Three nationally ranked teams were present among the 23 that competed in Yukon, Okla. this past weekend. When the two days were done, Collinsville, Okla. -- now ranked No. 12 nationally -- won the title with 292 points. That was enough to outlast now No. 13 Allen, Texas (270-1/2) and No. 30 Edmond North, Okla. (225-1/2).
Four individual titles for the Cardinals led them to the team title. Those gold medals came from No. 4 Christian Moody (106), No. 6 Davion Jeffries (113), Gary Wayne Harding (138), and Zach Abkemeier (170). Seven additional Collinsville wrestlers finished in the top five -- runner-up finishes from Ryan Heiden (126) and Will Steltzen (132), third place finishes from Dylan Helm (145) and Keenan Priddy (195), fourth place finishes from Jacob Findley (120) and Jake Barton (160), along with a fifth place finish from Ryan Haymaker (152).
The second place Eagles were led by a trio of champions in A.J. Hinkle (145), No. 4 Oliver Pierce (152), and No. 3 Bo Nickal (160). They did have the same eleven placers as Collinsville, but their distribution of other placers was two runners-up, one in third, three in fourth, and two in fifth. Runner-up finishes came from Mark Meyer, who lost 3-2 to No. 15 Lance Dixon (Edmond North, Okla.) at 182, and No. 20 Nick Cobb, who lost 5-3 to now No. 17 Joel Dixon (Edmond North, Okla.) at 195.
Championships from the Dixon triplets – No. 15 Lance (182), No. 17 Joel (195), and No. 6 Andrew (220) -- propelled the Edmond North squad to a third place finish. They had seven placers inside the top three, one more than second place Allen; however, those seven were the only team members to place. Runner-up finishers for the Huskies were Jordan Price (106) and Cy Trindle (113), while Jordan Armstrong (120) and Derek White (170) finished third.
Rounding out the weight class champions were No. 18 Boo Lewallen (Yukon, Okla.) at 120 pounds, Cub Yeager (Locust Grove, Okla.) at 126, Keegan Moore (Putnam City, Okla.) at 132, and Tyler Follis (Deer Creek, Okla.) at 285.
Bound Brook to host Bergen Catholic in showdown of elite Garden State squads
This coming Saturday, two of the best squads in New Jersey will compete against one another in a dual meet when No. 42 Bergen Catholic travels to No. 31 Bound Brook. Both teams have only a single loss in dual meet competition, for Bergen Catholic it came against No. 27 South Plainfield, N.J., while Bound Brook fell to defeat against No. 29 Apple Valley, Minn. The following are projected matchups:
106: No. 1 Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic) vs. Gonzalo Limenza (Bound Brook): Suriano, a freshman sensation, is the nation's top-ranked wrestler in this weight class; though the junior Limenza is a credible opponent with a good record, who was closed out of the lineup last year by state placer De La Cruz.
113: Tyler Casamenti vs. Ronald Murray: The junior Casamenti is a two-time state qualifier and projected for a state placement finish based on rankings from The Star-Ledger, while the senior Murray made the regional tournament last year.
120: Matt Rose vs. Craig De La Cruz: De La Cruz placed fourth at 106 as a freshman, and is the lone returning state placer on a very balanced Bound Brook squad. He also was a Cadet Greco-Roman All-American this past summer.
126: Troy Schaafsma vs. Zachary Vatalare: Both wrestlers in this matchup were state alternates last year; Schaafsma is a junior, while Vatalare a senior.
132: J.P. Ascolese vs. Nick Accetta: The junior Ascolese was a regional qualifier last year.
138: Laurien Anghelina vs. Jeison Arias: Anghelina is the much talked about new wrestler to the United States, who moved in from Romania, while the junior Arias was a regional qualifier last season.
145: Joe Grello/David Brennan vs. Emmanuel Soto: The senior Soto was a match away from placing at the state tournament last year, and is ranked fourth at present by The Star-Ledger. Bergen Catholic will counter with either a freshman Grello, who has excellent pre-high-school credentials, or a sophomore Brennan.
152: Grello/Brennan vs. Josh Ugalde: Similarly here Bergen Catholic is out-matched with either Grello or Brennan, as Bound Brook sends out Ugalde, who was one match away from placing at state last year. Over the summer, he was a Cadet freestyle All-American, and is presently ranked fourth in the state.
160: Kevin Mulligan/Gianni Hallak vs. Andrew Gombas: It would probably behoove Bergen Catholic to place the better of their two options, probably the freshman Mulligan -- who comes into high school winning a junior high state title last year, in this matchup.
170: Mulligan/Hallak vs. Isaiah Soto: Soto qualified for state last year, while Hallak is a senior.
182: No. 7 Johnny Sebastian vs. Abraham Saavedra: The junior Sebastian is already a two-time state placer, winning a state title last season, and is a two-time placer at the Beast of the East. Saavedra is an excellent freshman with a bright future.
195: Christian Jenco vs. Ronaldo Picado/Aaron Saavedra: Jenco is ranked for a state placement finish this season, and was third place in both styles at the Cadet Nationals last summer, while Bound Brook will likely send out one of two regional qualifiers.
220: Tyler McGilligan vs. Picaso/Aa. Saavedra: Between Picado and Saavedra, both regional qualifiers, the one that doesn't go 195 will be at this weight class, and probably a favorite against the junior McGilligan from Bergen Catholic.
285: Carmine Goldsack vs. Michael Johnson: This would be a battle between state qualifiers, who are ranked for state placement at the moment per The Star-Ledger. Goldsack is a senior, while Johnson a junior. Johnson will face a size disadvantage, as he is ranked at 220, but in terms of maximizing a lineup it's best for him to be here.
Based on matchup projections, each team is favored -- to varying degrees -- in six weight classes, with tossups present at 126 and 285.
Trojans earn "A-plus" in midterm examination
This past Thursday, Friday, and Saturday was to serve as a stern test for the No. 35 Park Hill, Mo., squad. However, it was one that they passed with flying colors. On Thursday night, the Trojans avenged an early season 31-27 defeat by No. 39 Kearney, Mo., with a 32-20 victory. It did not start out so well, as No. 7 Jaret Singh (Kearney) upset No. 4 Ke-Shawn Hayes 5-4, which reversed Hayes' 4-3 win from December. However, the next weight class was also a reversed outcome, this time it was John Erneste (Park Hill) with a 1-0 win over Seth Brayfield, turning around Brayfield's 5-3 overtime victory from December.
A key match came at 132 pounds, where freshman Canten Marriott (Park Hill) upset state runner-up Blake Clevenger 3-2 in the tiebreaker; Clevenger did not wrestle in December, and Marriott earned a technical fall against one of his reserves. Finally, to seal the dual meet, Park Hill won matches at 170 and 195 that they did not in December: this time around Malik Colding beat state runner-up Blain Drescher 8-5, whereas Drescher earned a 7-5 overtime victory in December; and Emerson Garner won 9-7 at 195, but he lost 8-5 in December.
Come Friday and Saturday, Park Hill earned the title at the Winnetonka Wrestling Invitational with 431 points on the strength of three champions, four runner-up finishes, and having 13 of 14 wrestlers competing in the upper-bracket on Saturday after finishing top two in the pools on Friday. Trojans to win weight class titles were Sean Hosford (106), No. 4 Hayes (113), and Erneste (120); while Hunter Roberts (126), Marriott (132), Russell Coleman (145), and Colding (170) finished in second place.
No. 39 Blue Springs, Mo., finished third with 364 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. 12 Michael Pixley (182) -- winning weight class titles. Looming as a problem for the Wildcats was their lack of depth, as only five other wrestlers (9 in total) made the upper-bracket on Saturday, of which Austin Reyes (220) was their lone finalist.
Second place for the tournament was Seckman, Mo. with 392 points, led by six finalists and 12 upper-bracket competitors. Winning titles were Brock Wingbermuehle (132) and Zach Oberkom (220), while runner-up finishes came from Zach Durbin (106), Weston Basler (113), Luke Weiland (120), and Otto Pfneisel (285).
The week ahead -- quick hitter style
No. 3 Wyoming Seminary, Pa., and No. 33 McDonogh, Md., will be among those teams competing at the Gilman Duals on Saturday in Baltimore, Md.
No. 11 Oak Park River Forest, Ill., has stern tests in dual meet competition today and tomorrow. Tonight the Huskies host No. 6 Montini Catholic, Ill., and while tomorrow evening they travel to No. 23 Marmion Academy, Ill., A preview for those two dual meets has already been posted on InterMat.
No. 15 Detroit Catholic Central, Mich., travels to No. 20 Cincinnati Moeller, Ohio for a dual meet on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The squads have traded dual meet victories each of the last two years, both teams winning at home. A preview for this match will appear on InterMat towards the end of the week.
No. 19 Kasson-Mantorville, Minn., and No. 38 Simley, Minn., are among the squads competing at the Swalla Duals hosted by Kasson-Mantorville on Saturday.
No. 34 Pope, Ga., hosts a quad meet on Saturday, which also includes No. 49 Archer, Ga. When those two teams dual, it will mark a match between the Class 5A and Class 6A dual meet champions in the Peach State, and a showdown between two of the best squads in the Southeastern United States.
Quick hitters from the past weekend
No. 17 Southeast Polk, Iowa won the Ed Winger Classic hosted by Urbandale, Iowa with 252 points. That was 69-1/2 points more than No. 44 Bettendorf, Iowa, who finished second place despite a tournament-high five champions. Four Rams grapplers -- No. 17 Nolan Hellickson (106), Tim Miklus (160), Dylan Blackford (170), and Bryce Fisher (220) -- did win championships; but it was the fact that another five finished third, with three others earning placement, that made the difference. For the runner-up Bulldogs, their championships came from No. 14 Fredy Stroker (126), Logan Ryan (132), Jacob Woodard (138), Alex Hernandez (145), and Malique Hudson (1522); while they only had three other wrestlers place, two in fifth and one in sixth.
The three showdowns in the finals involving battles of ranked opposition certainly lived up to their hype during the Escape the Rock finals on Sunday at Council Rock South just outside of Philadelphia. At 113 pounds, No. 3 Brent Fleetwood (Smyrna, Del.) used a late takedown to score a 3-1 victory over No. 8 Ethan Lizak (Parkland, Pa.), and that followed up a semifinal round where Fleetwood outlasted No. 14 Zach Fuentes (Norristown, Pa.) 2-1 in the tiebreaker. At 182 pounds, in what could be a state finals preview, No. 4 Jacob Taylor (Bald Eagle Area, Pa.) upended No. 5 Brett Harner (Norristown, Pa.) 3-2 in the ultimate tiebreaker. Finally, at 220 pounds, No. 3 Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) earned a statement victory over No. 5 Raymond O'Donnell (Saucon Valley, Pa.) by 10-2 major decision. Despite not having a single champion, Parkland, Pa. won the tournament with 189-1/2 points on the strength of seven placers.
No. 22 Maple Mountain, Utah won The Rumble at Utah Valley University with 244-1/2 points on the strength of three champions and nine overall placers, and that was with Cadet National double finalist Kimball Bastian (160) not in the lineup. Champions included Johnny O'Hearon (132), Grant Lamont (152), and Jon Wixom (195). Second place went to Pleasant Grove, Utah with 215 points led by champion Zach Dawe (285), three others in third, and three other placers. Third in the standings, and dropped out of the Fab 50, was Centennial, Idaho with 199-1/2 points. On a positive note, they did have five finalists; however, only one No. 3 Hayden Tuma (138) was a champion, and only one other wrestler finished inside the top eight. The most notable match of the finals was Tuma's 3-2 tiebreaker victory over Jed Mellen (Payson, Utah), who is ranked No. 12 down a weight class at 138 pounds.
Over the weekend, InterMat provided recaps of No. 4 St. Johns, Mich., beating No. 15 Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.; the upset victory for No. 5 St. Paris Graham, Ohio over No. 2 St. Edward, Ohio; and the Battle for the Belt tournament in Temecula Valley, Calif., that No. 9 Clovis, Calif., won by 2-1/2 points over No. 24 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa., and by eight over No. 18 Poway, Calif.
Rankings reminders
Updated weight class rankings as well as Fab 50 team rankings were posted to the site today as well. Also, check out my commentary on the top ten teams nationally, which is a web of confusion based on the results of the season to date.
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