Notre Dame-Green Pond showcased its depth at the Trojan WarsSeveral Fab 50 teams turned in strong performances this past week, highlighted by Wyoming Seminary's dominance at the Powerade. Below is a recap of other key events on the high school wrestling calendar.
No. 31 Notre Dame-Green Pond shows understated depth at Trojan Wars
Much of the talk about the Crusaders in the preseason and early centered on their trio of nationally elite wrestlers, but in the MyHouse Trojan Wars at Chambersburg (Pa.) this weekend it was five other wrestlers that provided key placement points on the way to a tournament title. No. 7 Brett Ungar (113) and No.2 Ryan Crookham (126) earned titles, while No. 6 Andrew Cerniglia (160) was out of the lineup. Another pair of Notre Dame wrestlers made the finals, champion Brendan Chlestos (120) and runner-up Derek Berlitz (182). Additional wrestlers placed third, seventh, and seventh on the way to 210.5 points.
The other nationally ranked team, No. 25 Southern Columbia (Pa.) placed fourth with 185.5 points and six placers. The Tigers were absent 2018 state placer Patrick Edmonson (138) and returning state medalist Gavin Garcia (160). Anchoring the effort was champion No. 2 Gaige Garcia (195) and runner-up Lear Quinton (285); other placers were third, two in fourth, and one in sixth. Tournament runners-up were the hosts, Chambersburg who had 191.5 points on the strength of five placers; Tate Nichter (152) won a weight class, Karl Shindledecker (120) and No. 16 Luke Nichter (160) finished second, while another pair finished fourth. Third place was Smyrna (Del.) with 186.5 points on the strength of seven placers led by weight class champions No. 20 Gabe Giampietro (106) and J.T. Davis, three took fourth, one was third, and the other was eighth.
Additional nationally ranked wrestlers to win titles were No. 7 Clayton Ulrey (Lower Dauphin, Pa.) at 160 pounds, No. 18 Dylan Reinert (Gettysburg, Pa.) at 170, and No. 16 Nate Schon (Selinsgrove, Pa.) at 220; Ulrey beat Nichter 11-7 in his championship bout.
Mukwonago ends up even on the day but wins the Flavin Duals anyway
The first day of the Flavin Duals on Friday was basically rubber stamp for the four teams that ended up in the Platinum championship pool. On the second day, it was anything but as Mukwonago (Wis.) won all three duals, though each dual meet was 7-7 in terms of match count. The opening dual came against No. 38 Brownsburg (Ind.), where they needed pins from Nate Stokhaug (145) and Cole Hansen (152) to win by the score 37-32. The second dual meet came down to a winner-take-all last match where Lucas Benn (160) came through with a pin to beat Oak Park River Forest (Ill.) 38-30. In the final match, it was a 41-37 victory over the host school, DeKalb (Ill.), though the Barbs needed to go tech, pin, major to shrink the margin to the ending score; key for Mukwanago in that was a pin at the 1:33 mark from Stokhaug at 145 against 2018 state champion Fabian Lopez.
Brownsburg won their other two dual meets in relatively narrow fashion, 31-25 over DeKalb where the matches were split 7-7 and 42-32 where the Bulldogs needed pins from Peyton Asbury (160) and Greg Glover (170) in the dual's last two bouts to win 42-32 (8-6 match count). DeKalb beat Oak Park River Forest in the pool's other dual by the score of 40-25.
Indianapolis Cathedral knocks off No. 47 Crown Point at Al Smith Invitational
At the best regular season tournament in the Hoosier State, defending state tournament champions Indianapolis Cathedral certainly sent a message to all those in attendance, as the Irish put 12 on the podium, including nine inside the top four, on the way to a tournament title. Leading the 270-point effort were five finalists, including weight class champions in No. 16 Zeke Seltzer (120) and Logan Bailey (138); while Elliott Rodgers (160), David Guhl (220), and Holden Parsons (285) finished in second place.
Runner-up in the tournament was No. 47 Crown Point with 218.5 points. The Bulldogs had five finalists of their own, including three champions in Sam Goin (106), Stephen Roberson (126), and No. 4 Jesse Mendez (132) while Riley Bettich (120) and Orlando Cruz (145) finished in second place. However, they only put nine on the podium, seven in the top four. They were absent state-ranked freshman Cody Goodwin at 138, though his backup did finish in eighth place. Additional ranked wrestlers to win tournament titles were No. 11 Graham Calhoun (Plymouth, Ind.) at 170 and No. 12 Joseph Walker (Mishawaka, Ind.) at 182.
Lake Gibson wins Knockout Christmas Classic
In an entertaining three-team battle for the title, it was Lake Gibson (Fla.) that came out on top with 218.5 points led by eight placers, including No. 14 Ashton Habeil winning the 182-pound weight class. Three other wrestlers finished as runners-up: No. 2 Hayden Whidden (106), Connor Williams (126), and Brendon Abdon (138); Abdon upended No. 15 Caden McCrary (Woodland, Ga.) 4-3 in the semifinal before losing in the final to No.3 Frankie Tal-Shahar (American Heritage, Fla.).
Second in the standings was Woodland (Ga.) with 204.5 points and also eight placers; however it was just two finalists and four third place finishers of note. No. 14 Caleb Henson (145) had a superlative Saturday with an 8-7 semifinal win over No. 12 Ethan Basile (Tampa Jesuit, Fla.) before a 5-4 finals win over No. 3 Bretli Reyna (South Dade, Fla.); No. 15 Jaxon Smith (170) lost his finals match 10-8 in overtime against Tylynn Lukens (Manatee, Fla.). Third place in the event was Tampa Jesuit (Fla.) with 203 points and seven placers, led by weight class champions No. 7 Kai Owen (106) and Tom Crook (126) plus runner-up finisehs from Braden Basile (120) and Mason Arnold (285)
Three additional nationally ranked wrestlers won weight classes, including two in showdowns against a nationally ranked opponent. No. 20 Matthew Singleton (Woodward Academy, Ga.) won the 160-pound title with a 10-1 major decision over No. 18 Lucas DeSilva (Collins Hill, Ga.), No. 13 Chase Horne (West Laurens, Ga.) upended No. 14 Chad Nix (Fleming Island, Fla.) 7-1 in the 220-pound final, and No. 15 Curtis Ruff (Seminole, Fla.) won the 285-pound weight class.
Ohio finals upsets
In the Kenston Invitational Tournament, a pair of nationally ranked 170-pound wrestlers took to the mat. No. 16 Najee Lockett (Shaker Hts.) used a late third period takedown to beat No. 9 Jacob Lagoa (Ashtabula Lakeside) by the score of 3-1. Lockett was a state runner-up last year, Lagoa was a state champ in 2017 and 2018 but did not compete in the post-season last year.
At the GMVWA Tournament held just outside of Dayton, St. Paris Graham emerged as tournament champs despite going 3-5 in the finals. However, two of those losses were by nationally ranked wrestlers. No. 16 Nick Moore lost 3-2 to Gavin Brown (Legacy Christian Academy), who was a state champ last year as a freshman; while Alek Martin -- in his first competition of the year - lost 2-1 to Peyton Lane (National Trail), who was a state runner-up last year.
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