The following state tournaments are on the docket for this coming weekend:
Individual Bracket: Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
Dual Meet: Illinois, Minnesota, and Nebraska
Given all that activity, it's hard to cover all of it, so let's just highlight four major stories from the past weekend.
1. No. 1 Blair Academy fails to win National Preps for first time since 1980, so what's the story?
This past weekend was the National Prep Championships held at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. For the first time since Mt. St. Joseph won the title in 1980, Blair Academy did not score the most points in the tournament. Instead it was Wyoming Seminary (Pa.), which will move up two positions to No. 4 nationally after their performance. The Blue Knights won the title 299.5 to 256.5.
Leading the way for Wyoming Seminary were weight class champions Nicky Hall (182) and Jake Scanlan (285). Five Blue Knights wrestlers earned runner-up honors: Trent Olson (113), Will Verallis (126), No. 10 Nick Reenan (152), No. 17 Chris Weiler (160), and Matt Doggett (220). Six other wrestlers came through with a placement finish as well: Tyrel White (170) and Mike Rogers (195) took third, Jake Savoca (145) earned fourth, John Busiello (106) was fifth, while Jimmy Overheiser (120) and Will Crisco (132) were sixth. The lone wrestler not to place was Tyler Ponte (138), who was one match away.
Blair Academy countered with three weight class champions: No. 6 Matthew Kolodzik (126), No. 7 Mason Manville (152), and No. 2 Dylan Milonas (160). Two other wrestlers were runners-up, Zach Sherman (106) and No. 17 Chaz Tucker (120). Six other wrestlers earned a placement finish: Requir van der Merwe (113) was third, Alex Rinaldi (132) and No. 19 Brandon Dallavia (170) were fourth, Jordan Kutler (138) and Neil Putnam (220) earned fifth, while Nick DiNapoli (182) took sixth. Finishing one match short of placement were Walker Dempsey (145) and Will Cooley (285), while Christian Suk (195) went 2-2 for the tournament.
Rounding out the weight class champions were Joey Prata (106) of St. Christopher's, Va.; No. 6 Jack Mueller (113) of Trinity Christian Academy, Tex.; Eric Hong (120) and Michael Sprague (138) of Georgetown Prep, Md.; Jack Mutchnik (132) of St. Paul's, Md.; No. 7 Alfred Bannister (145) of Bishop McNamara, Md.; tournament Outstanding Wrestler No. 5 Myles Martin (170) of McDonogh, Md.; No. 20 Daniel Hawkins (195) of Mt. St. Joseph's, Md.; and Jake Anderson (220) of Malvern Prep, Pa.
In terms of completing national team rankings, a couple of factors come into play. First and foremost is that the Fab 50 rankings reflect team composition based on NFHS eligibility, namely re-classified “fifth-year seniors” and/or post-graduates are not eligible to compete. Again, keep in mind that the rules of the National Prep Championships do allow these wrestlers to compete, but they cannot compete in events such as the Ironman, the Beast of the East, et al.
Wyoming Seminary had three such re-classified seniors in Savoca, White, and Hall. Savoca placed fourth and scored 18 points, White was third and scored 21, while Hall was a champion and scored 33. Based on lineups during other points of the season, the Blue Knights had other wrestlers in those weight classes. While it is inexact and speculative to determine likely performance for replacements, my analysis concludes they would have scored 30-35 less points.
The second factor is that the Fab 50 tries to reflect how each team would perform with a reasonable representation of “base personnel”, i.e. they were at full strength. Blair Academy was without two key starters, No. 1 Joey McKenna (138) and returning National Preps placer David Showunmi (195). McKenna would have been prohibitively favored at 138, while his replacement finished fifth; and Showunmi was a likely mid-placer, while his replacement went 2-2. That is likely to add 25 points to the Blair ledger. Each team also had one wrestler with an injury default during the tournament that adversely impacted team scoring, so those kind of wash out.
Given the above premises, Blair Academy wins the tournament by about 15 points in an NFHS setting, which to me justifies them remaining at No. 1 in the Fab 50. Furthermore, the Fab 50 attempts to reflect performance over the course of the whole season. During said season, Blair Academy won titles at three major tournaments -- Walsh Jesuit Ironman, Beast of the East, and Escape the Rock (Wyoming Seminary placing eighth and third in the first two of those events). The Buccaneers also earned eight dual meet victories over Fab 50 teams, including No. 4 Wyoming Seminary, No. 6 St. Paris Graham (Ohio), No. 7 Massillon Perry (Ohio), and No. 9 Bergen Catholic (N.J.)
2. The Class 3A title races in Iowa were intriguing, so what happened?
Three Iowa teams are in the Fab 50 -- Bettendorf, Waverly-Shell Rock, and Southeast Polk. Each squad is in the big-school division, Class 3A. First, the state dual meet tournament on Wednesday placed these squads as the top three seeds in that order.
In the semifinal round, No. 23 Southeast Polk defeated No. 35 Waverly-Shell Rock 38-31, as the Rams won eight of the fourteen weight class bouts. A 24-0 assault for Southeast Polk in the first five weight classes, the dual meet started at 113, was too much for the Go-Hawks to counter. Those results were first period pins for Cody Batterson (113) and Nolan Hellickson (120), a 5-2 decision for Jonah Williams (126), a 6-3 decision for Keegan Shaw (132), and a first period pin for Aaron Meyer (138). No. 20 Bryce Steiert (145) stopped the bleeding for Waverly-Shell Rock with a first minute pin, before Southeast Polk bumped up Briar Dittmer (152) to get a technical, which pushed the lead out to 29-6.
Four consecutive Go-Hawk wins would cut the deficit to 29-25, those coming in the form of pins from Spencer Derifield (160) and Izaak Miller (182), a 9-0 major decision from Corey Abernathy (170), and a 5-3 decision for Thomas Foy (195). Eventual state champion Ethan Anderson (220) would stretch the Rams lead to 35-25 with two bouts remaining, before Jake Marnin (285) clinched the dual meet with a 3-2 win over Kaleb Staack in a match that would be re-wrestled on Saturday night. Austin Yant (106) came through with a last match pin for the Go-Hawks to reflect the final score.
In the final, No. 22 Bettendorf would come up with a second 8-6 match count win over Southeast Polk for the season, as the Bulldogs had also won 37-27 in their dual meet at Iowa State University in mid-January. The proceedings started with a 1-0 decision for Southeast Polk's Hellickson at 120 against Paul Glynn. However, Bettendorf then countered with three consecutive victories to make the lead 10-3. Jackson Gallagher (126) had a 6-3 decision, No. 3 Fredy Stroker (132) scored a 13-3 major decision, and No. 9 Logan Ryan (138) scored a 5-4 decision over Aaron Meyer in a match that would be re-wrestled Saturday night.
Dittmer would stop the bleeding for Southeast Polk with a 10-4 decision at 145 pounds, before the Bulldogs extended the lead to 20-6 with consecutive victories: a 19-8 major decision for Jacob Woodard (152) and a pin for Michael Belanger (160). Mason Kerr (170) scored a first minute pin to cut the deficit to 20-12, before a crucial match at 182 pounds, in which Elijah Preisser upended Kameron Padavich 3-1 in overtime to push the Bettendorf lead to 23-12. Southeast Polk did counter with three consecutive victories to take their second lead of the dual meet at 27-23, a 4-1 decision for Deion Mikesell (195) followed by pins from Ethan Andersen (220) and Jake Marnin (285).
Bettendorf ended the match with consecutive first-minute pins from Jack Wagner (106) and Jacob Schwarm (113) to take the state title. They would then go on to sweep the state titles during the next three days in one of the more intriguing team races in Iowa state tournament history. All three top teams earned over 150 points.
In fact, the team title came down to the last match of the finals, as Bettendorf held a 162-158 lead over Southeast Polk, and Waverly-Shell Rock was on 147.5 points. The Rams had put themselves in that position after Ethan Anderson (220) scored a major decision in his state finals match, the only one that they would end up winning on Saturday night. That set up a match between Jake Marnin and Kaleb Staack, which if Marnin replicated the outcome from Wednesday afternoon, there would be a tie. However, Staack flipped the outcome with a 3-1 victory to give Bettendorf the sweep of the titles.
The Bulldogs were led by eight state placers, including four state champions: Jake Wagner (106), who won his state final in overtime; Jacob Schwarm (113), No. 3 Fredy Stroker (132), and No. 9 Logan Ryan (138) who rallied from an early deficit to beat Meyer 6-4. Paul Glynn (120) finished as runner-up, Jacob Woodard (152) took fifth, Max Erpelding (220) was sixth, and Michael Belanger (160) earned eighth.
The previously mentioned Anderson was the lone champion for the Rams, who placed nine wrestlers in the tournament. Three others were runners-up: Aaron Meyer (138), Briar Dittmer (145), and Jake Marnin (285). Nolan Hellickson (120) and Keegan Shaw (132) placed third, Adam Brown (106) and Deion Mikesell (195) placed fifth, and Mason Kerr (170) earned seventh.
For the Go-Hawks, who scored 151.5 points on the strength of eight placers, they were led by three state champions: No. 20 Bryce Steiert (145), Corey Abernathy (170), and Kaleb Staack (285). Izaak Miller (182) placed second, Spencer Derifield (160) was third, Thomas Foy (195) was fourth, while Austin Yant (106) and Justin Reiher (132) finished in seventh.
3. Fab 50 dual meets in Michigan
Both the Division 1 and Division 2 championship bouts came down to matches between a pair of Fab 50 teams. No. 17 Detroit Catholic Central and No. 30 Davison met for the Division 1 title, while Lowell and St. Johns met for the title in Division 2. Both matches were repeat finals from last year, ones that Detroit Catholic Central and St. Johns won.
Davison was the first seed in Division 1, and reached the final by a 68-0 victory over Livonia Frankin and a 47-16 defeat of Oxford; while third seeded Detroit Catholic Central reached the final with a 59-9 victory over Plymouth and a 49-15 shellacking of second-seeded (not sure why) Hartland. The championship match started at 285 pounds, and the defending state champion Shamrocks jumped out to a 9-0 lead with a 6-1 decision from Jimmy Russell (285) and a pin from Aaron Rehfeldt (103). The teams would trade wins in the next two bouts -- Maxwell Johnson (112) getting Davison on the board with a 4-0 decision and Trevor Zdebski (119) scoring a 9-1 major decision -- for DCC to push ahead 13-3.
Four consecutive wins from Davidson would give the Cardinals a 19-13 lead, and also yield the last wins of the night for them. Those results came in the form of a 13-5 major decision for two-time state champion Lincoln Olson (125), a 9-4 decision for Derek Humphrey (130), a 3-0 decision for Matt Miller (135), and a pin at 1:09 for No. 11 Justin Oliver (140). A pair of two-point margin victories from Myles (145) and Malik (152) Amine, each up one weight class from where they will compete at individual state, equalized the dual meet at 19-19.
A pin in the first period from No. 12 Nick Bennett, who was up one weight class at 160, gave DCC the lead for good at 25-19. At 171 pounds, both teams bumped wrestlers, and it was Tyler Morland coming through with a 9-5 decision. Again, both teams bumped at 189 for a battle of nationally ranked wrestlers. No. 14 Andrew Garcia came through with the match clinching victory over No. 17 Jordan Cooks, 3-1 in overtime. Nick Giese (215) closed the dual meet with a 4-1 decision victory for good measure.
The top seed in Division 2, Lowell, reached the final with a pair of dominating victories, 58-16 over Warren Lincoln and 43-16 over Niles; while St. Johns was pushed in their semifinal, winning only six weight classes in a 35-33 victory over Tecumseh, after winning only eight bouts in a 40-23 victory over Bay City Western.
The championship final would open with both teams bumping wrestlers up one weight class, as Tyler Wildmo scored an 8-4 upset victory over No. 18 Josh Colegrove at 285 pounds to give St. Johns a 3-0 lead. Lowell weighed in Lucas Hall at 103 pounds for the state dual meet finals, he's going 112 during the individual tournament, and he got a first period pin in this bout. The Redwings then countered with Ian Parker scoring a second period pin at 112 pounds to give them a 9-6 lead.
Lowell would then respond with four consecutive victories to jump ahead 22-9 at the halfway point of the dual meet. Zeth Dean (119) scored a 9-0 major decision, Derek Krajewski (125) won his match 10-7, Bailey Jack (130) won 5-3, and Jordan Hall (135) scored a pin in the first minute. Then it was the Redwings' turn to win four consecutive bouts. It was consecutive technical falls from No. 3 Zac Hall (140) and Mark Bozzo (145) followed by consecutive pins from Drew Wixsom (152) and No. 5 Logan Massa (160), who was wrestling up one weight class. With three bouts to go, it was 31-22 in favor of St. Johns.
Kanon Dean (171) came through with a second period pin to cut the deficit to 31-28. However, No. 10 Angus Arthur (189) responded with an 8-6 decision against Max Dean, who had pulled off an upset pin to spark the Red Arrows' mid-January win over DCC. That made the score 34-28, and then Garrett Stehley (215) earned a win by disqualification to tie the bout at 34-34 when Nic Sturgis was stalled out of the match.
At 34-34, it came down to criteria, and Lowell won based on a greater number of six-point dual meet bouts, 4-to-3. As a result, Lowell dropped two spots in the Fab 50 to No. 16, while St. Johns bumped up two spots to No. 27.
4. Heavyweight in Illinois has some heavy stuff
Between Class 3A and Class 2A, there were five nationally ranked wrestlers at 285 pounds that did battle at state this past weekend.
In Class 2A, it was simply a two person race between undefeated defending state champion Tanner Farmer (Highland) and two-time National Prep runner-up Michael Johnson, Jr. (Montini Catholic); Johnson had one loss on the season to Class 3A notable Adarios Jones, and earned titles at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman and Cheesehead tournaments. In addition, to reach the final, Johnson would beat previously undefeated Deuce Rachal (Lindblom) by 7-4 decision in the semifinal. Farmer would win his second straight title on Saturday night with a pin over Johnson at the 2:25 mark; Farmer now goes on to play offensive line at the University of Nebraska, while Johnson is now a three-time state-level tournament runner-up.
The narrative in Class 3A was more complex. The top seed was Brian Allen (Hinsdale Central), the returning state champion who will be joining his brother as an offensive lineman for Michigan State. He entered the state tournament with a 42-1 record, which included a split of matches against Nicky Allegretti, three wins over Michael Hobbs, and a tiebreaker win over Adarios Jones.
Despite being nationally ranked, Nicky Allegretti (Lincoln-Way East) was stuck in the top half-bracket with Allen. Allegretti had split matches with Allen during the season, and beat nationally ranked wrestler Jones in the sectional final.
The third nationally ranked wrestler was Adarios Jones (Moline); who had upended Michael Johnson in December, but had losses to Hobbs, Allen, and Allegretti during the course of the year.
Setting the stage for Saturday night's final, Allen beat Allegretti 4-2 in the state semifinal, to make the season series 2-1 in his favor. While in the bottom half of the draw, Jones would beat sectional champions D'Andre Johnson (Glenbard East) by 9-1 major decision in the quarterfinal and Chris McDermand (Libertyville) 3-1 in the semifinal; McDermand upended Michael Hobbs (Downers Grove South) 5-3 in the tiebreaker during the quarterfinal.
In said Saturday night final, it was Jones coming through with the 3-2 ultimate tiebreaker victory over Allen, which came after Allegretti earned a third place finish on Saturday afternoon. In terms of the rankings at present, it comes the following: No. 7 Farmer, No. 8 Allen, No. 9 Allegretti, No. 10 Jones, and No. 12 Johnson.
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