Tennessee crowns dual meet champions
Already last weekend, we saw the crowning of a second set of state dual meet champions, those coming out of Tennessee. Winning the Division I (public-school) Class AAA title was Cleveland, champions in Division I Class A-AA were Pigeon Forge, and the champion in Division II (private school) was The Baylor School. Results
Dual meet championships during the coming week
In the week ahead, dual meet champions will be crowned in Delaware (Tuesday, Feb. 11), North Carolina (Saturday), Ohio (Saturday), and Pennsylvania (Thursday through Saturday).
North Carolina
The first two rounds of the 32-team North Carolina state dual meet tournaments were held yesterday, the next two rounds will be held tomorrow, and the championship is scheduled for Saturday. While in Class 1A, the first two rounds were held yesterday, the next round held tomorrow, and the championship scheduled for Saturday. Class 4A Bracket | Class 3A Bracket | Class 2A Bracket | Class 1A Bracket
Pennsylvania
Each district in the Keystone State held its dual meet championships last week to determine teams that would qualify for the state tournament this week. Then, between last night and Monday evening, four play-in matches were held in each division to fill out the 16-team fields that will compete in Hershey starting on Thursday.
First round matches in Class AA (small-school) will take place at 2 and 4 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, while those in Class AAA (big school) are slated for 6 and 8. Competition will continue through the championship and consolation finals matches in each division at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
In the Class AAA competition, three nationally ranked teams appear in the top half of the draw: No. 37 Cumberland Valley, No. 41 Greater Latrobe, and No. 43 Boyertown. Cumberland Valley opens their tournament run with a round of 16 match against North Allegheny, a formidable team that won the Manheim Lions Holiday Tournament earlier this season. The winner of that bout is likely to face a Parkland squad, which lost to Nazareth in the District XI dual meet final Saturday evening on a criteria tiebreaker. In the second quarter of the draw, Greater Latrobe and Boyertown are likely to meet in the quarterfinal round.
Looking at the lower half of the draw, there are two nationally ranked teams, No. 8 Franklin Regional and No. 26 Nazareth. The Panthers and Blue Eagles are strong favorites to advance to the semifinal round. Nominal challenges for each squad should come in the quarterfinal -- Franklin Regional will draw the winner of Erie McDowell vs. Central Dauphin, while Nazareth is likely to face Spring-Ford. The most likely outcome of the Class AAA tournament is that Franklin Regional wins its first state title in wrestling.
In class AA, No. 13 Bethlehem Catholic is seeking to win a fourth consecutive state dual meet title, and the Hawks are prohibitively favored to do so. Bethlehem Catholic faces Lower Moreland in the opening round, and will then most likely face District 10 runner-up Fort LeBoeuf in the opening round, before a likely clash against either Burrell (District 7/WPIAL champions) or Brookville (District 9 champions). The lower half of the draw is anchored by District 10 champion Reynolds and District 3 champion Boiling Springs. Class AAA Bracket | Class AA Bracket
Ohio
The "big four" of Division I (big school) will wage battle for a state title, the first of two such battles to be held over the next month. Should each squad win their first round dual meet, the semifinals would place No. 7 Massillon Perry vs. No. 27 St. Edward, with No. 21 Brecksville vs. Cincinnati Moeller. Each dual meet should be tightly contested, with multiple matches in each dual meet having the potential to swing the outcome. However, the most likely scenario is that Massillon Perry's strength from 106-to-170 proves to be too much for St. Edward and the championship final opponent, as the Panthers will win their first-ever state title in wrestling.
A pair of Fab 50 squads -- No. 5 St. Paris Graham and No. 31 Claymont -- holds the top two seeds in the Division II competition. These two teams met in the state dual meet final last year, with St. Paris Graham winning eight weight classes in a 36-24 victory. Look for a similar type of outcome in this year's dual meet, with multiple matches between state title and placement contenders throughout the dual meet. Keep in mind that Claymont could be challenged in the semifinal round by Perry, who was runner-up in last year's Division II individual state tournament; but it is likely the Mustangs will prevail, as they did when the teams met in last year's first round (by a 36-22 score).
Defending team state champions Delta, who are ranked No. 48 nationally, are favored to repeat in the Division III (small-school) competition. The Panthers have eleven wrestlers ranked in the top 16 of their weight class within Division III, which gives them an overwhelming advantage in terms of depth. The only team that can possibly challenge them is Dayton Christian, which has seven ranked wrestlers, and those squads should meet in the state final. Brackets
Garden State battles continue
Three more dual meets involving nationally ranked teams happened this past week in New Jersey. On Friday night, No. 24 Don Bosco Prep hosted No. 9 Bergen Catholic in their annual rivalry dual meet. It was a tightly contested dual meet through ten bouts, when the teams had split five matches apiece (Bergen Catholic holding a 19-18 lead), before four consecutive decisions would provide the final margin in a 31-18 victory for the Crusaders. Results
Starting in the 152-pound weight class, Bergen Catholic won the first four matches of the dual meet. This included a 2-1 upset victory at 170 pounds for Kevin Mulligan against Luke Farinaro, who was nationally ranked at the time; the string for four matches ended with a pin from No. 1 Johnny Sebastian at 182 pounds, which gave the Crusaders a 15-0 lead.
Don Bosco Prep responded with four consecutive victories of their own, starting with a pin from freshman Eric Chakonis against Danny DeLorenzi in 3:49 at 195 pounds. After the 3-0 victory from fellow freshman Evan Deluise at 106 pounds, the dual meet was tied 15-15. Bergen Catholic would stem that tide with a 14-3 major decision from No. 2 Nick Suriano at 113 pounds, which was countered by a 5-2 decision from Dominick Mandarino at 120 pounds for the Ironmen.
Three wins for Bergen Catholic in what could be characterized as swing matches would clinch the dual meet before the evening's final bout. State placer Peter Lipari upended returning state runner-up Kyle Bierdumpfel 5-3, state qualifier J.P. Ascolese beat state champion Luis Gonzalez 4-0, and Lauren Angelhina upended Sam Cali 5-3 in a battle of state qualifiers.
Bergen Catholic had to turn around and travel to No. 1 Blair Academy for a Saturday evening dual meet, which turned mostly into an unmitigated disaster for the Crusaders. Then again, for most teams facing Blair Academy this year, that was the outcome. The No. 1 team in the nation earned a 55-10 victory, as Blair Academy scored winning outcomes in twelve bouts. Results
Notable outcomes in the match were that Bergen Catholic forfeited three matches due to personnel being injured, and No. 1 in the nation Johnny Sebastian had to injury default during the course of his match at 182 pounds; Sebastian held a 2-1 lead over Nick DiNapoli late in the first period prior to the match being terminated. Finally, Blair Academy won a pair of one point decisions in the last two matches of the evening: Neil Putnam upended Christian Jenco 5-4 at 220 pounds, and Will Cooley beat Joe Caggiano 6-5 in the ultimate tiebreaker at 285.
Also on Saturday, this one during the afternoon, No. 20 Bound Brook traveled to No. 25 St. Peter's Prep. Like in their meeting at the Clash in early January, the two squads split the 14 weight class bouts, but this go around it was the visiting Crusaders who earned a 33-30 victory. Results
The dual meet opened with the host Marauders taking a 9-0 lead, as Nicholas Santos (113) scored a 7-4 decision and Michael Kelley (120) secured a pin in 2:04. However, Bound Brook countered with a pin and decision of their own; state champion Craig de la Cruz (126) with the pin in 1:20, and freshman Mekhi Lewis (132) scoring a 3-0 decision. St. Peter's Prep was quick to respond with three more victories to make it a 21-9 lead. Those came from a 5-3 decision for Connor Burkert (138), a pin in 1:02 for Ryan Burkert (145), and a 4-2 decision for Manny Ramirez (152).
Three consecutive six-point outcomes for Bound Brook would give the Crusaders a 27-21 lead, which would hold up through the end of the dual meet. Pins for Josh Ugalde (160) and Isaiah Soto (182) were sandwiched by a forfeit from Ryan Doerr (170). It was then three swing upper-weight bouts that decided the ultimate outcome of the dual meet, Bound Brook winning two of them to clinch the dual meet prior to the final bout.
Christian Colucci of St. Peter's Prep cut the deficit to 27-24 with a 3-1 decision over Ronald Picado at 195. Bound Brook would then get victories from Aaron Saavedra and Stephen Johnson at 220 and 285; Saavedra upended state placer Jordan Fox 6-4, while state placer Johnson beat Armond Cox 3-2.
Clovis stretches string of dominance to 82
One week ago tonight, it was a big event as No. 4 Clovis, Calif., hosted No. 34 Buchanan, Calif. The conference dual meet drew a sold out crowd of about 2,000 fans, was wrestled on the Fresno State mat, and drew the presence of the Fresno State University president. However, the match itself was anti-climactic as the host Cougars extended their streak of in-state dual meet victories to 82 in a 39-14 victory. Results
The match did not start out well for the visiting Bears, as Clovis state qualifiers Josh Hokit (160) and Brody Brand (170) opened with a 5-3 decision and 11-3 major decision. After Buchanan countered with a 4-3 decision victory from Young An at 182 pounds, Matt Weiss took a forfeit for Clovis to extend the lead to 13-3. While Kai Dill was able to earn a 7-4 victory for Buchanan at 220, which cut the deficit to 13-6, the pair of nationally ranked wrestlers for the Cougars pushed the lead to 25-6.
No. 1 Nick Nevills scored a pin during the second period at 285, and No. 5 Justin Mejia scored the pin late in the first period. State placer Durbin Lloren would stem the tide for Buchanan with a 3-1 decision at 113 pounds, which cut the deficit to 25-9 with six bouts remaining.
Three consecutive victories for Clovis would clinch the dual meet. Those came in the form of a 4-2 decision for Julian Gaytan (120), a 9-4 decision for Khristian Olivas (126), and an 8-0 major decision for Isaiah Hokit (132).
Quick bits
This coming weekend happens to be the Class 4A (big school) state tournament in Alaska. Brackets
No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J., plays host to No. 20 Bound Brook, N.J., in a Friday night dual meet at 7 p.m. to close out their dual meet campaign in 2014.
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