After a dominating team championship at the Top Gun Tournament -- even without the services of a pair of state finalists -- Graham, OH traveled north to the Cleveland area to take on St. Edward, OH in the first part of a three week dual meet bonanza. This match featuring the defending state champions in Division I playing host to the champions of Division II was the nightcap of a basketball-wrestling doubleheader.
Though higher ranked in the Amateur Wrestling News Prep 40, Graham entered the dual meet as the overall underdog -- with St. Edward favored in eight of the fourteen contested matches. The evening started at 135 pounds, a weight class in which Graham was favored -- but one that St. Edward hoped to score an upset in. However, takedowns in the second and third period for Graham sophomore Isaac Jordan would be the difference in a 5-2 victory over fellow sophomore Mark Martin.
The next match, at 140 pounds, featured another battle of sophomores -- where it was Graham sophomore Felipe Martinez, ranked seventh nationally, scoring a pin in 1:46 against returning state qualifier Matt Van Curen. An unexpected strategic curveball was thrown in by Graham with the next two weight classes. The Falcons weighed in freshman Robert Mannier at 145 and junior state runner-up Matt Stephens at 152, which was a switch from their normal positions in the lineup. In the match at 145, St. Edward sent out senior reserve Eric Madsen, who was able to secure a 5-0 victory reducing the Graham dual meet lead down to 9-3 after three matches.
Upset number one came in this next match at 152 pounds, where it was a rematch of the third place bout in the 145 pound weight class at the Walsh Ironman. In that meeting, Anthony Salupo (St. Edward) -- now ranked 15th nationally -- defeated Stephens by a 7-6 score. This time, Salupo bumped up one weight class to meet Stephens and went out to a 3-1 lead in the second period. However, Stephens scored a takedown in the last half of the period and was able to ride Salupo out for the duration of the second period. An escape and subsequent takedown for Stephens made the margin 6-3. Salupo would score a very late reversal and then cut Stephens loose right after that in hopes for a last second takedown that was not to be. The final score was 7-5 for Stephens, and after a team point was deducted from Graham for wrestler misconduct, the team score was 11-3.
Things more or less went to plan over the next five matches -- Graham getting wins at 171, 189, and 215; while St.. Edward secured wins from third-ranked Nick Sulzer at 160 in a battle of state champions and Greg Kuhar at 285. However, Graham had wins by injury default and major in that stretch; while St. Edward was only able to muster a major decision out of a pair of matches where they were hoping for three or four bonus points. With the score 24-10, St. Edward had a shot being favored on paper in four of the last five matches, including the battle at 103 pounds of nationally-ranked wrestlers.
Freshman Dean Heil -- ranked eighth nationally for St. Edward -- scored the first takedown of the match and had a 2-1 lead with about 30 seconds left in the first period. Graham's sophomore Ryan Taylor -- ranked 18th nationally - would score the first of two takedowns on throw-by's at this point and end the first period with a 3-2 advantage. Heil escaped to start the second, and Taylor scored another late takedown to end the second period. After multiple attempts to score with a cradle in the third period, Taylor was able to break the grip and score a go-ahead reversal to make it 6-4. Heil would subsequently escape, but still trailed 6-5 late in the match. Having to go for desperation throw, Taylor was able to trap Heil and secure the fall at the 5:56 mark of the match. The team score was now 30-10 in favor of the Falcons, and things were functionally over.
Freshman sensation Bo Jordan of Graham knocked off No. 1 Jamie Clark of St. Edward at 130 pounds (Photo/Bob Tuneberg/BuckeyeWrestling.com)This serves as a prelude to Saturday night's home dual meet against the nation's top-ranked team Blair Academy, NJ. The next weekend, Graham will wrestle Wadsworth, OH -- a team that has already beaten St. Edward this season; the Grizzles are currently ranked first in Ohio's big-school division.
Blair Academy sweeps at NHSCA Final Four, but closer than expected
In preparation for this coming weekend's journey to Graham, OH -- Blair Academy, NJ made their annual trek to Easton, PA for the NHSCA Final Four of Wrestling. The format this year was an eight team field split into two pools of four teams. The champions of each pool wrestled for first place, while there was a second match in the final group for the evening.
However life was not easy for Blair Academy, as they narrowly escaped defeat in their second round pool match against Collins Hill, GA -- ranked 12th nationally by Amateur Wrestling News. Despite winning eight of the fourteen matches, Blair only won the dual meet by a 33-30 margin. Key to Collins Hill's near upset was a win by second period fall at 103 pounds from Drew Ferguson against 10th ranked Max Hvolbeck. However, going 3-0 in matches decided by two points or less saved the day for Blair; these included a 5-3 victory from the nation's top-ranked 140 pound wrestler Chris Villalonga up at 145 pounds against Joel Smith, Brad Bishop winning 3-2 over Pat Riley at 160 pounds, and freshman sensation Brooks Black with a 2-1 victory over Thomas Delain at 285.
Blair Academy also lost in six of 14 matches against Benton, PA during the opening dual meet of the day. However, they won the match by a much more convincing 43-25 score. The most notable individual match was at 119 pounds, where ninth-ranked Mark Grey (Blair Academy) upended 13th ranked Mike Rhone 8-3. In the final dual meet of the round-robin, it was a 42-18 victory for Blair over Long Branch, NJ -- which is ranked 34th by AWN.
Bishop Lynch, TX -- ranked 16th by AWN - was the opponent for Blair Academy in the evening final match. The Friars made it to the final with a 49-21 victory over Franklin, MA; a 30-30 win based on criteria (eight wins to six) over Easton, PA; and a 46-23 victory over 37th ranked High Point Regional, NJ. The highlight match of the afternoon was Trey Adamson upending 12th ranked John Guzzo (High Point) 2-1 at 160 pounds.
The evening final saw Blair Academy defeat Bishop Lynch by a 46-15 score. In the only head-to-head match of ranked wrestlers, second-ranked Michael Evans (Blair Academy) upended 19th ranked Stephen McPeek 7-2. In addition, Brad Bishop (Blair Academy) beat Adamson 4-3 one match after Adamson's upset victory over the nationally ranked Guzzo. Only three Bishop Lynch wrestlers won matches -- Case Garrison (130), Chris Mears (145), and 13th ranked Tanner Eitel (171).
The day's other dual meet involving nationally ranked teams occurred in the opening round where Collins Hill upended Long Branch 27-22. Despite going 1-5 in matches decided in overtime or by one point in regulation - Collins Hill still won the dual meet. The squads split matches 7-7, but Collins Hill had three wins with bonus points (pin, technical fall, major decision) while Long Branch only had one major decision victory.
Other scores for the event included Collins Hill over Easton 45-12, Easton 42-20 over Franklin, Collins Hill 54-25 over Benton, High Point 51-9 over Franklin, High Point 48-14 over Easton, and Long Branch 42-19 over Benton.
Battle of Hawkeye State elite yields interesting results
Six of the top eight teams in Iowa's Class 3A -- according to rankings done by ThePredicament.com -- convened this past weekend at Urbandale High School for the Ed Winger Invitational. With top ranked Waverly Shell-Rock not in the field, it was a chance for those behind in the poll to thrive. Second-ranked Iowa City and third-ranked Bettendorf led the field with seven total wrestlers finishing in the top three, and each was able to muster two champions.
Weight class bracket winners for tournament champion Bettendorf were Bo Schlosser (135) and Brody Berrie (285), Dominic Chase (140) came in second, while four others came in third; three wrestlers also finished in fifth place, as the squad scored 200-1/2 team points. Iowa City West got weight class titles from Justin Koethe (152) and second in the nation Nick Moore (160), Kegan Wakefield (103) and Jon Skarda (119) were runners-up, three others finished in third, while two other wrestlers placed (fourth and sixth). Iowa City West came in second place with 190-1/2 points.
Despite a tournament high four champions and five finalists, the hosts from Urbandale, IA were able to do no better than fourth place in the standings with 160 points. Winning titles for the host squad were Colby Knight (103), Chris Murphy (119), Gabriel Moreno (140), and fourth in the nation Michael Moreno (171). Evan Knight -- ranked sixth nationally at 189 -- finished second to Matt Riley of Des Moines Roosevelt, IA losing in the final 8-5. This was a reversal of last year's state final in which Knight emerged with a 7-3 victory. The hosts had one other wrestler take fourth, and two others finish sixth.
Finishing third in the standings was North Scott, IA despite the fact that they were unable to secure a champion from four finalists -- Connor Ryan (112), Adam Perrin (125), Walt Gillmor (171), and Ben Nagle (215). Other placers for North Scott took third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and sixth -- as the team scored a total of 171 points.
Highlighting the tournament were two additional upsets of nationally-ranked wrestlers. In the semifinal at 112 pounds, 18th ranked Jack Hathaway (Iowa City West) fell by a 2-0 score against Connor Ryan. Ryan then lost in the final to defending state champion Cory Clark (Southeast Polk, IA) 9-4. At 152 pounds, 13th ranked Michael Kelly (Cedar Falls, IA) was upended 6-4 by Justin Koethe in the championship match, who had previously beaten Joey Trizzino (Bettendorf) in the semifinal round. Those three wrestlers are the top three at 152 pounds in Iowa's Class 3A.
The featured weight class bracket was at 171 pounds, where three nationally-ranked wrestlers populated the bracket. Eighth-ranked Gilmor (North Scott) met 17th ranked Mikey England (Centerville, IA) by a 13-6 score. However, fourth-ranked Michael Moreno would defeat Gilmor 7-5 in the championship final -- a match that could preview the Class 3A state final.
Rounding out the tournament champions were Cory Clark (112) and Dylan Blackford (130) from Southeast Polk, IA; 20th ranked John Meeks (125) and Matt Riley (189) from Des Moines Roosevelt; and David Kellogg (145) and Trevor Voelker (215) representing DC Grimes, IA.
Champions = not near championship, No champions = championship?
Thirty-two teams from six states convened for the Top of the Rockies Tournament hosted by Centaurus High School in Colorado; only one had multiple champions, and only three in all had even three wrestlers competing in the championship match. Despite having no wrestler win a weight class bracket -- Grand Island, NE emerged with the tournament title scoring 178 points. Key to the Islanders' success was three tournament runners-up, and eight total placing in the top six. Finishing second in their weight for Grand Island were Andrew Riedy (119), Alan Taylor (189), and Nate Westerby (215).
Conversely, the only team with multiple champions could only muster a fifth place finish in the tournament standings with 151-1/2 points. Winning titles for Ponderosa, CO were ninth ranked Jake Snider (145), Steven Kelly (152), and Austin Gabel (171). However, only two other wrestlers placed in the top six -- one was third, and the other took sixth.
Finishing second was another team without a champion -- Roosevelt, CO scoring 163 points. Their only finalist was Jade Lopez, a runner-up at 103 pounds. However, the squad had six other wrestlers place in the top six; one in third, two in fourth, two in fifth, and one in sixth. A close third in the team standings was Rio Rancho, NM with 159 points. Louis Trujillo -- ranked fourth in the nation -- scored their title in the 130 pound weight class; the squad also had three wrestlers take third, with one each finishing in fifth and sixth.
Other nationally-ranked wrestlers to win weight class titles were No. 15 Matthew Gurule (112) from Grand Junction Central, CO and No. 10 Connor Medbery (215) from Loveland, CO. The only upset of a nationally-ranked wrestler came in the 140 pound weight class where Travis Himmelman from Conifer, CO defeated Ryne Cokeley from St. James Academy, KS 8-3 in the final; Cokeley was ranked 19th at 145 pounds.
Rounding out the weight class champions were Emilio Martinez (103) from Greeley West, CO; Courtland Hacker (119) from Broomfield, CO; Taylor Moeder (125) from St. James Academy, KS; Casey Lynn (135) from Montezuma Cortez, CO; Robert Pickrell (160) from Northridge, CO; Tommy Thoman (189) from Green River, WY; and Gage Boyd (285) from Pomona, CO.
The week ahead ...
*No. 1 Blair Academy, NJ @ No. 3 Graham, OH -- Saturday evening, 7:00 p.m. EST
*Shore Conference Tournament -- Wednesday evening at various sites, Saturday at Southern Regional (3 p.m. EST semifinals/5:30 p.m. EST final). No. 36 Long Branch, NJ and No. 40 Jackson Memorial, NJ are the top two seeds; and also rank second and third per rankings in The Star-Ledger. Three other teams in the top 11 of New Jersey state rankings will compete in this event. A potential quarterfinal dual meet Wednesday night would be Southern Regional, NJ hosting Brick Memorial, NJ. The other state ranked team is Howell, NJ.
*New Jersey Coaches Association All-Star Invitational -- Sunday afternoon, 3:00 PM at Brick Memorial. Three bouts feature a pair of nationally-ranked wrestlers. No. 13 Jordan Beverly (Point Pleasant Boro, NJ) meets No. 14 Ryan Dunphy (Passaic Valley, NJ) at 145 pounds, though both are ranked at 140; No. 6 Nick Visicaro (Long Branch, NJ) bumps up one weight class to meet No. 7 Ryan Callahan (Walkill Valley, NJ) at 171 pounds; and No. 3 Andrew Campolattano (Bound Brook, NJ) faces No. 13 Billy George (Long Branch, NJ) at 189 pounds.
*Reser's TOC -- Friday and Saturday. This is the top tournament in the state of Oregon, and features the best teams and individuals from across all classifications.
All individual wrestler rankings are based on the InterMat national high school wrestling rankings, team rankings per Amateur Wrestling News as of last week (except in the week ahead section, which reflect those from this week).
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