However, there was high school wrestling across the rest of the country other than the Ironman.
Bethlehem Catholic wins King of the Mountain
It was a most excellent opening "major event" to the season for the No. 6 in the nation Hawks this past weekend at Central Mountain, Pa. as they were decisively defended their tournament title at the King of the Mountain. Bethlehem Catholic had three champions, six others earning a top four finish, and eleven total medalists on the way to 214 points.
Anchoring the effort were weight class champions in No. 2 Luke Karam (126), No. 9 (at 160) Michael Labriola (170), and Niko Camacho (285); Karam and Labriola with wins over fellow nationally ranked wrestlers in the final. Cole Karam (152) finished second; Luke Carty (120) and Joey Gould (138) earned third place; while Zach Glenn (106), Stephen Maloney (145), and Adam Soldridge (182) took fourth.
No. 34 Boyertown finished second in the tournament with 182 points, medaling nine wrestlers, including five in the top four. The Bears were led by weight class champions Jakob Campbell (106) and No. 1 Jordan Wood (220); Campbell beat state champion Tyson Klump (Nazareth) 6-0 in the final, while Wood beat a nationally ranked competitor in his championship bout. Three other wrestlers finished third, returning state placers Lucas Miller (126), Greg Harvey (182), and Tommy Killoran (285).
The other team with multiple champions was Penn Trafford, Pa. On top of the podium for their squad were Job Chishko (106) and No. 2 Cameron Coy (145). Three additional weight class champions beat a nationally ranked wrestler in their championship bout: No. 16 Zach Trampe (Council Rock South, Pa.) at 132 pounds, No. 2 (at 132) Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) at 138, and Justin Allman (Parkersburg South, W.Va.) at 195.
Rounding out the champions were No. 9 Austin DeSanto (Exeter, Pa.) at 120 pounds, No. 4 Hayden Hidlay (Mifflin County, Pa.) at 152, No. 10 (at 152) Jonathan Ross (Northern York, Pa.) at 160, and Jake Woodley (North Allegheny, Pa.) at 182.
Clovis champions of the Clovis West Shootout
Even with some starters up weight classes, and with state placer Jared Hill (152) out of the lineup, No. 5 Clovis (Calif.) dominated the proceedings on Saturday at their neighboring high school. The tournament was double elimination event, with semifinalists guaranteed a top four finish. The Cougars won six weight classes and saw another six starters earn places on the podium as they scored 249 points.
Champions for Clovis were No. 2 (at 120) Justin Mejia (126), Dylan Martinez (152), Brandon Martino (160), No. 8 (at 182) Josh Hokit (195), No. 14 (at 195) A.J. Nevills (220), and No. 7 Seth Nevills (285). As far as the other medalists: Wyatt Cornelison (120) earned runner-up honors; Victor Vargas (170) took third; Brandon Paulson (106), Jordan Geiger (138), and Jerrin Dean (182) finished fifth; while Brandon Rhoads (132) earned sixth.
Tournament runners-up were No. 21 Poway, Calif. with 185 points. The Titans were led by nine medalists, including two champions as well as another trio taking second and third place respectively; in addition reserve wrestlers finished second and third. Weight class champions for Poway were Jacob Allen (106) and Grant Smith (145); runner-up finishers were Chase Zollman (113), Scott Kiyono (126), and Chris Bailey (195); Jason Chua (120), Brandon Kier (132), and Alex Enloe (152) took third; while Celso Silva (170) finished sixth.
Other weight class champions were Liam Cronin (Servite, Calif.) at 113 pounds, David Ortega (Victor Valley, Calif.) at 120, Alex Felix (Gilroy, Calif.) at 132, Lawrence Saenz (Vacaville, Calif.) at 138, Dominic Ducharme (Windsor, Calif.), and Antonio Gutierrez (Bakersfield, Calif.) at 182.
Lake Highland Prep wins tight team race at the Graves Invitational
Even with nine top three finishers, and a tenth top four finisher, No. 16 Lake Highland Prep, Fla. was endured a very tight team race at the Jim Graves Invitational this weekend at Brandon, Fla. The championship team scored 554 points, led by weight class champions No. 10 Joey Silva (126), Erich Byelick (152), and No. 12 (at 160) Elijah Cleary (170). Silva's championship bout with two-time state champion Francisco Valdes (Miami Southwest, Fla.), one that he won 4-2 in overtime, was the highlight bout of the tournament.
Lake Highland Prep also had a trio of second and third place finishers. No. 20 (at 113) Mason Wohltman (120), Bryce Rogers (160), and Ben Goldin (220) finished as runners-up; while Noah Castillo (106), No. 19 (at 138) Jake Brindley (145), and Kevin Ford (182) placed third. The other top four placer was Kai Bele (132) taking fourth.
Tournament runners-up were Camden County, Ga. They scored 545 points based on the breadth of their roster, even with Super 32 Challenge placer Denton Spencer (138) having to pull out in the middle of the tournament due to infection. Bunmi Smith (160) was their lone weight class champion, while Adrian Hughes (145) and Dominique Hargrave (182) were the only runners-up. Four wrestlers placed third: Raydan Wilder (120), Antonio Stewart (170), Matt Wall (195), and Gabe Smith (285); while Tyler Crew (106) and William Vincent (126) finished fourth.
Third place in the tournament standings was South Dade, Fla. They scored 503 points with seven wrestlers finishing inside the top three. Weight class champions were Elijah Varona (106), Ozzy Lugo (145), and Chei Hill (195); runner-up finishes came from Brevin Balmaceda (132) and Kyron Taylor (285); while Arie Reyes (113) and Aaron Flores (160) finished third.
The other team with multiple champions was Fort LeBoeuf, Pa. Abe Guariello (113) and Charles Lenox (120) won titles for the Bison. Other weight class champions were Alex Urquiza (Southwest Miami, Fla.) at 132 pounds, Frankie Bruno (Brandon, Fla.) at 138, Steven Mercadante (Sarasota, Fla.) at 182, Bret Winters (Hoover, Ala.) at 220, and No. 14 Dante Jiovanetta (Coral Shores, Fla.) at 285.
Apple Valley showing that rumors of their demise are false
After the graduation of four state placers from the big-school state champions of the Gopher State at the end of the 2014-15 season, along with graduation losses from previous seasons, there was question about how strong Apple Valley (Minn.) would be during the 2015-16 season. The Eagles started the year close to 40th nationally, and were No. 35 coming into this weekend's Council Bluffs Wrestling Classic.
Pre-tournament, they were not the favorites with No. 27 Fort Dodge, Iowa present in the field. However, by the end of the tournament, Apple Valley asserted its dominance as they out-pointed Fort Dodge by more than 150 points (703.5 to 544); the distance between second and third place Kearney (Neb.) was over 130 points.
The Eagles had four weight class champions, with four other top five finishers. Leading the way was the nation's best senior Mark Hall (170), who earned pins in all eight of his matches, seven of them in the first period; this included a championship match pin over No. 19 Marcus Coleman (Ames, Iowa) at the 1:50 mark. Other champions were Kyle Rathman (132), Brock Morgan (145), and No. 1 Gable Steveson (220). Those other top five placers were runner-up Nate Larson (113), Devin Roberts (138) in third, Sebas Swiggum (132) in fourth, and Tony Watts (160) finishing fifth.
Tournament runners-up Fort Dodge had four finalists, with two others finishing in the top five. Weight class champions were No. 19 Brody Teske (113) and No. 12 Sam Cook (195), while Drew Bennett (106) and Triston Lara (126) took second place in highlight finals bouts; Bennett lost 1-1 to Kyle Biscoglia (Waukee, Iowa) in the ultimate tiebreaker, while Lara fell by 8-7 decision to No. 13 (at 120) Alex Thomsen (Underwood, Iowa). Other top five medalists were Cayd Lara (145) in third and Jonah Egli (170) taking fifth.
Joining Biscoglia and Thomsen as additional weight class champions were Rhyker Sims (Sergant Bluff-Luton, Iowa) at 120 pounds, Stephen Tujague (St. James Academy, Kansas) at 138, No. 11 Colton Clingenpeel (Council Bluffs Jefferson, Iowa) at 152, Matt Malcom (Glenwood, Iowa) at 160, Darrin Sornson (Nebraska City, Neb.) at 182, and Chase Miller (Olathe North, Kansas) at 285.
Another No. 1 wrestler upset
On Saturday at the Hermiston Quad, No. 1 (at 195) Samuel Colbray (Hermiston, Ore.) lost 4-2 in the tiebreaker against two-time state champion Trevor Eicher (Deer Park, Wash.) competing at 220 pounds.
Crook County falls short at Coast Classic
Ranked No. 42 in the nation, Crook County (Ore.) was out-pointed at the Coast Classic by unranked Roseburg (Ore.). In the tournament hosted by North Bend High School, Roseburg won by almost 50 points, 261 to 213. They were anchored by No. 8 Layne Van Anrooy, who beat No. 15 Travis Wittlake (Marshfield, Ore.) 5-1 in the 160 pound final.
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