InterMat Staff

The University of the Cumberlands men’s wrestling program is one with a rich tradition of NAIA All-American athletes, NAIA National Champions, and numerous NAIA Academic All-Americans that have filled the program over the past years. That success is due to the diverse talent that is recruited across the country by a top notch coaching staff. The University of the Cumberlands (UC) wasted little time in continuing to support this tradition of excellence by announcing today the hiring of Matt Lowers as the head coach of the men’s wrestling team. Lowers is a native of Wadena, MN where he was an All-State athlete while competing in wrestling, football, and track and field for Wadena-Deer Creek High School. After suffering a severe neck and back injury in high school, Matt attended Concordia College where he was graduated in 2006 with a degree in Exercise Science and a minor in coaching. “I am humbled and honored to be named the head coach at the University of the Cumberlands,” said Lowers. “I am excited to get to work with the athletes and begin working towards helping them reach their individual goals which will in turn result in the team reaching our goals.” Lowers will lead UC after having served the past two years as a graduate assistant at St. Cloud State University. Before joining that staff, Lowers was with the 2007 National Champion University of Minnesota Wrestling team staff. Matt joined the Gophers in 2006 when the team captured the Division I National Dual Team Championship, Big Ten Championship, and finished second at the NCAA’s. In 2007 the Minnesota Wrestling team repeated as National Dual and Big Ten Champions and also won the NCAA’s for the third time in school history. While also serving as an assistant with the University of Minnesota’s wrestling team, Matt worked as the Director of Wrestling Operations for J. Robinson Intensive Camps. J. Robinson Intensive Camps have set the standard for intensive camps while training over 3000 athletes each summer. Prior to his time with the Gophers and J. Robinson Camps, Matt spent three seasons as an assistant at his alma mater Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. In his final two seasons at Concordia, Lowers was able to work with Minnesota and North Dakota Hall of Fame Coach Clay Nagel. During those two years with the Cobber’s, Matt played a significant role in helping Nagel by more than doubling their roster size and equaling the schools highest ever dual meet win record. During this time, Lowers also served as the Director of the Cobber Wrestling Camp which, in its first two years of operation, averaged over 285 campers per year while bringing in a world class staff. Lowers has not had a chance to meet with many of the players as of yet, but he will be getting acquainted with his team in the near future as he gears up for the move to Williamsburg and a Mid-South Conference championship season. For more information on the Patriots’ wrestling team as well as other Patriot athletics, please visit www.ucumberlands.edu/athletics.

Balancing a successful wrestling career at a young age can be extremely demanding. As one of the toughest sports to compete in and train for the commitment is one few at a young age can do. Not far behind when it comes to the amount of work athletes have to put in is swimming. For one of the most successful 14-year-old wrestlers, Michael Johnson Jr., who is ranked as the No. 7 junior high wrestler in the country, it's all in a day's work. Michael Johnson Jr.Johnson, who won 17 national and state wrestling tournaments through 2009, showed his parents his interest in the sport at a very early age. "When Michael was about two years old he was able to turn the TV on by himself," said Michael Johnson Sr. "He had the remote and he stopped on a Northwestern (Wildcat) wrestling meet. When his mom came into the room, he was holding the remote, watching the TV, and was kind of moving back and forth watching the match. Then right before Thanksgiving the whole extended family was in the kitchen except for Grandpa -- who was sleeping on a pillow on the floor -- and Michael. We heard Michael screaming out there with his grandpa, so we all ran out there. He had a half nelson on his grandpa who was asleep and he was running in place trying to turn him over." Already involved in competitive swimming, the kid from Downers Grove, Illinois started his wrestling career, but not without some conditions put in place by his mother, Jane, who made a deal with him in kindergarten. If Michael could get "all pluses" on his report card, he could be involved in both sports. Michael took the deal and didn't look back. He has never fallen below the standard set by his mom and is now a straight-A student. Success in the classroom didn't translate into immediate success on the mat. "I liked it, but I wasn't good at it at all," said the younger Johnson. "I was frustrated when I was little and thought about quitting, but I stuck with it." While it might not have come easy, a change in wrestling associations gave him the lift he needed. "Michael was in four-year-old preschool and was wrestling kids that were in second and third grade," said his dad. "It was ugly, but he went to a wrestling camp and he had such a good time that we ended up changing clubs to accommodate his swimming ... and when we changed clubs we saw drastic improvements." He was in an organization that took wrestling more seriously and allowed him to wrestle kids closer to his age with positive results. "When he changed clubs, the wrestling was a lot more serious," said Michael Johnson Sr. "Almost all the kids were state placewinners or state qualifiers. They did freestyle and Greco and the expectations were different. He started beating kids he wouldn't even see because he wouldn't get deep enough into tournaments. Kids who would routinely tech and pin him now he was beating." While the club and age group switch helped, the real reason behind Johnson Jr.'s success was something you can't get from any club or organization. It was his work ethic. "There were guys on my team that were more talented than me," said Michael Johnson Jr. "They just got it faster. But I always wanted to learn more and I worked harder than most kids." Israel Martinez"He has a great focus for the sport," said Israel Martinez, who was recently hired as the head wrestling coach at Montini Catholic High School in Illinois. Martinez has been coaching Johnson Jr. on and off almost Johnson Jr.'s whole career. The last six months Martinez has been Johnson Jr.'s main wrestling coach. "He is a world-class Olympic-style weight lifter," said Martinez, who finished his high school wrestling career in Illinois with a record of 118-1, losing only one match due to an illegal slam. "He is unbelievably strong. If he doesn't make the Olympics one day as a wrestler, I truly believe he could make it as a weightlifter." Michael Johnson Jr. is a three-time Illinois weightlifting champion and won a national title weightlifting, but wanting to be the best wrestler he could be, getting into the freestyle and Greco Roman styles was a given. It took some time, but Johnson Jr. soon was competing at a high level in all three styles. "I read about Brandon, Florida and all the state champs, and Fargo champs, and that really motivated me to do freestyle and Greco," said Johnson Jr. "The first year I did it, I didn't really get it. It is a lot different than folkstyle with a lot faster pace. The third year I did it, I started to get it. It took me a while to get used to being able to lock your hands on top and rolling for points -- what in folkstyle is a bad position is scoring in freestyle and Greco was tough to do." Soon his career started to take off. Twice he has won USA Wrestling's Triple Crown (a national title in all three styles of wrestling) -- once as a Novice and once as a Schoolboy. It was a gradual progression, but Johnson Jr. and his dad both pointed to one tournament where he started to turn the corner. "There was one tournament series when I started beating better kids," recalled Johnson Jr. "It was the Boarder Wars Nationals." As he became more successful in wrestling, his swimming career had to be revised. "A year or two ago, Michael realized he was a wrestler who love to swim, not a swimmer who loved to wrestle," said Michael's father. With the schedule he held at the time and the modifications he had to make, many athletes would have dropped one sport or the other, but Johnson Jr. isn't built that way. "Up until last summer when he broke his ankle, it wasn't hard to make the argument that he was a better swimmer than wrestler. When he was in fourth grade we had to switch swim teams because there was a swimming and wrestling conflict. He had to start his swimming workouts on his own. He would wake me up in the morning and we would go a swim workout at the YMCA." While training before the Greco-Roman state championships, Johnson Jr. broke his foot. It caused him to keep swimming on the back burner and put competing at State in serious jeopardy. "He did therapy every day," said Michael Johnson Sr. "He really wanted to make freestyle and Greco Nationals," said his father. "He really wanted to go bad and if there was a way we will go, but it really didn't look like he was going to be able to go. We ended up taping up his ankle and winning the Triple Crown at Schoolboy Nationals. He pretty much wrestled on one leg." Before the tournament he would ice his ankle constantly and during the tournament he would get it taped up by a college trainer. In between matches he would go back to the hotel and soak it in ice water. "Greco was easier than freestyle because people weren't attacking it," said Johnson Jr. "There was one kid that would stomp on it and stuff, but I just had to deal with it and just not let it phase me." That kind of effort and determination doesn't come as a surprise to Martinez. "He lifts weights four times a week," said Martinez. "He swims. He's just a worker. He goes to swimming, then he goes to wrestling, then he goes home and gets his work done. I don't know how many kids are that focused. To do all those things at a high level, it tells you about his work ethic." On the mat, Johnson Jr. feels he is strongest while on his feet and in the top position. "I do a sweep single on the feet and I do a really good wing and arm bar series." "He moves great for a big guy," said Martinez. "He has great motion and great position. When he really grows into his body he is going to be a phenomenal athlete." With such a commitment to athletics, the people around Johnson Jr. might worry about burnout. Johnson Jr. has never given anyone an indication that it will be a concern. "He will walk out of a really intense wrestling practice, his shirt will be soaked, almost like he just got out of a pool," said his father. "He will walk out of the practice and he will have a big smile on his face. He really loves to wrestle." With aspirations of wrestling at the international level as his career moves forward, his swimming, weightlifting, and wrestling schedules will have to continue to be full. The kind of drive Johnson Jr. has shown throughout his athletic career has not given any indication that he will have any issues balancing his ever-expanding world. Three styles of wrestling, swimming at a high level, and competitive weightlifting -- for Johnson Jr., it's just all in a day's work.

Frank Shamrock

Mark Ellis

Brendan Buckley

The NWCA is excited to announce that 32 coaches representing all collegiate divisions have been selected to receive scholarships to participate in the Second Annual NWCA Coaching Leadership Academy in Delray Beach, Fla. “With the success of the 2009 Academy, we are looking forward to mentoring another group of outstanding coaches,” said NWCA President Jim Beichner. “Last year’s coaches helped to pave the way and in the process helped us 'fine tune' the curriculum.” The purpose of this Academy is to utilize peer group discussion among college coaches, athletic administrators, and CEOs to develop “best practices” for protecting and strengthening intercollegiate wrestling programs through this challenging economy. Further, the NWCA wants to help coaches better align their programs with educational values. Nationally renowned coaching development expert, Dr. Dan Gould from Michigan State University along with Senior Associate Athletic Director Derek van der Merwe of Central Michigan University, will be facilitating these discussions. The NWCA is able to cover the airfare, lodging, meals and convention registration fees for all participants due to the generosity of several wrestling benefactors. The 2010 Leadership Academy consists of the following coaches: Matthew Azevedo, Alaina Berube, Seth Bloomquist, Matthew Burlingame, Ken Caudell, Sevond Cole, Derek DelPorto, Timothy Dernlan, Ramon Diaz, Daniel Elliott, Ron Headlee, Josh Henson, Eric Keller, Dock Kelly, Jason Loukides, Mike Mendoza, Nick Mitchell, Bob Patnesky, John Petty, Ken Prophete, Ken Ramsey, Matt Sedivy, Nathan Shearer, Michael Simon, Chad Smith, Pat Sole, Walter Ulrich, Marcie Van Dusen, Andy Vogel, Robbie Waller, Kevin Ward, and Mauricio Wright. Mentors for the 2010 Leadership Academy are as follows: Ron Beaschler, Jim Beichner, Coyte Cooper, Mark Gumble, Dan Harris, Todd Hibbs, Jay Jones, Dave Kemmy, Rob Koll, Jon Laudenslager, John Licata, Jim Makovsky, Jim Miller, Carl Poff, Archie Randall, Frank Romano, Brian Smith, Jack Spates, Rande Stottlemyer, Greg Strobel, Jeff Swenson, Alan Utter, and Billy Walker. The following 2009 Leadership Academy Coaches have completed the course and will be recognized for their achievement on August 6th: JohnMark Bentley, Ben Berogen, Jason Borrelli, Mark Branch, Brandon Brissette, Shawn Charles, Dax Charles, Heath Eslinger, John Garriques, Trent Goodale, Scott Hawes, Scott Hinkle, Tim Homan, Greg Ilaria, Tony Islas, R.C. LaHaye, Tom Layte, Clint Manny, Risto Marttinen, Joe Pollard, Tom Prairie, Todd Roberts, Ryan Smith, Ben Stehura, Casey Stouffer, Beau Vest and Jason York. “After our first year of the academy, we had an overwhelming response of coaches that wanted to be chosen for this year. It was hard to narrow down to these thirty-two individuals, but we feel that we have a great group who are willing and eager to learn,” said Mike Moyer Executive Director of the NWCA. “With the help of Dan Gould, Derek van der Merwe, our many program benefactors, and dedicated mentors, the 2010 Leadership Academy Class will undoubtedly be a fantastic experience.” On behalf the NWCA Board of Directors, we would like to encourage all college coaches (head and assistants) to attend the 2010 NWCA Convention scheduled for August 5-8. Wrestling’s challenges must be solved by wrestling people. There has never been a more important time for the wrestling community to work together. We hope that we will see a record attendance this year! The National Wrestling Coaches Association, established in 1928, is a non-profit organization for the advancement of all levels of the sport of wrestling with primary emphasis on developing coaches who work in academic environments. The membership embraces all people interested in amateur wrestling. The three core competencies of the NWCA Coaching Development, student-athlete welfare, and promotion of wrestling.

NORMAN, Okla. -- University of Oklahoma head coach Jack Spates recently wrapped up the 2010-11 recruiting class, signing four InterMat Top 100 recruits for the second-consecutive year and finishing with a consensus top 10 class. Collectively, the future Sooners combined to win 20 state championships, spanning five states across the country. “We are really excited about this recruiting class,” head coach Jack Spates said. “They are very talented, very accomplished, excellent students and great kids.” The Sooners class ranks No. 9, 12 and 14 by recruiting publications The Open Mat, CollegeWrestling.net and InterMat, respectively. However, those rankings were released before Spates crew secured two of their top commitments. “It is another top-ten class for us, but our rankings are misleading,” said Spates. “These rankings were issued before we landed some of our top recruits including, JUCO national champion Chase Nelson and four-time state champion Ian Fisher.” Nelson, ranked the No. 2 JUCO wrestler at 157 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News, headlines the class. The Wichita, Kan., native was a JUCO national champion at Labette junior college where he terrorized his competition. Nelson provides added depth for the Sooners at 165 pounds. The Sooners inked three Oklahoman's ranked in the top 93 nationally by InterMat in Justin DeAngelis (No. 61), Ronnie Balfour (No. 75) and Quincy Mondaine (No. 93). DeAngelis, a Tulsa, Okla. Product, was a three-time state champion at Jenks where he finished his career with a record of 100-11. In addition to his InterMat ranking, DeAngelis, 149 pounds, checks in as the 56th-ranked recruit by CollegWrestling.net. Another Tulsa, Okla., native, Balfour, was a state champion at Union and ranks as the 67th best wrestler in the country by CollegeWrestling.net. Mondaine, a one-time state champion from Muskogee is ranked the No. 11 and No. 8 recruit at 197 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News and Tom's College Prospect Rankings, respectively. Expected to wrestle at 165 pounds for OU, Parker Madl from Stillwell, Kan., is notched as the 79th-best wrestler nationally by InterMat and No. 80 by CollegeWrestling.net. Madl was twice crowned Kansas state champion and placed fourth at Senior Nationals. Another Oklahoman, Fisher, will compete at 141 pounds for the Sooners. The Perry high school star racked up four state championships and compiled 168 wins during his career. The Sooners signed two heavyweights in Kyle Colling and Kosta Karageorge. Colling, a product of Arcade, N.Y., was a two-time state champion and high school All-American. Amateur Wrestling News ranks him the sixth-best recruit at 215 pounds. Karangeorge is from Worthington, Ohio, where he finished in the top six at the Ohio state finals. Spates also gained commitments from two-time Kansas state champion Jordan Keller (Wichita, Kan.), South Carolina state champion Derek Geiges (Charleston, S.C.), 2009 Florida state champion Chase Gordan (Oviedo, Fla.) and Oklahoma state champion Dax Perrier (Pawhuska, Okla.). Rounding out the Sooners' class is Dustin Reed from Choctaw Okla., Sean Datte of Las Flores, Calif., Zac Corrales of Lawton, Okla., and a transfer from Virginia Tech, Scott Chene. “We are really looking forward to great things from these young men,” Spates concluded.

Lance Palmer

Hello again Wrestling Fans. We return to the Brute Adidas studios for this weeks show brought to you by Kemin Agrifoods. Join Scott Casber, Geoff Murtha (Simpson), Ryan Freeman (Ok State) and Randy Crimmins. Geoff Murtha joins us courtesy of Mass Mutual Financial Services, Ryan Freeman courtesy of ATT. Guests Include: 9:01 Tim Flynn- Head Coach of the Edinboro Fighting Scots 9:20 Joel Greenlee- Head Coach of the Ohio Bobcats. Joel will be inducted in the UNI Hall of Fame this September. 9:40 Mark Manning- Head Coach of Nebraska Cornhuskers 10:01 Mike Kulczycki- Asst Coach of the Wolverines of Michigan 10:20 Brendan Buckley- Head Coach for the Columbia Lions 10:40 Brent Metcalf- NCAA Champion, training for Gold, he does well is Baku and is now back on US soil. We'll catch up. Wrestling fans- Episode 68 of TDR TV wrestling news is now on. Check TV Guide for listings. How to watch and listen- TDR and TDR TV. It's appointment Radio and TV! TDR on Radio: LIVE Saturday at 9:00 AM CST on 1460 KXNO in Iowa. Delayed Saturday nights at 7:00 PM Eastern on Supertalk 1570 in Michigan, TDR TV: Mediacom Cable Ch. 22. IA, MO, AK, NE, MN, IL Tues. 5 PM, Sat. 10 AM Time Warner Cable Ch. 813 New York Sat. 12 Noon Call your local cable operator and ask them to carry TDR TV TDR on Internet: You can join us Saturday mornings at Takedownradio.com TDR TV On Internet: 31 various web sites now carry your favorite wrestling news show Thanks to our affiliates, our media partners and friends at Livesportsvideo.com. Thanks for watching and listening!

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The University of Minnesota wrestling team has released its 2010-2011 schedule, highlighted by a regular-season finale against defending national champion Iowa. It will be another challenging year for head coach J Robinson and the Golden Gophers as they will meet three of the top four finishers in last year's national tournament and six teams that finished in the top ten. For the sixth-straight year, the Gophers will open the season at the Bison Open in Fargo, N.D. on Saturday, Nov. 13. One week later, on Nov. 20, Minnesota will be in Omaha for the Kaufman-Brand Open hosted by Nebraska-Omaha. The Gophers return to their home state on Saturday, Nov. 27, competing in the Northern Quad with Appalachian State, North Dakota State and Central Michigan in Rochester, Minn. Minnesota kicks off the month of December with its first meet on campus when Oklahoma State visits the Sports Pavilion on Sunday, Dec. 5. That competition is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff. The Gophers then hit the road for the remainder of the month starting with a dual against Nebraska on Thursday, Dec. 9. Just two days later, Minnesota will be back in action with three dual meets against Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly in Bakersfield and Fullerton, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 11 before competing in the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C. on Dec. 29-30. The team rounds out the road trip with its first competition of 2011 at National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa the weekend of January 8- 9. On Friday, Jan. 14, the Gophers will host their first Big Ten dual of the year when they take on Indiana at the Sports Pavilion to kick off the conference season before another road trip that will take the program to Iowa State on Sunday, Jan. 16, Purdue on Jan. 21 and Illinois on Jan. 23. Minnesota rounds out the month of January with a home dual meet against Wisconsin on Sunday, Jan. 30 at 2:00 p.m. The Badgers meet marks the second dual in less than two weeks in which the Gophers will face a team that finished in the top four at the 2009 NCAA Championships. Wisconsin finished fourth in the event while Iowa State took third-place honors. The Gophers open February with a conference matchup on the road against Ohio State on Saturday, Feb. 5 before traveling to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan on Feb. 11. Minnesota returns home on Sunday, Feb. 13 for Big Ten dual with Penn State at the Sports Pavilion. The Nittany Lions meet is tabbed for a 2:00 p.m. start time. Minnesota closes out the regular season with a home dual against the Iowa Hawkeyes in what is annually one of the most anticipated meets of the season. The Gophers are slated to host the defending national champion Hawkeyes on Sunday, Feb. 20 at Williams Arena. A 2:00 p.m. start time is scheduled for the dual. With March comes tournament time and Minnesota will be on the road at the Big Ten Championships on Mar. 5-6 in West Lafayette, Ind. and at the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia on Mar. 17-19. The Golden Gopher wrestling program will also host the 2010-2011 Meet the Team event prior to the start of the season. Information for the event will be released as it becomes available.

The seven days of wrestling in Fargo, ND represent arguably the pinnacle of scholastic-aged wrestling in the United States. Last week's Junior & Cadet Nationals were a tremendous competition that provided many storylines. Some has been written about the disappearance of the top-level wrestlers from this tournament, especially at the Junior level, and especially among the graduated seniors whom are college bound. However, the field in Fargo still is the deepest and strongest that will be seen at any event on the yearly calendar. Here are 10 other reflections and discussion points about the events of the past week. 1. Power programs, powerful results There are eight high school programs by my count that had four or more All-Americans this past week in Fargo that will be returning to their respective rosters in the 2010-11 season. Please note that this does not mean all of them will necessarily be able to make the lineup, or that developments may arise such that other programs could be added to this list later on. Leading the way with eight returning All-Americans is Blair Academy, NJ. This total includes a pair of incoming freshman who won Cadet National Greco-Roman titles in Joey McKenna and Patrick Coover. An additional incoming freshman is PJ Klee, who placed in the Cadet freestyle tournament. Rising sophomore Brooks Black swept titles at Cadet 285 pounds to go three-for-three in Fargo to date; Black was unable to compete in Cadet freestyle last year due to injury after winning the Greco-Roman title at 215 pounds. Juniors-to-be Mark Grey and Todd Preston were All-Americans in the Junior freestyle competition, with Grey also placing in Greco-Roman. Evan Silver and Austin Ormsbee validated their place among the top Class of 2011 (senior) wrestlers with finals appearances in Junior freestyle; Silver took second, while Ormsbee took the title in his weight class. One of the two teams to share the title according to Amateur Wrestling News in the 2009-10 season brings back the next most All-Americans; Apple Valley, MN had seven wrestlers earn All-American status during the past week in Fargo. Incoming freshman Gannon Volk was an All-American in Cadet Greco and freestyle. Rising junior Dakota Trom was a Cadet freestyle runner-up, while fellow Class of 2012 wrestler Jordan Kingsley earned All-American status in Junior freestyle. A quartet of rising seniors, all of whom were ranked among the top sixty wrestlers in the Class of 2011 earned All-American honors in Junior freestyle. Destin McCauley, ranked as the top wrestler in the class, was champion at 152 pounds; Matt Kelliher was runner-up at 130 pounds, and also finished eighth in Greco-Roman; while Steven Keogh and Jake Waste placed at 160 and 171 pounds respectively. Next in line was another elite program -- Brandon, FL which had six total All-Americans during the past week. The Eagles were anchored by a trio of wrestlers placing in both the Junior Greco-Roman and freestyle tournaments. Junior-to-be Tyler Liberatore was champion in both styles at 130 pounds, rising sophomore Kevin Norstrem placed at 125 in both events, while senior-to-be Wally Figaro earned placement finishes in both styles at 160 pounds. Class of 2012 wrestler Rossi Bruno was champion in Junior Greco-Roman, fellow rising junior Clark Glass earned All-American honors in Junior Greco, while rising sophomore Travis Berridge was a Cadet Greco All-American. Like Brandon, another program that earned attention with superlative performance in Greco-Roman was Roseburg, OR which had five wrestlers earn All-American honors in that style. Incoming sophomore Reed Van Anrooy placed in the Cadet tournament while incoming seniors Drew Van Anrooy, Seth Thomas, Dylan Fors, and Devan Fors earned All-American honors at the Junior level in Greco-Roman. There were four additional programs that came in at four All-American finishers each -- Marmion Academy, IL; Oviedo, FL; St John's, MI; and Wisconsin Rapids, WI. All four of Marmion Academy's placing wrestlers were Cadets, which means that they will be a very formidable squad in both the short and medium term. Incoming sophomore Ben Whitford earned titles in both styles at 125 pounds; incoming junior Angelo Silvestro was fourth in freestyle at 135 pounds; while rising freshmen Jered Cortez and Bryce Brill were both finalists in the freestyle competition, Cortez won the title at 112 while Brill was second at 119. Oviedo loaded up with strong performance in the Greco-Roman competition, as all four of its All-American finishers did so in that tournament. Tyler Meltzer was an All-American at the Cadet level, while Lee Wildes and Jay Taylor earned that status at the junior level. In addition, Doug Vollaro was a finalist in both styles at Cadet 285 pounds -- finishing as runner-up to Brooks Black in each of the competitions, after also losing to Black in both finals at FILA Cadet Nationals. On the other hand, all four of the All-American finishers for St. John's, MI placed in both styles. The obvious anchor for that group is Taylor Massa, the top ranked wrestler in the Class of 2012, who was fourth in Greco-Roman and third in freestyle at 152 pounds. Fellow rising junior Travis Curley placed fifth in both styles at Cadet 145 pounds. A pair of rising sophomores joined Massa and Curley as double All-Americans: Jacob Schmitt made the finals of both tournament at Cadet 105 pounds, champion in Greco-Roman and runner-up in freestyle; while Josh Pennell was runner-up in Greco and fourth in freestyle at 125 pounds. The eighth of the teams with four or more All-Americans is Wisconsin Rapids, WI which is anchored by Devin Peterson -- one of the top wrestlers in the Class of 2012. Peterson, twice a state tournament runner-up during the high school season, was the Junior Greco champion at 171 pounds and placed fifth in Junior freestyle up one weight class at 189 pounds. Fellow rising junior Zak Benitz and senior-to-be Jason Munoz joined Peterson with All-American finishes in Junior Greco; while another Class of 2012 wrestler Ryan Cone was a Cadet freestyle All-American. 2. Land of Lincoln, Dominion of Dominance Team Illinois success was one of the major stories over the week of Fargo. Wrestlers from the Land of Lincoln scored team point titles in Junior freestyle, Cadet freestyle, Junior Greco-Roman; and finished second in the Cadet Greco-Roman competition. This followed up very strong performances at the Cadet and Junior Duals -- championship in Junior freestyle, runner-up finishes in Cadet freestyle and Junior Greco-Roman, and a third place finish in Cadet Greco-Roman. Much credit for this success goes to the USA Wrestling organization in the state of Illinois -- Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation (IKWF) -- which is headed up by the great leadership of Jim Considine, Mike Urwin, and many others. Another important piece of the puzzle is the tremendous coaching staff led by Directors Mark Gervais (Greco-Roman) and Griff Powell (freestyle), along with designated head coaches Bryan Medlin (Greco) and Steve Marianetti (freestyle). The ultimate piece of the puzzle is of course the wrestlers who competed in Fargo, putting it on the line, and delivering with great results. This includes national championships won in Greco-Roman by Jordan Lind and Zane Richards (Cadet), Dylan Reel (Junior); Jered Cortez and Brian Murphy (Cadet), Eddie Klimara (Junior) in freestyle; and Ben Whitford as a Cadet double champion. 3. Affirming the ranking, and creating separation Heading into the Fargo week, there was some debate as to whether or not Destin McCauley and Morgan McIntosh were truly the best two wrestlers in the Class of 2011 -- the group that will be seniors this coming scholastic season. However, the week in Fargo answered that question in the clear affirmative. McCauley and McIntosh dominated the competition in their respective weight classes on the way to Junior freestyle titles. Of the two performances, the one by McIntosh was slightly more impressive; after shutting out his first seven opponents, McIntosh dominated one of the stars from the Class of 2010, Tyler Beckwith, to the tune of an 8-5, 7-0 result before pinning Matthew Riley in the final. 4. Two sides of the ranking coin, Class of 2011 As covered above, the performances by McCauley and McIntosh were clear validations of their position in the rankings. On the other hand, there were other performances that could call into question positions in the ranking -- yes, these do come from both directions. Looking at those whom were ranked, that competed in Junior freestyle, but did not muster a winning record. Jeromy Davenport (Oklahoma), ranked 14th nationally, went 1-2 at 152 pounds; both losses coming in three periods. Devin Aguirre (Oklahoma), ranked 46th nationally, went 1-2. Nathaniel Brown (Pennsylvania), ranked 53rd nationally, went 2-2 at 171 pounds; however, he did also finish fifth in Greco-Roman. Kory DeBerry (Arizona), ranked 82nd nationally, went two-and-out at 152 pounds. Drake Stein (Indiana), ranked 100th nationally, finished 1-2 at 189 pounds; however, he did earn a runner-up finish in the Greco-Roman tournament. There were also four Top 100 prospects that entered the freestyle tournament that exited the tournament early with injury defaults. Three of these wrestlers were All-Americans in the Greco-Roman tournament contested earlier during the week -- 13th ranked Jahwon Akui (Illinois), 42nd ranked Travis Himmelman (Colorado), and 94th ranked Jay Taylor (Florida). Also a victim of injury default was 25th ranked James Green (New Jersey); he won his first match, lost his second match to University of Minnesota bound Dylan Ness, and then bowed out of the tournament. On the other hand, there were a number of unranked Class of 2011 wrestlers that raised their visibility and stock with performances during the past week in Fargo, ND. There were 10 that earned All-American honors in both styles at the Junior Nationals but entered the tournament outside the Top 100 recruits. Look for some of these names to populate the updated Top 100 list, which will be published sometime during the month of August. Tyler Fraley (New Jersey) and Taylor Moeder (Kansas) were Greco-Roman champions at 112 and 135 pounds, and also placed in the freestyle portion of the event. Holden Gagner (Montana) and Ruben Navejas (Washington) were All-Americans in both styles at 105 pounds; Earl Hall (Florida) placed in Greco-Roman at 112 pounds, and in freestyle at 119 pounds; Ronnie Garbinsky (Pennsylvania) was runner-up in Greco at 130 pounds, and also placed during the freestyle event; Mark Pinero (Louisiana) placed in both events at 135 pounds; Chris Mayolo (Washington) earned All-American honors at 140 pounds in Greco, and at 145 pounds in freestyle; while Wally Figaro (Florida) was a double All-American at 160 pounds. 5. Revisiting the incoming freshmen In the tournament preview, there was a discussion about the Cadet Nationals serving as an annual platform for incoming freshmen to make a statement that they would be significant players in scholastic wrestlers during the coming season and over their four years of high school. This year was no different. While the Greco-Roman tournament did not go to perfect plan for Chance Marsteller (Pennsylvania), it was still a positive event for him with a fourth place finish. However, the top ranked Class of 2014 wrestler put on a show in the freestyle tournament on the way to a title at 145 pounds. In the eight matches prior to the final, Marsteller gave up points in only one period while securing victories by pin or technical fall in all the matches. In the final against an elite Class of 2013 wrestler Coleman Hammond (California), Marsteller lost the first period 6-0, but came back to dominate the last two periods (5-0 and 6-0) to win the title. Ranked second nationally among incoming freshmen, returning Cadet freestyle runner-up Jered Cortez (Illinois) put on a show of his own. In nine matches prior to the final, Cortez gave up one total point in dominating his opposition. After losing the first period of the final to Greco-Roman champion Jack Hathaway (Iowa) 1-0 on the leg clinch, Cortez rallied back to take the last two periods 4-1 and 1-0 to earn the title. Four other incoming freshmen mustered titles in one style during the week in Fargo. Hayden Tuma (Idaho) won the Greco-Roman title at 119 pounds, and earned sixth place in freestyle; Brent Fleetwood (Delaware) was champion in freestyle at 84 pounds, after finishing third in Greco-Roman; while Coover (Pennsylvania) and McKenna (New Jersey) were Greco-Roman champions at 140 and 98 pounds. 6. Riding the bye Another topic discussed in the tournament preview as the concept of “riding the bye” -- in which a wrestler with an earlier loss in the tournament would advance to All-American status during a round in which they were assigned a “bye”. This event occurred 36 times in the 2009 tournament (in just over 28 percent of the weight class pools). During last week's tournament, the circumstance arose in 40 of the 128 weight class pools (just over 31 percent). It occurred most often in Cadet freestyle, 13 out of a possible 34 (just over 38 percent). The Junior freestyle tournament saw exactly one third of its weight class pools -- 10 out of 30 -- have a wrestle “ride the bye” into All-American status. It occurred 10 out of 34 possible times in Cadet Greco-Roman (39.4 percent). The event occurred least often during the Junior Greco-Roman event, only 7 times out of a possible 30 (23.3 percent). 7. Lucky losers The nature of the vertical pairing system is such that wrestlers can make the final, and even win a Fargo championship, having lost a match during the course of the competition. There are two possible ways for this to happen: (1) the three wrestlers in the round robin split matches, which means the pool comes down to a classification point tiebreaker (2) the wrestler loses a match to an opponent that is eliminated from championship consideration prior to the round-robin or one match play-in. At least one wrestler in all four competitions won a weight class championship despite losing earlier in the tournament. In fact, the Cadet Greco-Roman competition featured two weight classes in which both finalists had a loss earlier in the tournament. At 140 pounds, Patrick Coover (Pennsylvania) defeated T.J. Fox (Ohio); and at 145 pounds, Ryan Gartner (Wisconsin) defeated J.A. Jones (Alabama). Other Fargo champions with a loss were Tyler Fraley (New Jersey) at 112 pounds in Junior Greco; Ronnie Bresser (Oregon) at 91 pounds in Cadet freestyle; along with Eddie Klimara (Illinois) at 125 pounds, Logan Storley (South Dakota), at 171 pounds, and Greg Kuhar (Ohio) at 285 pounds in Junior freestyle. A full one quarter of the Junior National finalists -- 7 in freestyle, 8 in Greco -- suffered a loss earlier in the tournament. Nine of 68 Cadet national finalists had lost prior to the championship final (3 in freestyle, 6 in Greco-Roman. An additional note is that T.J. Fox (Ohio) was a double finalist, and lost a match in each style prior to the final; he finished second at 140 pounds in the Cadet Nationals for both styles. 8. Age is just a number Normally the above cliché is used in conversations about senior citizens as they get up in age, but are still able to maintain a positive attitude and a strong zest for life in general. However, the concept could be equally applied to scholastic wrestling. In looking through the biographies on finalists at the Cadet and Junior Nationals, some interesting observations arose. Competing as a true freshman, Cornell's Kyle Dake, emerged as NCAA champion at 141 pounds. Dake did not turn 19 until either the 2010 portion of the collegiate season or just after it. On the other hand, there were some Fargo finalists that will turn 19 before the start of their senior year of high school and additional others that will be 19 by the end of their senior wrestling seasons. As a stark contrast to the older wrestlers, there was one finalist that is headed off for college but has yet to turn even 18 years old. One other interesting nugget on this topic is that two of the Fargo finalists had the exact birthday (both date and year). However, the two wrestlers were two grades apart in school. At the end of the day, no matter if comparing wrestlers by weight class, graduating class (i.e. grade), or age -- there are unique differences even among those with certain things in common. Everyone develops their skill levels -- physical, athletic, and mental -- at different paces and different times. However, the great thing about the sport of wrestling is that the vast majority of the population can legitimately compete. 9. Double the pleasure For those involved in the whole week of Fargo, it is truly a grind. Among the groups that this is true for are those media present for the whole week, the coaching staff members that are there the whole week, the mat officials and pairing officials working the whole week, as well as all the event and support staff that work the whole week and beyond to make the Fargo tournaments go off without a hitch. However, this also is absolutely true for those wrestlers that compete in both styles. Those earning All-American honors in both Greco-Roman and freestyle competed on five out of six consecutive days, wrestling in approximately 15 matches over the course of that time. In addition, there was three times they needed to make weight during the course of that time; an initial scratch weigh-in for Greco, another scratch weigh-in for freestyle three days later, and a scratch-plus-two weigh-in the following day. Six wrestlers -- two Juniors and four Cadets -- swept championships in both styles. Freddie Rodriguez (Michigan) and Tyler Liberatore (Florida) won both Greco-Roman and freestyle at the junior level; while Ben Whitford (Illinois), Jordan Rogers (Washington), Mitch Sliga (Indiana), and Brooks Black (Pennsylvania) did the same at the Cadet level. Another five wrestlers -- four Cadets and one Junior -- were champions in Greco-Roman and runners-up in freestyle. Jacob Schmitt (Michigan), Jake Hathaway (Iowa), Tyler Coates (Washington), and Adam Coon (Michigan) at the Cadet level; while Dylan Ness (Minnesota) did the same at the Junior level. Three more wrestlers were champions in freestyle after finishing as Greco runners-up; Tanner Hall (Idaho) at the Junior level, and Austin Hood (Kansas) and Brandon Jeske (Virginia) at the Cadet level. T.J. Fox (Ohio) and Doug Vollaro (Florida) took second place in both styles at the Cadet Nationals. 10. Finally some attention to the un(der)-appreciated Reflecting upon the week that was in Fargo, ND would not be complete without providing recognition to all those that make the Cadet and Junior Nationals possible. Remember that the event goes beyond the wrestlers and coaches. There are many other people who volunteer of their time and efforts to make an event of this magnitude possible. Mat officials, pairing officials, team leaders, table workers, runners, medical staff, and many more are also involved. On behalf of all the competitors and family members, to all of you ... Thank you!

2010 freestyle junior nationals champion at 160 pounds, Nick Moore, and Iowa Wrestling Federation Director Mark Reiland will be radio show guests this week. “On the Mat" is a presentation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum and can be heard live on the Internet at www.kcnzam.com or locally in Northeast Iowa each Wednesday from 5:00 - 6:00 PM Central time on AM 1650, The Fan. Feel free to e-mail radio@wrestlingmuseum.org with any questions or comments about the show. Nick Moore became a junior national freestyle champion with a fall in the finals Saturday in Fargo, North Dakota. Moore finished 11-0 in the event and in February became the 19th wrestler to win four high school state championships in Iowa, losing only one bout in his prep career at Iowa City West. Moore takes his talents to the University of Iowa where he will likely redshirt this season and wrestle at 157 pounds. Mark Reiland was Moore’s high school coach and spent last week in Fargo at the ASICS/Vaughn Junior & Cadet National Championships. Reiland serves as the director of the Iowa Wrestling Federation and coaches athletes in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Iowa wrestlers earned 33 All-American honors during the seven day tournament; including championships from Elijah Sullivan (JR GR 135), Jack Hathaway (CADET GR 112), Phillip Laux (CADET FR 98) Nick Moore (JR FR 160) and Jake Ballweg (JR FR 140).

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Former Missouri wrestler Mark Ellis, the 2009 NCAA Division I heavyweight champ has launched his MMA career by signing a contract with Zinkin Entertainment. He will be training with American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California. Zinkin Entertainment is largely considered to be one of the top sports management teams in Mixed Martial Arts. They represent over 30 fighters, including Chuck Liddell, Cain Velasquez and Forrest Griffin. At AKA, Ellis will be joining fellow former NCAA All-American wrestlers Daniel Cormier and Cain Velasquez. Ellis is expected to be trained by Bob Cook, Javier Mendez and Dave Camarillo. Ellis becomes the third ex-Tiger wrestler in recent history to make the switch to MMA, as he follows the post-collegiate success of former Missouri teammates Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren. Ellis was a four-time qualifier, winning the NCAA heavyweight crown as a junior in 2009 after defeating Konrad Dudziak of Duke in the finals, becoming only the second Missouri wrestler to win a national collegiate mat title. He finished off his career by taking sixth in the heavyweight bracket this past March, earning NCAA All-American honors for the second straight year.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Twelve-year coaching veteran Lee Pritts, considered one of the top recruiters in the country, joined the NC State wrestling coaching staff this week as an assistant coach. Pritts comes to Raleigh after nine years and two stints at the University of Missouri. He also worked three years as an assistant at Old Dominion. “Lee is one of the most talented assistant coaches in the country,” Wolfpack head coach Carter Jordan said. “His energy and passion for the sport are contagious. We're extremely excited and fortunate to have him join our staff.” Pritts forged a reputation as one of the top recruiters in the country during his first stint at Missouri (1998-2004). Serving as an assistant to Tigers head coach Brian Smith, Pritts aided in turning around the Tiger wrestling program, recruiting some of the best high school athletes in the nation and molding them into NCAA All-Americans. In 2004, Pritts left Missouri and became an assistant coach at Old Dominion University, where he helped build two top-10 recruiting classes. During his three-year tenure at ODU, the Monarchs sent nine wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. In 2008, James Nicholson, whom Pritts helped to recruit, became the first Monarch All-American in 13 years. Pritts returned to Missouri at the start of the 2007-08 campaign and in three years helped coach seven Tigers to a total of 10 All-America honors. Among the wrestlers Pritts recruited and coached at Missouri were: • Max Askren (184) - 3-time All-American (2008, 2009, 2010), NCAA champion (2010) • Scott Barker (184-197) - 2-time All-American (2002, 2003), NCAA runner-up (2003) • Matt Pell (184-165) - 2-time All-American (2005, 2007) • Ben Askren (174) - 4-time All-American (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007), 2-time NCAA champion (2006, 2007) • Raymond Jordan (184) - 2-time All-American (2008, 2009) During the summer of 2009, Pritts coached Tiger heavyweight Dominique Bradley to a FILA Junior World Freestyle Championship title. Earlier in the year, Bradley took gold at the FILA Junior World Team Trials held in Colorado Springs, Colo., earning a spot on the United States Junior Freestyle National Team. Pritts attended Eastern Michigan University, where he wrestled at 118 pounds. He was a two-time team captain and made three appearances in the NCAA Championships, earning All-America honors in 1996. In addition to his collegiate accomplishments, Pritts qualified for the 2000 Olympic Trials. Pritts was coached by Smith during his high school career at Western High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. A native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Pritts is married to the former Krista Kapeller and has one son, Briggs, age 5, and daughter Kelbi Gracin, age 2.

Hello again Wrestling Fans. We return to the Brute Adidas studios for this weeks show brought to you by Kemin Agrifoods. Join Scott Casber, Geoff Murtha (Simpson) and Ryan Freeman (Ok State) and Randy Crimmins. Geoff Murtha joins us courtesy of Mass Mutual Financial Services, Ryan Freeman courtesy of ATT. Guests Include: 9:01 Joe Russell- Assist. Head Coach of U of Minnesota 9:20 Travis Paulson- Fresh back from second place at the Heydar Aliyev International in Baku 9:40 Trent Paulson- Helping to train his brother for the 2012 Olympics 10:01 Greg Hatcher- has been advancing wrestling in Arkansas with Pat Smith. We'll catch up Ryan Freeman joins us on the Live Line for this one. 10:20 Chris Pendleton- New Assist Coach for the Cowboys of Wyoming, Joining Coach Mark Branch 10:40 Steve Fittery- This dynamic young man wrestles for Mark Cody and American University Wrestling fans- Episode 67 of TDR TV wrestling news is now on. Check TV Guide for listings. How to watch and listen- TDR and TDR TV. It's appointment Radio and TV! TDR on Radio: LIVE Saturday at 9:00 AM CST on 1460 KXNO in Iowa. Delayed Saturday nights at 7:00 PM Eastern on Supertalk 1570 in Michigan, TDR TV: Mediacom Cable Ch. 22. IA, MO, AK, NE, MN, IL Tues. 5 PM, Sat. 10 AM Time Warner Cable Ch. 813 New York Sat. 12 Noon Call your local cable operator and ask them to carry TDR TV TDR on Internet: You can join us Saturday mornings at Takedownradio.com TDR TV On Internet: 31 various web sites now carry your favorite wrestling news show Thanks to our affiliates, our media partners and friends at Livesportsvideo.com. Thanks for watching and listening!

NEW YORK -- Head coach Brendan Buckley has announced that three-time All-American Hudson Taylor has joined the Columbia wrestling staff. While at Columbia, Taylor will work primarily with the upper weights as a volunteer coach. "We are real happy to add Hudson Taylor, one of the nation's premiere 197 pounders over the last several years," said Buckley, the Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling. "As a three-time NCAA All-American, Hudson brings tremendous credentials with him, and will make an immediate impact on our upper-weights. Furthermore, we believe he will be an incredible recruiting tool for us, as any upper-weight wrestler will be hard-pressed to find a better workout partner than Hudson." While competing at Maryland, Taylor was named the Atlantic Coastal Conference Wrestler of the Year in both 2007-08 and 2009-10, after winning the 197 pound title at the conference tournament. In his other two seasons, 2007 and 2009, Taylor finished second in his weight at the ACC's. On the national level, Taylor was equally impressive. He finished third in the country in 2008 and 2009, and fourth as a senior in 2010. He is tied for fifth in career pins in the all-time NCAA record books with 87. At Maryland, he holds the school record for career pins (87), career wins (165), and pins in a single-season (24). Taylor's resume is equally as decorated off the mat as well. The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2007-08 and 2009-10, he was a three-time selection to the All-ACC Academic Team, and a three-time member of the UMD Academic Honors Deans List. Most recently, he received an Atlantic Coastal Conference Weaver-James-Corrigan Post-Graduate Scholarship. In 2009, Taylor was one of six student-athletes from Maryland to earn the ACC Community Service Award in 2009. Taylor graduated from the University of Maryland in May 2010 with a degree in Interactive Performance Art.

Mike Finn, editor of W.I.N. Magazine, and Pete Isais, Director of National Events at USA Wrestling, will go “On the Mat” this Wednesday, July 19. “On the Mat" is a presentation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. The show can be heard live on the Internet at www.kcnzam.com or locally in Northeast Iowa each Wednesday from 5:00 - 6:00 PM CST on AM 1650, The Fan. E-mail radio@wrestlingmuseum.org with any questions or comments about the show. Both Finn and Isais will be on the show live from Junior Nationals, a weeklong high school wrestling tournament in Fargo, ND, hosted by USA Wrestling.

Information is based on participant lists posted on TrackWrestling.com as of Saturday (July 17) afternoon. 98: Both returning All-Americans in this weight class earned those honors in both styles at the Cadet level last summer. Colton Howell (Missouri) also was a double All-American at the FILA Cadet Nationals in April, and the other referenced wrestler is Nkosi Moddy (Illinois). Two others to watch in this weight class are Jan Rosenburg (New Jersey), who went 9-1 at the Junior Duals, and Bobby Nachreiner (Wisconsin). 105: A trio of wrestlers in this weight class was double All-Americans last summer at the Junior Nationals: Ruben Navejas (Washington) was a finalist in both styles, champion in freestyle, and ended the scholastic season ranked 13th at 103 pounds, Kevon Powell (Illinois) ended the scholastic season ranked 16th at 103 pounds, and Manny Marin (California). Yet the probable favorite in this weight class is Freddie Rodriguez (Michigan), a champion in both styles at the FILA Cadet Nationals, and ended the scholastic season ranked 18th at 112 pounds. 112: Evan Silver (Maryland) ended the scholastic season as the top-ranked 112 pound wrestler in the country, and is ranked as the 10th best wrestler in the Class of 2011. Five other wrestlers in this bracket finished the scholastic season ranked in their respective weight class. Tyler Fraley (New Jersey) -- finalist in both styles at the Cadet Nationals last summer, runner-up in freestyle -- finished the scholastic season ranked fifth at 103 pounds, Nashon Garrett (California) was an All-American in both styles as a Cadet last summer, and ended the scholastic season eighth at 103 pounds, Cory Clark (Iowa), a FILA Cadet All-American, ended the season ranked 10th at 112 pounds, while Steven Hopkins (Washington) and Jordan Conaway (Pennsylvania) were ranked ninth and 14th respectively at 103 pounds. There are two additional returning All-Americans in this weight class, one from the Cadet level and one from the Junior level. 119: Carson Kuhn (Utah) enters this week as the pre-tournament favorite in this weight class coming off a third place finish last year in the Junior 112 weight class. He finished his senior season ranked 11th at 119 pounds, and 86th in the Class of 2010. Three of the wrestlers nipping on the heels of Kuhn are ranked as top 100 recruits in the Class of 2011, and all had just one loss from at least ten matches at the Junior Duals last month. Bricker Dixon (Missouri), a returning Junior freestyle All-American, is ranked 44th, Robert Deutsch (New Jersey) is ranked 60th, while Conor Youtsey (Michigan) is ranked 62nd. Joey Dance (Virginia), ranked 10th in the Class of 2013, was a Cadet finalist in both styles last summer -- champion in freestyle -- and is one of four returning Cadet freestyle All-Americans. The others are Brenden Campbell (Indiana), Eric Devos (Iowa), and Courtland Hacker (Colorado). Nathan Kraisser (Maryland) was a FILA Cadet All-American in both styles, and is ranked 47th in the Class of 2012. Other wrestlers to watch include 2007 and 2008 Cadet double champion Hayden Zilmer (Minnesota), returning Junior freestyle All-American Cody Wheeler (Pennsylvania), and Randy Cruz (Pennsylvania). 125: In a very balanced weight class, the slightest of favorites may be Mark Grey (New Jersey), who was a double finalist in both years as a Cadet. His only loss in Fargo to date was last year's controversial freestyle final match. Additionally, Grey placed third at the FILA Cadet Nationals, and seventh at the FILA Juniors, he is ranked fifth in the Class of 2012. Three other wrestlers in this weight class are ranked among the Class of 2012 top 50: Rossi Bruno (Florida) is ranked 11th, while returning Cadet All-Americans Alec Mooradian (Michigan) and Eddie Klimara (Illinois) are ranked 29th and 43rd respectively. A pair of wrestlers in this weight class are ranked as top 100 recruits in the Class of 2011: Johnni DiJulius (Ohio), undefeated at the Junior Duals, is ranked 21st, while 2008 Cadet National double champion Cody Brewer (Missouri) is ranked 57th. Notable college-bound wrestlers in this weight class are Brock Banta (Idaho), who ended the scholastic season ranked 17th at 125, Junior National double All-American Patrick Myers (Pennsylvania), and Junior freestyle All-American Shane McGough (Arizona). Another bona fide title contender is Kevin Norstrem (Florida) -- a FILA Cadet runner-up, Cadet National double All-American, who is ranked fifth in the Class of 2013. 130: In what seems like a wide open weight class, the slight favorite is the college-bound Josh Keszler (South Dakota). The 2008 Junior freestyle All-American ended his senior season ranked eighth at 125 pounds and 76th in the Class of 2010. Right behind him are six wrestlers ranked in the second half of the Class of 2011 top 100: Cadet freestyle All-American Matt Kelliher (Minnesota) is ranked 56th, Cadet freestyle champion Terrell Wilbourn (Missouri) is ranked 66th, FILA Cadet All-American Joey Gosinski (Illinois) is ranked 71st, Steven Rodrigues (New York) is ranked 74th, Cadet freestyle All-American Jameson Oster (Illinois) is ranked 78th, and Daniel DeShazer (Kansas) is ranked 99th. Another three wrestlers are ranked among the top 50 in the Class of 2012: Alex Shaffer (New Jersey) is ranked 24th, Tyler Liberatore (Florida) is ranked 28th, and Cadet freestyle All-American Todd Preston (New Jersey) is ranked 46th. Two additional returning Cadet All-Americans in this weight are Lou Mascola (New Jersey) and Trevor Melde (New Jersey). 135: The University of Iowa-bound Josh Dziewa (Pennsylvania) is present to defend his Junior National freestyle championship. Dziewa ended the scholastic season as the top ranked 135-pound wrestler, 16th overall in the Class of 2010, and was a FILA Junior runner-up just under four months ago. The wrestler best positioned to challenge Dziewa would probably be FILA Cadet freestyle champion Jason Tsirtsis (Indiana), a Cadet runner-up last summer who is ranked third in the Class of 2012. Three wrestlers in this weight class of top 100 recruits in the Class of 2011: Austin Ormsbee (New Jersey) is ranked 11th, Jake Sueflohn (Wisconsin) is 35th, while Bo Schlosser (Iowa) ranks 86th. Two other college-bound wrestlers ended their seasons in the weight class rankings: Seth Lange (South Dakota) was 14th at 130 pounds, while Kade Moss (Utah) was 17th at 135 pounds. In addition to Tsirtsis, two other wrestlers are ranked among the top members of the Class of 2012: Nate Skonieczny (Ohio) is ranked 17th, while FILA Cadet All-American Quentin Murphy (New York) ranks 27th. Other wrestlers to watch include Zach Tanenbaum (Kansas), Jordan Rinken (Iowa), and Ty Davis (Ohio). 140: A pair of Cadet freestyle champions move up to the Junior level in this weight class -- Edwin Cooper (Illinois) was also a FILA Junior All-American and is ranked 26th in the Class of 2011, while Alex Dieringer is ranked 31st in the same class and seeks a triple crown after winning the Junior folkstyle title over Dylan Ness in early April. However, the arguable favorite in this weight class is returning Junior All-American Jacob Ballweg (Iowa), who ended his senior season ranked third at 140 pounds and 27th in the Class of 2010. Three other wrestlers in this weight class are top 100 ranked in the Class of 2011: Travis Himmelman (Colorado) is ranked 42nd, Lex Ozias (Maryland) is ranked 54th, while Chris Dowdy (New Jersey) ranks 95th. The Iowa State bound Luke Goettl (Arizona) ended his scholastic season ranked 15th at 135 pounds. Blaise Butler (Illinois) and Matthew Cimato (Pennsylvania) were both FILA Cadet All-Americans in April. 145: Life really starts to get unkind for the competitors in this weight class as the talent is brutally deep. Five impact college-bound wrestlers anchor the weight class: Dylan Ness (Minnesota) and Steven Hernandez (Nevada) were All-Americans in both styles, Ravaughn Perkins (Nebraska) won Greco and was positioned to place in freestyle but was removed from the tournament, while Colin Shober (Pennsylvania) and Kaleb Friedley (Missouri) were freestyle All-Americans. Their respective rankings in the Class of 2010 were 26th, 57th, 33rd, 37th, and 66th. Eight wrestlers ranked among the top 100 recruits in the Class of 2011 populate this weight class as well: James Green (New Jersey) is ranked 25th, Blake Roulo (Virginia) ranks 38th, Ryne Cokeley (Kansas) is ranked 43rd, Colby Kloetzer (Idaho) ranks 51st, Joey Kielbasa (Illinois) is ranked 64th, Lucas Smith (Illinois) ranks 76th, Caleb Ervin (Kentucky) ranks 87th, and returning Junior All-American Henry Carlson (Alabama) is ranked 92nd. There are two ranked members of the Class of 2012 also in this weight class: Cadet double All-American Zach Brunson (Oregon) ranks 41st and Clark Glass (Florida) is positioned 45th. Among the afterthoughts in this weight class are Cadet freestyle champion Jordan Wohlfert (Michigan), FILA Cadet runner-up Chris Castillo (Washington), three Cadet National double All-Americans, two additional Cadet freestyle All-Americans, and a FILA Cadet All-American. 152: While this weight is headlined by two of the absolutely dominant high school aged wrestlers in the country, there is no lack of depth behind them. Two-time Cadet double champion Taylor Massa is ranked first in the Class of 2012, and was also a FILA Junior champion three months ago. Destin McCauley (Minnesota), ranked first in the Class of 2011, was a Junior All-American last summer and finished third at the FILA Junior Nationals this past April. When these two last met, it was fifteen months ago at the Western Junior Regional, a match that McCauley won. A pair of college-bound wrestlers ended the year ranked in their scholastic weight class -- Matt White, a returning Junior freestyle All-American, was ranked 18th at 160, while Andy McCulley (Wyoming) ended the year ranked 20th at 152 pounds. In addition to McCauley, there are six other wrestlers ranked among the top 100 Class of 2011 wrestlers: Jeromy Davenport (Oklahoma) ranks 14th, Devin Aguirre (Oklahoma) is ranked 46th, Lorenzo Thomas (Pennsylvania) is ranked 67th, Brad Dolezal (Wisconsin) is ranked 73rd, Kory DeBerry (Arizona) is ranked 82nd, and Cody Caldwell (Iowa) ranks 85th. In addition to Massa, two other ranked wrestlers from the Class of 2012 are present: Justin Koethe (Iowa) is ranked 26th, and won both the Cadet Nationals last summer and the FILA Cadet championship just in April, while Dylan Reel (Illinois) is ranked 34th. Lost in the midst of this quality is a pair of Cadet freestyle runners-up in Brian Brill (Pennsylvania) and Dominic Prezzia (Ohio). Three other wrestlers in this weight class return as Cadet freestyle All-americans. 160: The presence of five impact college-bound wrestlers helps to boost the overall quality of the competition in this weight class, which is led by the presence of the University of Iowa bound Nick Moore (Iowa) -- who ended the season ranked second at 160, and 12th overall in the Class of 2010. Robert Kokesh (South Dakota) was runner-up in this Junior weight class last year, and ended his senior year ranked fourth at 160, and 39th overall. Yet another Hawkeye-to-be Michael Kelly (Iowa) was a Junior All-American last summer, and ended his senior season ranked 77th in the Class of 2010. The other two notables in the college-bound crowd are Parker Madl (Kansas), ranked 79th in the Class of 2010, and Junior freestyle All-American Nick Proctor (Illinois). Two wrestlers are ranked among the top 100 in the Class of 2011 -- Ian Miller (Ohio), undefeated at 152 in the Junior Duals, is ranked 41st, while Seth Thomas (Oregon) is ranked 79th. A pair of ranked wrestlers from the Class of 2012 is present in this weight class as well: Cadet freestyle All-American Jordan Thomas (Michigan) is ranked 13th, while Cadet double All-American and FILA Cadet double runner-up Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma) ranks 48th. An addition, a pair of Cadet All-Americans is present in this weight class. 171: The bulk of the depth in this weight class comes from graduates of the Class of 2010, with six notables that ended the season ranked in their scholastic weight class. Nick Sulzer (Ohio), a returning Junior National and FILA Junior All-American, was ranked third at 160 pounds and 13th overall in the Class of 2010, Michael Moreno (Iowa) ranked seventh at 171 and 51st overall, Canaan Bethea (New Jersey) was ranked 12th at 171 pounds, Mikey England (Iowa) ranked 15th at 171 pounds, while Evan Knight (Iowa) and Stephen McPeek (Texas) were ranked 14th and 17th at 189 pounds respectively. Four seniors-to-be raked between 20th and 70th overall in the Class of 2011 help make this yet another deep Fargo weight: Logan Storley (South Dakota) is ranked 20th, Cadet National double champion Jake Waste (Minnesota) ranks 47th, Nathaniel Brown (Pennsylvania) is ranked 53rd, and Kris Klapprodt (South Dakota) ranks 68th. In addition, there is another Cadet National double champion from last year in this weight class, as Devin Peterson (Wisconsin) joins the fun ranked 12th in the Class of 2012. There are two other Cadet All-Americans present in this weight as well. 189: After the McCauley/Massa potential matchup at 152 pounds, there is the potential for arguably the most tantalizing Junior freestyle final to occur from this weight bracket between wrestlers ranked third in their weight class at the end of the scholastic season. Tyler Beckwith (New York) was a double All-American in the Junior Nationals last year, competed at 171 as a senior this past season, and was ranked 11th overall in the Class of 2010, while Morgan McIntosh (California) competed at 189 pounds, placed third at the FILA Junior Nationals, and is ranked second in the Class of 2011. Three wrestlers in addition to McIntosh are also ranked among the top wrestlers of the senior-to-be group: Cadet National and FILA Cadet champion Austin Marsden (Illinois) ranks 55th, Cadet National and FILA Cadet runner-up Lucas Sheridan (California) ranks 83rd, while Drake Stein (Indiana) is ranked in the 100th position. In addition to Beckwith, there are five other college-bound grapplers of somewhat high quality: Billy George (New Jersey), who ended the scholastic season ranked ninth at 189 pounds, Jace Bennett (Texas), Ethan Blackstock (Georgia), Spencer Johnson (Minnesota), Austin Morehead (California), and Matthew Riley (Iowa). There are two additional FILA Cadet All-Americans, and two additional Cadet National placers in this weight class. 215: As was the case in Junior Greco, this is one of the tournament's deeper weight class -- and a surprising one to be deep. It is anchored by wrestlers that finished the season ranked second through fifth in the nation at this weight class during their season of high school, and all of them were Junior All-Americans last summer: Spencer Myers (Pennsylvania), Trevor Rupp (Idaho), Scott Schiller (North Dakota), and Alex Polizzi (Wisconsin). Three additional college-bound wrestlers of note are Kyle Caylor (Kansas), who ended the scholastic season ranked 18th at 215 pounds, Donald McNeil (Massachusetts), winner of the most falls/least time award at the National Prep Championships, and Matthew Loew (New York). Five top 100 recruits in the Class of 2011 also populate the brackets of this weight class: Tanner Hall (Idaho) is ranked 15th, and was a FILA Cadet champion and FILA Junior All-American, Cody Krumwiede (Iowa) is ranked 32nd, Tank Knowles (California) is ranked 33rd, Nick Gwiazdowski (New York) is ranked 36th, while Jay Taylor (Florida) ranks 94th. Gage Harrah (Illinois) is the defending Cadet champion in this weight class, Curtis Berger (Oregon) is a returning Cadet runner-up, while three other wrestlers were freestyle All-Americans in Fargo, two Cadets and one Junior. 285: The pre-tournament favorite might have to be Austin Blythe (Iowa), who registered wins over two of the lead contenders at the Junior Duals in Niko Bogojevic (Wisconsin) and Donny Longendyke (Minnesota). Blythe was a Cadet freestyle champ in 2008, and ranks 40th in the Class of 2010, Niko Bogojevic finished third in Junior freestyle last summer, and ended his senior season ranked 10th at 285, Longendyke was last year's Cadet freestyle champion, and ranks 18th in the Class of 2011. Two other additional top recruits from the Class of 2011 are present in this weight -- Connor Medbery (Colorado) ranked 16th and Devin Pommerenke (Michigan) ranked 45th. Derek Papagianopolous (Massachusetts) was a Junior All-American last summer, a trio of wrestlers was Cadet freestyle All-Americans last summer, including runner-up Greg Kuhar (Ohio). Orry Elor (California) and Kuhar are two of the four FILA Cadet All-Americans in this weight class. An additional wrestler to watch is Travis Morgan (Oklahoma).

Information is based on participant lists posted on TrackWrestling.com as of Saturday (July 17) afternoon. 84: The pre-tournament favorite in this weight class would be Davion Jeffries (Oklahoma), who was a finalist in all three Roller World of Wrestling "Triple Crown" events this past year -- winning at the Tulsa Kickoff and Reno Worlds. Other wrestlers to watch include Gannon Volk (Minnesota), who was undefeated in the Cadet Freestyle Duals, as well as Casey Cobb (Idaho) and Parker Howell (Kansas) -- each of whom only had one loss at the Cadet Duals. 91: The apparent favorite in this weight class would be Jared Oftedahl (Minnesota) -- undefeated at the Cadet Duals, a Cadet double All-American last year, and a FILA Cadet double runner-up this past April. Two wrestlers ranked in their respective grade level are present in this weight -- FILA Cadet double All-American Dylan Lucas (Florida) is ranked fourth among junior high wrestlers, while Tommy Thorn (Minnesota) is ranked 16th in the Class of 2014. Dylan Akers (Texas), Brandon George (Utah), and Kyle Kelly (New York) return as Cadet All-Americans, while Thomas Walton (North Dakota) went undefeated at the Cadet Duals. 98: Nathan Tomasello (Ohio) is the early favorite in this weight class after winning the FILA Cadet freestyle title at 101 pounds, after taking third in Cadet freestyle last summer at 98 pounds. In addition, Tomasello is ranked 27th in the Class of 2013 and was 9-1 at the Junior Duals competing at 105. Three wrestlers that went 10-1 respectively at the Cadet Duals would have to be the primary challengers to Tomasello: Darian Cruz (Pennsylvania), Phillip Laux (Iowa), a Cadet freestyle runner-up last summer, and Joey McKenna (New Jersey), who is ranked 11th among incoming freshmen in the Class of 2014. In addition both Cadet 84 pound finalists from last year made the move up two weight class, champion Darshawn Sharp (Georgia) and runner-up Billy Rappo (Pennsylvania). Javier Vieyra (Kansas) was a Cadet All-American last year. FILA Cadet All-American Noah Teaney (Missouri), ranked 20th in the Class of 2014, is one of many notable incoming freshman seeking to use this tournament as a way to get further on the national radar. 105: Jered Cortez (Illinois) seeks to win his first Cadet title at a USA Wrestling event, as he was runner-up at 98 pounds last summer in Fargo and took second in the 110 pound weight class at FILA Cadets. The second ranked wrestler in the Class of 2014 also was undefeated at 112 pounds in last month’s Cadet Duals. Joining Cortez in this weight class as a FILA Cadet runner-up (at 101) and undefeated at Cadet Duals (in this weight) is Jacob Schmitt (Michigan). Schmitt is ranked 28th in the Class of 2013, and finished fourth at Cadet Nationals last summer. Losing one match each at the Cadet Duals is another pair of prime challengers in Zeke Moisey (Pennsylvania) and Jaret Singh (Missouri). Moisey is ranked seventh in the Class of 2014, while Singh was a Cadet All-American last summer. Colby Knight (Iowa) is a returning Cadet All-American, while Anthony Ashnault (New Jersey) is ranked 24th in the Class of 2013. 112: Two wrestlers have to be considered favorites in this weight class. The first is Dominick Malone (Connecticut), a returning Cadet All-American who ended the scholastic season ranked seventh at 112 pounds and is now ranked 35th among wrestlers in the Class of 2012. Joining Malone is returning Junior 105 pound runner-up Jack Hathaway (Iowa), who was undefeated up at 119 pounds in last month’s Cadet Duals. Four wrestlers that had just one loss at the Cadet Duals are prime challengers in this weight class: Sam Brancale (Minnesota), who was also a FILA Cadet All-American, Max Hvolbeck (California), also a Cadet National and FILA Cadet All-American, along with incoming freshmen Ali Nasser (California) and Will Steltzen (Oklahoma). Joining Hathaway as a Junior All-American in this weight class is Austin Hood (Kansas). Others to watch include Troy Heilman (New Jersey), Paul Klee (California), and ranked 49th in the Class of 2013 Jake Velarde (Washington). 119: A quartet of wrestlers stand out at the top of this weight class -- Stephen Myers (Ohio) is a returning Cadet All-American, and ranked ninth among Class of 2013 wrestlers, Thomas Gilman (Nebraska) also is a returning Cadet All-American, finished runner-up in April’s FILA Cadet tournament, and is ranked 49th in the Class of 2012, Bryce Brill (Illinois) went undefeated at the Cadet Duals, was a FILA Cadet All-American, and is ranked fourth in the Class of 2014, and Corey Keener (Pennsylvania) was an All-American in both styles at both Cadet Nationals and FILA Cadets, and ended the scholastic season nationally ranked at 112 pounds (so did Myers and Gilman). Other wrestlers to watch include Mitch Bengtson (Minnesota), ranked 19th in the Class of 2013, Russell Coleman (Missouri), who is ranked 35th in the Class of 2013, Clayton Ream (Missouri), and incoming freshman Hayden Tuma (Idaho). 125: Other than the superstar Ben Whitford (Illinois), this is a weight class that is kind of thin when it comes to highly credentialed kids. As a result, this is a weight bracket where any number of perceived sleepers could come in and sneak home with All-American spots. Whitford is a defending Cadet National champion, placed at FILA Cadets this past April, and is ranked third in the Class of 2013. The next best wrestlers in this weight class would probably be John Fahy (Kentucky) and Dakota Trom (Minnesota). Tyson Dippery (Pennsylvania) is the only other returning Cadet All-American in this weight class, and he is ranked 40th in the Class of 2013. Some of the sleeper candidates include Tyler Cowger (Oregon), Mitch Newhouse (Ohio), and Josh Pennell (Michigan). 130: Like in Greco-Roman, this weight class points towards a big name final pitting Brandon Jeske (Virginia) against Zane Richards (Illinois). Jeske, a FILA Cadet champion, is ranked second in the Class of 2013, while Richards, a Cadet All-American, went undefeated at the Cadet Duals last month and is ranked 50th in the Class of 2012. The only other returning Cadet All-American is Natrelle Demison (California). Two additional wrestlers are ranked in their graduating class -- TJ Miller (New Jersey) and Reed Van Anrooy (Oregon), who are ranked 32nd and 43rd respectively in the Class of 2013. 135: One of the main rivalries to emerge out of this off-season has the potential for another chapter at a point deep in the competition of this weight class. That would be the matchup between Jake Short (Minnesota) and Brandon Sorensen (Iowa). Short upended Sorensen in the finals of the Cadet National folkstyle tournament, while Sorensen avenged that loss in a three period battle at the Cadet Duals in freestyle. Sorensen is a returning Cadet runner-up, and ranked fourth in the Class of 2013, while Short a returning Cadet All-American is ranked 11th in the Class of 2013. The third wrestler in the three-headed monster at the top of this weight class would be Isaiah Martinez (California), who is ranked seventh in the Class of 2013. A fourth ranked member of the Class of 2013 is in this weight class -- Joey Lavallee (Nevada), who finds himself positioned 45th. Other wrestlers to watch include returning Cadet All-American Cody Ross (Florida), Laike Gardner (Pennsylvania), who went 10-1 at the Cadet Duals, Garrett Hammond (Pennsylvania), and incoming freshman Toby Hague (New Jersey). 140: The clear favorite in this weight class is Brandon Kingsley (Minnesota), who went undefeated at the Cadet Duals and is ranked 15th in the Class of 2012. The lone returning Cadet All-American is Tyler Askey (Georgia), who is ranked 29th among members of the Class of 2013, one of three in this weight class. Joining Askey are Brian Murphy (Illinois) and Jake Marlin (Iowa), who are ranked 22nd and 24th respectively. Angelo Silvestro (Illinois) was a FILA Cadet All-American. Others to watch include TJ Fox (Ohio), who had just one loss at the Cadet Duals, Payne Hayden (Michigan), and Ross Parsons (New Jersey). 140: The top-ranked incoming freshman, Class of 2014, Chance Marsteller (Pennsylvania) enters this weight as the pre-tournament favorite, however, he will have to navigate a rather credible field to win the title. Leading the challengers is Jacob Crawford (Virginia), who ended the scholastic season 17th at 130 pounds and is ranked 25th in the Class of 2012. Two additional wrestlers in this weight class were undefeated at the Cadet Duals -- Jared Reis (North Dakota) and Nick Wanzek (Minnesota). The other primary challenger in addition to Crawford would have to be Gabriel Moreno (Iowa), a returning Cadet All-American who took Marsteller to the limit in a three period loss at the Cadet Duals. Rounding out the notables in this field are a pair of ranked wrestlers from the class of 2013, Coleman Hammond (California) and Daniel Woiwor (Minnesota), who are positioned 14th and 26th respectively. 152: Three of the four ranked from the Class of 2013 that populate this weight class stand as tri-favorites: 12th ranked Eric Morris (Pennsylvania), 13th ranked returning Cadet All-American Oliver Pierce (Texas), and 18th ranked Brooks Climmons (Georgia) who was undefeated at the Cadet Duals. Three others in this weight class also went undefeated at the Cadet Duals: Zach Beard (Oklahoma), who is ranked 46th in the Class of 2013, Cougar Babin (Texas), and Tim Riley (Pennsylvania). Two additional wrestlers to watch are Austin Myers (Ohio), ranked ninth among junior high wrestlers, and Cadet All-American Victor Pereira (California). 160: After the last few weight classes, this one is rather thin with a limited amount of notable wrestlers. Leading the way here is FILA Cadet All-American Burke Paddock (New York), who is ranked sixth in the Class of 2014. Others to watch include Domenic Abounader (Ohio), ranked 41st in the Class of 2013, FILA Cadet All-American Scott Gibbons (Louisiana), and Andras Lukacs-Farkas (Iowa), who had just one loss at the Cadet Duals. 171: Like in Greco-Roman in this weight class, things on the surface seem to be pointed towards a featured final bout involving Sam Brooks (Illinois) and Jordan Rogers (Washington). Both wrestlers were Cadet runners-up in freestyle last summer, Brooks is ranked 20th in the Class of 2012, while FILA Cadet champion Rogers is ranked 21st in the Class of 2012. Dakota DesLauriers (Pennsylvania) joins the duo as a returning Cadet All-American, and is ranked 48th in the Class of 2013. Others to watch include Jack Dechow (Illinois), winner of the Cadet folkstyle title in early April, Matt Reed (Kansas), undefeated at the Cadet Duals, and Jonathan Inman (Missouri), who lost just one match at the Cadet Duals. 189: Mitch Sliga (Indiana) enters as the pre-tournament favorite in this weight class, and is seeking the Cadet "Triple Crown" having won the folkstyle title in April. Coming off a third place finish as a freshman at 189 pounds in the scholastic season, Sliga is ranked 16th among Class of 2013 wrestlers. The lone returning Cadet All-American in this weight class is Brad Johnson (Illinois). Others to watch in this weight class include a pair of wrestlers that went undefeated at the Cadet Duals -- Joey Dedick (Illinois) and Hashem Omari (Missouri) -- as well as Mickey Pelfrey (Iowa) who lost just one match there. 215: There are joint favorites in this weight class, a matchup between wrestlers that have met once in each of the three wrestling styles this off-season. Michael Kroells (Minnesota) defeated Adam Coon (Michigan) in the finals of the Cadet Folkstyle Nationals and at the Cadet Duals in Greco, before falling short in freestyle at the Cadet Duals. Kroells, a returning Cadet All-American, is ranked 18th in the Class of 2012, while Coon, ranked 21st in the Class of 2013, went undefeated at both the Cadet and Junior Duals in freestyle. Others to watch in this weight include returning Cadet All-American Joe Scanlan (Iowa), Jimmy Trull (Washington), and Ty Walz (Ohio). 285: No puns intended here, but as is the general trend at Cadet heavy-weight, it tends to be lean for known commodities. There is no exception here, though the strong favorite in this weight class has already made a name having just completed his freshman year of high school. Brooks Black (Pennsylvania), ranked sixth among Class of 2013 wrestlers, was a National Prep runner-up and swept titles at the FILA Cadet Nationals in April. The prime challenge to Black will come from Doug Vollaro (Florida), a returning Cadet All-American, who was runner-up to Black in both styles at the FILA Cadets. Others to watch are Cadet folkstyle champion John Dreggors (Florida) and the sixth-ranked junior high wrestler in the country Michael Johnson (Illinois).

PELLA -- Central College has hired Big Ten Medal of Honor winner Jake Patacsil as assistant wrestling coach at Central College. Patacsil posted a 120-41 career record at Purdue Univ., ranking third in school history in career wins and earning all-America distinction after placing fifth at 149 pounds at the 2009 NCAA Division I championships. He was a three-time Purdue Outstanding Wrestler Award winner and a three-time finalist at the Midlands Championships. Patacsil served as team captain for three seasons. He received the team’s Most Improved Wrestler Award and the Durham Brothers Leadership Award. He was the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner for wrestling as well. In the past season Patacsil was coach for the Boiler Elite Wrestling Club and an assistant at Twin Lakes High School in Monticello, Ind. Andrew HippsJake PatacsilThe Big Ten Medal of Honor is presented to a male and female senior athlete at each league school for proficiency in scholarship and athletics. Patacsil, who earned a bachelor’s degree in math education in 2009, was the first wrestler to receive the distinction at Purdue. Patacsil was a state and national champion at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. in 2003-04. “We’re excited to have him join the program,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “What impressed us most was that he has excelled in many areas. In addition to being an outstanding wrestler, he’s a great student and was involved in all aspects of being a student-athlete. “We’re excited about what he brings to the table. His wrestling skills will dramatically help the guys in the wrestling room and on the mat. He will help us take that next step as a program and get us to where we want to go.” Patacsil has a strong wrestling heritage. His father, Frank, and uncle, Ted, are former Purdue wrestlers and his grandfather, Joe Patacsil, was a 1950 national champion. Frank Patacsil is a long-time high school teacher and coach. Van Kley, entering his fourth year at Central, is orchestrating a major turnaround with the Dutch and was co-winner of the 2009-10 Iowa Conference Coach of the Year Award. He piloted Central to its first winning season since 2000-01and a seventh-place showing at the conference tourney, the school’s highest in five years. Patacsil replaces Jason Zastrow, who resigned after three seasons with the Dutch.

The Kent State coaches got good news on Thursday when West Virginia state champion Kyle Bauer gave them his verbal commitment. The three-time state placewinner will sign his National Letter of Intent in November and hopes to defend his 2010 state title before reporting to Kent for classes in the fall of 2011. "I really like the coaches and what they are doing with the team, especially the lighter weights", stated Bauer when asked about his choice. "The campus is nice, and it is only two hours away from home." On the wrestling mat Bauer has built an impressive 125-9 record over the last three years. As a freshman he finished second at 103 pounds and was third at 112 as a sophomore for Wheeling Central Catholic. Transferring schools last season and moving up in weight Kyle won the 125 pound title for Wheeling Park. To continue to develop Bauer has wrestled a national schedule during the off-season. He placed seventh at the 2009 NHSCA Sophomore Nationals and was a gold medalist at the 2009 Disney Duals. This year he placed fourth at FloNationals, went 10-0 at the 2010 NHSCA National Duals and a silver medalist at the Disney Duals. While Bauer has accomplished a lot in wrestling his academic transcripts are just as impressive with a 4.0 accumulative GPA heading into his senior year. A member of the National Honor Society Kyle scored a 1730 on his SAT to build an outstanding resume as a wrestling recruit. Starting his senior year knowing where he was going to college was important to Bauer academically and athletically. Making the decision wasn't easy but he chose Kent State over Old Dominion, Cornell, Lehigh, Virginia, Bucknell, and Rutgers. When asked about his long term goals and what skills he thought would help his success at the next level Bauer was quick to respond, "My neutral wrestling and defense." Like most high school wrestlers when asked where he wanted to improve the response was just as fast, "On bottom and turning on top." Bauer will be moving up to 130 pounds for his senior year and he is expected to continue wrestling after his high school season ends. A "probable" redshirt as a true freshman he projects as a 133-141 at Kent State long term. Kyle is the second verbal for the Golden Flashes this summer with the previous commitment of Oak Harbor's Ian Miller. InterMat was granted permission to republish this article from BuckeyeWrestling.com. http://www.buckeyewrestling.com/?q=node/37579

Hello again Wrestling Fans. Steve Foster returns to the Brute Adidas studios for this weeks show brought to you by Kemin Agrifoods. I'll be on location this week at the Adam Frey Classic at Rider University. Join Steve, Geoff Murtha (Simpson) and Ryan Freeman (Ok State) and Randy Crimmins. Geoff Murtha joins us courtesy of Mass Mutual Financial Services, Ryan Freeman courtesy of ATT. Guests Include: 9:01 Joe Privitere- Most recently at Davidson in N.C., Joe assumes the mantle of Head Coach of Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa 9:20 Max Askren- Missouri's 2010 184 Pound NCAA Champion is set to face Hudson Taylor at the Adam Frey Classic this Saturday afternoon at New Jersey's Rider University. 9:40 Hudson Taylor - Hudson is a 3 X All American for the Terps, 2 X ACC Wrestler of the Year. Hudson will wrestle Max Askren at the Adam Frey. 10:01 Joe McFarland- McFarland embarks on his 12th season as head wrestling coach at the University of Michigan, where he has lifted the Maize and Blue to the elite of college wrestling. 10:20 Eric Guerrero- Assist Coach for the Cowboys of Oklahoma State, 3 X NCAA Champ. 2004 Olympian. Cowboys in contention for the title? 10:40 Rob Eiter- 3rd season as Head Coach of U Penn wrestling. Penn is on the verge of exploding in to a conference power. Eiter returns from Colorado Springs and the US Camps Wrestling fans- Episode 66 of TDR TV wrestling news is now on. Check TV Guide for listings. How to watch and listen- TDR and TDR TV. It's appointment Radio and TV! TDR on Radio: LIVE Saturday at 9:00 AM CST on 1460 KXNO in Iowa. Delayed Saturday nights at 7:00 PM Eastern on Supertalk 1570 in Michigan, TDR TV: Mediacom Cable Ch. 22. IA, MO, AK, NE, MN, IL Tue. 5 PM, Sat. 10 AM Time Warner Cable Ch. 813 New York Sat. 12 Noon Call your local cable operator and ask them to carry TDR TV TDR on Internet: You can join us Saturday mornings at Takedownradio.com TDR TV On Internet: 31 various web sites now carry your favorite wrestling news show Thanks to our affiliates, our media partners and friends at Livesportsvideo.com. Thanks for watching and listening!

Note: Information is based on participants listed on TrackWrestling.com site as of Thursday (July 15) evening. 84: There is a limited quantity of participants, and the notoriety of said participants is limited. Two names to watch here are Gannon Volk (Minnesota) and Colin Mashack (Pennsylvania). 91: This weight class is the opening salvo into the “core” of the Cadet competition. The favorite in this weight class is Jared Oftedahl (Minnesota), an All-American last summer in both styles and a runner-up this spring in both styles at the FILA Cadet Nationals. He also went a combined 19-1 at the Cadet Duals. Others to watch in this weight class include Dylan Akers (Texas), last year’s champion at 84 pounds, Brandon George (Utah), an All-American in both styles at 91 pounds last summer, and Dylan Lucas (Florida), a double All-American at the FILA Cadet Nationals and fourth-ranked among junior high wrestlers. 98: The favorite in this weight class is Joey McKenna (New Jersey), who is ranked 11th among incoming freshmen. Earlier this off-season McKenna was third in Greco-Roman at the FILA Cadet Nationals, and went undefeated at the Cadet Duals in Greco. Also undefeated in Greco at the Cadet Duals was Darshawn Sharp (Georgia), who was runner-up to Akers at Fargo last summer in Greco-Roman. Incoming freshman Zac Hall (Michigan) is another wrestler to watch, as he went 9-1 at the Cadet Duals in Greco-Roman. The other primary contender is Phillip Laux (Iowa), a double Cadet National All-American last summer and also a FILA Cadet All-American in Greco though he lost to McKenna for third place. 105: Anthony Ashnault (New Jersey) and Jacob Schmitt (Michigan) are the leaders of the pack in this weight class, and each is ranked among the top 30 wrestlers in the Class of 2013 regardless of weight. Ashnault was an undefeated 7-0 at the Cadet Duals, while Schmitt went 9-1. Schmitt finished fourth place last summer in both styles at 91 pounds as a Cadet. Others to watch include returning Cadet National All-American Nate Thomas (Minnesota), incoming freshman Kasey Klaus (California), and FILA Cadet Greco runner-up James Flint (Florida). 112: Three wrestlers jump immediately to the head of the class for this weight class. The first is Sam Brancale (Minnesota), a Cadet runner-up last summer who ended the scholastic season ranked 10th at 103 pounds. He also was an undefeated 7-0 at the Cadet Duals, and runner-up at the FILA Cadet Nationals in Greco-Roman. The second is Jake Velarde (Washington), who was a Cadet All-American last summer and a FILA Cadet champion in Greco-Roman during the spring season. Finally is Jack Hathaway (Iowa), who was a Junior National All-American in both styles last summer, and a FILA Cadet All-American in Greco this spring. Another wrestler to watch is incoming freshman PJ Klee (California). 119: The joint favorites in this weight class would be a pair of wrestlers that ended the scholastic season ranked inside the top 12 at 112 pounds. Corey Keener (Pennsylvania) was an All-American in both styles at last summer’s Cadet Nationals and the FILA Cadet Nationals this spring. He ended the season ranked eighth nationally in the weight class. Stephen Myers (Ohio) ended the season ranked 12th nationally in the weight, and ninth among wrestlers in the Class of 2013. Two other ranked wrestlers from the Class of 2013 are Mitch Bengtson (Minnesota) and Russell Coleman (Missouri), who were ranked 19th and 35th respectively. One additional wrestler to watch is incoming freshman Hayden Tuma (Idaho), a Schoolboy National champion last year in both Greco-Roman and freestyle. 125: The clear standout in this weight class is Ben Whitford (Illinois), who is ranked third overall in the Class of 2013 and was a double finalist last summer at the Cadet Nationals. Whitford was champion in freestyle after falling just short in the Greco-Roman final. The other ranked wrestler in this weight class is Tyson Dippery (Pennsylvania), ranked 40th in the Class of 2013. 130: This could shape up to be the championship match of the tournament if the bracket lines up properly. Zane Richards (Illinois) seeks to defend his title from last summer, and comes into this tournament ranked 50th among members of the Class of 2012. His prime challenger shapes up to be Brandon Jeske (Virginia), who is ranked second in the Class of 2013 -- and finished third last summer in Cadet Greco after taking home the FILA Cadet Greco title 15 months ago. The other ranked wrestler in this weight is Reed Van Anrooy (Oregon), who is 43rd in the Class of 2013. 135: The early favorite in this weight class is Isaiah Martinez (California), who is ranked seventh in the Class of 2013. The other ranked wrestler in this weight class is Joey Lavallee (Nevada), who ranks 45th in the same class. Additional wrestlers to watch are Cody Ross (Florida) and Garrett Hammond (Pennsylvania). 140: Two wrestlers ranked inside the top 30 of the Class of 2013 shape up to be the favorites in this weight class. Jake Marlin (Iowa) is ranked 24th, while Tyler Askey (Georgia) is 29th. Last summer, Askey was an All-American in both styles at the Cadet Nationals. Eric Hoffman (Maryland) stands to be a prime challenger after an All-American finish last summer in Cadet Greco and a runner-up finish at the FILA Cadet Nationals. An additional wrestler to watch in this weight class is Payne Hayden (Michigan). 145: The young phenom Chance Marsteller (Pennsylvania) makes his Fargo debut in this weight class, and projects to be the early favorite. Marsteller is ranked first among incoming freshmen, and was undefeated in both styles at the Cadet Duals last month. His prime challengers are a pair of wrestlers who joined him as undefeated in both styles at the event last month -- Ryan Gartner (Wisconsin) and Jared Reis (North Dakota). Gartner was also an All-American last summer in Cadet Greco. 152: For being somewhat of an upper weight, a very strong three-headed monster stands atop this weight class. Eric Morris (Pennsylvania), ranked 12th in the Class of 2013, makes his Fargo debut after an undefeated Schoolboy Duals last year. Defending champion Oliver Pierce (Texas) is ranked 13th in the same class, and moves up three weights from his championship of last year. Finally, Brooks Climmons (Georgia) is ranked 18th in this class, was an All-American last year in Greco-Roman and has been on fire this summer. The other ranked wrestler in this weight class is Austin Myers (Ohio), ninth among all wrestlers to be in junior high this coming year. 160: An All-American in both styles at the FILA Cadet Nationals this April, Burke Paddock (New York) is the favorite in this weight class. Paddock is ranked sixth among all incoming freshmen. Other wrestlers to watch include Scott Gibbons (Louisiana), Marcos Peralta (Colorado), and Tanner Tinsley (Virginia). 171: Two wrestlers ranked right next to each other in the Class of 2012 headline this weight class. The probable favorite is Sam Brooks (Illinois), a runner-up in both styles at the Cadet Nationals last summer. Brooks is ranked 20th in this class. Right behind him is Jordan Rogers (Washington), who was an All-American in both styles as a Cadet last summer, and also won the FILA Cadet freestyle title this spring. Four other wrestlers to watch: Jonathan Inman (Missouri), Jacob Morrissey (Wisconsin), Connor King (Colorado) and Preston Lehmann (North Dakota). 189: Mitch Sliga (Indiana), ranked 16th in the Class of 2013, enters this weight class as the pre-tournament favorite. He won the Cadet Folkstyle championship in April and seeks the second leg of the “Triple Crown” here. In addition, he finished third in his scholastic state tournament at 189 pounds as just a freshman. Two wrestlers are returning Cadet Greco All-Americans, Eric Mason (Kansas) and Mickey Pelfrey (Iowa). Pelfrey was undefeated in Greco-Roman at the Cadet Duals as well. 215: Ranked 21st in the Class of 2013, Adam Coon (Michigan) enters the tournament favored in this weight class coming off a FILA Cadet All-American finish and a combined 19-1 Cadet Duals record. Two others in this weight were Cadet Greco All-Americans last summer -- Joe Scanlan (Iowa) and Brian Walker (Alabama). 285: Brooks Black (Pennsylvania) is the prohibitive favorite to repeat as champion in Greco-Roman, as he moves up from last year’s run at 215 pounds. Coming off a freshman year in which he was a National Prep runner-up, he was double champion at the FILA Cadet Nationals and is now ranked sixth in the Class of 2013. Doug Vollaro (Florida) was runner-up to Black in both events at FILA Cadets and is the most viable challenger to him. Evan McGee (Oklahoma) was a returning All-American, while Michael Johnson (Illinois) is ranked sixth among junior high wrestlers.

Note: Information is based on participants listed on TrackWrestling.com site as of Friday (July 16) evening. 98: There are five returning All-Americans in Greco-Roman from last year that headline this weight class. There is the possibility of a rematch from the Cadet 91 pound final of last year in this weight class, as Colton Howell (Missouri) and Bobby Nachreiner (Wisconsin) are the early favorites in this weight. Howell beat Nachreiner in last year’s final, and the pair of wrestlers was champions at the FILA Cadet Nationals this April -- Howell won at 92, while Nachreiner took gold at 101. Gabe Foltz (Minnesota) and Nkosi Moody (Illinois) earned All-American status at Cadet 84 pounds, while Jesse Smith (Alabama) earned his honor in this weight class. 105: This weight class is headlined by a trio of wrestlers that ended the scholastic season ranked in their weight class. Freddie Rodriguez (Michigan) was ranked 18th at 112 pounds, and was a FILA Cadet National champion in both styles this past April. Ruben Navejas (Washington) was ranked 13th at 103 pounds, and a double finalist last summer in the Junior 98 pound weight class, champion in freestyle and runner-up in Greco-Roman. Kevon Powell (Illinois) finished the season ranked 16th at 103 pounds, and finished fourth place in both styles at the Junior level last summer. Javier Guillen (Arizona) was a Junior Greco All-American, while Jake Smith (Alabama) placed in Cadet Greco. 112: Four wrestlers in this weight class finished the scholastic season ranked in their weight class, and two of them earned All-American honors in Greco-Roman last summer. Tyler Fraley (New Jersey) was a finalist in both styles at Cadet 105, winning a title in Greco-Roman, this past year, Fraley finished the scholastic season ranked fifth at 103 and third at FILA Cadet 119 in Greco. Nashon Garrett (California) was in both styles at Cadet 105 last summer, and ended the scholastic season ranked eighth at 103 pounds. Steven Hopkins (Washington) finished the scholastic season ranked ninth at 103 pounds, and was third in this past April’s FILA Cadet Nationals at 110 pounds. Rounding out this quartet is Cory Clark (Iowa) who ended the scholastic season ranked 10th at 112 pounds. Six others in this weight class were Cadet Greco All-Americans last summer, while a seventh earned such honors at the Junior level. 119: The pre-tournament favorite is Carson Kuhn (Utah), who ended his senior season ranked 11th at 119 pounds and 86th in the Class of 2010. Kuhn placed top three in Greco-Roman during both years of his Cadet career. The two other wrestlers with ranking in this weight class are Joey Dance (Virginia) and Nathan Kraisser (Maryland). Dance ended the scholastic season ranked 16th at 112 pounds, and was a double Cadet National finalist last summer (runner-up in Greco). Kraisser was an All-American in Cadet Greco last summer, finished as runner-up at FILA Cadets this past April, and is ranked 47th in the Class of 2012. Five other wrestlers earned All-American honors in Greco-Roman last summer, three at the Junior level and two at the Cadet level. Another wrestler meriting attention is Hayden Zillmer (Minnesota), who swept both styles in Fargo as a Cadet during 2007 and 2008 but did not earn All-American honors at all last summer. 125: There are four ranked wrestlers in the field at this weight class, three of whom were among the elite at their weight during the scholastic season. Brock Banta (Idaho) and Rossi Bruno (Florida) were Junior Greco All-Americans at 119 pounds last summer, Banta was ranked 17th at 125 at the end of the scholastic season, while Bruno ranked 15th at 119 pounds. Mark Grey (New Jersey) and Kevin Norstrem (Florida) were double All-Americans at the Cadet level last summer. Grey won the Greco-Roman tournament at 112 pounds, and finished the school year ranked ninth at 119 pounds. Norstrem competed last summer at 119 pounds, finishing third in Greco-Roman, was champion of the 127 pound weight class at the FILA Cadet Nationals this past April, and is ranked fifth among all wrestlers in the Class of 2013. Three other wrestlers in this weight class were FILA Cadet Greco All-Americans in April, Patrick Myers (Pennsylvania) was an All-American in both styles of the Junior Nationals last summer, and Kavon Jones (Nebraska) joins Grey as a Cadet National Greco champion in this weight class. 130: This weight class is headlined by a pair of wrestlers ranked among the top 100 seniors-to-be in the nation. Matt Kelliher (Minnesota) is ranked 56th, while Daniel DeShazer (Kansas) is ranked 99th. Joe Denova (Georgia) and Tyler Liberatore (Florida) are among a trio of returning Junior Greco All-Americans in this weight class. There are two wrestlers that earned Cadet Greco All-American honors last summer, two others that were FILA All-Americans this past spring in Greco. Another wrestler to watch in this weight class is 2008 Cadet National champion Drew Lexvold (Minnesota). 135: A pair of college-bound wrestlers that were nationally ranked at 135 pounds this past scholastic season headline this weight class. AJ Schopp (Pennsylvania) was ranked fifth at the weight and 67th overall in the Class of 2010. Kade Moss (Utah) was ranked 17th in this weight class and a Junior Greco All-American last summer. Five other wrestlers return with Greco All-American credentials, three at the Cadet level and two at the Junior level. Two other wrestlers to watch are Zach Tanenbaum (Kansas) and Keenan Hagerty (Missouri). 140: Alex Dieringer (Wisconsin), a Cadet National double champion last summer, is one of four top 100 recruits from the Class of 2011 in this weight class. Dieringer ended the scholastic season ranked 19th at 140 pounds, and is currently 31st among all incoming seniors. Travis Himmelman (Colorado) is a returning Junior Greco All-American, and is ranked 42nd in his graduating class. Lex Ozias (Maryland) is ranked 54th, while returning Junior Greco All-American Elijah Sullivan (Iowa) is ranked 69th. Six other wrestlers were Cadet Greco All-Americans last summer, heading that group are runner-up Casey George (Idaho) and third place finisher Jacob Falk (Utah). Ryan Lubeck (Wisconsin) was a FILA Cadet champion in Greco this past April, and AJ Zemke (Wisconsin) is a third participant in this weight that was a Junior Greco All-American last summer. Two others to watch are Cullen Morrissey (Wisconsin) and Taylor Moeder (Kansas). 145: Three elite college bound wrestlers -- ranked inside the top 60 of the Class of 2010 -- make this a weight class chalk full of elite talent. Ravaughn Perkins (Nebraska) and Dylan Ness (Minnesota) would have to be considered joint favorites, as this pair of wrestlers met in the Junior Greco final at 140 last summer, Perkins came home the winner in that matchup. Steven Hernandez (Nevada) placed third in Junior Greco at 145, and like Ness also earned All-American honors in freestyle. Four more wrestlers are in the top 100 of the Class of 2011. Blake Roulo (Virginia) is ranked 38th, and finished third in Junior Greco at 140 last summer, Ryne Cokeley (Kansas) is ranked 43rd, Colby Kloetzer (Idaho) is ranked 51st, and Lucas Smith (Illinois) is ranked 76th, also earning Cadet Greco All-American honors last summer. Ranked among the top 50 in the Class of 2012 are #45 Clark Glass (Florida) and #41 Zach Brunson (Oregon), Brunson was also a Cadet double All-American last summer, runner-up in Greco-Roman. There are three additional wrestlers that earned All-American honors in Cadet Greco last summer, and two others that were FILA All-Americans this spring. 152: Yet to lose a match in two years of Fargo competition -- Greco and freestyle -- Taylor Massa (Michigan) moves up to the Junior level, where he is the pre-tournament favorite in this weight class, and he is also the top-ranked member of the Class of 2012. Four other wrestlers are also ranked in their graduating class, two in the top 100 of the Class of 2011, and a pair of Cadet Greco runners-up inside the top 50 of the Class of 2012. Returning Cadet Greco champion Brad Dolezal (Wisconsin) is ranked 73rd in the Class of 2011, while Junior Greco runner-up Kory DeBerry (Arizona) is ranked 82nd. Justin Koethe (Iowa) is 26th in the Class of 2012, and also a FILA Cadet Greco runner-up, while Dylan Reel (Illinois), also a FILA Cadet freestyle champion, is ranked 34th. Zak Benitz (Wisconsin) joins Massa and Dolezal as returning Cadet Greco champions in this weight class. Yet the most formidable challenger to Massa may be the forgotten name of Derek Olson (Wisconsin), twice an All-American in Greco (2008 Juniors, 2007 Cadets). 160: For being a middle-weight, this weight class is relatively lean in quality. Even so, there are a few notable names to discuss. There are three returning Junior Greco All-Americans, anchored by Seth Thomas (Oregon) -- ranked 79th in the Class of 2011, the two others are Joey Moorhouse (Illinois) and Zach Skates (Oklahoma). Another wrestler to note is 2008 Cadet Greco-Roman champion Wally Figaro (Florida), who beat Massa last month at the Junior Duals in Oklahoma City. Three wrestlers in this weight class were also Cadet Greco All-Americans last summer, headed by Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma). Crutchmer was actually an All-American in both styles in Fargo, finished as a runner-up in both styles at the FILA Cadet Nationals in April, and is ranked 48th among Class of 2012 wrestlers. One other wrestler to watch is Cody Allala (Virginia). 171: Returning Junior Greco All-Americans Stephen McPeek (Texas) and Nathaniel Brown (Pennsylvania) headline the field at this weight class, McPeek ended the scholastic season ranked 17th at 189 pounds, while Brown is ranked 53rd among all Class of 2011 wrestlers. A third lead contender would be Devin Peterson (Wisconsin), who swept Cadet national titles last summer in Fargo and is ranked 12th in the Class of 2012. An additional top 100 Class of 2011 recruit is Kris Klapprodt (South Dakota), who is ranked 68th. There is one other returning Cadet Greco All-American in this weight class, Joel Bauman (Minnesota) was a Junior Greco All-American last summer, and Micah Kullman (Ohio) was the FILA Junior Greco champion in April. 189: The strong pre-tournament favorite in this weight class is Tyler Beckwith (New York), who is bound for Binghampton University and ended the season ranked 11th in the Class of 2010. Beckwith was also a double Junior National All-American last summer, and runner-up in Greco. The other ranked wrestler in this weight class is Lucas Sheridan (California), who is ranked 83rd in the Class of 2011, Sheridan earned All-American honors in both styles at the Cadet Nationals last summer and FILA Cadet Nationals in April. Four other wrestlers were Cadet Greco All-Americans last summer, while a pair earned such honors at the Junior level. This includes arguably the most viable challenger to Beckwith in Austin Morehead (California). Two additional contenders worth mentioning are Ethan Blackstock (Georgia) and Jayd Docken (South Dakota), both of whom are college bound. 215: This weight class has a strong injection of five wrestlers that ended the scholastic season ranked at 215 pounds, and are college bound in just about one month. This includes wrestlers that ended last season ranked second through fifth in the weight class, Spencer Myers (Pennsylvania), Trevor Rupp (Idaho), Scott Schiller (North Dakota), and Alex Polizzi (Wisconsin). Myers failed to earn All-American honors in Greco, but was fifth in freestyle, while the other three earned All-American honors in both styles -- including Greco runner-up Rupp. Kyle Caylor (Kansas) earned All-American honors in Greco and ended the scholastic season ranked 18th. There are four additional wrestlers ranked in the top 100 for the Class of 2011, led by Tanner Hall (Idaho), whose stock shot up this spring with a FILA Cadet double championship and All-American honors in both styles at FILA Juniors. Ranked 15th in his class, Hall was also a Cadet Greco champion last summer. Tank Knowles (California) is ranked 33rd, Nick Gwiazdowski (New York) is ranked 36th, and Jay Taylor is ranked 94th. Three others were Cadet Greco All-Americans last summer, while an additional wrestler to watch is Matthew Loew (New York). 285: The defending Cadet and Junior Greco champions in this weight class are both in the field, Orry Elor (California) and Niko Bogojevic (Wisconsin). Bogojevic enters this competition as the favorite, and he ended his senior season of scholastic wrestling ranked 10th in the weight class. Two other wrestlers in this weight class ended the scholastic season ranked ninth -- Connor Medbery (Colorado) at 215, and Donny Longendyke (Minnesota) at 285 pounds. Medbery, a Junior Greco All-American, is ranked 16th in the Class of 2011, while Longendyke, a Cadet Greco All-American (and freestyle champion) is ranked 18th. Two others in this weight were Cadet Greco All-Americans last summer as well.