Brady Berge was named Outstanding Wrestler at the Super 32 Challenge (Photo/Rob Preston)The 2016 edition of the Super 32 Challenge happened this past Saturday and Sunday in Greensboro, N.C. Yet again the field was smattered with elite wrestlers at the top, along with a high quality and quantity of depth throughout the field. The gauntlet of competition that wrestlers have to navigate in order to win and place in this tournament is extremely impressive; heck, just making it to the second day is a genuine battle. Furthermore, it is impressive to see how well run and efficient the event is.
Here are a few points of highlight and discussion from the weekend that was.
Most Outstanding Wrestler Award
The tournament selected an Outstanding Wrestler for a fourth year. In previous years, the high school division Most Outstanding Wrestler went to Spencer Lee (2013), Yianni Diakomihalis (2014), and Nick Suriano (2015). With that being said, the selected wrestler should be among the best in the country and one who had multiple quality wins during the course of the tournament.
This year's OW was Brady Berge (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.), champion of the 152-pound weight class. Berge is ranked No. 9 overall in the Class of 2017, the second highest ranked senior wrestler that competed in the tournament this year. In addition, his path to the title included a pair of wins over fellow top 50 ranked seniors: 10-6 over No. 43 Stephan Glasgow (Bound Brook, N.J.) in the semifinal and 5-3 over No. 20 Quentin Hovis (Poway, Calif.) in the championship bout. Two other wins of note were a 10-3 win in the quarterfinal over Cadet National double champion Aaron Brooks (North Hagerstown, Md.) and a 9-4 round of 16 win over National Prep placer Bailey Thomas (Good Counsel, Md.)
That being said, there were a litany of other champions that impressed over the course of the weekend.
Repeat champions
A pair of wrestlers won weight class titles in the high school division for a second straight year. Adam Busiello (Eastport-South Manor, N.Y.) won the title at 113 pounds, while Joey Silva (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) won the title at 126. It is a fifth straight Super 32 title for Busiello, as the No. 8 overall wrestler in the Class of 2019, also won middle school division titles from 2012-2014. For Silva, ranked No. 21 in the Class of 2018, he beat Austin DeSanto (Exeter Township, Pa.) in the championship bout for a second straight year; on this occasion he beat the No. 37 overall senior 7-2.
During the course of the tournament, Busiello had the following wins over credentialed opposition: pin in 3:09 over state champion Trey Lane (Brandon, Fla.), 11-2 major decision over Cadet freestyle All-American Dylan Shawver (Elyria, Ohio), 16-1 technical fall over two-time state champion Joe Thomas (South Carroll, Md.), 10-2 major decision over state champion and Junior Greco-Roman runner-up Joseph Harrison (Omaha Burke, Neb.) in the semifinal, and then a 5-2 finals victory over No. 12 overall freshman Robert Howard (Bergen Catholic, N.J.)
In addition to his victory in the championship bout noted above, Silva had the following wins over credentialed opposition: pin in 2:26 over state medalist Ethan Smiley (Beech Grove, Ind.), pin in 4:56 over two-time state medalist Weston DiBlasi (Park Hill, Mo.), 11-6 quarterfinal decision over Junior freestyle All-American and three-time state medalist Dan Moran (Northampton, Pa.), along with a 14-7 semifinal decision over two-time state medalist Isaiah Perez (Dinuba, Calif.)
The flagship wrestler
Probably the most talented wrestler in the whole tournament was Vitali Arujau (Syosset, N.Y.), the No. 3 overall senior and a Cadet World freestyle silver medalist last month. He was the basically unchallenged champion of the 132-pound weight class. The most notable win being an 11-4 domination of now three-time Super 32 Challenge placer Mitch Moore (St. Paris Graham, Ohio) in the championship match; Moore is ranked as the No. 12 overall junior.
Other wins of note included a 13-4 major decision over two-time state runner-up Cal Hansen (Deerfield, Wis.); a 14-0 major decision over state champion Kevon Davenport (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.), a Cadet freestyle All-American ranked No. 37 overall in the sophomore class; 3-0 in the quarterfinal over two-time state placer Zack Donathan (Mason, Ohio), also a placer at the FloNationals; and a 12-4 major decision over three-time state third place finisher Breyden Bailey (Indianapolis Cathedral, Ind.) in the semifinal.
The most dominant wrestler
If there was an award for the tournament's most dominant wrestler, there would be zero debate. It would go to 138-pound champion Sammy Sasso (Nazareth, Pa.), who won all seven of his bouts by bonus point margins. It included two technical falls to open the tournament, three major decisions (including the quarterfinal and final), along with pins in the round of 16 and semifinal.
Last year, Sasso placed third in this tournament at 132 pounds, losing just to Yianni Diakomihalis (you might have heard of him!) in the semifinal round. Since then, he was champion at the FloNationals (his third placement in that event), runner-up to Arujau at the UWW Cadet National freestyle tournament, and a Cadet National freestyle runner-up (which made him a two-time Cadet National double All-American). Sasso is currently ranked No. 9 overall in the Class of 2018.
All three major decisions came against state champions: 18-6 over Alex Rivera (Smithville, Mo.) in the round of 32; 11-3 over Nate Keim (Collinsville, Okla.) in the state final, though three-time state placer Keim won his title in 2015; and 15-1 over Jake Bergeland (Centennial, Minn.). The pair of pins came against wrestlers that placed third in the big-school division of power state tournaments last season; Luke Kemerer (Hempfield Area, Pa.) and Corey Shie (LaSalle, Ohio).
Stock up: ran the gauntlet
If one was to assess the champions based solely on the credentials of the opposition they faced, the championship journey through the 195-pound weight class by John Borst (Sherando, Va.) would have to be the most impressive. On Sunday, Borst beat a trio of elite wrestlers to earn the belt.
In the quarterfinal it was a 7-2 decision over Andrew Davison (Chesterton, Mich.), who is ranked No. 61 overall in the senior class; Davison is also a Junior National double All-American from Fargo and a Junior folkstyle national champion. In the semifinal it was a 14-9 decision over Jacob Raschka (Pewaukee, Wis.), who is ranked No. 53 overall in the senior class; Raschka was state champion this past season, a FloNationals placer, and a 2015 Cadet National freestyle champion. The championship bout was a 4-3 victory over state champion and FloNationals placer Gavin Hoffman (Montoursville, Pa.), ranked No. 26 overall in the Class of 2018.
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