Hawkins started things off for Stillwater on a highly positive note with a pin in 46 seconds. However, Broken Arrow would respond with three consecutive wins by decision, capped off by a 6-1 overtime victory for Trenton Lieurance at 285 pounds over James Brower.
A 10-3 victory for No. 11 Andrew Nieman would enable Stillwater to equalize the meet at 9-9 after 106 pounds, while a 4-3 decision for Tyler Dieringer in the following bout gave the Pioneers their last lead of the night at 12-9. Three consecutive victories for Broken Arrow would give the Tigers a 20-12 lead that stood for the rest of the night, with two of those results being reversals from the in-season dual meet last month. This go around, No. 17 Markus Simmons upended Jacob Fontanez 2-0 at 120 pounds, while Zack Edwards upset now No. 15 Kaid Brock 4-3 at 132.
Consecutive Stillwater victories from Tristan Moran (138) and No. 5 Joe Smith (145) would cut the deficit to 20-18 with three bouts remaining. Those victories from Moran and Smith came in anticipated bouts, Moran upending Shea Conley 7-3, and Smith beating Tanner Bailey 2-1. A second period pin from Tanner Bailey (152) and 7-1 decision for Braxton Owens (160) in the next two bouts would clinch the state title for Broken Arrow with one match to go. No. 6 Chandler Rogers (170) would earn a forfeit for Stillwater in the last bout to reflect the final score.
No. 50 Collinsville would win the Class 5A title with a tight 30-27 victory over Lawton McArthur in the championship bout. The two opening round matches were blowouts for both squads. The state champion Cardinals defeated Piedmont 55-6 in the quarterfinals, and followed it up with a 62-9 semifinal victory; while runners-up Lawton McArthur scored a 52-19 victory over Western Heights in the quarterfinal and a 42-14 win over Altus in the semifinal.
No. 32 Tuttle showed even more dominance in their run through the Class 4A tournament, as no opponent was even within 40 points; while Perry torched their way through the Class 3A event. Results
Coming up this week
Individual bracket tournaments will be held in Arizona (Division 1 & 2), Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, National Preps, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington.
The National Prep tournament includes No. 1 Blair Academy and No. 6 Wyoming Seminary. Keep in mind that some teams, not Blair Academy though, will be using post-graduate wrestlers during this event. These are wrestlers that can compete in National Prep competition, but not during NFHS matchups.
Preview content for the Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa individual state tournaments will appear in a separate article.
State dual meet championships will be held this week in Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, and South Carolina. The South Carolina Class 1A/2A title was held yesterday, while 3A and 4A will be held today; dual meet competition in Iowa and Maryland is today; while Michigan's is Friday and Saturday.
Iowa Class 3A features a trio of nationally ranked teams. No. 23 Bettendorf is the top seed, and draws Pleasant Valley in the opening round, with a likely quarterfinal against Cedar Rapids Prairie or Linn-Mar. The other semifinal is likely to feature No. 22 Southeast Polk against No. 36 Waverly-Shell Rock. Assuming all teams prioritize the event, it's a wide open tournament.
Regardless of what the seeds say, the Michigan Division 1 dual meet title will come down to No. 17 Detroit Catholic Central and No. 30 Davison. DCC is the third seed, while Davison is the first seed. Similarly the Division 2 tournament will come down to two teams, and they actually are the top two seeds: No. 14 Lowell as the favorite over No. 28 St. Johns.
Split decision in North Dakota
This past Thursday, West Fargo upended Bismarck 31-25 for the North Dakota Class A state dual meet title. Both teams had steamrolled their way through quarterfinal and semifinal matches, before the Packers won nine of fourteen weight classes in the finals match. However, key to their victory was a pair of one-point/overtime bouts: Anjelo Shepherd upended Adam Blees 2-1 at 145, and Jared Franek defeated Dillon Spaulding 4-2 in overtime at 106.
However, both of those results were flipped during the individual bracket event, as Bismarck won the state title very narrowly over West Fargo, 254 to 252. Franek beat Spaulding 4-3 in the state title bout at 106 pounds; while Blees beat Shepherd 6-4 in ultimate tiebreaker during the semis, with Blees going on to win state and Shepherd dropping back to fourth at 145. Joining those two as state champions for Bismarck were Kael Knowlen (120), Ricky Galindo (152), and No. 1 Ryan Blees (160).
What ultimately cost West Fargo the state title in the individual meet was a disastrous 1-7 performance in first place matches on Saturday night. Only Jordan Shearer (132) was able to win a state title, while Jared Franek (106), Jesse Shearer (152), Weston Dobler (160), Kollin Kragnes (170), Kyle Kragnes (182), Tanner Kuznia (195), and Brandon Metz (285) all fell to defeat.
South Border swept the titles in Class B. They beat Carrington 34-33 in the dual meet final on Thursday night, and out-pointed Carrington 182 to 172.5 at the weekend. Dual Meet (A/B) Results | Individual A Results | Individual B Results
Dominance from No. 16 Brandon leads happenings in Florida state tournament
While not really a surprise at all, No. 16 Brandon dominated the Class 2A state tournament, as the Eagles were led by seven state champions on the way to 270.5 points. Five of those state champions capped off undefeated seasons: Frankie Bruno (106), No. 5 Kyle Norstrem (113), No. 19 James Flint (126), No. 11 Dylan Lucas (132), and Dontae McGee (170). Additional state champions were Devan Berrian (138) and Dakota Greene (160), and they were joined by a pair of runners-up in Ty Lucas (120) and Troy Joyce (145). Second place in that tournament went to Tampa Jesuit with 119.5 points, as they were led by No. 20 Austin Underwood, an undefeated state champion at 285 pounds.
Winning the Class 3A (big-school) title was South Dade with 174.5 points. They were led by three state champions: Ozzy Lugo (106), Patricio Lugo (138), and Isaiah Crosby (145). Finishing as runners-up were Osceola with 127.5 points, and the Kowboys were led by state titlists No. 6 Fox Baldwin (160) and Ben Cruz (220). Undefeated champions in this classification included No. 12 Jared Prince (126) and Connor Prince (132) of Palm Harbor University, Patricio Lugo, Baldwin, and Daniel Leon (285) of North Miami.
The Class 1A race between Cardinal Gibbons and Lake Highland Prep was the closest, and it was won by Cardinal Gibbons 165.5 to 149. They were led by state titles from Anthony Vazquez (126), Jamal Morris (132), and Ryan Thomas (195); while runners-up Lake Highland Prep also had a trio of state champions in Joey Silva (106), Jake Brindley (113), and Jake Spengler (152). Results
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