This Saturday and Sunday at Council Rock South High School outside of Philadelphia, Pa., will be the Escape the Rock Wrestling Tournament. Even though the field is bereft an elite team, there are many excellent individuals in the field, including four weight classes featuring a pair of nationally ranked individuals.
The 113-pound weight class features No. 4 Brent Fleetwood (Smyrna, Del.), a two-time state champion, and No. 5 Ethan Lizak (Parkland, Pa.), state champion this past year. A pair of wrestlers ranked No. 19 and No. 20 in the nation are present at 138 pounds -- Cadet freestyle All-American Ronnie Gentile (Paulsboro, N.J.) and John Dutrow (Council Rock North, Pa.), a three-time state qualifier who placed fourth last year. Then at 182 pounds, there is a possible Class AAA finals preview between a pair of wrestlers who placed third at state last year in No. 4 Brett Harner (Norristown, Pa.) and No. 7 Jacob Taylor (Bald Eagle, Pa.); it was a third state placement for Harner who also was a Super 32 runner-up this fall, and a first placement for Taylor who also has titles at the Super 32 and FloNationals in the present cycle. Finally, at 220 pounds it will be two-time state champion Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.), ranked No. 3 nationally, likely to battle two-time state placer Raymond O'Donnell (Saucon Valley, Pa.), who is ranked No. 3 nationally at 195 but is bumping up to 220 for the rest of the season.
Clovis builds upon Doc Buchanan title with pair of dual meet victories
Coming off of last weekend's big tournament victory at the Doc Buchanan Invitational, No. 9 Clovis, Calif. traveled to De La Salle, Calif. for a pair of dual meets. The Cougars came home with victories in both bouts, 60-6 over the host squad and 43-24 over No. 43 Vacaville, Calif. However, the match with Vacaville was highly competitive, as the Bulldogs won six of the weight classes. The margin reflects Clovis earning six of their wins by fall, while Vacaville had only one fall to go with three major decisions and two decisions.
To open the dual meet, Vacaville's Kasey Klaus earned a 12-4 major decision victory at 120 pounds. Two-time state placer Jonas Gayton responded back for Clovis with a pin at 126. Then, a pair of Vacaville decisions from Cameron Bailey, 5-4 at 132 pounds, and Bobby Ehman, 6-2 at 138 pounds, gave the Bulldogs their last lead of the dual meet at 10-6. In the next match, state placer Jason Ladd gave Clovis the lead with a pin at 145 pounds.
However, said lead was almost short-lived, as Vacaville's Hayden Fry jumped out to a 4-1 third period lead at 152 pounds. However, Dominic Kincaid from Clovis responded with an escape and takedown to force the overtime, where Kincaid secured a fall to extend the Cougars lead to 18-10. The teams traded pins at 160 and 170, before No. 20 Adrian Salas earned an 8-3 decision over Chris Lai to boost the Clovis lead to 27-16.
Responding back with a major decision for Vacaville was Reno TOC champion Jeremy Sweany at 195 pounds. However, three consecutive bonus point victories for Clovis -- two pins and a major decision at 285 pounds by No. 3 Nick Nevills -- turned a competitive dual meet into a 43-20 margin before Vacaville's Gionn Peralta earned a 10-1 major decision victory to yield the 43-24 final dual meet score.
Big week ahead for No. 35 Park Hill, Mo.
Coming off a championship at the Capital City Wrestling Invitational, the Trojans will be put to the test this coming week. It starts Thursday night with a home dual meet against No. 39 Kearney, Mo. These squads wrestled in an opening weekend dual meet, with the Bulldogs taking eight matches in a 31-27 victory. From that match, Kearney adds state runner-up Blake Clevenger to the lineup at 132 pounds. The 132-poundmatch in December was a tech fall victory for Park Hill freshman Canten Marriott, but Clevenger scored a 6-1 decision at the Kansas City Stampede two weeks later. Other key matchups in the dual meet at 113, 120, 145, and 170.
At 113, No. 3 Ke-Shawn Hayes faces No. 9 Jaret Singh, a match won 4-3 by Park Hill's Hayes in the dual meet; the 120-pound wrestlers have split overtime matches this season, with Seth Brayfield giving Kearney a 5-3 victory in the dual meet, but John Erneste winning 11-6 at the Ironman; Kearney state champion No. 18 Grant Leeth earned a 10-3 dual meet victory over three-time state runner-up Russell Coleman in the dual meet at 145; while Kearney state runner-up Blain Drescher scored a 7-5 overtime victory over state placer Malik Colding at 170.
Come Friday and Saturday, Park Hill is joined by No. 37 Blue Springs, Mo. in the Winnetonka Invitational
Blair dominates to title, while Robinson a total unexpected runner-up at NHSCA Festival
Over the four dual meets that No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J., wrestled on the way to winning the championship at the NHSCA Final Four Festival, the Buccaneers went a combined 50-6. This included a 66-6 victory over Emmaus, Pa., a 73-3 victory over Timberlane, N.H., a no contest against Pennsbury, Pa., a 65-3 semifinal victory over Springfield Central, Pa., and a 61-6 finals victory over Robinson, Va.
It was quite frankly a total "Cinderella" story for Robinson, Va., to make the championship match. In the tournament's opening match against Don Bosco Prep, N.J. the Rams needed to significant upsets to earn a 37-29 dual meet victory. At 120 pounds, Ralph Mpanu scored a first period pin against two-time state placer Luis Gonzalez; while Cole DePasquale earned a 5-4 victory over Luke Farinaro, who was fourth at the Beast of the East, in the 170-poundclass. That result, combined with a 60-17 victory over Souderton, Pa. propelled Robinson to the semifinal round against No. 3 Wyoming Seminary, Pa.
In that semifinal, the Blue Knights were still forfeiting the 106 class, as they have done all year, and also were without No. 1 Eric Morris at 182 and No. 8 Michael Johnson, Jr. at 285 (which cost Wyoming Seminary a pair of victories in context of the dual meet). In splitting seven matches to win 33-32, the Rams also benefitted from two very unexpected pins -- Austin Riggs at 126 scored a late first period fall against No. 18 Judson Preskitt and Cole DePasquale earned a third period fall over Chris Weiler at 170.
Victories for Robinson in the championship match came from No. 19 Jack Bass, 3-2 over Brandon Pallavia at 152, and Zak DePasquale with a 6-2 victory over Jack Wedholm at 160.
Upcoming weekend quick hits
No. 10 Allen, Texas and No. 17 Collinsville, Okla., headline the Crossroads National Duals in El Reno, Okla. on Friday and Saturday.
No. 15 Massillon Perry, Ohio headlines an excellent field at the Top Gun Wrestling Tournament in Alliance, Ohio on Friday and Saturday. A notable weight class showdown could occur at 106 pounds, where No. 6 Jose Rodriguez (Massillon Perry, Ohio) and No. 11 Alex Mackall (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio) are in the field. Additionally, No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (CVCA, Ohio) is looking at a third match this season against state champion David Bavery (Massillon Perry, Ohio) in the 120-poundfinal. Squads in the hunt for second place include Marysville, Ohio; Claymont, Ohio; CVCA, Ohio; Walsh Jesuit, Ohio; and Uniontown Lake, Ohio.
No. 16 Southeast Polk, Iowa and No. 44 Bettendorf, Iowa will headline a 16-team field in the Ed Winger Invitational at Urbandale High School on Saturday.
No. 23 McDonogh, Md., is looking at a test in dual meet competition against Don Bosco Prep, N.J. on Saturday night at the University of Maryland.
Edmond North wins tournament at Sapulpa, flips last week's runner-up finish
Traveling to the Jerry Billings Invitational this past weekend in Sapulpa, Okla., No. 29 Edmond North, Okla. sought to reverse the runner-up finish behind No. 24 Broken Arrow, Okla. at the prior weekend's Geary Invitational. And that is what they did with six finalists and an additional third place finisher in scoring 191 points. Winning titles in Sapulpa for Edmond North were the Dixon triplets -- No. 16 Lance (182), Joel, and No. 5 Andrew -- while Cy Trindle (113), Josh Breece (126), and Derek White (170) finished second place.
Despite wrestling without two-time state placer Zach Edwards, who earned a title at Geary last weekend in the 132-poundclass, Broken Arrow was still able to win four titles but finished second with 161-1/2 points. Tigers' weight class champions were Markus Simmons (120), Paden Bailey (152), Brock Warren (170), and Carlos Taylor (285).
Outstanding Wrestler honors went to three-time state champion Davey Dolan (Berryhill, Okla.), champion of the 145-poundweight class, who has won over 100 consecutive matches since the middle of his freshman season. Teammate Jonce Blaylock was champion in the 138-poundweight class. In addition, a pair of nationally ranked Stillwater, Okla. wrestlers won titles -- No. 10 Kaid Brock (113) and No. 13 Joe Smith (132). Rounding out the weight class champions were Dustin Hayes (Vinita, Okla.) at 106, Luke Wolfensberger (Tulsa Union, Okla.) at 126, and Jacobe Smith (Muskogee, Okla.) at 160.
Quick hitters from the past weekend
No. 26 South Plainfield, N.J., won their maiden Virginia Duals National High School Division title this past weekend. The Tigers dominated all three of their duals prior to the championship match: 81-0 over Cave Spring, Va., 45-22 over Nazareth, Pa., and 48-18 over Camden Catholic, N.J. The championship match against No. 32 McDonogh, Md., saw the South Plainfield jump out to 32-3 lead after seven matches; however, the Eagles responded with six successive wins to cut the deficit to 32-24, and with the dual clinched, Dan Maltsev received a forfeit at 285 to make the final score 32-30. Five Tigers wrestlers went 4-0 in the event: Daniel Hedden (113), Raymond Jazikoff (120), No. 14 Corey Stasenko (126), No. 7 Scott Delvecchio (132), and No. 2 Anthony Ashnault (138).
Missing two nationally ranked wrestlers -- No. 4 Christian Moody (106) and No. 8 Davion Jeffries (113) -- No. 17 Collinsville, Okla., finished fourth Bobcat Classic with 154-1/2 points despite placing eight wrestlers (one second, four in third, two fourth, and one sixth). The lone Cardinal finalist was Zach Abkemeier, who lost an 8-0 major decision at 170 pounds to Bryan Guillen, who was the lone titlist for team champion Topeka Seaman, Kan. That squad scored 177-1/2 points in placing nine wrestlers (five in fifth, with one champ, runner-up, fourth-placer, and eighth-placer). Finishing second in the event with 172 points despite having their four nationally ranked wrestlers -- No. 9 Daniel Lewis (138), No. 16 Darick Lapaglia (145), No. 10 Cain Salas (152), and No. 13 Michael Pixley (182) -- win titles was No. 37 Blue Springs, Mo.
In earlier recaps and soon-to-come previews
Over the weekend, No. 11 Oak Park River Forest, Ill., traveled to No. 13 Carl Sandburg, Ill., and secured a 27-24 victory in winning eight weight classes. The Huskies were keyed by successive victories in the 126-145-poundweight classes in a dual meet that started at 160 pounds.
No. 14 Detroit Catholic Central, Mich., hosted a loaded field of teams at the DCC Super Duals this past Saturday. No. 2 St. Edward, Ohio went undefeated on the day against four elite teams; however, it was not without intrigue. The Eagles won nine matches in a 43-15 opening match victory over Davison, Mich; also won nine matches in a 38-26 victory over No. 8 St. Johns, Mich.; then needed criteria to win a 22-2 tied match against No. 6 Montini Catholic, Ill.; and won nine matches in beating No. 14 Detroit Catholic Central 35-17. Other key dual meets included a 32-24 win for St. Johns over Montini, one in which the Redwings won nine weight classes; a 35-28 win for St. Johns over Davison, in which the weight classes were split; and a 36-21 victory for Montini over Detroit Catholic Central, in which the Broncos won nine weight classes.
On Friday night, No. 8 St. Johns, Mich., and No. 14 Detroit Catholic Central, Mich., will wrestle in a dual meet at the University of Michigan.
Saturday night features No. 2 St. Edward, Ohio traveling to No. 12 St. Paris Graham, Ohio.
This coming weekend -- on Friday and Saturday -- Temecula Valley hosts the Clinch Gear Battle for the Belt in California. The field includes a quartet of Fab 50 teams in No. 9 Clovis, Calif., No. 19 Poway, Calif., No. 33 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa., and No. 43 Vacaville, Calif.
Welcome the Go-Hawks to the Fab 50
Coming off a championship at the Geneseo Bi-State Invitational, Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa joins the InterMat Fab 50 in the No. 50 position. The Go-Hawks were led by four champions and eight placers on the way to 193 points; their champions were Spencer Derifield (152), Izaak Miller (160), Adam Walther (195), and Kaleb Staack (285). All this was done without the presence of state placer Andrew Steiert, a Cheesehead runner-up at 138 pounds, who was out of the lineup.
Second in the standings was No. 44 Bettendorf, Iowa, who had the same five finalists and eight placers as Waverly-Shell Rock, but just three titles coming from Jack Wagner (106), No. 16 Fredy Stroker (126), and Jacob Woodard (138). The Bulldogs scored 182 points. One-half point back in third with 181-1/2 points was No. 47 Cedar Rapids Prairie, Iowa despite the absence of three wrestlers that appear in the top eight of The Predicament Class 3A state rankings: Sam Uthoff (106), Dylan Becker (132), and Austin Gould (182). They did place eight wrestlers, but had only one champion, Skylar St. John at 145 pounds.
Rounding out the weight class champions were a pair from North Scott, Iowa in Mitch Bowman (170) and Justin Kreiter (182); Ronald Triche (113) from Providence Catholic, Ill.; Sam Butler (120) from Cathan Glenwood, Ill.; Andrew Crone (132) from Arrowhead, Wis.; and Adarios Jones (285) from Moline, Ill.
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