1. Chad Red (New Palestine) dec. Nick Lee (Evansville Mater Dei) 6-5, Indiana 132 pound final
In a match that more than lived up to the hype, No. 1 Chad Red finished his career as an undefeated four-time state champion, despite trailing 4-0 early in the match after Lee scored off a fireman's carry dumped to the back. Red used a takedown and cradle to catalyze the mid-to-late match rally. As a result, Red is the third wrestler in Indiana history to be a career undefeated, and the ninth ever to win four state titles.
For Lee's credit, it is just his second career loss in three seasons, the other coming in the state semifinal two years ago to Stevan Micic at 126 pounds. Also to his credit, he has taken on the Micic and Red challenge instead of moving away in more pragmatic fashion. Red will be wrestling in the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic and then taking his talents to Nebraska, while Lee has a senior season of scholastic wrestling before going to Penn State.
2. West Des Moines Valley finds a way for dual meet title
One week ago Wednesday, Iowa held its dual meet state tournament one day before the individual bracket tournament was contested. Due to that, No. 33 Fort Dodge chose to "tank" at the district level in the dual tournament. However, No. 30 Southeast Polk and No. 31 West Des Moines Valley both contested the dual event. In the regular season dual meet, Southeast Polk won 34-23, taking eight weight class victories.
In the championship match, it started in the 152 pound weight class, where Joe Nicholson (WDMV) reversed losses in the dual meet and the individual district to beat Solomon Jones 3-1; Nicholson had beaten Jones in the conference meet that sandwiched those two bouts. The other key dynamic came at 220 pounds, where WDMV bumped returning state placer Rocky Lombardi away from nationally ranked Ethan Andersen; the result was at 285 pounds, where Lombardi beat Daniel Ramirez 3-2, a match featuring wrestlers that would take third in the individual tournament on Saturday. With all other outcomes the same in terms of ultimate victor, WDMV secured a 31-26 victory; the last match was a winner-take-all affair won by Joel Shaprio by second period fall at 145 pounds.
3. Southeast Polk wins the traditional
Despite the disappointment of losing the dual meet title on Wednesday night, and Fort Dodge being all rested for the individual bracket event, the Rams emerged as repeat champions of the traditional tournament. It was also their third title in four seasons, but it was done without a state champion. Instead they used three runners-up and three third place finishers among eight medalists, which were joint most with West Des Moines Valley.
Runners-up for the Rams included Adam Brown (120), Nathan Lendt (126), and No. 8 Ethan Andersen (220); while third place finishers were Gauge Perrien (113), Zach Barnes (138), and Daniel Ramirez (285). Solomon Jones (152) placed sixth, while Kameron Padavich (182) finished fourth. They scored 141.5 points.
With three champs among seven placers, No. 33 Fort Dodge scored 131.5 points for a runner-up finish. Winning titles were No. 12 Brody Teske (113), Triston Lara (126), and No. 9 Sam Cook (195). Third with 113.5 points from eight medalists were West Des Moines Valley, anchored by champion Grant Stotts (132) and runner-up Nick Oldham (106); they had three additional place third with another in fifth and a pair in seventh.
4. Austin Gomez flair for the dramatic continues
For a second straight year, it was a one point victory in the state championship match for Austin Gomez (Glenbard North) over a rival from Oak Park River Forest. In the 2015 final, it was a 4-3 victory over Jason Renteria on a late takedown at 113 pounds, which avenged a loss from the previous weekend's sectional final; Renteria was also runner-up to Austin O'Connor in 2014 before winning his elusive state title this year.
In this year's drama, No. 6 Gomez faced No. 20 Anthony Madrigal, using rankings of this week. The prior week's match was a one-sided 8-1 affair in favor of Gomez. However, Madrigal jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the state final. That put Gomez in "chase mode", and that is what he did in rallying for the 8-7 victory, and a second state title with one more season to go.
5. 220 pounds of chaos
The weight class with the most rankings turmoil this week, at least based on performance alone, was 220 pounds. The Iowa Class 3A state final saw Ethan Andersen (Southeast Polk) upset 12-10 by Wyatt Wriedt (North Scott). Wriedt scored the first takedown but was headlocked to his back and trailed 7-3 before rallying back to win the match. The result denied Andersen his third straight state title, and ended the Southeast Polk streak of four consecutive state titles in the weight class. From a rankings standpoint, Andersen dropped three spots to No. 8, while Wriedt joins the rankings at No. 18 nationally.
The Pennsylvania prep state final saw Seth Janney (Malvern Prep) avenge an opening weekend loss to Will Hilliard (Wyoming Seminary). As a result, the wrestlers flip positions in the rankings; Janney now No. 15, while Hilliard is No. 16. The wrestlers could meet again this Saturday in the National Prep final.
In the Hoosier State, returning state champion Kobe Woods (Penn) suffered two losses that one would have to characterize as baffling in placing seventh. The quarterfinal loss was 9-7 in overtime to returning state placer Ryan Guhl (Indianapolis Cathedra), a wrestler Woods had beaten by 9-1 major decision in early January. He then lost in consolation action to returning state placer Sam Hipple (Carmel) 6-4. As a result, Woods drops all the way down to No. 20 from No. 6; however, he was undefeated heading into the state tournament, and had a regular season win over the Illinois Class 3A champion.
The champion in Indiana was sophomore Mason Parris (Lawrenceburg), whose only career loss came in last year's state semifinal by an 11-10 decision to the eventual state champion. This past weekend, he was dominant with three pins and then a 13-4 major decision in the final. The semifinal pin came against an opponent undefeated up to that point, Evan Ellis (Eastern), a returning state placer and Super 32 Challenge placer. His finals opponent was Gunnar Larson (Avon), a returning state placer with quarterfinal and semifinal wins coming against the wrestlers that beat Woods in this tournament; as a result, Larson jumps into the rankings at No. 17.
Speaking of Illinois, Class 3A state champion Alan Stallings (Oak Park River Forest) beat returning state champion Eric Johnson (Plainfield South) 9-5 in the semifinal. Johnson entered the tournament ranked No. 17 nationally, but obviously bows out. Stallings, an Indiana football recruit, fell short of the rankings due to a comparative lack of quality wins; though his three losses were all to excellent opposition by narrow margins: nationally ranked Woods, nationally ranked Jared Campbell (St. Edward, Ohio) and nationally ranked at 182 Nathan Traxler (Marmion Academy, Ill.)
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