En route to being the first eighth-grader in tournament history to make the final, Lee had shut out all six opponents he wrestled. That included two first-period pins, a 17-0 technical fall, two major decisions, and a 4-0 decision victory. He is ranked third among junior high wrestlers nationally.
Yet another milestone came when Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.) won the 152 pound championship with an 8-5 victory over state champion Garrett Hammond (Chambersburg, Pa.). Already with two state titles prior to the ninth grade in Minnesota, Hall became the first freshman in ten years to win a title at above the opening weight. (Ashtin Primus won a Super 32 title in 2002.)
A third milestone champion emerged at 285 pounds, where Jesse Webb (Mt. Anthony Union) became the first ever Vermont native to win a Super 32 championship. In the final, he scored four takedowns to beat Luke Fleck (Franklin Regional, Pa.) 9-4. However, his toughest match was the semifinal when he secured a fall at the 5:24 mark of overtime against Patrick Garren (Bishop Ready, Ohio) in a rematch of this spring's NHSCA Sophomore National final.
Wrestlers from Pennsylvania were absolutely dominant in this year's Super 32 Challenge yet again, as five Keystone State grapplers won titles, with eight others taking second place. Champions were Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area) at 120 pounds, Zain Retherford (Benton) at 138, Cody Wiercioch (Canon McMillan) at 170, Jacob Taylor (Bald Eagle Area) at 182, and Matt McCutcheon (Kiski Area) at 195.
After placing sixth as a freshman at 113, Krivus upset J.R. Wert (Christiansburg, Va.) -- last year's third place finisher in the same weight -- by a 3-2 score on a late takedown. Then, in the 120 pound final, he upended two-time undefeated state champion Josh Alber (Dakota, Ill.) 5-1 with takedowns in the first and third period. Alber, a 2011 InterMat JJ Classic champion, reached the final by upsetting 2010 champion Darian Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) 3-1 with a late takedown.
Retherford continued his dominant string of winning going back to last spring, with a 5-0 victory in the final against Neal Molloy (Danville, Ind.) -- a 2011 state champion and Junior National freestyle All-American this past summer. It was a fourth straight Super 32 placement for Retherford, who had won titles at the NHSCA Junior Nationals, FILA Cadet Nationals (freestyle), Junior Nationals (freestyle), and FILA Cadet Worlds (freestyle) since having to miss his junior season due to the PIAA ruling him ineligible.
He had two early round pins than an "Ashnault 2010-like" gauntlet of five matches ensued, with wins over Cadet freestyle All-Americans Logan Massa (St. Johns, Mich.) and Josh Shields (Franklin Regional, Pa.) just to get to the Sunday quarterfinals; then a 3-2 victory over state placer Brock Zacherl (Brookville, Pa.) in the quarterfinal, followed by a 7-0 win over two-time state runner-up Troy Heilmann (South Plainfield, N.J.) in the semifinal round.
Wiercioch made his third Super 32 challenge placement a superlative one with a second title in three years. The championship match was a possible state finals preview, as he upended Brett Harner (Norristown, Pa.) 5-3 with takedowns in the first and third periods in a battle of Top 100 senior prospects. In making it to the final, Harner had two wins on Sunday over fellow Top 100 senior prospects -- first was a 6-5 win over returning runner-up Nick Kee (Scotland, N.C), and then in the semifinals it was a 3-1 upset victory over returning placer, and Junior National freestyle All-American, Zach Epperly (Christiansburg, Va.).
Taylor improved upon his fourth place finish in last year's event, as he won the title at 182 pounds with a 3-1 overtime victory against state champion B.J. Toal (Troy Christian, Ohio). In earlier matches, Taylor beat two-time state champion Jared Haught (Parkersburg, W.V.) 3-2 and upended a pair of returning state runners-up in Shayne Brady (Carthage Central, N.Y.) and Ryland O'Brien (First Colonial, Va.)
McCutcheon became a repeat Super 32 champion with a 4-1 victory over fellow Top 100 senior Raymond O'Donnell (Saucon Valley, Pa.). Key to the victory was a second period takedown for McCutcheon. From five matches on the weekend, McCutcheon was extremely stingy, as he only gave up two points.
The third, and final, multi-time champion from this year's event was Joey Dance (Christiansburg, Va.), who won the 126 pound title match with a 4-3 decision over defending champion Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional, Pa.). Just to reach the final, Kemerer beat a pair of three-time state champions that are also top 30 in the senior class. In the quarters, it was a 4-2 victory over Dalton Brady (Chandler, Ariz.); while the semifinal match was a 4-3 tiebreak win against fellow defending Super 32 champion Ryan Diehl (Trinity, Pa.). Kemerer needed a last-second takedown to force overtime in the semi against Diehl.
Dance had the lone offensive points of the final against Kemerer with a first period takedown and third period reversal. In Sunday matches prior to the final, Dance majored Junior freestyle All-American Tate Robinson (Baylor School, Tenn.) 13-3 in the quarterfinal, and then beat two-time Cadet freestyle champion Seth Gross (Apple Valley, Minn.) by an 8-2 score in the semifinal.
Without a shadow of a doubt, the match of the tournament came in the 132 pound final, where three-time state champion Dean Heil (St. Edward, Ohio) pulled somewhat of a “Houdini Act” to beat freshman sensation Aaron Pico (St. John Bosco, Calif.) 11-9 in overtime. It did not seem that this would be the case after one period, as Heil opened out to a 4-1 lead on the strength of two excellent takedowns. However, Pico turned it up in the second period with two takedowns of his own, including one rather late in the period, to exit with a 6-5 lead. Heil tied it at 6-6 with an opening escape. Then, Pico got an escape when Heil took a second injury time, which gave him a 7-6 lead.
Then, with close to 30 seconds left, Pico got what most thought would be a match-sealing takedown. However, it was not to be, as Heil scored an escape, and then got a takedown just before time was out to tie things at 9-9. The overtime period featured an excellent scramble starting from a Heil attack, each wrestler having chances to score; but it was determined that Heil established momentary control for the match-winning takedown, and an 11-9 victory.
Rounding out the weight class champions were Ryan Millhof (Collins Hill, Ga.) at 113 pounds, Grant Leeth (Kearney, Mo.) at 145, Isaiah Martinez (Lemoore, Calif.) at 160, and Kyle Snyder (Good Counsel, Md.) at 220.
Millhof used two technical falls and a pin to reach Sunday competition, where he would use a 3-0 victory over two-time state placer Jake Gromacki (Erie Cathedral Prep, Pa.) and 11-6 victory over two-time state champion Coy Ozias (Christiansburg, Va.) to advance to the final. In that match, he upended high school teammate Sean Russell, 1-0 on a second period escape.
Leeth, a state champion this past year and 2011 Cadet freestyle champion, won his championship match in the first period on an injury default against Solomon Chishko (Canon McMillan, Pa.) in a battle of Top 50 in the nation juniors. It was a fourth Super 32 placement for Chishko, who placed eighth at 112 while in eighth grade, before taking third and fifth the prior two years.
Martinez replicated a FloNationals final victory over fellow Junior National freestyle champion Josh Llopez (St. Mary's Ryken, Md.) to win the weight class championship; this time it was a 9-4 victory in which he scored offensively in all three periods. Llopez had a massive battle in the semifinals with fellow top 50 ranked junior Garrett Peppelman (Central Dauphin, Pa.). Trailing 3-1 with about 20 seconds left, he scored a reversal with near falls to earn a 6-3 victory and the finals berth.
Finally, the highly anticipated clash between Snyder and Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) certainly was worth the wait. Ranked second overall in the junior class, Snyder scored an 8-4 victory over Haines -- a defending Super 32 champion ranked sixth overall in that same Class of 2014.
The match was tied 2-2 after two, with Snyder scoring a takedown in the first period. Then, in a reversal situation, Snyder was in deep on an attack and planted Haines onto his back. It was called a reversal with imminent near fall, as Haines was briefly hurt. After Haines escape, Snyder scored another takedown off his same hi-crotch/low-single attack. The 8-4 score reflects a subsequent Haines escape.
As always, the Super 32 showcased many of the nation's best wrestlers in highly competitive matches.
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