On the last two days of the year 2010, seven of the nation's top 14 teams (and eight of the top 25) will travel to Kaukauna, Wisconsin for the Cheesehead Invitational. The pool-to-bracket format will serve as a thorough examination of all the wrestlers in the 25-team field. In addition to the high volume of matches for each wrestler, there will be many high quality matches with 29 weight class ranked wrestlers in the field -- and multiple others that reside outside the rankings but are formidable in their own right.
This will be the second of the three major tests for No. 1 Apple Valley, Minnesota on their schedule this year. The Eagles past their first test with flying colors, as they separated from a Minnesota Christmas Tournament field featuring three nationally-ranked teams. And they did so without one of their eight ranked wrestlers in the lineup.
Joining Apple Valley in the tournament lineup this week is No. 3 Blair Academy, New Jersey; No. 5 Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania; No. 8 Simley, Minnesota; No. 10 Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin; No. 12 Marmion Academy, Illinois; No. 14 Clovis, California; and No. 25 Montini Catholic, Illinois. Blair Academy finished second at the Ironman and won the Beast of the East, Wyoming Seminary was third at the Ironman and second at the Beast of the East, Simley was second at the Minesota Christmas Tournament, while Marmion Academy was fourth at the Ironman and champions of the Dvorak.
The nation's No. 1 Class of 2011 recruit Destin McCauley (Apple Valley, Minnesota) -- also ranked first in the country at 152 pounds -- is part of the tournament's feature weight class. Three other nationally-ranked wrestlers are slated to appear in this weight class: No. 6 Stephen Robertson (Montini Catholic, Illinois), No. 18 Jonathan Rivera (Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia), and No. 19 Eric Morris (Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania). Robertson was second at the Ironman and champion at the Dvorak; Rivera was runner-up at the Super 32 Challenge; while Morris was fourth at the Ironman and second at the Beast of the East.
Below is a listing of the other nationally-ranked wrestlers in the tournament field:
103: No. 6 Joey McKenna (Blair Academy, New Jersey), No. 16 Kyle Gliva (Simley, Minnesota), and No. 17 Johnny Jimenez (Marmion Academy, Illinois)
112: No. 6 Jered Cortez (Marmion Academy, Illinois) and No. 19 Jordan Kingsley (Apple Valley, Minnesota)
119: No. 8 Dominick Malone (Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania) and No. 9 Caleb Richardson (Blair Academy, New Jersey)
125: No. 3 Mark Grey (Blair Academy, New Jersey) and No. 13 Dakota Trom (Apple Valley, Minnesota)
130: No. 3 Ben Whitford (Marmion Academy, Illinois), No. 9 Todd Preston (Blair Academy, New Jersey), and No. 12 Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minnesota)
135: No. 2 Austin Ormsbee (Blair Academy, New Jersey), No. 9 Matt Kelliher (Apple Valley, Minnesota), and No. 11 Jameson Oster (Lockport, Illinois)
140: No. 4 Jake Sueflohn (Arrowhead, Wisconsin), No. 6 Jake Short (Simley, Minnesota), and No. 10 Brandon Kingsley (Apple Valley, Minnesota)
145: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (Port Washington, Wisconsin)
160: No. 4 Steve Keogh (Apple Valley, Minnesota)
171: No. 6 Jake Waste (Apple Valley, Minnesota) and No. 12 Zach Nevills (Clovis, California)
189: No. 4 Devin Peterson (Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin)
285: No. 5 Brooks Black (Blair Academy, New Jersey) and No. 18 Terrance Jean-Jacques (Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania)
POWERade packs strong punch
The 44th annual POWERade Christmas Wrestling Tournament, hosted by Canon-McMillan High School (just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), has one of its strongest fields yet with seven teams ranked in the InterMat Fab50 and 22 individuals nationally ranked in their respective weight classes.
No. 16 Central Dauphin, Pennsylvania has won the tournament each of the last three years and is the highest ranked team in the 44-team field this year. Last year's runner-up No. 21 Collins Hill, Georgia is the second of the seven ranked teams in this field. The others include: No. 28 Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pennsylvania; No. 30 Christiansburg, Virginia; No. 32 LaSalle, Pennsylvania; No. 35 Burrell, Pennsylvania; and No. 42 Canon-McMillan, Pennsylvania.
Heading the individual stories this year is the quest of Nico Megaludis (Franklin Regional, Pennsylvania) to become only the third-ever wrestler to win four POWERade championships. Megaludis -- ranked No. 1 nationally at 125 pounds -- would join Ty Moore (North Allegheny, Pennsylvania) and Marshall Peppelman (Central Dauphin, Pennsylvania) to accomplish the feat. The best potential spoiler in the 125-pound weight class bracket would be No. 9 Geoff Alexander (Shady Side Academy, Pennsylvania).
Two other individuals in the tournament field are on pace to win POWERade championships every year of their high school career: Jimmy Gulibon (Derry Area, Pennsylvania) and Cody Wiercioch (Charleroi, Pensylvania). Gulibon, a junior and ranked No. 1 in the country at 119 pounds, has another nationally-ranked wrestler in his weight class -- No. 7 Joey Dance (Christiansburg, Virginia). Wiercicoh, a sophomore ranked No. 3 in the country at 160 pounds, has two other nationally-ranked wrestlers in the weight class; however No. 2 Jason Luster (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pennsylvania) and No. 12 Travis McKillop (Burrell, Pennsylvania) are slated to meet in the semifinal round.
There are two very notable freshmen wrestlers in this year's field, both are ranked in the top five for the Class of 2014 but neither enters the tournament as a seed -- Chance Marseller (Kennard-Dale, Pennsylvania) at 152 pounds and Solomon Chisko (Canon-McMillan, Pennsylvania) at 130 pounds. These two wrestlers are ranked first and fifth in the freshman class.
For a complete listing of all the preliminary seeds, check out http://poweradewrestling.com
Below is a listing of the other nationally-ranked wrestlers in the tournament field:
103: No. 20 Sean Russell (Collins Hill, Georgia)
112: No. 3 Conner Schram (Canon-McMillan, Pennsylvania) and No. 9 J.R. Wert (Christiansburg, Virginia)
130: No. 5 Johnni DiJulius (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio) and No. 20 Solomon Chisko (Canon-McMillan, Pennsylvania)
135: No. 3 Nate Skonieczny (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio) and No. 16 Ty Lydic (Greater Latrobe, Pennsylvania)
140: No. 3 Evan Henderson (Kiski Prep, Pennsylvania), No. 13 Travis Shaffer (Greater Latrobe, Pennsylvania), and No. 18 Matt Cimato (LaSalle, Pennsylvania)
145: No. 8 Pete Baldwin (Osceola, Florida), No. 13 Robert Henderson (Kiski Prep, Pennsylvania), and No. 18 Nick Catalano (Canon-McMillan, Pennsylvania)
152: No. 10 Chance Marsteller (Kennard-Dale, Pennsylvania)
189: No. 5 Kenny Courts (Central Dauphin, Pennsylvania)
Garden State Delights
While high-profile individual bracket tournaments are not that big a thing in the state of New Jersey, an exception can be found at Wednesday's Mustang Classic hosted by Brick Memorial High School (postponed from today due to weather issues). The 17-team event features two nationally-ranked teams -- No. 20 High Point, New Jersey, and No. 48 Timber Creek, New Jersey. Also present in the field are seven other teams listed by The Star-Ledger as title contenders in their respective classifications: Southern Regional, Brick Memorial, Ocean Township, Delsea Regional, Paulsboro, St. Peter's Prep, and Delbarton.
The following wrestlers are nationally ranked and/or finished in the top six at the single-class New Jersey state tournament last year:
125: No. 14 Nick Francavilla (High Point) and Kyle Casaletto (Southern Regional)
135: No. 5 Jeff Canfora (Delbarton) and Anthony Perotti (West Essex)
140: No. 11 Devon Gobbo (Delbarton)
160: No. 14 John Guzzo (High Point)
171: No. 19 Ethan Orr (High Point) and Colin Hewitt (Franklin Regional)
189: No. 10 James Fox (St. Peter's Prep)
285: No. 17 William Smith (High Point)
Also in the state of New Jersey today -- at least still on the schedule as of Sunday - is a big triangular match starting at 10:00 a.m. EST matching three of the preseason favorites in their respective classification -- according to The Star-Ledger -- against each other. David Brearley, the favorites in Group 2, will play host to No. 31 Jackson Memorial and Don Bosco Prep. Both Jackson Memorial and Don Bosco won their groups last year and are favored to do so again; Jackson Memorial in Group 4 (big-school) and Don Bosco Prep in Non-Public Group A.
The dual meet docket on Thursday, December 30th features No. 40 South Plainfield (defending champions in Group 3) playing host to Washington Township at 1 p.m. Thursday's scheduled match involving No. 20 High Point (favorites in Group 3) travelling to No. 31 Jackson Memorial has been postponed to the end of January.
Buckeye State Battles
Other than the already held Walsh Ironman, this week features the two regular season tournaments with the best overall fields. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Medina Invitational Tournament will feature approximately 80 returning qualifiers from the Ohio State tournament; while on Wednesday and Thursday, the Brecksville Invitational Holiday Tournament will feature approximately 85 returning qualifiers from Ohio plus ten from the state of Georgia.
Five teams that finished in the top ten of the Ohio state tournament anchor the Medina field; including No. 6 St. Edward and No. 15 Massillon Perry, which finished second and third respectively in Division I (big-school) last year. The other two state runners-up in Ohio, CVCA and Oak Harbor, are also in the 41 team field while Olentangy rounds out the top ten teams.
The field also features six nationally-ranked wrestlers -- No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (CVCA) at 103 pounds, No. 18 Mitch Newhouse (Massillon Perry) and No. 19 Dean Heil (St. Edward) at 119, No. 2 Ian Miller (Oak Harbor) at 152, No. 8 Alex Utley (CVCA) at 189, and No. 11 Greg Kuhar (St. Edward) at 285. The featured weight classes will be those at 119 and 189 pounds, where multiple state finalists headline the field. At 119 pounds, Heil is the lone state champion, but he is joined by three state runners-up in Newhouse, Tyler Heminger (Galion Northmor) and Trevor Fiorucci (Oletangy). At 189 pounds, Utley is joined by two other wrestlers that also finished second in the state -- Sam Wheeler (Copley) and Kurt Schaefer (West Salem Northwestern) - to headline the weight class.
This year marks the 50th edition of the Brecksville tournament, and the field is headlined by a pair of Ohio state championship teams from last year -- No. 41 Wadsworth and Monroeville. Fifteen other schools (13 from Ohio) also finished in the top-ten of their respective state tournament classification standings. Wadsworth has won this tournament the last two years, and is favored to win it a third straight time, but should be challenged by a pair of teams that finished third in the state tournament last year -- Chanel, Ohio and Pope, Georgia.
Like Megaludis at the POWERade, No. 2 Cam Tessari (Monroeville, Ohio) seeks to become only the third four-time champion in event history; the first was Northwestern University head coach Drew Pariano, who wrestled at Fairview High School just outside of Cleveland. While there are likely to be three other state placers in this weight class -- Super 32 and Ironman placer Andrew Romanchik (Padua), Nate Ball (Wadsworth), and Danny Collier (Chanel) -- Tessari is very likely to continue his undefeated record in matches other than at the Ironman.
Two weight classes feature a pair of nationally-ranked wrestlers -- 189 and 215 pounds. At 189 pounds, it is No. 13 Ian Korb (Cincinnati Elder) and No. 18 Chaz Gresham (Goshen). Then, at 215 pounds, there is a pair of state champions in No. 6 Nick Tavanello (Wadsworth) and No. 9 Logan Erb (Wapakoneta). There is also potential for Korb and/or Gresham to be moving down to the 171-pound weight class, where they would run into No. 3 Chris Phillips (Monroeville).
Three wrestlers seek a third tournament championship this year -- No. 4 George DiCamillo (St. Ignatius) at 112 pounds, No. 1 Hunter Stieber (Monroeville) at 135, and Phillips. Should DiCamillo win the 112-pound weight class, he would be on pace to win a fourth Brecksville title next year. Two other nationally-ranked wrestlers in this field are No. 8 Kagan Squire (Wadsworth) at 125 and No. 18 Brent Fickel (Padua) at 130.
California Collision
On this coming Thursday, two nationally-ranked teams are slated to collide in a dual meet when No. 7 Bakersfield hosts No. 24 Oakdale at 6:00 p.m. PST (9:00 p.m. in the east).
The Oakdale lineup features six wrestlers with state tournament experience: Garrett Fortado (112), Tanner Feuerstein (130), Shane Tate (140), No. 19 David Ferry (145), Trent Noon (160), and AC Brown (189). The Bakersfield lineup has nine wrestlers with state tournament experience: Ian Nickell (119), Micah Cruz (130), Natrelle Deminson (135), Maxx Ramirez (140), Timmy Box (145), Coleman Hammond (152), Adam Fierro (160), No. 4 Bryce Hammond (171), and Silas Nacita (189).
National rankings updated
Be sure to check out the updated national weight class rankings, which are now posted and were used to write the previews for the events listed above. Also, read the separate article discussing the weight class rankings update.
Young Cadets make statement at Dvorak
Working their way through a 29-team Dvorak Memorial field that featured four other nationally-ranked teams, No. 12 Marmion Academy, Illinois asserted their present and future strength as they won the tournament scoring 204-1/2 points with a trio of champions. All of this came with starting only one senior, Eddie Breen at 152 pounds who did not even place, and without the presence of Jered Cortez at 112 pounds.
Winning titles for the Cadets were freshmen Johnny Jimenez (103) and Bryce Brill (135), along with sophomore Ben Whitford (130); junior Angelo Silvestro (140) took second place, while George Fisher (119) and Eddie Greco (125) finished in fourth place. The 130-pound final featured a pair of nationally ranked defending state champions, that had earned pins in the three matches each had preceding the final. The championship final went 12-5 for Whitford to give Joey Gosinski (Glenbard North) his first loss since the consolation quarterfinal match of the 2009 state tournament. To win his title, Jimenez upset Cadet National freestyle champion Phillip Laux (Iowa City West, Iowa) 3-1.
No. 33 Crystal Lake Central, Illinois finished second with 199-1/2 points on the strength of four finalists and two others finishing inside the top four. Winning titles for the Tigers were the dynamic duo of upper-weights, Gage Harrah (189) and Austin Marsden (215). Harrah won the award for most falls in the least time, as he wasn't on the mat for even four minutes during his four matches, as all ended in first period falls. Marsden had three falls and a 17-5 major decision in dominating his bracket. Runners-up for Crystal Lake Central were Jason Fugiel (145) and Joey Kielbasa (152), Clayton Lutzow (130) finished third, while Trevor Jauch (140) finished fourth.
Third place in the standings was No. 9 Iowa City West, Iowa with 188 points; however, the Trojans were without a nationally-ranked wrestler in Elijah Sullivan at 140 pounds and Kegan Wakefield at 119 pounds, who is ranked third in the state of Iowa. Though not having a single champion, six Iowa City West wrestlers finished either second or third. Both runners-up were upset victims -- Phillip Laux falling 3-1 to Johnny Jimenez (Marmion Academy) at 103 pounds, and Justin Koethe falling 7-4 against Josh Anthony (Machesney Park Harlem) at 160 pounds. Third place finishers were Jack (125) and Garrett (145) Hathaway, Grady Gambrall (135), and Mickey Pelfrey (189).
Fourth place in the standings was No. 26 Glenbard North, Illinois with 179 points. The Panthers had a duo of champions -- Bryan Gonzalez (119) and Brian Murphy (140); Joey Gosinski (130) finished runner-up, while Johnny Gosinski (112) took third place honors. On the way to the title, Murphy defeated two-time state champion and Junior National freestyle All-American Trevor Jauch (Crystal Lake Central) 7-4 in the semifinal before dominating Angelo Silvestro (Marmion Academy) 7-2 in the final.
Fifth of the nationally-ranked teams in this field, No. 25 Montini Catholic, Illinois finished fifth with 161-1/2 points as they are building slowly off of their football team's state title. The Broncos were also without the presence of state champion Kevon Powell at 119 pounds. Lone champion for the Broncos was Stephen Robertson, who defeated Joey Kielbasa 3-2 at 152 pounds. This match featured a pair of two-time state champions going against one another, and the victory was Robertson's third over a top ten ranked wrestler this month. Four other Broncos finished inside the top four; Dimitri Willis (160) and Ross Ferraro (285) finished third, while Drew Vrbenec (135) and Edgar Ruano (215) taking home fourth place.
Rounding out the weight class champions were Jared Parvinmehr (112) from Barrington, returning state runners-up Eddie Klimara (125) and Edwin Cooper (145) from Providence Catholic, Josh Anthony (160) from Machesney Park Harlem, state champion Jahwon Akui (171) from St. Rita, and Tom Howell (285) from Marist.
Other highlights of the week
A pair of nationally-ranked teams -- No. 27 Springstead, Florida and No. 49 Oviedo, Florida -- anchors the 28-team field at the 9th annual Zac Jarzynka Memorial Ironman hosted by Oviedo. Eight other teams that finished in the top ten of their state tournaments are present in the field.
Watch for a potential matchup of top-tier 152-pound wrestlers at the Lincoln Tournament just outside of Chicago. This would be a match placing state champion, and two-time state finalist, No. 4 Max Schneider (Lane Tech, Illinois) against two-time state champion No. 7 Joey Kielbasa (Crystal Lake Central, Illinois). No. 33 Crystal Lake Central should dominate the 24-team field.
Three nationally-ranked teams -- No. 39 Francis Howell Central, Missouri, No. 44 Minooka, Illinois, and No. 47 Neosho, Missouri -- headline the 24-team field at the Granite City Holiday Tournament. The featured weight of this tournament is at 130 pounds with a pair of nationally-ranked wrestlers, No. 4 Cody Brewer (Oak Park, Missouri) and No. 8 Zane Richards (Carbondale, Illinois). Other nationally-ranked wrestlers include No. 15 Noah Teaney (Oak Park, Missouri) at 103 pounds, No. 9 Terrell Wilbourn (Francis Howell Central, Missouri), No. 17 Dylan Reel (Washington, Illinois), and No. 9 Sam Brooks (Oak Park River Forest, Illinois).
Three of the four top ranked teams in the state of Michigan (according to MichiganGrappler.com) -- No. 13 St. John's, No. 38 Detroit Catholic Central, and Dundee -- will be at the Goodrich Tournament of Champions on Thursday. Also in the field will be three other teams ranked in the top ten of their respective classifications: Hesperia, Greenville, and Springport. The 135-pound weight class will feature three wrestlers ranked first in the state -- Alec Mooradian (Detroit Catholic Central), Joey White (Dundee), ad Jordan Bosma (Hesperia). Other nationally-ranked wrestlers in the field include No. 12 Zac Hall (St. John's) at 103 pounds, No. 8 Jacob Schmitt (St. John's) at 112, No. 17 Joe Rendina (Dundee) at 130, No. 1 Taylor Massa (St. John's) at 160, No. 7 Jordan Thomas (Greenville) at 171, and No. 15 Justin Heiserman (Dundee) at 189.
No. 16 Easton, Pennsylvania will headline the 15-team field at the Manheim Holiday Wrestling Tournament. The Red Rovers will be seeking their 11th championship in the last twelve years at the event. Most likely to challenge Easton will be Reynolds, Pennsylvania and Robinson, Virginia. Top wrestlers in the field include No. 2 Mason Beckman (Reynolds) at 125 pounds and No. 14 Mitch Minotti (Easton) at 145 pounds.
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