Ten wrestlers in all are nationally ranked in their respective weight classes, including a pair at the 285 pound weight class: No. 4 Brian Allen (Hinsdale Central) and No. 6 Michael Johnson, Jr. (Montini Catholic). Those other ranked wrestlers are No. 9 Jason Renteria (Oak Park River Forest) at 106 pounds, No. 7 Rudy Yates (Brother Rice) at 113, No. 7 Isaiah White (Oak Park River Forest) at 138, No. 10 Larry Early (Oak Park River Forest) at 145, No. 2 Bryce Brill (Mt. Carmel) at 152, No. 13 Xavier Montalvo (Montini Catholic) at 160, and No. 14 Edgar Ruano (Montini Catholic) at 220.
Bethlehem Catholic dominates King of the Mountain
No. 24 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa. moved up six spots in the Fab 50 after their dominant performance at this past weekend's King of the Mountain Tournament. The Hawks placed ten wrestlers in all, including a pair of wrestlers each taking first, second, and third place. Winning titles were No. 5 Zeke Moisey (126) and Nick Cortopassi (182).
Second place went to Boyertown, Pa., which enters the Fab 50 at No. 47 this week. They were led by No. 8 Jordan Wood (220), who won his weight class with three first period pins followed by a 5-1 victory in the championship bout. Seven other wrestlers earned a placement finish for their team.
The most notable championship match came at 120 pounds, where it was a battle of Pennsylvania state champions that Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe) won by 4-3 decision in the tiebreaker over Ethan Lizak (Parkland). Pletcher moves up to No. 2 in the nation, and Lizak dropped to No. 4 nationally. Zack Zavatsky, ranked No. 5 nationally at 182, joined Pletcher as a wrestler to win his weight class for Greater Latrobe.
A couple other matches during the tournament placed nationally ranked wrestlers against one another. In the 145 pound final, it was No. 2 Jason Nolf (Kittaning) earning a 22-8 major decision victory over No. 10 at 138 Patrick Duggan (Cumberland Valley); while No. 4 T.C. Warner (Cumberland Valley) used a 13-0 major decision over No. 18 Dom Scalise (Greater Latrobe) in the semifinals to catalyze his title run at 160.
West Coast showdowns in Reno
Many of the best wrestlers from the western third of the country, along with some traveling in from the midwest and mid-atlantic states, will assemble this Friday and Saturday for the Reno Tournament of Champions. Leading the very large field are four teams in the Fab 50 team rankings: No. 37 Vacaville, Calif., No. 39 Maple Mountain, Utah, No. 42 Poway, Calif., and No. 49 Centennial, Idaho.
Additionally, eight nationally ranked wrestlers are featured in the field: No. 15 Gionn Peralta (Vacaville, Calif.) at 113 pounds, No. 20 Sean Cannon (Green Valley, Nev.) at 120, No. 19 Ralphy Tovar (Poway, Calif.) at 138, No. 4 Hayden Tuma (Centennial, Idaho) at 145, No. 10 Tyler Berger (Crook County, Ore.) at 152, No. 6 Jon-Jay Chavez (Centennial, Idaho) at 160, No. 7 Kimball Bastian (Maple Mountain, Utah) at 170, and No. 5 Jeramy Sweany (Vacaville, Calif.) at 195.
Potential battle of three-time champions in Illinois
As part of a quad meet on Saturday afternoon hosted by No. 17 Marist, Ill., there is the likelihood of a match between a pair of three-time state champions when No. 30 Marmion Academy, Ill. and Dakota, Ill. take to the mat. No. 8 Josh Alber (Dakota) and No. 16 Johnny Jimenez (Marmion Academy) are both slated to compete in the 126 pound weight class. Each wrestler has won three state titles so far in their career, and the wrestlers did meet last year at the Dvorak Memorial -- Alber won that meeting by 3-2 decision in the 120 pound final.
Joining No. 17 Marist, No. 30 Marmion Academy, and Dakota in this quad meet is Gordon Tech. The additional item to note is the Fab 50 dual meet between Marist and Marmion Academy which will also happen.
Quick and dirty dual meet happenings
On Wednesday, Dec. 11 it was Davison defeating Detroit Catholic Central 31-28 in a battle of the two top teams in the state of Michigan.
Thursday, Dec. 12 saw Cedar Rapids Prairie, Iowa and Linn-Mar, Iowa split the 14 weight classes in a 38-34 victory for Cedar Rapids Prairie. However, Linn-Mar avenged that loss on Saturday by a 40-29 score when two of their key starters returned to the lineup.
On Friday night, it was Marist earning a 33-28 victory over No. 26 Lowell, Mich. needing a decision victory in the last weight class to seal the dual meet.
Finally on Saturday, St. Johns, Mich. earned a 35-33 upset victory over Detroit Catholic central. However, the Shamrocks were missing two starters -- Trevor Zdebski (125) and No. 11 at 170 Andrew Garcia (171) that directly impacted the outcome of the match. The victorious Redwings did move up eight spots in the rankings to No. 36, while the Shamrocks drop five spots to No. 16, and Davison moved up two spots to No. 18 nationally.
Minnesota Christmas Tournament
Most of Minnesota's best teams will assemble this Friday and Saturday in Rochester for the Minnesota Christmas Tournament, where they will be joined by some out of state opposition (three squads from Wisconsin and two from North Dakota). A trio of Fab 50 teams is in the event: No. 4 Apple Valley, Minn., No. 38 Bismarck, N.D., and No. 41 Kaukauna, Wis.
Twelve nationally ranked individuals are in the field, including a pair ranked No. 1 nationally and another pair ranked No. 3 nationally. Top ranked wrestlers in this tournament are Ryan Blees (Bismarck, N.D.) at 160 pounds and Lance Benick (Totino-Grace) at 195, while Mark Hall (Apple Valley) at 170 and Sam Stoll (Kasson-Mantorville) at 285 are ranked third. The one weight with multiple nationally ranked wrestlers is at 182 pounds, which features No. 15 Bobby Steveson (Apple Valley) and No. 19 Keegan Moore (Jackson County Central).
Additional nationally ranked wrestlers include No. 17 Hunter Marko (Amery, Wis.) at 113 pounds, No. 4 Tommy Thorn (St. Michael-Albertville) at 126, No. 19 Jordan Shearer (West Fargo, N.D.) at 132, No. 5 Seth Gross (Apple Valley) at 138, No. 20 Brady Berge (Kasson-Mantorville) at 145, and No. 16 Dayton Racer (Apple Valley) at 152.
Iowa teams assemble for Battle of Waterloo
Thirty-two schools, all from the Hawkeye State, will convene at Young Arena in Waterloo on Friday and Saturday for a dual meet tournament known as the Battle of Waterloo. The format of the event is identical to The Clash National Wrestling Duals, which take place in Minnesota right around the first of the year. There are four brackets on the first day of eight teams each, which have three dual meets per squad. Teams then will wrestle a round-robin of three matches on Saturday against the teams placing in the same bracket position that they did on Friday.
The two brackets competing early on Friday (9AM/11AM/1PM Central Time) are headed by No. 31 Waverly-Shell Rock and No. 43 Linn-Mar. One of the brackets competing late on Friday (4PM/6PM/8PM CT) is headed by No. 46 Cedar Rapids Prairie; while the other is relatively open with West Delaware Manchester, Davenport Assumption, and Alburnett each having a shot at the title.
The championship round-robin on Saturday will take place in the late segment, 4PM/6PM/8PM. View full team assignments in this article.
First state champions of 2013-14
The Alaska Class 123A (small-school division) state tournament was held this past weekend at the Anchorage Christian School. Yet again, it was Bethel winning the title with 217 points. However, they did not have a single weight class champion; but had six wrestlers place second and another three take third. Results.
Upcoming quick bits
Six nationally ranked teams, and 25 ranked individuals, will be competing in the Kansas City Stampede. A separate preview was posted about that event.
Arguably the nation's second-best in-season tournament is this Saturday and Sunday at the Bob Carpenter Center on the University of Delaware Campus. A separate preview for the Beast of the East will be posted on Friday.
Three Fab 50 teams -- No. 5 Clovis, No. 32 Clovis West, and No. 35 Gilroy -- will be competing in the Zinkin Classic this Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High School near Fresno, Calif. Additional notable teams in the field include Buchanan and Santiago Corona.
The Tri-State Invitational, featuring some of the better wrestlers and teams from the Pacific Northwest will be held on Friday and Saturday at North Idaho College in Cour d'Alene, Idaho. 64 teams are slated to compete in the event including notables such as Deer Park (Wash.), Hermiston (Ore.), Kuna (Idaho), Lake Stevens (Wash.), Lewiston (Idaho), and Post Falls (Idaho).
On Sunday, No. 18 Davison and No. 26 Lowell will compete in a dual meet in Flint, Mich. as part of the AGON II event.
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