No. 1 Millhof upset at The Graves Invitational
In the final of the Graves Invitational held at Brandon High School this past weekend outside of Tampa, Fla., the nation's top 126-pound wrestler in the country, Ryan Millhof (Collins Hill, Ga.) was upset by Dylan Lucas of Brandon, Fla. Lucas, who is ranked No. 20 nationally at 132 pounds, upended Millhof by a 3-1 score in the 126-pound final. He was one of five champions for No. 22 Brandon, which won the tournament by just under 100 points with Camden County, Ga. in second place (343 to 246). Additional weight class winners for the championship team were Frankie Bruno at 106 pounds, No. 5 Kyle Norstrem at 113, Dontae McGee at 170, and Robert Enmon at 220.
Cedar Rapids Prairie enters the Fab 50 team rankings
With a tournament championship at the Independence Invitational, previously unranked Cedar Rapids Prairie, Iowa jumps into the Fab 50 team rankings at No. 46. The Hawks beat out nationally ranked Linn-Mar, which drops a few slots down to No. 49, for the tournament title by a score of 190 to 164.5. Finishing third in the standings was the top small-school squad in Iowa, Alburnett with 157.5 points.
Cedar Rapids Prairie was led by the weight class titles won by Marcus England (106) and Skyler St. John (160), with four other wrestlers placing second -- Dylan Kleinschmidt (113), Sam Uthoff (120), Zack Fiser (126), and Jesse Hynek (195). Finishing in third place were Trey Blaha (152) and Jarod Cadena (182). The Hawks were also missing returning state placer Josh Wenger from the lineup at 132 pounds.
For the runners-up from Linn-Mar, they were led by weight class titles from No. 16 Alijah Jeffrey (120), Ross Lembeck (152), and Andrew Holladay (195). Another pair of wrestlers, Toby Northrup (145) and Shea Hartzler (160), finished in second place, while Alex Streicher (126) earned a third place finish. They were without the presence of 2012 Junior National freestyle All-American Nolan Ajram (113) and two-time state placer Matt Wempen (126) from the lineup.
Interestingly, there is a dual meet slated for Thursday night between No. 46 Cedar Rapids Prairie and No. 49 Linn Mar to be held at Prairie H.S. The two squads are also part of the Five Seasons Duals on Saturday and the Battle of Waterloo to be held next weekend.
Five Seasons Duals
Three nationally ranked teams -- No. 28 Bettendorf, No. 46 Cedar Rapids Prairie, and No. 49 Linn Mar -- are featured in the Five Seasons Duals to be held this Saturday at two of the high schools in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Other preseason ranked teams in Iowa per The Predicament in the field include Mason City (6th in Class 3A), Iowa City West (8th in Class 3A), and Alburnett (1st in Class 1A).
It is likely that Bettendorf will be the top seed with Cedar Rapids Prairie and Linn Mar the second and third seed, which would mean they would be slated to meet in the semis on Saturday after wrestling a dual meet on Thursday night. With those six teams all in the field, it should produce a pair of interesting quarterfinals, along with solid matches in the semifinals and medal rounds.
No. 25 Southeast Polk wins Gardner Edgerton Invitational in Kansas
In a tournament field that featured 15 teams from four states, it was supposed to be 16 from five states but No. 15 Broken Arrow, Okla. had to pull out due to treacherous weather conditions in Oklahoma this past weekend, it was No. 25 Southeast Polk, Iowa that came out on top. On the strength of going five-for-five in first place matches, the Rams were able to outlast Skutt Catholic, Neb. by 34 points (213.5 to 179.5).
Weight class champions for Southeast Polk were Nolan Hellickson (120), Aaron Meyer (138), Briar Dittmer (145), Ethan Andersen (220), and No. 19 Jacob Marnin (285). They also had third place finishes coming from Keegan Shaw (132) and Deion Mikesell (195).
Tournament runners-up Skutt Catholic also had seven wrestlers inside the top three, but only Jake Walker (152) was able to come up on top of his weight class. Finishing in second place were Brian Peska (120), Bailey Vanderpool (138), and Nick Hollins (170). Third place finishes came from Korbin Meink (106), Jeff Heinz (113), and Landon Gotschall (160).
Rounding out the weight class champions were No. 10 Matt Schmitt (106) and Matthew Barmann (113) from Platte County, Mo.; Reese Cokeley (126), Ben Vanlerberg (160), and Trent Salsbury (182) from St. James Academy, Kans.; Chris Walters (132) from Iowa City West, Iowa; along with Dustin Williams (170) and Seth Pesek (195) from Gardner Edgerton, Kans.
Wyoming Seminary with a bold statement at home
Wyoming Seminary, Pa. dominated its way to the championship at The Friends of Sem duals held this past Saturday, and moves up one spot to the No. 3 position in the Fab 50 as a result. The expected to be competitive finals dual meet against No. 10 Franklin Regional, Pa. proved to be anything but that, as the Blue Knights dominated their way to wins in eleven of the 14 weight classes for a 60-13 match victory.
Heading into the week, it was going to be a steep task for the tenth-ranked Panthers to match the overall depth of Wyoming Seminary. However, that turned into impossible with the ever lingering delay of the eligibility appeal hearing for Devin Brown -- ranked No. 5 nationally at 106 pounds -- and the inability of either Michael Kemerer or Tyler Smith, both nationally ranked, to get down to 132 pounds yet due to certification results. Those situations will also keep Brown and one of Kemerer or Smith out of the Walsh Ironman this weekend.
Further exacerbating things for Franklin Regional was the exclusion of Gus Solomon, a very good ninth grader, from their dual meet lineup. However, the Panthers did get wins out of three of their four remaining “stars” in the lineup as No. 1 Spencer Lee dominated his way to a 15-0 technical fall victory over No. 14 Trent Olson at 113 pounds, No. 13 Tyler Smith earned a 25-10 technical fall victory over National Prep placer Will Verallis at 138 pounds, and two-time state placer Josh Maruca earned a 3-1 victory over NHSCA Junior Nationals runner-up Tyler Ponte at 145 pounds.
Wyoming Seminary got the dual meet's most impressive victory though, as No. 13 Nick Reenan upended No. 12 Josh Shields by a 13-7 score at 152 pounds. The Blue Knights overall depth was just overwhelming in the match, as 12 of their wrestlers placed at either their state tournament or National Preps last year, while a 13th did not place at National Preps but was a NHSCA Junior Nationals runner-up.
Highlight upcoming events
A pair of notable dual meets happens today. This afternoon, No. 20 Davison, Mich. travels to No. 11 Detroit Catholic Central, Mich. A preview article for the in-school assembly dual was posted on InterMat yesterday. This evening, No. 43 Parkland, Pa. hosts District XI rival Easton, Pa. in a season opening contest for both teams. Easton swept the pair of dual meets between the squads last year, winning 30-27 in January during the regular season and then earning a 28-26 victory in the District XI Class AAA championship in early February.
After competing at home against Davison on Wednesday, the Shamrocks travel to Holland, Mich. for the Tim Horn Memorial Duals where they will likely face No. 44 St. Johns, Mich. in the finals.
There are two other notable dual meet tournaments to be held on Saturday. No. 50 Prior Lake, Minn. will host its dual meet event, one that includes a probable matchup with No. 33 St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.; and No. 34 Archer, Ga., travels to the 16-team Cleveland Duals in Tennessee, where additional notable teams include Father Ryan, Tenn., The Baylor School, Tenn., and Pope, Ga.
Two notable tournaments happen in the Sooner State on Friday and Saturday. No. 27 Collinsville, Okla., travels to Enid for the Mid-America Nationals where they will also be joined by Lawton McArthur, Okla., and Tuttle, Okla. No. 23 Stillwater, Okla., travels to Perry for the Perry Tournament of Champions where they will also be joined by Tulsa Union.
No. 32 Clovis West, Calif., will host the Clovis West Shootout this Friday and Saturday. Friday's portion of the event is assigned dual meets involving the 16-team field, while Saturday's portion is a bracketed event with upper and lower brackets of eight wrestlers each. Other notable teams in the field include No. 7 Clovis, Calif. and Buchanan, Calif.
A very early state tournament: The Last Frontier
The small-school division in Alaska (Class 123A) conducts a fall/early winter season for its scholastic wrestling as opposed to the traditional winter season. Its state tournament will be held this coming Friday and Saturday at Anchorage Christian School. Bethel is seeking a fourth consecutive state title, after finishing runners-up in Class 123A the previous two years, and have qualified wrestlers in 13 of the 15 weight classes (98 pounds is also contested in addition to the 14 NFHS weight classes, 106-285). Eight of those wrestlers won their state qualification tournament this past weekend.
Quick notes from the past weekend
No. 12 Brecksville, Ohio travelled to No. 47 Claymont, Ohio and used wins in ten of 14 weight classes to earn a 41-18 victory. Most notable was the 6-3 upset earned by Austin Hiles, who bumped up to 138 pounds for Brecksville, in defeating three-time state placer Cody Burcher from Claymont.
No. 5 Apple Valley, Minn., absolutely trounced No. 50 Prior Lake, Minn., in a dual meet on Friday night, as the Eagles won 12 of 14 weight classes in a 57-9 victory.
McDonogh, Md., outlasted Good Counsel, Md., to win the Ray Oliver Tournament by eleven points (208.5 to 197.5). The battle for third place between Delaware rivals Smyrna and Caesar Rodney was decided by one point, with Smyrna nabbing it 168 to 167. The top two teams monopolized the weight class finals, as McDonogh went 4-3 in championship matches while Good Counsel went 5-1. Most notable among the performances was Micah Hight (Caesar Rodney, Del.) winning the battle of three-time state champions with a 5-1 upset victory over No. 11 Brent Fleetwood (Smyrna, Del.) 5-1 at 120 pounds.
In a dual meet matching up the top two teams in Iowa Class 2A this past Thursday, it was second-ranked Davenport Assumption pulling out a 31-29 victory over Mediapolis. However, both teams were missing multiple wrestlers that could make the outcome different moving forward. Davenport Assumption wrestled without state qualifier Darrien Collins (106) and three-time state placer Eric Clarke (132). Mediapolis was absent two-time state placer Cole Erickson (145); No. 20 Adam Drain (182), a three-time state placer and state champion last year; as well as state runner-up Steven Holloway (195). Also to note is that Mediapolis won eight of the weight classes, including a 6-5 upset victory from Bradley Conley over state runner-up Tristen Finch at 138 pounds; but the Knights came up with four wins by fall, including one by state qualifier Danny Bush over two-time state placer Drew Buster at 152 pounds.
Results from the El Dorado Invitational in California lead to a straight swap in the rankings. Poway, which won the tournament with 306.5 points, will come into the rankings at No. 45; while Buchanan, which finished in second place with 204, will drop from the rankings. Three Poway wrestlers won weight class titles: Ray Cordova at 113 pounds, No. 18 (at 138) Ralphy Tovar at 145, and Sergio Enloe at 152. An additional nine wrestlers placed in the tournament, including another three in second and four in third.
Also falling out of the team rankings this week was Park Hill, Mo. Ranked No. 39 nationally headed into the weekend, they were upended by Kearney, Mo., 38-33, in dual meet action this past Saturday.
Highlights in separate InterMat content
Separate articles were posted to InterMat about three major events held this past weekend: No. 11 Detroit Catholic Central, Mich., tied St. Edward, Ohio 37-37 in a Saturday dual meet, but the Shamrocks earned the victory on the ninth tiebreaking criterion, and St. Edward moves up three spots in the Fab 50 to No. 21; No. 2 Oak Park River Forest upended No. 17 Marist, winning nine of 14 weight classes in a 43-23 victory; and No. 28 Bettendorf, Iowa won the Keith Young Invitational by nine points over No. 31 Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa (213 to 204 was the team score).
The nation's best in-season tournament, the Walsh Jesuit Ironman, will be dissected in a preview article to be posted on InterMat tomorrow (Thursday) morning. In addition, a breakdown of the King of the Mountain -- which includes three nationally ranked teams in No. 30 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa., No. 36 Greater Latrobe, Pa., and No. 43 Parkland, Pa. -- will be posted on InterMat tomorrow as well.
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