This year's edition has and will continue to serve as no exception. With the Cadet and Junior freestyle competitions concluded, let's take a look at some of those wrestlers who enhanced their resumes, i.e. boosted their stock with wrestling analysts and collegiate wrestling coaches across the country.
Featured are five Cadet level wrestlers and five Junior level wrestlers listed in alphabetical order.
Lucas Davison (Chesterton, Ind.)
Ranked outside the top 100 of the Class of 2018, this 2016 Cadet freestyle runner-up and 2017 UWW Cadet freestyle fourth place finisher had a solid tournament to earn third in Junior freestyle at 182 pounds. State runner-up this high school season at 182 pounds, Davison had three key wins against wrestlers that would be considered relative peers. The first came in the quarterfinal, as he pinned two-time state placer Victor Marcelli (Ohio), also a Flo Nationals placer and returning All-American in Junior Greco-Roman; in the consolation semifinal it was a pin over Iowa enrollee Myles Wilson (Colorado), who ended the high school season ranked at 182 pounds; and in the medal match, it was a 23-12 technical fall over state champion Cameron Caffey (Illinois), a Michigan State enrollee.
The lone loss for Davison came 12-4 against eventual champion Max Lyon (Iowa) in the semifinal round. Earlier front-side wins for Davison came by technical fall over state runner-up Trey Rogers (Minnesota) and two additional shutout technical falls.
Zach Elam (Staley, Mo.)
While the No. 69 overall Class of 2018 prospect was in some ways the joint favorite for the title in this weight class, his level of dominance throughout the tournament was extremely impressive. The two-time state champion, three-time state finalist was runner-up at the Junior folkstyle national tournament this spring. His tournament opened with a shutout technical fall and then a pin over a Kansas state champion.
A much anticipated round of 16 bout against fellow state champion Tyler Curd (Missouri), champion in Cadet Greco-Roman last summer and a returning Cadet freestyle All-American was anything but; Elam won by shutout technical fall. The quarterfinal against two-time state champion Chase Trussell (Utah), fourth in both styles at Cadet Nationals last year, was another shutout technical fall. Elam upended the other joint favorite, No. 66 overall rising senior Francis Duggan (Iowa), with an 8-5 victory over the returning Junior freestyle third place finisher. His tournament was capped off with a 14-4 technical fall over Stanford enrollee Haydn Maley (Oregon), a four-time state champion and returning Junior Greco-Roman champion.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Elam, who certainly has the frame and athletic ability to play as a tight end in college. That being said, many colleges will also view him as the prototype for the modern 285 pound wrestler in Division I.
Zeke Escalera (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.)
Though Escalera is already a known commodity given his success to date, his Cadet National freestyle title at 106 pounds is something that bolsters an already sterling resume. Prior accomplishments included going undefeated to win a high school state title this past year while competing for Union County in Kentucky as an eighth grader, as well as runner-up finishes in the middle school division at the Super 32 Challenge and in the 15U division at the Tulsa Kickoff Classic.
Ranked No. 21 overall among rising freshmen entering Fargo, Escalera advanced to the quarterfinal round with three technical falls and a pin. In that quarterfinal match, it was an 18-13 victory over fellow rising freshman Vincent Zerban (Illinois), who is ranked No. 11 in that grade level. The semifinal saw Escalera upend returning Cadet freestyle champion Cullan Schriever (Iowa) by a 9-7 score; while the championship match was an 11-0 technical fall over Matthew Ramos (Illinois), Ramos was a Cadet National and UWW Cadet freestyle All-American in 2016. He will be attending Wyoming Seminary, Pa. in the fall as a high school freshman.
Atilano Escobar (Liberty, Ariz.)
Even with some solid productivity and credentials, the rising senior Escobar entered the Junior freestyle 132 pound weight class as a relative afterthought. After winning a state title in 2016, he lost in the final this past year. He was a Cadet double All-American in 2015, a Cadet Greco-Roman runner-up in 2016, but failed to earn All-American honors last year in Cadet freestyle. Escobar also was a double All-American at the UWW Cadet Nationals this spring at 58 kilos.
His path to the quarterfinal involved a 15-9 win over a Wisconsin state runner-up, a shutout technical fall, a technical fall over an Oregon state champion, and a shutout technical fall over two-time state placer Dylan Droegemueller (Minnesota). That quarterfinal came against pre-tournament favorite Andrew Alirez (Colorado), the No. 9 overall Class of 2019 wrestler, a two-time Cadet freestyle All-American and a placer at the UWW Junior freestyle tournament this spring; Escobar won by first period fall in a match that was tied at said point.
Subsequent matches somewhat reflected the overall nature of the weight class, which was a combination of being "thin" and a "broken bracket" with some bigger names suffering early losses. The semifinal was a pin over three-time state placer Chase Zollmann (California) and then finals victory was a shutout technical fall over Alexander Cruz (Washington), a three-time state champion and 2016 Cadet freestyle All-American; Cruz had eliminated Escobar from last year's Cadet freestyle tournament via a shutout technical fall.
Albert Ferrari of Texas defeated Patrick Kennedy of Minnesota on the way to the title (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Albert Ferrari (Allen, Texas)
Admittedly it's kind of absurd to say a wrestler that is already ranked No. 3 overall among rising sophomores can have a "stock up" performance in Cadet freestyle. However, let the case be made that his Fargo debut, which ended in a championship at 170 pounds, should be viewed as such. In advancing to the quarterfinal round, two of his first three victories were by shutout technical fall, including one over state champion Sam Fisher (Virginia) in the round of 16; the exception came in an 8-2 round of 32 win over two-time state runner-up Troy Fisher (Kansas), who also was a runner-up at the NHSCA Sophomore Nationals this spring.
In the quarterfinal match, Ferrari arguably won the match of the whole Cadet freestyle tournament, a 5-4 decision over Patrick Kennedy (Minnesota), the No. 5 overall ranked wrestler in the Class of 2020; Kennedy had finished third at UWW Cadets while competing in the 76 kilos competition. It was followed by an 8-3 victory in the semifinal against Gerrit Nijenhuis (Pennsylvania), who is ranked No. 11 overall in the Class of 2020. The championship match was an 11-3 victory over now two-time Cadet freestyle All-American Abe Assad (Illinois), also now a two-time Fargo finalist.
Nash Hutmacher (Chamberlain, S.D.)
Though he was an undefeated state champion as a freshman, and was undefeated in freestyle at last month's Junior Duals (against admittedly lesser teams), Hutmacher was a virtual unknown to the general wrestling public. That is no longer the case after a dominant Cadet freestyle title at 285 pounds. It was four shutout technical falls from four matches to reach the final, including those against state medalists Logan Zschernitz (Wisconsin) and Eli Pokorney (Indiana); Pokorny was a returning Cadet freestyle All-American at 195 pounds and the UWW Cadet freestyle runner-up this spring at 100 kilos. In that championship match, Hutmacher earned a 19-8 technical fall over two-time West Virginia state runner-up Louden Haga (Ohio).
Jeremiah Kent (Hickman, Mo.)
This is a wrestler who failed to place at the state tournament this winter competing at 160 pounds. Last summer he was eighth in Cadet freestyle at 160 pounds, and last month he was fourth at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle at 76 kilos. Kent's fifth place finish in the Junior freestyle 170 pound weight class shows that the UWW Cadet performance was "real", and it shows a continued level of improvement for the rising senior.
Kent advanced to the round of 16 with a pin and a pair of shutout technical falls, where in that said round he upended two-time state placer and 2015 Cadet freestyle All-American Ben Sarasin (Iowa) 10-6. The quarterfinal bout was a narrow 8-6 loss to eventual champion Aaron Brooks (Maryland), while All-American status was then confirmed with a technical fall victory over Braeden Redlin (Texas), who is ranked No. 75 overall in the Class of 2018. The next two matches in consolation were a technical fall victory over Leo Tarantino (New Jersey) and a technical fall loss to Zach Braunagel (Illinois), before concluding his tournament with a 7-6 victory over Cornell enrollee Andrew Berreyesa (Nevada).
Minnesota's Patrick McKee won his first Junior freestyle title in Fargo (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Patrick McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.)
Third place had been a very popular position in national-level competitons for the two-time state champion McKee, a Minnesota verbal commit ranked No. 53 overall in the Class of 2018. He was third at the Super 32 Challenge this past October, third at the folkstyle nationals in both 2016 (Junior) and 2015 (Cadet), as well as double third place in Fargo in both 2016 (Junior) and 2015 (Cadet).
The trend would change in this tournament, as there were some moments of high scoring, some moments of dominance, and some moments of escapism against even mostly higher-quality opponents. It started with a narrow 14-13 win over an Arizona state runner-up, continued with a technical fall over state champion Van Schmidt (Nebraska), and then a pin in the round of 32. Next was a 14-6 round of 16 victory over Joseph Heilmann (New Jersey), a UWW Cadet freestyle All-American this spring and a 2016 Cadet freestyle All-American.
Then came the three big showdowns. First was a 16-14 quarterfinal victory over now two-time Junior freestyle All-American Tommy Hoskins (Ohio), ranked No. 46 among rising seniors prior to Fargo. Then it was a 19-17 over Rayvon Foley (Michigan) in the semifinals, a wrestler that advanced to Fargo freestyle finals the prior two years (2016 Junior, 2015 Cadet). Finally, there was the pin over Joey Melendez (Illinois), who was on fire with a litany of quality wins prior to the final, and the No. 67 overall rising senior.
Aidan Medora (Brookfield Academy, Wis.)
Medora finished as a state runner-up during his freshman season of high school competing at 126 pounds, and did not have a ranking within the top 50 overall among wrestlers in the Class of 2020 entering the Cadet freestyle tournament. Earlier this spring, Medora was fifth in Cadet folkstyle at 132 pounds losing to a pair of wrestlers that did not earn All-American finishes in the Cadet freestyle 132 pound weight class (Dawson Sihavong of California and Stockton O'Brien of Utah); he also missed an All-American finish at the UWW Cadet Nationals in freestyle by one match at the 63 kilos weight class.
His run to the championship match at 132 pounds, where he lost to No. 1 overall rising freshman Carson Manville by technical fall, was most impressive. It started with a pair of technical falls, and was followed by a 10-6 victory over state medalist Trevor Chumbley (Illinois) in the round of 32. In the round of 16, he upended Flo Nationals placer Victor Voinovich (Ohio), who is also ranked No. 7 in the Class of 2021, by a 3-0 score. To confirm an All-American finish, Medora won by shutout technical fall in the quarterfinal, and he confirmed a spot in the championship match with a 12-1 technical fall over Frankie Tal-Shahar (Florida) in the semifinal; Tal-Shahar entered Fargo as the No. 25 ranked Class of 2020 wrestler.
Aizayah Yacapin (Curtis, Wash.)
To but a few on the west coast, this Class of 2020 wrestler was rather unknown. During the high school season Yacapin placed third in his own state tournament at 106 pounds. Last month, he went 3-4 while competing at 113 pounds in the Cadet freestyle Duals. However his Cadet National freestyle tournament, in which Yacapin placed third at 106 pounds, serves as a clear breakthrough.
Yacapin started the tournament with three shutout technical fall victories prior to a pin over returning Cadet freestyle All-American Caden McCrary (Georgia) in the round of 16. He would confirm an All-American finish with a pin over Ryan Miller (Pennsylvania), who was runner-up at the NHSCA Freshman Nationals this spring, in the quarterfinal round. The lone loss came in the form of a pin by Matthew Ramos (Illinois) in the semifinal. Yacapin would cement a third place finish with wins by 14-1 technical fall over Vincent Zerban (Illinois) and yet another win over Miller, this one by 10-0 technical fall.
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