The Saturday night championship matches at the GIANT Center in Hershey were drama-filled, high-level affairs. Eight of the fourteen bouts featured nationally ranked wrestlers facing one another, which included six in a row between 120 and 152 pounds.
The first of those intriguing affairs was an overtime bout at 120 pounds, which No. 1 Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe) win 3-1 with a takedown over No. 5 Scott Parker (Pennridge) with a takedown at the edge of the mat. It came after Parker had upended two-time state champion Ethan Lizak (Parkland), ranked No. 6 nationally, in the semifinal.
It continued with a 5-1 victory for No. 6 Dalton Macri (Canon-McMillan) over No. 16 Zach Valley (Northampton) in the 126-pound final. Macri upended No. 18 A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg) 5-3 in the semifinal; while Valley earned his place in the rankings with a 1-0 tiebreaker victory over defending state champion Sam Krivus (Hempfield), who is ranked No. 8 nationally, in the semifinal round.
Freshman Cameron Coy (Penn-Trafford), now ranked No. 10 nationally, upended No. 12 Chase Zemenak (Nazareth) 2-1 in the state final at 132 pounds. The difference came in a locking hands infraction committed by Zemenak during the second period. No. 11 Tyler Smith (Franklin Regional) finished third, and was a key figure in the weight class. Coy upended Smith in the previous week's regional final, after losing to him in the sectional final the week before that; Zemenak beat Smith 3-0 due to a second period rideout, along with a third period escape and counter takedown, to avenge a 1-0 loss from the state duals.
The next bout at 138 pounds was a "rubber" match between No. 3 Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) and No. 4 Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional). Kemerer upended Joseph 3-2 in the POWERade final, while Joseph beat Kemerer 5-2 in the regional final last week. Regulation ended 1-1, as the wrestlers traded escapes, with each having at least one opportunity to score from neutral during the bout. Then in overtime, Joseph shot in, Kemerer countered to create a cradle at the edge of the mat. When Kemerer went to execute the cradle, Joseph pressed into him, which caused a roll through action leading to Joseph earning the pin and condemning Kemerer to a third state runner-up finish in as many high school seasons.
Though the next bout was the evening's most anticipated, with it being state champ against state champ, much of the arena's energy was wiped out with the ending of the Joseph-Kemerer bout. This state final ended up being a one-sided affair, as No. 3 Solomon Chishko (Canon-McMillan) scored a takedown in each period on the way to a 7-2 victory over No. 6 Joseph Galasso (Father Judge).
The last match in the stretch of nationally ranked battles was at 152 pounds, as No. 3 T.C. Warner (Cumberland Valley) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead against No. 11 Josh Shields (Franklin Regional), and coasted home to a 4-3 victory. Shields rallied back with a reversal at the start of the third period and an additional point when Warner was called for a second stalling from neutral. However, Shields was unable to score the tying (before the stall point) or go-ahead takedown from a couple of pretty good attacking opportunities.
Rounding out the head-on matchups of nationally ranked wrestlers were a 3-1 victory for No. 3 Zack Zavatsky (Greater Latrobe) over No. 18 Kellan Stout (Mt. Lebanon), and a 5-2 victory for No. 5 Michael Boykin (Coatesville) over No. 6 Jordan Wood (Boyertown). Zavatsky won four matches against Stout during the season, including a pair in the last two weeks, which reflected all of Stout's losses on the season; while it was a second victory in as many weeks for Boykin over now two-time state runner-up Wood, as Boykin has jumped up ten spots in the rankings in that period of time.
Other key narratives from the Class AAA tournament included fourth state titles won by No. 1 Chance Marsteller (Kennard Dale) at 170 pounds and No. 2 Thomas Haines (Solanco) at 220 pounds; as well as the absurd dominance of freshman sensation Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional) on the way to his first state title, as he continued to confirm why he is No. 1 in the nation at 113 pounds as well as in the Class of 2017.
Clovis champions, Valencia brothers sizzle in Golden State
Even though they did not come near the points record, nor place a record-tying ten wrestlers as forecasted, it was still an excellent state tournament performance for No. 3 Clovis as they won a fourth straight California state title. The Cougars were led by No. 1 Nick Nevills (285), who won his third state title; and No. 4 Justin Mejia (106), who won state as a freshman.
Six additional wrestlers placed for Clovis, who scored 197.5 points; which was 79 more than No. 33 Clovis West, who finished as runners-up. Two of those Cougars wrestlers placed in third, Isaiah Hokit (132) and Brody Brand (170); Josh Hokit (160) was fifth; Matt Weiss (195) was sixth; while Tristan Gilliland (113) and A.J. Nevills (182) finished in seventh.
State runners-up Clovis West placed four wrestlers, led by the state title won by No. 14 Michael Knoblauch at 126 pounds, who had to beat a pair of defending state champions to win the title. In the semifinal, it was an 8-5 victory over Johnny Parada (San Fernando), while he beat No. 15 Mason Pengilly (Porterville) 8-6 in the final. It was a second victory for Knoblauch over Pengilly in as many weeks, though he had lost to Pengilly two times earlier in the season. Other placers for the Golden Eagles were runner-up Chris Garcia (145), third place finisher Tyler Zimmer (152), Cortes Morales (220) in fifth, and Chris Marin (106) in eighth.
The only other team to place more than three wrestlers was No. 32 Poway, who placed four on the way to a third place finish with 110 points. The Titans were led by state champion Colt Doyle (160), who was joined on the podium by a pair of fourth place finishes from Sergio Enloe (138) and No. 19 Ralphy Tovar (145), as well as Manny Lair (126) in eighth.
Anthony Valencia (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Order prevails in New Jersey
With the exception of a minor upset at 285 pounds, it was a pretty orderly state championship in the Garden State, as all of the national ranking positions held to form. However, that did not mean the tournament was without its share of drama and intrigue.
In the 106-pound final, No. 3 Ty Agaisse (Delbarton) upended No. 15 Brandon Paetzell (Phillipsburg) 1-0 to cement an undefeated 41-0 season. Ten other finals would end up being decided by two points or less and/or after regulation. The next of those finals came at 126 pounds, as now two-time state champion Craig de la Cruz (Bound Brook) beat now two-time state runner-up Kyle Bierdumpfel (Don Bosco Prep) 3-2 in the tiebreaker.
It was a battle of two ranked wrestlers at 132 pounds, as No. 6 Anthony Giraldo (North Bergen) cemented a 41-0 season with a 3-1 victory over No. 7 Mike Magaldo (Watchung Hills). It was also a match featuring a pair of four-time state placers and past state champions; Giraldo cemented a career path of 4-5-1-1, while Magaldo finished 2-1-3-2.
The intrigue continued in the next weight class, as No. 17 Ronnie Gentile (Paulsboro) improved upon last year's runner-up finish with a 7-6 victory over the previously undefeated Gavin Murray (Cranford) at 138 pounds. The 145-pound final saw No. 13 David McFadden (DePaul Catholic) upend Ryan Burkert (St. Peter's Prep) 4-3. Two-time National Prep champion Jack Clark (St. Augustine Prep) earned his first New Jersey state title with a 3-1 win over Gary Dinmore (Hunterdon Central) in overtime; with the win, Clark cemented an undefeated season, while Dinmore was condemned to a third consecutive runner-up finish.
Then, at 160 pounds, No. 4 Jonathan Schleifer (East Brunswick) cemented an undefeated season with his 6-5 victory over Joshua Ugalde (Bound Brook). It was an elusive state title for the four-time state placer, whose career track went 8-3-2-1. In the next weight class, No. 7 Dillon Artigliere (Roxbury) repeated as state champion with a 3-1 victory over Luke Farinaro (Don Bosco Prep). Both Schleifer and Artigliere also cemented undefeated seasons with their finals victories.
At 182 pounds, No. 1 Johnny Sebastian (Bergen Catholic) earned a third consecutive state title and Outstanding Wrestler honors with a 6-4 overtime victory over No. 14 Joey Balboni (David Brearley) in the finals match. In the next weight class, Anthony Cassar (Montgomery) assured an undefeated season with a 4-1 tiebreaker victory over Ralph Nordmandia (Franklin) in the state final. Then, at 220 pounds, it was a rematch -- and replication -- of last year's state final, as No. 2 Bryan Dobzanski (Delsea Regional) upended No. 9 Zack Chakonis (Don Bosco Prep) 3-1 in the tiebreaker to finish off a 43-0 season.
In the already alluded 285-pound weight class, now No. 20 Andrew Stevens (Camden) upended previously ranked Kevin Wilkins (St. Joseph Montvale) 3-1 in overtime during the state semifinal, before beating Tyler Gildner (Robbinsville) 3-0 in a state finals bout placing wrestlers from schools that had never won a state title against one another. Stevens finished undefeated at 37-0, which is something that No. 2 Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic) was also able to accomplish (though he finished 41-0) after winning the 113-pound state final by a 7-0 decision over No. 18 Patrick D'Arcy (Holy Spirit).
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