Despite having five wrestlers win individual titles at the Mid-America Nationals, 25th-ranked Allen, Texas took second place to 18th-ranked Tulsa Union, Oklahoma. Winning titles for Allen were Bo Nickal (125), Jarrod Trotter (130), No. 17 (at 145) Oliver Pierce (152), Ophir Bernstein (189), and Nick Cobb (215). Five other wrestlers earned placement -- third, fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth -- for the Eagles, as they totaled 235-1/2 points for the tournament.
What took Tulsa Union to the top was the fact they had seven finalists -- three champs, four second-place finishers -- among their ten placers to total 260-1/2 points. Champions were Josh Walker (119), Kyle Ash (160), No. 9 (at 160) Kyle Crutchmer (171); second-place finishers were Brandon Martin (103), Brian Crutchmer (130), Connor Baxter (135), and Throcan Samuels (145).
Outstanding Wrestler honors went to Cadet freestyle champion Pierce, who won the 152 pound weight class over No. 12 Ryne Cokeley (St. James Academy, Kansas) 3-0; Cokeley had a semifinal win 5-3 in overtime against No. 13 Jeromy Davenport (Sallisaw, Oklahoma).
Calib Freeman (112) -- ranked 15th nationally -- was one of four champions for Claremore, as he defeated No. 11 Gary Wayne Harding (Collinsville, Oklahoma) 4-1 in the championship final. Others to win titles for the 21st-ranked Claremore squad were Gunnar Woodburn (103), Michael Williams (135), and Nick Haugen (145). With only three other placers -- fourth, fifth, and eighth -- they finished third scoring 179-1/2 total points.
Rounding out the tournament champions were No. 14 Taylor Moeder (St. James Academy, Kansas) at 140 pounds and Caleb Cline (Norman North, Oklahoma) at 285 pounds.
Wonderful Waverly
Coming off of a second place finish at the Keith Young Invitational with five champions at that event (No. 1 Apple Valley, Minnesota took first with No. 12 Bettendorf, Iowa and defending state champions Denver-Tripoli, Iowa finishing tied for third), the Go-Hawks faced another challenging Saturday at the Five Seasons Duals in Cedar Rapids.
After No. 11 Waverly-Shell Rock won their first two duals meets, 84-0 against Cedar Rapids Washington and 49-15 over Linn-Mar, their semifinal match was against No. 14 Iowa City West, Iowa. With the dual meet starting at 189 pounds, the Go-Hawks faced a 10-0 deficit before No. 1 Cody Krumwiede secured a fall at 285 pounds to spark a six match spurt. This included the first of two big upset wins on the day for senior Tanner Werner at 125 pounds - a 6-4 win over No. 16 Jack Hathaway in which he rallied back from a 4-0 third period deficit.
Iowa City west won the next three matches, including an 8-5 victory for No. 12 Elijah Sullivan over Jordan Rinken at 140 pounds in a battle of returning state runners-up. Iowa City West then chose to give No. 7 Cody Caldwell a forfeit at 152 pounds in hope of getting pins from Britton Thompson and No. 12 Justin Koethe who would bump up one weight class each to 160 and 171 pounds. However, that was not to be, as Thompson was held to a 10-8 decision victory. When Waverly-Shell Rock chose to forfeit the last match, the Go-Hawks would come away with a 33-31 victory.
It was onto the championship final for the Go-Hawks, where a meeting with Bettendorf was on the docket. After suffering a 5-4 defeat in the starting match at 215 pounds, Krumwiede would continue his reign of terror with a second consecutive pin over No. 12 Brodie Berrie in a battle of state champions at 285 pounds. As part of a five match win streak from 119 to 140 pounds, Werner came away with a 6-0 victory over two-time state runner-up Connor Ryan at 125 pounds to cap off a stellar opening two weeks to the season. When all was said and done, the Go-Hawks had won nine of the matches and secured the Five Seasons Duals championship with a 41-23 victory.
A Clash in Iowa
With the complete and total success of The Clash Duals (held annually in Rochester, Minnesota), organizers in the Waterloo area decided to create an event with a similar format. The Battle of Waterloo, to be held at Young Arena this Friday and Saturday, features 32 Iowa schools competing in a dual meet tournament. Each team will have three dual meets on Friday as part of an eight-team “umbrella” bracket, and three more dual meets on Saturday against those teams finishing in the same position of bracket competition on Friday.
Half of the field is composed of teams ranked in the top 15 of the most recent IWCOA Dual Rankings for each division. This includes nationally-ranked teams No. 11 Waverly-Shell Rock, No. 12 Bettendorf, and No. 14 Iowa City West; along with defending state champions Denver-Tripoli and Don Bosco.
Eleven wrestlers in this tournament are nationally ranked in their weight class (indicated with *), with fourteen additional wrestlers ranked either first or second in their state tournament weight class according to preseason rankings published by The Predicament.
103: Andrew Steiert (Waverly-Shell Rock)
112: *Dylan Peters (Denver-Tripoli)
119: *Eric Devos (Waverly-Shell Rock), Kody Kreiz (Louisa-Muscatine)
125: Connor Ryan (Bettendorf), *Jack Hathaway (Iowa City West), Gunnar Wolfensperger (Denver-Tripoli)
130: Alex Hernandez (Bettendorf), *Brandon Sorensen (Denver-Tripoli), Jesse Etherington (Charles City)
135: Grady Gambrall (Iowa City West), Adam Perrin (North Scott), Brandon Welter (Don Bosco)
140: *Bo Schlosser (Bettendorf), *Elijah Sullivan (Iowa City West)
152: *Cody Caldwell (Waverly-Shell Rock), Britton Thompson (Iowa City West)
160: *Justin Koethe (Iowa City West), Garrett Smith (Denver-Tripoli)
171: Travis Mallo (Mason City)
189: *Brandon Abernathy (Indianola), Jared Bartel (Mason City), Blaize Cabell (Independence)
285: *Cody Krumwiede (Waverly-Shell Rock), *Brodie Berrie (Bettendorf)
Link to pairings for Friday competition: http://www.wrestlingbattleofwaterloo.org/news_article/show/71870?referrer_id=228416-news
Top seeded teams are Iowa City West, Denver-Tripoli, Bettendorf, and Waverly-Shell Rock. The lone opening first round match with a pair of ranked teams is Louisa Muscatine and Osage facing one another.
Cavaliers double the pleasure
After winning the season opening Ray Oliver Invitational hosted by McDonogh High School outside of Baltimore, Maryland, Archbishop Spalding travelled to Ocean City for the War on the Shore Tournament hosted by Stephen Decatur High School. The Cavaliers -- whose home base is near Annapolis, Maryland -- dominated the field with five finalists (two champs), nine total placers, and 190 points. Champions for Archbishop Spalding were Mike Still (103) and No. 15 (at 140) Charlie Lynch (152); while Cole Gallagher (112), Brady Gaynor (135), and Will Switzer (145) earned second place medals.
A close battle for second place occurred between Sussex Central, Delaware and La Plata, Maryland. Despite just a single placer in each first through fourth, the Golden Knights used a tournament high eleven total placers to score 159 points -- enough to finish in second place by a single point over La Plata.
Codey Combs -- ranked 3rd nationally at 152 pounds -- was the lone champion for Sussex Central, while Cody Broomall (140) was the sole runner-up.
The tournament was smooth sailing for La Plata until the semifinal round, one in which six of their seven semifinalists were sent to the backside of the draw. The lone finalist -- Josh Lopez -- fell to Combs in the final. However, in good news for La Plata, all six semifinal losers won their next consolation match and all but one followed up that win with a victory in the third place match.
Other weight class champions were Thomas Payne (Poquoson, Virginia) at 112 pounds, Paul O'Neil (Gonzaga, DC) at 119, No. 10 (at 119) Nathan Kraisser (Centennial, Maryland) at 125, Kyle Bauer (Wheeling Park, West Virginia) at 130, Johnny McClanathan (Great Bridge, Virginia) at 135, Salaman Riddell (Old Mill, Maryland) at 140, Brady Massaro (145) and Tyler Mill (171) winning titles for Mt. St. Joseph, Maryland, Alex Zwier (Caravel Academy, Delaware) at 189, along with Kyle (215) and Stephen (285) Snyder winning titles for Good Counsel, Maryland.
Who will become Kings of the Mountain
The host Wildcats from Central Mountain, Pennsylvania, seek to defend their championship against a formidable field this coming weekend at the King of the Mountain. Even though they return as champions of the KOTM and Pennsylvania big-school state tournament, they are not favored in this event. There are three nationally-ranked teams in the field - No. 10 High Point, New Jersey, No. 23 Massillon Perry, Ohio, and No. 49 Council Rock South, Pennsylvania.
In addition to Central Mountain, the field features six other teams that were either champions or runner-up in their respective state individual or dual meet tournaments: High Point, Benton (PA), Schuylkill Valley (PA), Fort LeBeouf (PA), Reynolds (PA), and Parkland (PA).
Eleven wrestlers in the field are nationally ranked in their respective weight classes (marked with asterisk). Four other wrestlers are unranked but have a state finals appearance to their credit career to date.
112: *Zain Retherford (Line Mountain, Pennsylvania)
119: Mitch Newhouse (Massillon Perry, Ohio)
125: *Mason Beckman (Reynolds, Pennsylvania) and (*at119) Nick Francavilla (High Point, New Jersey)
130: Arty Walsh (Schuylkill Valley, Pennsylvania) and Coltin Fought (Benton, Pennsylvania)
135: *Steve Spearman (Erie McDowell, Pennsylvania)
140: Zach Beitz (Juniata, Pennsylvania)
145: *Matt Martoccio (Council Rock South, Pennsylvania)
160: *John Guzzo (High Point, New Jersey)
171: *Nathaniel Brown (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania) and (*at152) Ethan Orr (High Point, New Jersey)
189: Stephan Ceramuga (Commodore Perry, Pennsylvania)
285: *Zach Corl (Central Mountain, Pennsylvania) and *William Smith (High Point, New Jersey)
Top teams ride momentum heading into Reno TOC
All three of the nationally-ranked teams in the 16th annual Reno Tournament of Champions field come into the event riding strong positive momentum from their performances last weekend. No. 13 Roseburg, Oregon won the coast classic; No. 18 Tulsa Union, Oklahoma won the Mid-American nationals as the host team; while No. 24 Easton, Pennsylvania dominated conference rivals Parkland with a 41-21 dual meet victory.
Fourteen nationally-ranked wrestlers are featured in the tournament.
112: No. 5 Nashon Garrett (Chico, California)
119: No. 17 Stevan Knoblauch (Clovis West, California)
125: No. 3 Vince Rodriguez (Clovis North, California), No. 12 Kyle Garcia (Choctaw, Oklahoma), and No. 15 Fabian Garcia (Turlock, California)
135: No. 10 Isaiah Martinez (Lemoore, California)
140: No. 19 Jacob Falk (West Jordan, Utah)
152: No. 10 (at 160) Seth Thomas (Roseburg, Oregon)
160: No. 9 Kyle Crutchmer (Union, Oklahoma), No. 16 Nikko Reyes (Clovis West, California), No. 17 (at 152) Zach Brunson (Churchill, Oregon), and No. 20 Steve Congenie (Villa Park, Illinois)
171: No. 20 Dylan Fors (Roseburg, Oregon)
189: No. 5 Lucas Sheridan (De La Salle, California)
Tournament website: http://rtoc.net/index.asp
Wrestling starts at 12 noon ET (9 a.m. PT) on both Friday and Saturday, with the championship finals starting at 8 a.m. ET (5 PT) on Saturday evening.
Lumps of coal for all in the Gopher State courtesy of Apple Valley
Best in the nation Apple Valley, Minnesota will travel to the Rochester Community and Technical College in Rochester, Minnesota to dole out their annual beating of the best from the rest of the Gopher State. They are seeking a fourth consecutive tournament title and thirteenth in the last fifteen years. The Eagles bring back four defending champions to the tournament, of the seven in all that return from the December 2009 edition.
In addition to Apple Valley, three other nationally-ranked teams from the Gopher State are present in the field: No. 9 Simley, No. 42 Kasson-Mantorville, and No. 47 STMA. All three teams that top the Minnesota divisional rankings are present in the field -- Apple Valley, Simley, and Jackson County Central. Four of the 35 teams come from other states, with the pair of North Dakota teams being formidable entries -- Bismarck and West Fargo.
The following nationally-ranked wrestlers are present in the tournament field:
103: No. 19 Kyle Gliva (Simley) and No. 20 Tommy Thorn (STMA)
112: No. 19 Jordan Kingsley (Apple Valley)
130: No. 16 Ben Morgan (Forest Lake) and No. 20 Dakota Trom (Apple Valley)
135: No. 7 Matt Kelliher (Apple Valley) and No. 19 Bronson Steuber (Jackson County Central)
140: No. 7 Brandon Kingsley (Apple Valley) and No. 9 Jake Short (Simley)
152: No. 1 Destin McCauley (Apple Valley)
160: No. 6 Steven Keogh (Apple Valley)
171: No. 6 Jake Waste (Apple Valley)
215: No. 16 Michael Kroells (Scott West)
285: No. 2 Donny Longendyke (White Bear Lake)
In addition, these are additional wrestlers ranked first in the state of Minnesota by The Guillotine: defending MCT champion Nate Thomas (Kasson-Mantorville) at 112 pounds, Sam Brancale (Eden Prairie) at 119, Garrett Garness (Kasson-Mantorville) at 135, Daniel Woiwor (Apple Valley) at 145, Dan Dick (Simley) and Cooper Moore (Jackson County Central) at 160, along with Matt Hechsel (Apple Valley) and Broc Berge (Kasson-Mantorville) at 189.
These wrestlers from the North Dakota were state finalists last year: Joe Schumacher (Bismarck) at 140, Kip Jangula (Bismarck) and Preston Lehmann (West Fargo) at 171, and Eric Lehmann (West Fargo) at 189.
Diverse field to convene on Kansas City
In five years, the Kansas City Wrestling Classic has been known by as many names -- or so it seems. However, the constant feature has been a field that includes many of the best wrestlers from across the great Midwest and beyond. This year's 32-team field features teams from nine different states.
Fourteen teams in this field finished either first or second in their state tournaments last year, with four of those teams appearing in the national rankings: No. 21 Claremore, Oklahoma, No. 25 Allen, Texas, No. 28 Collins Hill, Georgia, and No. 37 Oak Park, Missouri.
The weekend of wrestling to be held at the Hale Arena, attached to Kemper Arena in the American Royal Complex, will also commence on Thursday night with a showcase dual meet placing state champions Platte County, Missouri (Class 2A) against Claremore. Additionally on Thursday night, there will be junior high and youth tournaments along with select high school duals. Wrestling on Friday night features three matches for each wrestler -- eight pools of four wrestlers each.
The top two wrestlers in each pool advance to the gold bracket for Saturday's competition, with the bottom two being placed in the Silver bracket. Saturday wrestling seeks to guarantee competitors four-plus matches. The tournament can be followed on TrackWrestling.
Eight wrestlers in the tournament field are nationally ranked, in addition to defending champion Skyler Wood (Platte County, Missouri) at 125 pounds.
103: No. 16 Daniel Lewis (Blue Springs, Missouri) and Noah Teaney (Oak Park, Missouri)
112: No. 15 Calib Freeman (Claremore, Oklahoma)
119: No. 7 Thomas Gilman (Skutt Catholic, Nebraska)
125: No. 4 Bricker Dixon (Park Hill, Missouri)
130: No. 5 Cody Brewer (Oak Park, Missouri)
152: No. 17 (at 145) Oliver Pierce (Allen, Texas)
189: No. 17 Dallas Smith (Neosho, Missouri)
Clovis dominates Clovis West Shootout
The two-day Clovis West Shootout had some surprises, but one of them was not the ultimate winner of the event. No. 16 Clovis, California swept their six dual meets, all with margins of 27 or more points. With two of the matches being clean sweeps, the average match score was 58-1/2 to 11.
In what was a surprise, the teams from the Central section did not dominate the event. The visitors emerged with a winning record across the six rounds of wrestling. Clovis obviously was the home champion and overall champion, Buchanan was runner-up for the home group, Vacaville was champion of the road group with a 5-1 record, and Laguna Hills was runner-up in the road group.
It's late early in Alaska
While the scholastic wrestling season is just under way in the other 48 states that sanction wrestling -- or in the case of New Jersey, starting this weekend -- the end of season state championships were just conducted in Alaska with a couple of teams travelling to Reno for the Reno TOC this coming weekend.
In the small-school division (Class 1A-2A-3A), Bethel was the champion with 228-1/2 points, while the host school Nikiski took second with 169-1/2 points.
Link to results: http://www.akmat.org/Results/10-11Results/3A_State/3A_State.htm
In the big-school division (Class 4A), Wasilla took home the title with 200-1/2 points, while Service finished in second with 177 points.
Link to results: http://www.akmat.org/Results/10-11Results/4A_State/4A_State.htm
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