The Walsh Ironman is one of the nation's premier high school wrestling events (Photo/Rob Preston)Saturday marks the first day of December, and it is this weekend that the high school wrestling regular season will begin in true earnest.
No. 25 McDonogh, Md., hosts its annual Ray Oliver Wrestling Tournament on Friday and Saturday, and the 20-team field features many elite wrestlers from the Mid-Atlantic region. Nationally ranked wrestlers in the field include Brent Fleetwood (Smyrna, Del.), seventh at 113 pounds; Alfred Bannister (Bishop McNamara, Md.), eighth at 138 pounds; Jack Clark (McDonogh, Md.), eighth at 145; Myles Martin (McDonogh, Md.), 10th at 152; Josh Llopez (St. Mary's Ryken, Md.), fifth at 160; Troy Murtha (Georgetown Prep, Md.), 16th at 182; and Kyle Snyder (Good Counsel, Md.), champion at 220.
Mt. Carmel, Ill., hosts a quad on Saturday that also includes Machensey Park Harlem, Ill.; No. 10 Montini Catholic, Ill.; and No. 13 Marist, Ill. The host Caravan is anchored by the Bryce Brill, who is ranked No. 2 nationally at 145 pounds; and Harlem features state champion (also a two-time state finalist) Jordan Northrup at 120, along with two-time state placer Zac Denny at 126. Even though Montini will be without three returning state qualifiers/placers due to playing in the state football title game this past weekend, and Marist is without returning state placer Peter Andreotti (160) due to football injury, both lineups are littered with talent. The featured matchup would be at 120 pounds, with two-time state placers Jordan Laster (Montini) and Mark Duda projected to compete.
Arguably the best individual bracket tournament of the season in the Southeastern United States will be held this Friday and Saturday outside of Tampa at the Strawberry Festival Grounds. The Durant Cougar Invitational does not have any nationally ranked teams, but features regional powerhouses such as Collins Hill, Ga.; Lake Highland Prep, Fla.; Osceola, Fla.; and South Dade, Fla.
No. 38 West Delaware Manchester, Iowa hosts a tournament on Saturday that will also include No. 36 Davenport Assumption, Iowa as well as a formidable Linn Mar, Iowa squad that returns five state placers. The other event of the weekend featuring multiple nationally ranked teams is Saturday's Dick Shiels Invitational in Faribault, Minn., which includes No. 4 Apple Valley, Minn. and No. 18 Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.
However, this is but one weekend of the season. Below is a calendar of key events to be held throughout the rest of the high school season.
December:
Dec. 6: Allen, Texas and Tuttle, Okla., at Broken Arrow, Okla.
Dec. 7: Simley at St. Michael-Albertville,-Kasson-Mantorville at Apple Valley (Minnesota Showdowns)
Dec. 7-8: Mid-America Nationals (Tulsa, Okla.); Walsh Jesuit (Ohio) Ironman Invitational
Dec. 14-15: Battle of Waterloo (Iowa); Kansas City (Mo.) Wrestling Classic; King of the Mountain (Central Mountain, Pa.); Minnesota Christmas Tournament (Rochester, Minn.); Reno (Nev.) Tournament of Champions; Tri-State Invitational (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho)
Dec. 22: Kyle Maynard Duals (Collins Hill, Ga.)
Dec. 22-23: Beast of the East (Newark, Del.); Dvorak Memorial Invitational (Machesney Park, Ill.)
Dec. 28-29: Bethlehem (Pa.) Hurricane Classic; Granite City (Illinois) Invitational; Medina (Ohio) Invitational; POWERade Christmas Wrestling Tournament (Canon-McMillan, Pa.); The Clash XI – National High School Wrestling Duals (Rochester, Minn.)
January:
Jan. 4-5: Cheesehead Invitational (Kaukauna, Wis.); Doc Buchanan Invitational (Clovis, Calif.); Geary (Okla.) Invitational
Jan. 5: St. Paris Graham, Ohio at Blair Academy, N.J.; Marines.com Battlefield Duals (Colonial Forge, Va.)
Jan. 11-12: Basheor (Kan.) Tournament; Virginia Duals (Hampton, Va.)
Jan. 12: Detroit Catholic Central (Mich.) Super Duals; NHSCA Festival of Wrestling (York, Pa.)
Jan. 18: Detroit Catholic Central, Mich., vs. St. Johns, Mich., at the University of Michigan
Jan. 18-19: Clinch Gear Battle for the Belt (Temecula Valley, Calif.); Oklahoma City University Duals; Top Gun Wrestling Tournament (Alliance, Ohio)
Jan. 19-20: Escape the Rock Wrestling Tournament (Council Rock South, Pa.)
Jan. 23: Montini Catholic, Ill., at Oak Park River Forest, Ill.
Jan. 25-26: Reser's Tournament of Champions (Portland, Ore.)
February:
Feb. 2: Blair Academy, N.J., at St. Edward, Ohio
State Championships
Individual
Dec. 7-8: Alaska (Class 123A)
Feb. 1-2: Alaska (Class 4A)
Feb. 7-9: Arizona
Feb. 8-9: Montana, Nevada
Feb. 13-16: Utah
Feb. 14-16: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Tennessee
Feb. 15-16: Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Dakota, Virginia, Washington
Feb. 21-23: Colorado, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin
Feb. 22-23: Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, National Prep Championships, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Wyoming
Feb. 23-24: South Dakota
Feb. 28-March 2: Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio
March 1-2: California, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, New England Regional
March 7-9: Pennsylvania
March 8-10: New Jersey
Dual Meet
Jan. 11-12: Georgia
Feb. 1-2: Tennessee
Feb. 7-9: Pennsylvania
Feb. 9: Maryland, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina
Feb. 12: Delaware
Feb. 13: Iowa
Feb. 14: North Dakota
Feb. 16: North Carolina
Feb. 17: New Jersey
Feb. 22-23: Michigan
Feb. 23: Illinois, Nebraska
Feb. 28: Minnesota
March 1-2: Wisconsin
Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, we saw the opening weekend of competition in the Land of Lincoln. Highlighting that docket was a 26-25 victory for No. 13 Oak Park River Forest on the road at No. 12 Marist. Both squads were able to win seven matches in this tightly contested dual meet.
Key individual matches came at 195 pounds, where OPRF junior Andre Lee upset returning state placer Josh Pruitt with a takedown in overtime; at 220 pounds, with Marist junior Mark Duda upending sophomore Matthew Rundell 11-6 in a battle of returning state runners-up; at 138 with Marist junior Mario Leveille beating Junior Greco-Roman All-American Jake O'Mara 6-5; and at 145 with Marist senior Matt Sears defeating state qualifier Johnny Gahagan 6-4. However, Marist was without state placer Peter Andreotti at 160, and Oak Park River Forest used a fall in that match to seal the dual meet.
Despite sliding back slightly last season, then again who wouldn't given the personnel that left the program, Marmion Academy showed they are back and a forced to be reckoned with at the season opening Moore-Prettyman Wrestling Invitational. The Cadets dominated the 28-school field at Barrington with seven finalists, including four championships from Anthony Bosco (106), No. 11 Johnny Jimenez (120), No. 14 George Fisher (132), and Cody Snodgrass (195). They scored 274 points, while runner-up Libertyville had 185.5 points.
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