Mitch Bengtson won his fifth straight Rumble on the Red title (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) Clash Chaos
The Clash XI National High School Wrestling Duals, ranked as the No. 3 event in scholastic wrestling per InterMat last summer, was one filled with drama and intrigue. Moving up one position to fourth nationally was the tournament champion St. Michael-Albertville, Minn. However, the Knights faced significant challenges along the way.
This included a Bracket "A" final against Oak Park River Forest, Ill., that they won 28-26, splitting the fourteen dual meets 7-7. The first dual meet in the Championship Pool was against Carl Sandburg, Ill., one that ended in a 26-26 tie which required a third period pin from Lincoln Mallinger at 145 to make it come down to the eighth criteria, most first match points scored. On the other hand, the next dual meet was a 34-21 victory over Montini Catholic, Ill. Then, the last dual meet was a 33-21 loss against Brandon, Fla., including an upset where Brandon's James Flint upended Tommy Thorn 7-6 at 120 pounds; previously ranked No. 2 nationally, Thorn drops down to sixth.
Both Brandon and Montini Catholic scored wins over Carl Sandburg, Ill; for Brandon it was 25-23 as they also won eight matches, while Montini Catholic scored a 30-22 winning nine matches. However, Montini Catholic upended Brandon in their opening championship pool dual meet 33-18, winning nine of fourteen matches. With St. Michael-Albertville, Brandon, and Montini Catholic all tied at 2-1 records, it came down to the tiebreaker, which was most match points in the dual meets against one another; St. Michael-Albertville won, Montini Catholic took second and moves up to seventh, while Brandon finished third moving to sixth.
Probably the fourth-best team at the Clash was Oak Park River Forest, and they move up from No. 14 to No. 8 in the nation this week. The Huskies dominated Blue Springs, Mo. 58-14 in the bracket semifinal, though Blue Springs is not much of a dual meet team, and was without one of their four nationally ranked wrestlers -- Cain Salas (152) all weekend. After falling short against St. Michael-Albertville, they dominated through the second place pool with a 39-19 win over Kasson-Mantorville, Minn., a 44-27 win over Apple Valley, Minn., and a 40-16 win over Marist, Ill. The Huskies went a combined 29-13 in those three dual meets.
Champion of the third bracket was Bound Brook, N.J., which moves into the Fab 50 this week at No. 29 after coming into The Clash unranked. In the bracket semifinal against Apple Valley, Minn., they split the fourteen weight classes but lost the dual meet 30-27. The Crusaders bounced back with a decisive 38-21 win over nationally ranked Kearney, Mo., winning ten of fourteen matches to take third. Then on Saturday, they went undefeated averaging nine victories per dual meet in wins over three nationally ranked squads -- 42-28 over Simley, Minn., 45-19 over Blue Springs, Mo., and 42-18 over Pope, Ga.
Impossible to figure out was the total underperformance of Apple Valley, Minn. this past weekend. The Eagles entered as the No. 4 team nationally. As previously mentioned, they strugged in the bracket semifinal against Bound Brook, were then blown out by Montini Catholic 40-14 in the bracket final, and then went 1-2 in the day two second place pool; losses to Marist 31-25 and Oak Park River Forest 44-27, before beating Kasson Mantorville 29-28, a team they beat by 20 points earlier in the month. Though essentially wrestling without Seth Gross (132) and Dayton Racer (145-160) all weekend, the Eagles move down to No. 14 nationally, and have the Cheesehead this weekend to confuse us even more.
Main events this weekend
Separate event-specific previews are being published for the Cheesehead Invitational and Doc Buchanan Invitational events that will be wrestled on Friday and Saturday.
The Cheesehead field includes seven nationally ranked teams: No. 7 Montini Catholic, Ill., No. 14 Apple Valley, Minn., No. 24 Southeast Polk, Iowa, No. 25 Marmion Academy, Ill., No. 37 Simley, Minn., No. 47 Bettendorf, Iowa, and No. 48 Glenbard North, Ill.
The Doc Buchanan field features a quartet of nationally ranked teams: No. 2 Wyoming Seminary, Pa., No. 15 Clovis, Calif., No. 19 Poway, Calif., and No. 45 Bakersfield, Calif.
St. Paris Graham travels to Blair Academy
A relatively recent development is the rivalry between St. Paris Graham, Ohio and No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J. This is the fourth consecutive year the perennial national powers have competed in a January dual meet against one another, with the No. 9 Falcons making the trip this year to New Jersey. Though the dual meet in and of itself will be non-competitive due to the lineup holes St. Paris Graham has, most notably beyond 160 pounds, isolated individual matchups will intrigue.
The following are the projected matchups, St. Paris Graham first followed by Blair Academy:
106: No. 5 Eli Stickley vs. Matt Deehan: Stickley was champion at the Walsh Ironman, while Deehan failed to place at both the POWERade and Beast of the East.
113: Eli Seipel vs. No. 20 Chaz Tucker: Seipel placed fourth at state last year and sixth at the Ironman; while Cadet freestyle runner-up Tucker failed to place at the Ironman, finished third at the Beast, and seventh at the POWERade.
120: Brent Moore vs. No. 2 Matthew Kolodzik: The freshman Moore failed to place at the Ironman, but did split matches with Kolodzik nine months ago at the Ohio Tournament of Champions; Kolodzik, a Cadet freestyle champion was runner-up to No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (CVCA, Ohio) at the Ironman and Beast before winning the POWERade.
126: Chase Crabtree/Mario Kastl vs. No. 4 Joey McKenna/Michael Monica: Crabtree was the starter at Ironman, failing to place, while the freshman Kastl stepped in during Graham's most recent competition; two-time National Prep champion, and Junior freestyle runner-up, McKenna finished third at POWERade in his season debut.
132: No. 2 Micah Jordan vs. Monica/McKenna: Jordan finished as runner-up at the Ironman and is a two-time state champion, while Monica failed to place at Ironman or Beast at 126 and POWERade up at 132.
138: Nate Henkle vs. No. 6 Mason Manville: Henkle has yet to make the state tournament, while freshman sensation Manville has been runner-up at the Ironman, Beast of the East, and POWERade.
145: Garrett Jordan vs. No. 12 Dylan Milonas: Jordan is a freshman who did not place in their local tournament this past weekend, while Milonas is a two-time National Prep runner-up who has been top three at the Ironman, Beast of the East, and POWERade.
152: No. 8 Alex Marinelli vs. No. 5 Russ Parsons: These two wrestled in the Ironman final, with Parsons needing a late takedown to score a 3-2 decision over the freshman sensation.
160: No. 1 Bo Jordan vs. Jack Wedholm: Bo Jordan is the nation's best senior, a three-time state champion, and three-time Ironman champion; while Wedholm placed at the Ironman, Beast, and POWERade.
170: Lane Thomas vs. Patrick Coover: Thomas has yet to make the state tournament, while Coover is a defending National Prep champion and placed in all three of Blair's competitions season to date.
182: Josh Couchman vs. Addison Knepshield: Couchman has yet to make the state tournament, while Knepshield has placed in all three of Blair's competitions this season.
195: Cole Thedor vs. No. 4 Frank Mattiace: Thedor is in his first year as a Graham starter, while Mattiace is a defending National Prep champion and won titles at the Ironman and POWERade already this season.
220: Anthony Welty vs. David Showunmi: Welty has yet to make the state tournament, while Showunmi has placed in all three of Blair's competitions season to date.
285: Cabel Courtwright vs. No. 2 Brooks Black: Courtwright is in his debut season as the Graham starter, while Black is a three-time Ironman and Beast of the East champion.
POWERade packs a punch
The nation's fourth best wrestling tournament also took place this past weekend at Canon-McMillan High School just south of Pittsburgh. With the much anticipated finals match between No. 1 Chance Marsteller (Kennard-Dale, Pa.) and No. 2 Cody Wiercioch (Canon-McMillan, Pa.) at 170 pounds on everyone's mind, the event had much to live up to in terms of expectation. Even though Marsteller won 3-2 in the ultimate tiebreaker, and there were no offensive points scored, the match was intensely contested and reflected the elite nature of the two competitors.
However, what should not be forgotten is the excellent competition that occurred across all the weight classes. Freshman Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe, Pa.), ranked No. 2 nationally, dropped to 106 pounds for the first time and emerged as the dominant weight class champion. Defending state champion Ethan Lizak (Parkland, Pa.), ranked No. 5 in the nation, earned the 113-pound title with a 5-2 victory over No. 12 Jordan Allen (Huntington, W.Va.), who impressed especially with his quarterfinal win over Tucker. Four nationally ranked wrestlers, along with defending POWERade champion Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa.) stole the show at 120 pounds; though the order went to chalk per the rankings: Kolodzik won, No. 4 Sam Krivus (Hempfield, Pa.) took second, No. 11 Dalton Macri (Canon-McMillan, Pa.) took third, and No. 17 Brandon Thompson (Solon, Ohio) finished fourth.
Four nationally ranked competitors took the mat at 126 pounds, with No. 3 Connor Schram (Canon-McMillan, Pa.) earning the title after a 3-1 semifinal victory over No. 7 Ryan Diehl (Trinity, Pa.) and an injury default in the final against No. 6 Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional, Pa.), a match in which he led 4-2 prior to its early end. The other semifinal saw Kemerer upset McKenna 2-1, while McKenna upended Diehl 3-0 for third place. No. 5 Jason Nolf (Kittanning, Pa.) won the 132-pound weight class, though he had to outlast No. 10 Dennis Gustafson (Forest Park, Va.) 5-4 in a tightly contested semifinal bout.
No. 1 Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.) emerged as champion at 138 pounds, though he was pushed in a 2-0 finals victory over Manville and was extended to overtime in a 5-3 victory over No. 11 Joseph Galasso (Father Judge, Pa.) during the semifinal round. At 145 pounds, unranked Josh Shields (Franklin Regional, Pa.) won the weight class with wins over ranked opposition in the semifinal (2-1 over Colt Cotten of Benton, Pa.) and the final (4-3 over Dylan Milonas). Shields entered the rankings at No. 13 this week, while Milonas dropped to No. 12 and Cotten slid back to No. 18.
No. 5 Russ Parsons (Blair) earned a 2-1 tiebreaker victory over No. 6 Anthony Collica (Solon, Ohio) to win a second consecutive POWERade title at 152 pounds. The two wrestlers flipped positions in the rankings from last week; No. 12 Zach Zavatsky (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) won the title at 160 pounds; while Dakota DesLauriers (Burrell, Pa.) repeated as POWERade champion with a 3-1 victory over the formerly ranked Knepshield at 182.
At 195, No. 4 Frank Mattiace (Blair) won a tightly contested 3-2 ultimate tiebreak match against defending champion Jake Hart (Hampton, Pa.). Despite the loss, Hart moves into the rankings at No. 19. No. 1 Kyle Snyder (Good Counsel, Md.) absolutely manhandled No. 3 Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) by 16-6 major decision. Haines, the defending champion in this tournament, was the first opponent to last the full six minutes against Snyder this year. While at 285 pounds, No. 2 Brooks Black earned a repeat championship.
In the team standings, No. 1 Blair Academy dominated their way to 299 points and the team title. Cincinnati Moeller, Ohio moves up from No. 34 to No. 20 after their second place finish (161 points). Despite being without defending tournament champion Solomon Chishko (145), No. 5 Canon-McMillan, Pa. finished just a point back of Moeller in third place led by champion Schram and five other place-winners.
Other highlights of the coming weekend
The nation's oldest continuous high school wrestling tournament happens on Friday and Saturday in Geary, Okla. It is a unique event in that there is no seeding, there are no advancement points (only bonus and placement are scored), and challenges for true second can occur. Three nationally ranked teams are featured in the field -- No. 23 Broken Arrow, Okla., No. 30 Edmond North, Okla., and No. 35 Tuttle, Okla.
No. 8 Oak Park River Forest, Ill., travels to Iowa City West, Iowa for the Leipic Duals on Saturday. They are in a pool with the event's second best team, Grand Island, Neb.
No. 27 South Plainfield, N.J., travels to St. Peter's Prep, N.J., on Friday night for what could be an intriguing dual meet. The Tigers were upset in the corresponding match at home last year for their only in-state dual meet loss of the season.
No. 36 Blue Springs, Mo., is scheduled to travel to No. 44 Kearney, Mo., for a dual meet this evening.
No. 40 Hermiston, Ore., travels to one of the showcase tournaments in the Northwestern United States, the Rollie Lane Invitational in Idaho.
No. 46 Colonial Forge serves as host of the Battlefield Duals on Saturday. The event has ten teams present, so there will be two pools of five with a cross-over match at the end. Other teams in the event include Christiansburg, Va., Connellsville, Pa., Forest Park, Va., Georgetown Prep, Md., and Huntington, W.Va.
Odds and ends of the previous weekend
No. 4 Mitch Bengtson (St. Cloud Apollo, Minn.) made it five straight championships at the Rumble on the Red with a closer than expected 3-2 victory in the 138-pound final against Weston Droegemueller (Wayzata, Minn.). An upset special occurred in the 113-pound final where Junior National freestyle champion Paul Mascarenas (Cleveland, N.M.) fell by 4-3 decision to Garrett Wangsness (Albert Lea, Minn.); as a result, Mascarenas drops from No. 3 to No. 16 nationally. Then, at 195 pounds, No. 10 Lance Benick (Totino-Grace, Minn.) beat a pair of nationally ranked opponents to win the title; 7-3 over No. 20 Chase Morlock (Morehead, Minn.) in the semifinal and then 6-1 over No. 13 Nate Rotert (Spearfish/Lead-Deadwood, S.D.) in the final. Sharing the team title with 166-1/2 points were Albert Lea and West Fargo, N.D., while Jackson County Central, Minn. finished third with 160.
Christian Brothers, Tenn. jumps back into the rankings at No. 49 after their title at the Red Schmitt Holiday Tournament in Granite City, Ill. They scored 665 points to distance themselves from Lincoln-Way Central, Ill. (598), Archer, Ga. (594.5), and previously ranked Neosho, Mo. (478.5). Championships for CBHS were won by Tanner Tidswell (106), Elijah Oliver (113), Nick Gray (126), No. 14 Kaleb Baker (152), and James Walthall (170). Highlighting the individual matchups was the 132-pound final where No. 15 Chris Wilkes (Whitfield, Mo.) needed a late reversal with near falls to defeat No. 20 Nate Rodriguez (Neosho, Mo.) 5-2 at 132 pounds.
Even without three-time state champion Dean Heil (132), who is ranked No. 3 nationally, No. 3 St. Edward, Ohio came away with a decisive tournament victory at the Medina Invitational Tournament. The Eagles had five champions -- No. 17 Colin Heffernan (138), No. 3 Edgar Bright (145), No. 10 Markus Scheidel (152), No. 2 Domenic Abounader (182), and Ralph Nichols (285) -- on the way to 286 points. Second in the standings was No. 13 Massillon Perry, Ohio with 237 points, led by lone champion No. 6 Jose Rodriguez (106); a pair of Panthers placed second in David Bavery (120) and Joe Tayse (195), both of whom lost to nationally ranked opponents; while four others earned third place. Finishing third was No. 11 Detroit Catholic Central, Mich. with 225 points despite missing a pair of state placers at 132 and 138 pounds. The Shamrocks were led by a trio of titles from Trevor Zdebski (113), No. 13 Ken Bade (126), and No. 18 Andrew Garcia (170).
Despite a lineup that one would have to describe as jumbled and a "mish-mosh," No. 2 Wyoming Seminary, Pa. emerged with a decisive title at the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic. Led by titles from Nicky Hall (170), No. 1 Eric Morris (182), No. 15 Garrett Ryan (220), and No. 9 Michael Johnson, Jr. (285), the Blue Knights came away with 245 points. That total was more than enough to dominate No. 31 Central Dauphin, Pa. (163) and Phillipsburg, N.J. (157.5) who finished second and third respectively. An individual final of note came at 195 pounds, where for the second straight weekend No. 2 Ryan Solomon (Milton, Pa.) defeated No. 3 Raymond O'Donnell (Saucon Valley, Pa.), this time by a 7-2 score.
No. 42 Bergen Catholic, N.J., won the Bergen County Coaches Association Tournament this past weekend, in a field that also included No. 50 Don Bosco Prep, N.J. In the marquee match, it was a battle of freshmen at 106 pounds, as No. 1 Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic) upended No. 9 Kyle Bierdumpfel (Don Bosco Prep) 2-1 in the ultimate tiebreaker. Also, at 160 pounds, No. 8 Nick Gravina (Northern Highlands, N.J.) won his fourth title at this tournament.
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