What happens? How about only the most dramatic match of the whole high school season! Here's the account from the recap after the match:
The first period would end up scoreless in spite of the fact Bright was in very deep on a leg attack at the end of the first period, was awarded the takedown, but it was then waived off. The official's decision being that takedown criteria was not met with time remaining on the clock (or not met at all), which would be one of many bones of contention in the post-mortem of this dual meet.
Grey chose down in the second period, got an escape to lead 1-0 headed into the third period. After Grey takes an injury timeout between periods, Bright chose the down position, and got an escape with about one minute remaining. The last minute of regulation and one minute of sudden victory would go scoreless, though Bright was controlling the pace and ties, and would have one takedown scoring opportunity negated due to the fact he was called out of bounds.
The match then goes to the :30-:30 tiebreaker situation. Bright chose down in the first tiebreaker. He stands up off the whistle, and gets into a scramble, where Grey wins the situation and almost gets near falls before the situation is stopped for a injury timeout that went against Bright. In the ending sequence of the first tiebreaker, the St. Edward coaching staff contests that there was a locking hands on Grey, but it's a moot point as it either wasn't there or wasn't called.
Grey chooses down in the second portion of the tiebreaker, and promptly escapes. Then for the last twenty-plus seconds Bright is chasing after the go-ahead takedown, Grey does get hit for stalling once, but he fends it off and seals the deal for Blair. The Buccaneers win 27-22 and give themselves a significant advantage for the No. 1 position throughout the rest of the year.
What will Saturday bring come 3 p.m. at St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio? Well, what will happen before 3 p.m. is that St. Edward will face Marysville, Ohio and then Steubenville, Ohio -- while Blair Academy will face Steubenville then Marysville -- with those rounds starting at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Here are the highlight wrestlers for Marysville (Division I in Ohio) and Stuebenville (Division II in Ohio). Both squads are projected to finish in the top ten at the state tournament, and each will be wrestling in dual meet regional finals on Wednesday, with a win they'll be in the final eight next Saturday.
106: Tariq Wilson (Steubenville), the freshman is projected as a low state placer.
120: Taleb Rahmani (Marysville), placed fourth at state as a freshman last year, but missed bulk of season with injury and has been brought back slowly
126: David Sparks (Marysville), a junior who has qualified for state twice and is projected to place this year; Anthony Craig (Steubenville), two-time state qualifier who placed at state as a sophomore in 2011.
132: Anthony Parada (Steubenville), a senior who qualified for state last year, and has the chance to place at state this year.
138: Noah Forrider (Marysville), three-time state placer bound for Ohio University, and is a legitimate state title contender this year.
160: Chase Boyd (Marysville), placed at state last year as a junior, and has a chance to make the state finals this year.
182: Charlie Keenan (Steubenville), the Kent State bound senior finished as a state runner-up last year, and recently dropped down to this weight in hopes of winning a state title.
195: Austin Pfarr (Marysville), qualified for state last year as a sophomore, and has a chance to place at state this year.
220: Morgan Miller (Marysville), qualified for state as a sophomore in 2011, but missed last year due to injury and has chance to place at state this year; Greg Moray (Steubenville), placed fourth at state last year as a junior, and is a projected state finalist.
And now the weight-by-weight analysis for the showdown between Blair Academy and St. Edward:
106: Jordan Kutler (Blair Academy) vs. L.J. Bentley (St. Edward)
This is a battle of excellent sophomores, with Kutler a returning National Prep champion while Bentley failed to place at state last year. Kutler was a FILA Cadet freestyle champion at 101 pounds last spring, while Bentley won the NHSCA freshman nationals title at 106. At the Ironman this season, Bentley placed seventh, while Kutler failed to place and did not compete for a long time after that before returning to the mats. Look for Bentley to win a tight decision.
Team: St. Edward 3-0
113: No. 20 Chaz Tucker vs. Sal Corrao
The sophomore Tucker was a runner-up at National Preps last year and a Cadet freestyle runner-up last summer, while the senior Corrao is in his first year as a starter for the Eagles. Look for Tucker to dominate this matchup, with bonus points probable.
Team: Blair Academy 4-3
120: No. 2 Matthew Kolodzik vs. Austin Hiles/Kurt Wysocki
Yet another sophomore for Blair here in the Cadet freestyle champion Kolodzik, who has a title at the POWERade to go with runner-up finishes at the Ironman and Beast of the East this season. Kolodzik was a state champion in Ohio's Division III last year before transferring to Blair. St. Edward will either have an unproven sophomore Wysocki or the freshman Hiles, a junior high state runner-up last year making his first appearance in this weight, on the mats. Look for Kolodzik to dominate this matchup, with bonus points extremely likely.
Team: Blair Academy 8-3
126: Alex Rinaldi vs. Chance Driscoll
Neither wrestler in this matchup has a bevy of credentials, which makes it imperative that St. Edward win this match if they want any chance to steal this dual meet. Both wrestlers are in their first seasons as the varsity starter. The prediction is for Driscoll to win a narrow decision.
Team: Blair Academy 8-6
132: No. 6 Joey McKenna vs. No. 3 Dean Heil
McKenna, ranked No. 9 overall in the junior class, is a two-time National Prep champion, and in the last off-season was a FILA Cadet freestyle champion and a Junior National freestyle runner-up. However, he sustained an injury at FILA Cadet Worlds, returned at the POWERade down at 126, but has been up in this weight since. The senior Heil, ranked No. 14 overall in the Class of 2013, is prohibitively favored to win his fourth state title in four weeks time. The prediction is for Heil to win a narrow decision.
Team: St. Edward 9-8
138: No. 6 Mason Manville vs. No. 17 Colin Heffernan
Both wrestlers placed at the Walsh Ironman in early December, Manville second and Heffernan fifth, though the wrestlers did not meet. The freshman Manville is ranked No. 3 overall in his grade, and already placed third at 152 in last year's Minnesota state tournament while competing at Apple Valley. Heffernan placed fourth at 120 in last year's state tournament. Look for Manville to win a low-scoring decision in this match.
Team: Blair Academy 11-9
145: No. 12 Dylan Milonas vs. No. 3 Edgar Bright
Both competitors are elite wrestlers in their respective grade, Bright is No. 17 in the Class of 2013, while Milonas is No. 22 in the Class of 2014. At the Ironman this year, Bright was champion, while Milonas was third, though the wrestlers did not meet. The Pitt bound Bright is a three-time state placer, finishing as runner-up the last two years, while Milonas is has finished runner-up at National Preps the last two years. Look for Bright to earn a decision victory in a competitive match.
Team: St. Edward 12-11
152: No. 5 Russ Parsons vs. No. 9 Markus Scheidel
These senior grapplers are among the best overall in the Class of 2013, Parsons is ranked No. 22, while Scheidel comes in at No. 61. At the Ironman, Parsons was champion, while Scheidel took seventh. Last offseason, Parsons was seventh in Junior freestyle at 152 pounds, while Scheidel failed to place in that same weight class. Look for Parsons to win an extremely tight bout.
Team: Blair Academy 14-12
160: Jack Wedholm vs. Ray Barr/Robbie Rogers
The senior Wedholm was a low-placer in each of Blair Academy's three major December tournaments -- Ironman, Beast of the East, and POWERade. St. Edward will have one of two first-year starters in this weight, and it would behoove them to place the wrestler they perceive as better here in the quest of trying to poach the dual meet. However, the prediction is that Wedholm will wrestle Rogers, and get the narrow decision none the less.
Team: Blair Academy 17-12
170: Patrick Coover vs. Barr/Rogers
The junior Coover was a National Prep champion last year, and enters this match having placed at all three December tournaments. He is the strong favorite in this match, with bonus points a possibility for the Blair grappler.
Team: Blair Academy 20-12
182: Addison Knepshield vs. No. 2 Domenic Abounader
The senior Knepshield placed fourth at National Preps in 2011, before suffering through an injury-riddled junior campaign. This season he was fourth at both the Ironman and Beast of the East, before finishing as runner-up at the POWERade. The Michigan-bound Abounader is already a two-time state champion, and is ranked No. 19 overall in the Class of 2013. He is favored to win a convincing decision in this bout, with the Eagles begging for bonus points.
Team: Blair Academy 20-15
195: No. 3 Frank Mattiace vs. Gabe Dzuro
This is a rematch of the Walsh Ironman final, which was won by a 10-0 major decision in favor of the Penn-bound Mattiace. In this dual meet situation, the junior Dzuro will be seeking to shrink the margin of this match. Mattiace, ranked No. 37 overall in the Class of 2013, will be looking to maximize the margin for Blair Academy.
Team: Blair Academy 23-15
220: David Showunmi vs. Parker Knapp
This is a match featuring a pair of sophomore wrestlers that will emerge to be stars over the next two years. The two wrestlers met in the match-to-place at the Ironman, with Showunmi earning an 11-5 decision on the way to placing seventh. Look for the same wrestler to emerge victorious, but by a title margin. St. Edward will be hoping to see the Knapp who beat two Illinois placers at the Dvorak, as opposed to the one who struggled two weekends ago at St. Paris Graham.
Team: Blair Academy 26-15
285: No. 2 Brooks Black vs. Ralph Nichols
The senior Black has already won three Ironman titles, and is after a third National Prep title. Last year in this dual meet, Black earned a win by fall, and he will be seeking to do the same against the Eagles' junior opponent.
Team: Blair Academy 32-15
Conclusion: Blair Academy is projected again to win nine of the weight classes. There are opportunities for Blair Academy to make this a true whitewash. However, through upsets and/or some lineup flexibility, St. Edward can make this a very tight dual meet. The path to winning the dual for St. Edward is very narrow, as they probably need eight wins with Blair Academy almost assuredly getting bonus points at 120 and 285.
InterMat will be providing updates during the day at St. Edward through the twitter of high school analyst Josh Lowe (@JoshMLowe), and a recap story after the event.
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