For the better part of a decade -- if not more -- No. 3 St. Paris Graham and No. 5 St. Edward have been the two best teams in the state of Ohio. Graham has won ten consecutive state titles in Division II (medium-sized schools), while St. Edward saw a streak of thirteen consecutive Division I (big school) titles come to an end last year. During this stretch of time, Graham won a consensus national title in 2008 and was part of the national title conversation last year; while St. Edward earned national titles in 1998, 2000, and 2007.
This Saturday night, the Eagles travel to St. Paris to take on the Falcons in a 7:00 p.m. dual meet, as the two teams battle it out for Ohio supremacy this year. Both teams are clear favorites for another state title in their respective divisions.
Here are the projected matchups:
103: Chase Crabtree (Graham) vs. Anthony Stanley (St. Edward)
112: No. 9 Ryan Taylor (Graham) vs. No. 20 Edgar Bright (St. Edward)
*Taylor is projected to repeat as a state champion, while Bright is ranked second in Division I
119: Micah Jordan (Graham) vs. No. 18 Dean Heil (St. Edward)
*Both wrestlers are projected to win state titles, Heil won an earlier season match at the Walsh Ironman
125: Nate Henkle (Graham) vs. Markus Scheidel (St. Edward)
130: Lane Thomas (Graham) vs. Colin Heffernan (St. Edward)
135: No. 19 Case Garrison (Graham) vs. TBD (St. Edward)
140: No. 7 Nick Brascetta (Graham) vs. Russ Rauber (St. Edward)
145: No. 5 Bo Jordan (Graham) vs. Matt Van Curen (St. Edward)
*Jordan is projected to repeat as Division II state champ, while Van Curen is ranked second in Division I
152: No. 11 Matt Stephens (Graham) vs. Mark Martin (St. Edward)
*Stephens is ranked second in Division II, Martin a projected state champ in Divison I; Stephens beat Martin earlier in the season at the Walsh Ironman
160: Isaac Jordan (Graham) vs. Domenic Abounader (St. Edward)
*Jordan is a defending state champion and projected state finalist, Abounader is top ranked in Division I; Jordan lost to a different St. Edward wrestler (Davis) at the Walsh Ironman
171: Kyle Ryan (Graham) vs. Jacob Davis (St. Edward)
*Ryan won a state title in 2009, and is projected to make his third straight Division II state final; while Davis is a projected state placer
189: No. 5 Huston Evans (Graham) vs. James Suvak (St. Edward)
*Evans is projected to repeat as a state champion, while Suvak is ranked third in Division I
215: Mark Meyer (Graham) vs. Ty Walz (St. Edward)
*Meyer is a former state placer, while Cadet National freestyle champ Walz is ranked third in Division I
285: Darin Bo vey (Graham) vs. No. 10 Greg Kuhar (St. Edward)
Blair headlines 10th NHSCA Final Four of High School Wrestling
Perennial national title contender, No. 2 Blair Academy, New Jersey makes its annual trek to Easton, Pennsylvania for the NHSCA Final Four of High School Wrestling. This year's event features ten teams split into pools; there will be four matches of round-robin wrestling, and then the last round will involve placement matches with the two pools facing off against one another.
Pool A includes No. 2 Blair Academy, New Jersey; No. 32 Jackson Memorial, New Jersey; Council Rock South, Pennsylvania; Lake Stevens, Washington; and Parkland, Pennsylvania.
Pool B includes No. 16 Easton, Pennsylvania; No. 21 High Point, New Jersey; No. 28 Collins Hill, Georgia; Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania; and Walsh Jesuit, Ohio.
The following nationally-ranked wrestlers are slated to compete:
103: No. 7 Joey McKenna (Blair Academy), No. 19 Billy Rappo (Council Rock South)
112: No. 1 Evan Silver (Blair Academy)
119: No. 11 Caleb Richardson (Blair Academy)
125: No. 3 Mark Grey (Blair Academy), No. 14 Nick Francavilla (High Point)
130: No. 4 Johnni DiJulius (Walsh Jesuit), No. 10 Todd Preston (Blair Academy)
135: No. 2 Austin Ormsbee (Blair Academy), No. 4 Johnni DiJulius (Walsh Jesuit)
145: No. 12 Mitch Minotti (Easton)
160: No. 13 John Guzzo (High Point)
285: No. 5 Brooks Black (Blair Academy), No. 17 William Smith (High Point)
Ranking battle at 130 pounds
In addition to the appearance of Walsh Jesuit, Ohio at the NHSCA Final Four of High School Wrestling, the Warriors will make two other stops while competing in the Lehigh Valley. The second of those stops is tomorrow night at No. 27 Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where it is highly likely that No. 2 Zach Horan (Nazareth) and No. 4 Johnni DiJulius (Walsh Jesuit) will do battle at 130 pounds in the course of a triangular meet. The other team in that tri is Emmaus. In tonight's first leg of Walsh Jesuit's three-day journey through the Lehigh Valley, the Warriors will travel to Northampton for dual meets against Parkland and the host Konkrete Kids.
FloNationals Majors close out with Clinch Gear Prep School Slam
The last of the twenty-one tournament FloNationals Majors series is this weekend in Atlanta with the Clinch Gear Prep School Slam hosted by Holy Innocents School. The tournament features 44 schools coming from ten different states.
The following notable wrestlers are in the field:
103: Matt Calcote (Archbishop Rummel, Louisiana); Tyler Casamenti (Bergen Catholic, New Jersey)
112: Trevor Albrecht (Bergen Catholic, New Jersey); Jay Ferro (Jesuit, Louisiana)
119: Brandon Brunner (Baylor, Tennessee); Judson Preskitt (Bishop Lynch, Texas); Dean O'Bourke (Calvary Chapel, California)
125: Zach Watson (Baylor, Tennessee); Jacob Goodwin (Bishop Lynch, Texas); Alex Ward (McCallie, Tennessee); Chris Caton (Northside Christian, North Carolina); Chad Pyke (Woodward Academy, Georgia)
135: Alex Manley (Baylor, Tennessee); Connor Melde (Bergen Catholic, New Jersey); Dalton Dennis (Northside Christian, Florida)
140: No. 8 Evan Henderson (Kiski Prep, Pennsylvania); Stuart Doster (Baylor, Tennessee); Mark Pinero (Archbishop Rummel, Louisiana)
145: No. 11 Robert Henderson (Kiski Prep, Pennsylvania); Michael Hooker (McCallie, Tennessee)
152: Jason Grimes (Holy Innocents, Georgia); Johnny Sebastian (Bergen Catholic, New Jersey)
160: Angelo Bortoluzzi (Kiski Prep, Pennsyvlania); TJ Duncan (McCallie, Tennessee)
171: Scott Gibbons (Archbishop Rummel, Louisiana); Trey Adamson (Bishop Lynch, Texas); Stout Watson (Forsyth Country Day, North Carolina)
189: No. 1 Morgan McIntosh (Calvary Chapel, California)
215: No. 5 Tank Knowles (Calvary Chapel, California); Colynn Cook (Kiski Prep, Pennsylvania)
285: John Mackey (Baylor, Tennessee)
Stacked field for Ed Winger in Iowa
Twenty teams come together on Saturday for the Ed Winger Classic in Urbandale, Iowa, and the event has a talent-laden field. Eight of the teams present are in either the top ten of the rankings done by The Predicament or the IWCOA, or both. This includes a pair of top three teams in both Class 3A (big school) and 2A (medium-school); No. 10 Iowa City West, No. 12 Bettendorf, Denver-Tripoli, and Ballard Huxley.
Twenty-nine individuals ranked inside the top three of their respective state tournament weight class are also present, which includes eleven that appear in the InterMat national rankings.
103: No. 9 Phillip Laux (Iowa City West), Drake Swarm (Bettendorf)
112: No. 10 Dylan Peters (Denver-Tripoli), Colby Knight (Urbandale), Logan Ryan (Bettendorf)
119: No. 6 Cory Clark (Southeast Polk), Kegan Wakefield (Iowa City West)
125: No. 19 Connor Ryan (Bettendorf), Jack Hathaway (Iowa City West), Gunnar Wolfensperger (Denver-Tripoli)
130: No. 5 John Meeks (Des Moines Roosevelt), No. 18 Brandon Sorensen (Denver-Tripoli), Dakota Bauer (Iowa City West)
135: Adam Perrin (North Scott)
140: No. 20 Elijah Sullivan (Iowa City West), Bo Cosens (Ballard Huxley)
145: No. 19 Tanner Hiatt (Ballard Huxley), Gabriel Moreno (Urbandale), Dylan Blackford (Southeast Polk)
152: Britt Thompson (Iowa City West)
160: No. 18 Justin Koethe (Iowa City West), Dominic Chase (Bettendorf), Garrett Smith (Denver-Tripoli)
171: No. 5 Tanner Weatherman (Ballard Huxley)
189: No. 14 Brendan Abernathy (Indianola), Nate Shaw (Bettendorf)
215: Joe Scanlan (Johnston), Ben Nagle (North Scott)
285: Brodie Berrie (Bettedorf)
Show Me State Showdown
The Winnetonka Tournament this weekend will serve as a chance for the top wrestlers and programs in the state of Missouri to compete against one another, and continue to establish some semblance of pecking order heading into the state tournament series. Four of the teams in the field are ranked inside the top three of Class 4 (big school) or Class 3 (second-biggest) according to MissouriWrestling.com: Blue Springs, Francis Howell Central, Oak Park, and Park Hill.
Additionally, 27 individuals are ranked among the top three of their state tournament classification, including four of the six nationally ranked individuals from the Show Me State. Two weight classes in the tournament feature four top three wrestlers.
103: No. 15 Noah Teaney (Oak Park), Daniel Lewis (Blue Springs), John Erneste (Park Hill)
112: Matt Kraus (Seckman)
125: No. 9 Bricker Dixon (Park Hill), Denny Kleinschrodt (Seckman)
130: No. 8 Cody Brewer (Oak Park), Josh Bennett (Francis Howell Central), Derek Lapaglia (Blue Springs), Russell Coleman (Park Hill)
135: Cain Salas (Oak Park), Greg Hegarty (Blue Springs)
140: No. 5 Terrell Wilbourn (Francis Howell Central), Kenan Hegarty (Blue Springs), Gage Harrison (Oak Park), Blake Pepper (Seckman)
145: Preston Crouse (Park Hill), Justin Dickey (Francis Howell Central)
152: Brian Hayes (Oak Park), Gage Shaddox (Liberty)
160: Dustin Heise (Troy)
171: Brock St. Louis (North Kansas City)
189: Louis Foutz (Blue Springs)
215: J'Den Cox (Seckman), Hashem Omari (Oak Park), Donnie Horner (Blue Springs)
285: John Cervantes (Oak Park)
Ranked teams collide in Land of Lincoln
No. 24 Crystal Lake Central and No. 26 Glenbard North will both be traveling to Fox Lake Grant High School near Chicago as part of a quadrangular meet on Saturday. The teams should dual one another in a battle of teams both ranked second in the state according to Illinois Matmen. The Tigers feature a trio of nationally-ranked wrestlers -- No. 8 Joey Kielbasa (152), No. 2 Gage Harrah (189), and No. 4 Austin Marsden (215); while the Panthers feature a duo of their own in No. 12 Joey Gosinski (130) and No. 19 Brian Murphy (140).
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