Drew Garcia of Detroit Catholic Central remains undefeated this season No. 12 Detroit Catholic Central clears four-day examination without a blemish
After winning seven dual meets in four days, five of them over top fifteen teams in the state of Michigan, Detroit Catholic Central moves up four positions to 12th nationally. The stretch started on Wednesday night when they dominated Rochester, ranked 15th statewide per Michigan Grappler, and Rockford by 62-9 and 66-10 scores respectively.
Then, on Friday afternoon they upended Davison -- ranked third statewide and previously part of the InterMat Fab 50 -- by a 44-23 score. Probably the key match in the dual meet was when 2011 state champion Logan Marcicki pinned Davison's Jordan Cooks, a state champion this past year, in the second period at 160 pounds. That result in the second match of the dual meet sparked a string of five consecutive Shamrocks victories and essentially sealed the dual meet. Davison was without two-time state champion Justin Oliver (130), who is out indefinitely due to injury.
On Saturday, the Shamrocks traveled to Holland for the Tim Horn Duals. In the first three matches, they upended East Kentwood 74-6, then defeated Allegan -- ranked 13th statewide -- by a 54-16 score, and defeated Hartland -- ranked 11th statewide -- by a 55-16 score. This set up a dual match with No. 9 St. Johns, which ended in a 7-7 split with Detroit Catholic Central earning a 33-31 upset victory.
That dual meet started at 135 pounds -- Michigan uses the "old" weight classes -- and not well for the Shamrocks. They forfeited to No. 7 (at 132) Jacob Schmitt, as No. 16 (at 126) Ken Bade was injured in earlier match; then No. 11 (at 138) Logan Massa earned a victory by disqualification at 140. DCC got on the board with a 5-1 decision victory for Chris Naubert at 145, before Josh Pennell and No. 2 (at 152) Ben Whitford answered back with decision victories at 152 and 160 to extend the Redwings advantage to 18-3.
Drew Garcia responded with a 3-1 decision victory over Cadet double All-American Angus Arthur to reduce the DCC deficit to 18-6. No. 12 (at 195) Payne Hayden answered with a 12-4 major decision at 189, before DCC used pins from Jay Peterson and Bob Coe to reduce the deficit to 22-15 at the turn. Ian Parker gave St. Johns a 28-15 lead with a pin at 103 before consecutive pins from Zack Prater, Trevor Zdebski, and Evan Toth gave the Shamrocks the lead for good heading into the last match. No. 4 (at 126) Zac Hall needed a pin in order to win the dual meet for St. Johns, but all he could muster was an 11-8 decision over Myles Amine at 125.
Fab 50 welcomes and adieus
The third full weekend of high school wrestling was a full docket with big events across the country. Four new teams enter, and obviously four teams exit. Two of those teams enter based on success at the Reno Tournament of Champions. Tournament runners-up Poway, Calif. enter the rankings at No. 19, as the Titans had six wrestlers place in the top five. Pomona, Colo. joins the Fab 50 at No. 40 after placing fourth in the tournament, and also had six wrestlers place. Read recap.
After an impressive Kansas City Stampede, in which they had a tournament-high seven wrestlers within the top eight, Park Hill, Mo. enters the Fab 50 at No. 36. The Trojans placed fourth in the tournament and were led by champion Ke-Shawn Hayes at 113 pounds, the No. 7 wrestler in the country defeated No. 4 Sean Russell (Collins Hill, Ga.) 3-1 in overtime. Read recap.
Also joining the Fab 50 is Cedar Rapids Prairie, Iowa, after finishing second in the Battle of Waterloo dual meet tournament this weekend. The Hawks beat a solid Waverly-Shell Rock squad 32-28 to win Pool B on Friday and advance to the first-place round-robin on Saturday. There, they lost to No. 38 West Delaware Manchester 38-24, then beat previously ranked Davenport Assumption 32-22, and finally beat Linn-Mar 41-21 for the second time in nine days. West Delaware Manchester ended up with the title at the tournament, as they also earned a 42-28 victory over Linn-Mar and a 34-26 win over Davenport Assumption.
The previous week, they beat No. 43 Bettendorf, Iowa 39-29 in the semifinal of the Five Seasons Duals, before losing to West Delaware Manchester 37-36 in the final. The high school also happens to be the alma mater of Wisconsin head coach Barry Davis and Oregon State head coach Jim Zalesky, and is on the ranking board at No. 50 this week.
Exiting the rankings this week are Davenport Assumption, Iowa; Shenendehowa, N.Y.; Davison, Mich.; and Omaha Burke, Neb. Shenendehowa was 21st at the Reno TOC with just two placers. Omaha Burke finished third at the Flatwater Fracas suffering a pair of dual meet losses, 36-33 to Cheyenne East, Neb. and 40-19 to Grand Island, Neb.
Marmion Academy has relatively successful examination
The Cadets, now ranked No. 24 nationally, swept three matches at their home quad meet on Saturday. In the opening match they defeated Plainfield Central, which is ranked No. 13 in Class 3A (big-school) per Illinois Matmen, by a 47-9 score. The second match was a 39-16 victory over Luxemburg-Casco, Wis., which is top ranked in Division II per Wisconsin Wrestling Online. Then, in the main event, they pulled off a 29-24 upset victory over Marist, which has now dropped to No. 28 in the Fab 50 (were No. 21 last week).
The dual meet started at 160 pounds, which should have been an ominous sign for Marmion. It looked to be that when the Red Hawks opened up a 12-0 lead after a technical fall from state placer Peter Andreotti in his first week of competition after a football injury, a major decision from state placer Alex Benoit, and a decision from sophomore Ethan Benoit. However, Marmion bounced back with three upset victories to cut the deficit to 12-9 at the turn; Cody Snodgrass beat state placer Josh Pruitt 5-2, freshman Ethan Warren beat state placer Josh Hickey 7-4, and Alex Fritz beat two-time state qualifier Tom Howell 3-2.
State placer Anthony Bosco tied up the dual meet with a 5-2 victory over Cadet freestyle runner-up Nick Lukanich. Then, Marmion jumped out to the lead with a decision victory from freshman A.J. Jaffe. No. 6 Johnny Jimenez extended the Cadets lead to 21-12 with a pin at 120 over two-time state placer Mark Duda. David Kasper countered with a pin for Marist to stop the bleeding, but it wouldn't last long as No. 14 George Fisher answered back with a technical fall of his own. Marist responded back with a pair of decisions from Mario Leveille and Matt Sears to cut the deficit to 26-24 before the last match, where Ricky DeMoss was the hero at 152 pounds for Marmion with a 7-2 victory over Jakada Hull.
All this came two nights after No. 10 Montini Catholic hosted Marmion Academy, and came up with a 37-19 victory as the Broncos won nine of the fourteen matches. This dual meet also started at 160 pounds, and the Broncos started with four wins and led 22-3 at the turn. Key dynamics in the early portion of the dual were the season debut of state placer Michael Maduko yielding a 7-5 overtime victory at 170 pounds for Montini; Snodgrass failing to make weight at 195 for Marmion, which enabled John Embry to score a pin for the Broncos against a reserve; and Montini's Edgar Ruano earning an 8-2 victory at 285 pounds.
After the turn, Marmion picked up wins from freshman Dylan Duncan at 106 pounds, No. 6 Jimenez at 120 by 9-3 decision over Vincent Turk, a forfeit for No. 14 Fisher at 132, and a 3-2 victory from Riley DeMoss in the finale at 152 over state qualifier Lucas Fortuna. Montini flexed No. 19 (at 120) Jordan Laster up to 126, where he scored a technical fall.
The coming week in the Fab 50
Eleven nationally ranked teams, as well as 53 ranked individuals, feature in the 20th annual Beast of the East on Saturday and Sunday. Those teams include Blair Academy, N.J., and Wyoming Seminary, Pa. -- the top two squads in the country. A full preview will be posted on Friday, with comprehensive coverage during and after the event.
Five nationally ranked teams, led by No. 3 St. Edward, Ohio, are among those in the Dvorak Invitational on Saturday and Sunday north of Chicago. A full event preview will be posed mid-week.
No. 7 Brandon, Fla. and No. 48 Pope, Ga., are among 24 squads competing the Kyle Maynard Duals on Saturday at Collins Hill, Ga. The event starts with eight pools of three teams each, two dual meets will be staged in that format. Afterwards, three tiers of 8-team brackets will be formed for the remaining three dual meets. Arguably the biggest individual match of the day could come in the pool stage with No. 3 Brooks Climmons (Pope) and No. 18 Chip Ness (Buford, Ga.) facing off at 182 pounds.
While their football team, ranked No. 6 nationally in the most recent Rivals rankings and including two nationally ranked wrestlers, competes for a state title on Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium, No. 14 Allen, Texas will continue their traveling ways with a trip to Buchanan High School outside of Fresno, Calif. for the Zinkin Classic on Friday and Saturday. Notable teams in the field include No. 13 Clovis, Calif., Clovis West, Calif., Gilroy, Calif., Lemoore, Calif., and Green Valley, Nev. The clear possible primo match in this tournament is at 160 pounds, where No. 2 Isaiah Martinez (Lemoore, Calif.) and No. 3 Bo Nickal (Allen, Tex.) are present.
Last night, No. 32 South Plainfield, N.J., and No. 41 Bergen Catholic, N.J., competed in a dual meet, with South Plainfield winning eight weight classes in a 40-26 victory. Also, tomorrow evening, No. 45 Glenbard North, Ill., plays host to No. 15 Carl Sandburg, Ill. in dual meet competition.
With the Indiana High School Athletic Association electing to eliminate the dual meet state tournament, the state coaches association (IHSWCA) stepped up to the plate to implement an unofficial state dual meet event. Even though the state tournament is a single-class event, the IHSWCA state dual meet invitation will be split into three enrollment-based classifications. The clear anchor team in the event at Westfield High School is No. 26 Perry Meridian, which competes in the 3A tournament. View pre-brackets. Track Wrestling will cover the event on Saturday.
OPRF outlasts Carl Sandburg at Rex Whitlach Invitational
The two top teams in Illinois' Class 3A convened at Hinsdale Central this past Friday and Saturday for the Rex Whitlach Invitational. After two days of competition, the pair of teams earned half the weight class titles and over 40 percent of the top three place finishers. They were also separated by less than ten points; No. 11 Oak Park River Forest outlasted No. 15 Carl Sandburg 286-1/2 to 278.
Five wrestlers earned weight class titles for the team champion Huskies -- state runner-up Matt Rundell (120), state third Larry Early (132), state qualifier Johnny Gahagan (145), state third No. 18 Davonte Mahomes (160), and state qualifier Joe Ariola (182). They had one runner-up and two additional wrestlers take third place.
The runner-up Eagles were led by a pair of weight class champions -- No. 14 Colin Holler (170), a three-time state placer, and No. 5 (at 182) Ricky Robertson, a Junior National double All-American who won the 195 pound weight class. Two additional wrestlers placed second, with another six earning third place.
Other weight class champions were freshman Rudy Yates (Brother Rice), ranked No. 17 nationally, at 106; two-time state placer Zac Denny (Machesney Park Harlem) at 113; state champion Jordan Northrup (Machesney Park Harlem) at 126; state runner-up Cullen Cummings (Downers Grove North) at 138; Nate Higgins (Belleville West) at 152; state qualifier Luke Roth (Naperville Central) at 220; and two-time state third Brian Allen (Hinsdale Central), ranked No. 10 nationally, at 285.
Hermiston outlasts field at Tri-State Invitational
No. 39 Hermiston, Ore., outlasted a large field of excellent teams from the Pacific Northwest to win the Tri-State Invitational this past weekend hosted at Northern Idaho College in Cour d'Alene, Idaho. They scored 222 points led by four weight class champions in Isaac Aguilar (120), No. 16 Tyler Berger (138), Abraham Rodriguez (160), and Samuel Colbray (195).
Second place with a pair of champions in Casey Cobb (113) and Michael Cook (126) was Kuna, Id. with 205 points. Third in the standings with 169-1/2 points was Mead, Wash. led by their lone champion Chandler Rodgers (170), who is ranked No. 11 nationally.
Additional weight class champions were Cole Rohan (La Grande, Ore.) at 98 pounds, Alius De La Rosa (Post Falls, Idaho) at 106, Bryce Parson (Lewiston, Idaho) at 132, Joe Grable (Deer Park, Wash.) at 145, Izaec Quintanilla (North Central, Idaho) at 152, No. 12 (at 170) Ryan Christensen (Woodville, Wash.) at 182, Matt Hopkins (Tahoma, Wash.) at 220, and No. 19 Brandon Johnson (Lake Stevens, Wash.) at 285
Clash XI brackets unveiled
The first day brackets for the Clash XI National High School Wrestling Duals to be held in Rochester, Minn. on December 28 and 29 were released on Sunday afternoon. Four eight-team brackets determine the second day round-robins of four teams that placed in the same position on the first day. The top seeds were No. 5 St. Michael-Albertville, Minn., No. 7 Brandon, Fla., No. 4 Apple Valley, Minn., and No. 15 Carl Sandburg, Ill.
A full preview and analysis will be released after the Christmas holiday. All brackets are listed on http://www.clashmn.org.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now