No. 4 Clovis at No. 6 Buchanan -- Thursday!
Clovis has won the last four California state wrestling tournaments, and has not lost a dual meet against in-state opposition in just over eight years, when Buchanan upended them in late January of 2007. The dual meet win streak is now up to 86, as the fourth-ranked Cougars travel to sixth-ranked Buchanan for a massive dual meet tomorrow night. A sellout crowd is expected for this backyard brawl.
A match-by-match breakdown will be provided as a separate article.
No. 3 Blair Academy, N.J. survived stern test at No. 15 St. Edward, Ohio
In the penultimate weekend of an eight weekend stretch where they are to face nationally ranked teams in each event, No. 3 Blair Academy, N.J. traveled to Lakewood, Ohio to take on No. 15 St. Edward and No. 50 Marist, Ill. In the opening match of the triangular, Blair Academy dominated on the way to a 48-18 victory over Marist in which they won ten weight classes (would have been 11 but for an injury default by No. 8 David Showunmi at 220 pounds).
The middle match of the triangular had St. Edward beat Marist 45-24, as the host Eagles took home victories in nine weight classes. The main event of the Saturday afternoon was the annual dual meet between perennial powers Blair Academy and St. Edward. It went down with the following box score.
106: Matt Kazimir (SE) maj. dec. Matthew Vinci, 11-2; SE 4-0
113: No. 15 Zach Sherman (B) dec. Allan Hart, 4-3, tiebreaker; 4-3
120: Requir van der Merwe (B) pinned Cade Hepner, 4:23; B 9-4
126: L.J. Bentley (SE) dec. Andrew Monohan, 5-1; 9-7
132: No. 15 Hunter Ladnier (SE) dec. No. 16 Chaz Tucker, 4-3; SE 10-9
138: No. 2 Matthew Kolodzik (B) maj. dec. Isaac Collier, 9-1; B 13-10
145: Michael Monica (B) dec. Jack Conway, 4-3; 16-10
152: No. 3 Jordan Kutler (B) tech. fall Vitorio Santillo, 17-0, 3:00; 21-10
160: D.J. Williamson (SE) dec. Peter Bearse, 8-5; 21-13
170: Jimmy Stillerman (B) dec. Jared Leidich, 4-3, tiebreaker; 24-13
182: No. 14 Chase Singletary (B) tech. fall Tyler Stepic, 16-0, 5:08; 29-13
195: Jared Campbell (SE) dec. Neil Putnam, 6-5; 29-16
220: Parker Knapp (SE) by forfeit; 29-22
285: Michael O'Malley (SE) by forfeit; 29-28
Blair Academy concludes gauntlet with Saturday dual meet at No. 5 Wyoming Seminary, Pa.
The final leg for the Buccaneers through their eight weekend grind of madness comes this Saturday night at 7 p.m. when they travel to fifth-ranked Wyoming Seminary, Pa. for a dual meet against the Blue Knights.
Wyoming Seminary ended Blair Academy's iron-clad grip of the National Prep tournament last year; though it was aided by the use of fifth-year wrestlers (allowed in the National Prep Tournament), and the fact Blair was without a couple key contributors. However, the last season's mid-January dual meet was won very narrowly by Blair; the teams split the fourteen weight classes equally, but Blair won 27-24.
A preview of that dual meet will be provided in a separate article to be posted either tomorrow or Friday.
WPIAL 3A playoffs feature three nationally ranked teams
Next weekend is the Pennsylvania state dual meet championships. In preparation, each of the 12 districts statewide conducts its tournament to determine qualifiers. The WPIAL (aka district 7) is reflective of the greater Pittsburgh area, which arguably has the best wrestling in the whole country, and qualifies three to the state tournament; two directly, and one through a Monday night play-in match that is likely to be a blowout of the district 8 (Pittsburgh city) champion.
There are three nationally ranked teams in the WPIAL Class 3A (big-school) tournament. No. 7 Franklin Regional is the second seed, No. 30 Belle Vernon is the top seed, while No. 31 Greater Latrobe is the fourth seed. Belle Vernon beat Franklin Regional 35-28 in a mid-December dual meet, which was an upset primarily aided by the absence of No. 1 Michael Kemerer (145) for Franklin Regional. The third seed is a formidable North Allegheny team, which last year were semifinal and consolation semifinal losers at dual state.
Tonight is the round of 16 and quarterfinals, and these are the matchups:
Belle Vernon vs. Greensburg-Salem, Pine-Richland vs. Waynesburg (Belle Vernon strongly favored to advance)
Franklin Regional vs. Trinity/Butler winner, Connellsville vs. West Allegheny (defending state champions Franklin Regional should advance)
North Allegheny vs. Peters Township, Canon-McMillan vs. Hempfield Area (though North Allegheny is favored, they and Canon-McMillan met for third in the WPIAL last year, and it was a very narrow victory for the Tigers).
Greater Latrobe vs. Bethel Park, Kiski Area vs. Fox Chapel (Kiski Area is always a tough out, but returning state runners-up Greater Latrobe should advance)
The four quarterfinal winners advance to the semifinals on Saturday at Penn Hills, semifinal matches start at 1 p.m. The championship and consolation final take place at 3:30 p.m. Based on the pre-determined draw, the consolation final winner (assuming they win the likely play-in match) is most likely to face nationally ranked Cumberland Valley (district 3 champion) in the opening round next Thursday. The runner-up is looking at a path most likely involving a quarterfinal with the District 1 champion (Council Rock South, Boyertown, or Pennridge), and then a semifinal with the Cumberland Valley vs. WPIAL third winner. The champion has a path most likely with a semifinal against nationally ranked Bethlehem Catholic (district 11 champion).
Southeast Polk with a statement at the Ed Winger Classic
In what is the best regular season tournament in the state of Iowa, No. 8 Southeast Polk earned a decisive tournament victory over No. 21 Bettendorf. The Rams out-pointed the Bulldogs by 40 (210.5 to 170.5) during their only in-season common event. Furthermore, Southeast Polk did so without the presence of Nolan Hellickson (126) or No. 3 Jacob Marnin (285) in the lineup; that said, Bettendorf got zero points from No. 7 Dayton Racer (160), who was disqualified early in the tournament.
Superior depth was key for the Rams, as they had ten wrestlers place in the top five, led by a pair of weight class champions in Zach Barnes (126) and Keegan Shaw (138); Barnes normally wrestles at 120 for Southeast Polk. Four other wrestlers finished second: Nate Lendt (113), Aaron Meyer (145), Briar Dittmer (152), and No. 10 Ethan Andersen (220). Mason Kerr (170) placed third, Gauge Perrien (106) and Brady Buchheit (160) finished fourth, Eric Pingel (195) was fifth, while Gunner Jorgensen (182) placed eighth.
Like Southeast Polk, the Bulldogs had six finalists. Four were champions -- No. 18 Jack Wagner (113), Jacob Schwarm (120), No. 2 Fredy Stroker (145), and Jacob Woodard (152) -- while Jackson Gallagher (126) and Paul Glynn (132) finished second. The lone other Bettendorf placer was Josh Malik (195) finishing eighth.
Even with such a top-heavy roster, Bettendorf was a dominant second place team, third place West Des Moines Valley was more than another 30 points back. Out of the other eight champions, North Scott had three: Jakubb Fahrenkrug (160), No. 17 Colin Kreiter (195), and No. 9 Cordell Eaton (220); Eaton had the win of the tournament, a 4-1 victory over now No. 10 Ethan Andersen, which avenged a state finals loss from last year. Eaton comes into the No. 9 position nationally all the way from outside the rankings.
Rounding out the weight class champions were McGwire Midkiff (Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson) at 106 pounds, Henry Pohlmeyer (Johnston) at 132, No. 14 Isaiah Patton (Dowling Catholic) at 170, Hank Swalla (Ames) at 182, and Alex Silberstein (Ballard Huxley) at 285.
Stillwater wins razor-tight dual meet at home over Broken Arrow
The two best teams in the state Sooner State met in a dual meet last evening, with the host Stillwater Pioneers upending Broken Arrow 27-26. The squads split the fourteen weight classes evenly, each winning seven matches. No team won more than two matches in a row at any point of the dual meet, and on only three occasions did teams win consecutive dual meets.
Tyler Lawley (Broken Arrow) opened the dual meet with a second period pin, the only pin of the dual meet. Stillwater then had consecutive victories, Andrew Nieman an 11-3 major decision at 113 and Tyler Dieringer a 9-2 decision at 120, to take the lead. The teams alternated match victories between 120 and 152, and the lead would change at the end of each of those six bouts.
That 152 bout had three-time state placer Paden Bailey (Broken Arrow) beat Tristian Moran, who is ranked No. 7 nationally at 145 pounds, by 8-5 decision. The Tigers led 17-15 at that point. Christian Kiser won a 5-4 decision at 160 for Broken Arrow, before a 26-11 technical fall for Stillwater's Joe Smith -- ranked fourth nationally at 160 -- in the 170 match equalized the score at 20-20.
A 13-2 major decision for Jordan Dieringer at 182 pounds gave Stillwater a 24-20 lead, one that would stand through the rest of the dual meet. Steven Allen won a 10-3 decision at 195 for Broken Arrow, then Cyntrell Carden responded with a 5-3 decision at 220 for Stillwater. This set up the final match at 285 pounds, one in which Broken Arrow needed a major decision to tie the dual meet score, and win on criteria. However, the Tigers could only muster a 5-0 decision from Trenton Lieurance.
As a result of last night's dual meet, Broken Arrow drops two spots in the rankings down to No.13 nationally, while Stillwater holds its position at No. 14. At the Geary Invitational just over two weeks ago, Broken Arrow beat Stillwater by forty points, and the Tigers had an edge in placers by 10-6. The teams will do battle in another dual meet during the state duals final, and then contest the Class 6A state title in Oklahoma.
Quick last week nuggets
No. 7 Franklin Regional and No. 31 Greater Latrobe split the fourteen weight classes at seven-apiece in the WPIAL Section 1 dual meet final this past Wednesday evening. However, Franklin Regional won the dual meet. Of note was Greater Latrobe going 3-0 in matches decided by two points or less; while Franklin Regional won six of their seven matches by pin or technical fall (only three from Greater Latrobe did). Greater Latrobe was without 2013 National Prep runner-up Ethan McCoy (126).
No. 25 Lowell, Mich. won a pair of matches against big-school state title contenders. On Friday night it was a 39-22 victory over Detroit Catholic Central, Mich. at the University of Michigan. Then on Sunday afternoon, the Red Arrows defeated No. 43 Brighton, Mich. 30-25 at Michigan State. Lowell was without No. 12 Max Dean (170) in both dual meets, though it did not carry significant net impact on the 9-5 match count Friday night. However, the 8-6 match count and 30-25 victory over Brighton is more than likely a larger margin and a 9-5 match count with Dean present. In terms of the actually Lowell vs. Brighton dual meet, it came down to Lowell winning a pair of one-point decisions to close out the dual meet at 285 and 103.
Three dual meet encounters from the past week in New Jersey placed nationally ranked teams against another. One week ago, it was No. 32 Don Bosco Prep outlasting No. 41 DePaul Catholic 34-32 as the teams split bouts at seven-apiece. The Ironman needed a pin, major decision, pin close to the dual meet to take home the victory, with the last match pin coming from No. 2 Zack Chakonis at 285. Bound Brook was involved in the other two matches, both were defeats, which led to their drop of fourteen spots to No. 36 nationally. One week ago, the Crusaders lost 30-18 (8-6 in matches) at now No. 35 Phillipsbrg, while on Friday night they split matches with No. 45 Delbarton in a 33-28 loss. Missing personnel was a key issue for Bound Brook during the Delbarton dual meet in particular.
Additional ranked outcomes
Grizzly Invitational Tournament, 113 pound final: Noah Baughman (Wadsworth, Ohio) dec. Mitch Moore (St. Paris Graham) 2-1 on a last second takedown. This was a second win for Baughman over Moore in three months, as he also earned a 2-0 win in the quarterfinals of the Super 32 Challenge. As a result of this outcome, Baughman moves up two spots to No. 9, while Moore drops two to No. 10 nationally.
Grizzly Invitational Tournament, 132 pound semifinal: Jonathan Furnas (Olentangy Liberty, Ohio) decision Rocky Jordan (St. Paris Graham, Ohio) 15-8. This was the second straight week that Jordan sustained a decisive loss to a primary Division I state title contender (Jordan is in Division II along with No. 8 Cameron Kelly of Bellbrook). Furnas enters the rankings at No. 20 as a result, while Jordan drops out from the No. 18 position.
Reser's TOC, 195 pound final: Gunnar Robirts (Crook County, Ore.) decision Samuel Colbray (Hermiston, Ore.) 10-5. It was a result that came out of nowhere, with Robirts whom is nowhere close to a national ranking upending the previous No. 3 in the country; Colbray drops five spots this week to eighth.
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