Coming into the weekend, much was made of No. 1 Apple Valley, Minnesota and their quest for a national championship. It was said that if they were able to win this tournament -- with the probability of a main event head-on dual meet against No. 4 Brandon, Florida -- that the national title would be theirs. Prior to that main event dual, Apple Valley had to win five other matches to set it up.
In their Friday morning bracket, the Eagles lost only three total matches in upending Neuqua Valley, Illinois, 66-7, and Vacaville, California, 68-6, to set up their bracket championship match against No. 39 Bettendorf, Iowa. Against the first of four nationally-ranked teams they would see on the weekend, it was another clinical domination, as Apple Valley won eleven of the weight classes in a 47-9 victory.
To open the championship round-robin, Apple Valley took 12 of 14 weight classes against No. 48 Carl Sandburg, Illinois in a 55-9 victory. Then it was a match against No. 6 Simley, Minnesota -- where Apple Valley would take nine of the weight classes in a 42-20 victory. Prior to the head-on collision with Apple Valley, Brandon had wins over the following five opponents: 55-6 over Stewartville, Minnesota (12 matches won); 48-12 over Owatonna, Minnesota (10 matches won); 43-18 over No. 35 Glenbard North, Illinois (10 matches won); 40-23 over No. 6 Simley, Minnesota (nine matches won); and 37-24 over No. 48 Carl Sandburg, Illinois (nine matches won).
With the final dual meet starting at 140, circumstances favored Apple Valley, as that meant the match started with part of their "murderous middle" and with a couple of Brandon's not as strong wrestlers. An opening pin for No. 10 Brandon Kingsley (140) and a 6-3 decision win for Daniel Woiwor (145) gave Apple Valley a 9-0 lead heading into the first pair of ranked wrestler vs. ranked wrestler matches. Both of these would go in the favor of Apple Valley -- No. 1 Destin McCauley (152) with an 8-5 decision over No. 13 Clark Glass, and No. 4 Steven Keogh (160) with a 1-0 decision over No. 6 Wally Figaro. After the 3-1 decision by No. 6 Jake Waste (171) over Kyle Koziel, it was an 18-0 lead for Apple Valley.
Brandon would finally get on the board with wins from Mike Ettore (189) and Lorenzo Martinez (215) to reduce the deficit to 18-7. However, a four-pack of wins from Matt Hechsel (285), Seth Gross (103), No. 19 Jordan Kingsley (112), and Stephen Mincey (119) extended the Apple Valley lead out to 34-7 and made the last three matches -- which placed nationally-ranked wrestlers against one another -- immaterial from the team perspective.
Nonetheless, Brandon won all three of those matches to close down the dual meet final score to 34-16. No. 11 Kevin Norstrem (125) defeated No. 13 Dakota Trom, 6-4, No. 13 Rossi Bruno (130) defeated No. 12 Mark Hall, 5-3, while No. 4 Tyler Liberatore (135) defeated No. 9 Matt Kelliher, 7-3. At the same time, Simley defeated Carl Sandburg, 41-16, to take third in the championship round-robin.
Final Standings for other round-robins on Saturday evening:
Second Place: No. 39 Bettendorf, Iowa 3-0; No. 35 Glenbard North, Illinois 2-1; No. 13 Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa 1-2; No. 46 Montini Catholic, Illinois 0-3
Third Place: No. 10 Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin 3-0; Vacaville, California 2-1; No. 45 St. Michael-Albertville, Minnesota 1-2; Owatonna, Minnesota 0-3
Fourth Place: No. 42 Kasson-Mantorville, Minnesota 3-0; Hastings, Minnesota 2-1; No. 21 Roseburg, Oregon 1-2; No. 44 Grand Island, Nebraska 0-3
Champions of round-robins on Saturday morning: Fifth Place -- Forest Lake, Minnesota; Sixth Place -- Albert Lea, Minnesota; Seventh Place -- Frazee, Minnesota; Eighth Place -- Mount Carmel, Illinois
Summary of dual meets involving ranked teams defeated on Friday:
Bracket A -- No. 39 Bettendorf over No. 21 Roseburg 33-28 (7-7 matches), No. 1 Apple Valley over No. 39 Bettendorf 47-9, Vacaville over No. 21 Roseburg 37-27 (8-6 matches)
Bracket B -- No. 35 Glenbard North over No. 44 Grand Island 48-21 (10-4 matches), No. 4 Brandon over No. 35 Glenbard North 43-18, Owatonna 31-27 over No. 44 Grand Island (7-7 matches)
Bracket C -- No. 48 Carl Sandburg over No. 10 Wisconsin Rapids 30-24 (9-5 matches/including 6-0 in those decided by two points or less), No. 46 Montini Catholic over No. 42 Kasson-Mantorville 33-24 (8-6 matches), No. 48 Carl Sandburg over No. 46 Montini Catholic 30-27 (7-7 matches), No. 10 Wisconsin Rapids over No. 42 Kasson-Mantorville 38-26 (8-6 matches)
Bracket D -- No. 13 Waverly-Shell Rock over No. 45 St. Michael-Albertville 32-24 (7-7 matches), No. 6 Simley over No. 13 Waverly-Shell Rock 34-28 (7-7 matches)
The following wrestlers were selected to the all-tournament team (all went 6-0 for the tournament):
103 -- Jon Marmelejo (Glenbard North, Illinois); 112 -- Juan Torres (Simley, Minnesota); 119 -- No. 14 Eric Devos (Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa); 125 -- No. 11 Kevin Norstrem (Brandon, Florida); 130 -- No. 13 Rossi Bruno (Brandon, Florida); 135 -- No. 4 Tyler Liberatore (Brandon, Florida); 140 -- No. 10 Brandon Kingsley (Apple Valley, Minnesota); 145 -- No. 4 (at 140) Jake Sueflohn (Arrowhead, Wisconsin); 152 -- No. 1 Destin McCauley (Apple Valley, Minnesota); 160 -- No. 4 Steven Keogh (Apple Valley, Minnesota); 171 -- Travis Mallo (Mason City, Iowa); 189 -- No. 4 Devin Peterson (Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin); 215 -- Nick Edling (St. Michael-Albertville, Minnesota); 285 -- No. 13 Chris Lopez (Carl Sandburg, Illinois)
For full information and results: http://www.trackwrestling.com/teamtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=396009
Clovis asserts Golden State superiority
Hosting the Doc Buchanan Invitational this past weekend, No. 9 Clovis, California was an unkind host in a showcase of the finest wrestling that California has to offer. The home squad dominated the team standings with 220 points on the strength of three champions, three second place finishers, and three other placers. Finishing second in the standings with seven placers, but just one champion in AC Brown (215) was No. 23 Oakdale, California with 140 points.
Champions for Clovis were Jonas (112) and Daniel (119) Gayton as well as freshman Nick Nevills (285). Daniel Gayton earned his title with a pin against No. 15 Stevan Knoblach of Clovis West, California in the championship match. Finishing second were Juan Salas (130), No. 12 Zach Nevills (171), and Dakota Gordon (189). Nevills lost in the final to No. 14 Nikko Reyes of Clovis West, California by a 5-3 score. In addition, Clovis had two non-point scoring extras place inside the top four at 160 and 189 respectively.
No school other than Clovis had multiple champions, and only three even placed two into the finals. Already mentioned, Clovis West had No. 15 Knoblach place second at 119 and No. 14 Reyes earned the championship at 171 with two victories over nationally-ranked wrestlers (beating Nevills in the final, and earning a second period pin against No. 9 (at 160) Justin Lozano of Selma in the semifinal). Oakdale had a titlist in Brown at 215, while Garrett Fortado placed second at 215. Lemoore, California had No. 14 Isaiah Martinez win the 140 pound weight class, while Steven Wood finished second at 285. Martinez was named the tournament's overall Outstanding Wrestler, and Reyes earned Outstanding Wrestler honors for upper-weights.
The featured bout of the championship round came at 125 pounds, where No. 4 Alex Cisneros of Selma, California defeated No. 6 Fabian Garcia of Turlock, California 4-3 in the tiebreaker with a last-second reversal on a standing switch. That performance earned Cisneros the Oustanding Wrestler award for lower-weights. Three other nationally-ranked wrestlers also won weight class titles. One of them was No. 7 Lucas Sheridan (189) of De La Salle, California, who also won the award for most falls in the least time (four in 11:19). Another was No. 18 Chris Mecate (135) of Redlands East Valley, California with a 6-4 overtime decision over Natrelle Demison of Bakersfield, California; Demison reached the final with 4-2 upset victory over No. 8 (at 140) Nick Pena of Selma, California. The third was No. 5 Vinny Waldhauser (160) of Oak Ridge, California.
Other weight class champions included Emilo Saveeda (103) of Pittman, California; Nicholas Villareal (130) of Gilroy, California; Michael Gonzalez (145) of Sultana, California; and Napoleon Aniciete (152) of Las Vegas, Nevada.
No. 7 Bakersfield, California finished in seventh place with 80 points; however, the Drillers were without the services of state placers Timmy Box (140/145) and Coleman Hammond (145/152), while No. 4 (at 171) Bryce Hammond won an early round match at 160 pounds before defaulting out with a minor injury.
Blue Knights traveling circus yields title
No. 8 Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania continued its seemingly never-ending journey high and wide through the United States for competition at the Virginia Duals this past weekend. For the second time, the Blue Knights stopped upon a championship as the won the National High School Division. In wrestling on Friday, Wyoming Seminary dominated Grassfield, Virginia and Camden Catholic, New Jersey amassing 21 victories from a possible 28 individual matches.
However, things got a little tighter on Saturday, when the Blue Knights depended upon victories in the last two weight classes to beat No. 40 South Plainfield, New Jersey and No. 27 Christiansburg, Virginia in the semifinal and final. The first 12 weight classes of the dual meet against South Plainfield were split 6-6, but Wyoming Seminary trailed 25-22. A 22-12 major decision from A.J. Vizcarrando (215) put the Blue Knights on top to stay, as No. 18 Terrance Jean-Jacques (285) sealed the deal with a first period fall. It was a similar scenario in the final, as Christiansburg had taken seven of the first 12 matches to lead 27-24 heading into the last two weight classes. This time it was Vizcarrando securing the first period fall, and then Jean-Jacques sealing the deal with a 5-2 decision.
Undefeated wrestlers for the title-winning Wyoming Seminary squad were Tyler Ponte (103), No. 8 Dominick Malone (119), Tyler Fraley (125), No. 19 Eric Morris (152), AJ Vizcarrando (215), and No. 18 Terrance Jean-Jacques (285).
It was a slightly tighter path to the final for the Blue Demons from Christiansburg, who defeated Middletown, Pennsylvania 39-30 (8-6 in matches), Timber Creek, New Jersey 35-24 (9-5), and No. 41 Nazareth, Pennsylvania 33-28 (8-6).
Finishing third was No. 41 Nazareth, who defeated No. 40 South Plainfield 30-28 in the third place match. Consolation semifinal losers were No. 26 Canon-McMillan, Pennsylvania and No. 31 Cox, Virginia. Canon-McMillan lost 30-23 in the quarterfinal to South Plainfield before being upended by Nazareth 32-26 in consolation action. Cox lost 35-27 to Nazareth in the quarterfinal before being upended 37-29 by South Plainfield in consolation action.
For full National Division results: http://www.trackwrestling.com/teamtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=401009
Pair of No. 1s put on a classic at WCCA
Though it was an unexpected event, it quickly became one of the most anticipated regular season matches in recent history. Ranked first in the country at 119 pounds, Jimmy Gulibon from Derry Area, Pennsylvania decided to move up one weight class for this past weekend's Westmoreland County Coaches Association Wrestling Tournament. Normally this would be no big deal; however, in the 125 pound weight class at this tournament was Nico Megaludis of Franklin Regional, Pennsylvania. Like Gulibon, Megaludis is the No. 1 wrestler in the nation at his weight class.
The pair of wrestlers dominated their way to the finals with four technical falls, one pin, and one bye between them. In the championship match, it was Megaludis winning 4-3 with a takedown inside the last 30 seconds of the match. The victory, which happened to be in his home gym, made him a four-time WCCA champion.
Joining Megaludis as a four-time champion on this evening was No. 13 (at 140) Travis Shaffer of Derry Area who won the 145 pound weight class. Other nationally-ranked wrestlers to win weight class titles were No. 3 Evan Henderson (140) of Kiski Prep, No. 12 (at 145) Robert Henderson of Kiski Prep at 152, and No. 12 Travis McKillop (160) of Burrell.
Emerging on top in an incredibly close team race -- four teams from the 17 team field ended up within 16 points of one another -- was Greater Latrobe with 177-1/2 points. Even without a champion, they placed a tournament-high 11 wrestlers, five inside the top three. Hempfield was second with 174-1/2 points, No. 25 Burrell finished third with 162 points, while Franklin Regional was fourth with 161-1/2.
For full bracket/results: http://wrestlingreport.com/WCCA
Archbishop Spalding stands atop the competitive Battlefield
Sweeping seven dual meets over the course of two days saw Archbishop Spalding, Maryland to the championship at the 9th annual Marines.com Battlefield Duals jointly hosted by Colonial Forge and Hayfield High School in Stafford, Virginia. In pool competition, they were 5-0 including a key 35-31 victory over Robinson, Virginia. During the cross-pool portion, they earned a 27-21 victory over Colonial Forge, Virginia and a 45-21 victory over Connellsville, Pennsylvania.
Robinson, Colonial Forge, and Connellsville each went 5-2 for the competition to round out the Gold Division standings. After a 4-1 performance in pool competition, Robinson split their cross-pool matches; beating Connellsville 46-30 but falling short against Colonial Forge 30-25. Likewise, Colonial Forge went 4-1 in pool competition (losing 30-28 to Connellsville) and split their cross-pool matches with a victory over Robinson and loss to Archbishop Spalding. Connellsville was 5-0 in pool competition, and suffered losses to both Archbishop Spalding and Robinson in cross-pool matchups.
Finishing undefeated for tournament champion Archbishop Spalding were Michael Still (103), Will Switzer (140), No. 16 Charlie Lynch (145), and KK Smith (189).
For full results: http://www.trackwrestling.com/teamtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=413009
Tulsa Union wins the nation's oldest tournament
It was an incredibly close team battle at the 67th annual Geary Wrestling Tournament between No. 19 Tulsa Union, Oklahoma and No. 36 Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Each team had six wrestlers place inside the top six. Tulsa Union had two champs, four second place finishers, and three other medalists (fourth, fifth, sixth). Broken Arrow had three champs, two second place finishers, one third place wrestler, and two other medalists (fifth and sixth).
Champions for Tulsa Union were Kyle Ash at 152 pounds and No. 7 (at 160) Kyle Crutchmer at 171; while Josh Walker (119), Brian Crutchmer (130), Throcon Samuels (145), and Blasé Walser (189) finished in second place. Winning titles for Broken Arrow were No. 135 (at 135) Chase Ferman at 140 pounds, No. 16 Zach Skates at 160, and Cody Johnson at 215; Tanner Bailey (135) and Quin Hulsey (285) took second place; while Caleb Clark (119) earned third place.
Claremore, Oklahoma joined Broken Arrow with a tournament-high three champions: Gunnar Woodburn (103), No. 16 Calib Freeman (112), and Michael Williams (135). Other weight class champions were Jake Goodwin (119) of Bishop Lynch, Texas; Josh Smith (125) of Choctaw, Oklahoma; Justin Hughes (130) of Duncan, Oklahoma; Keilan Torres (145) of Altus, Oklahoma; Austin Schafer (189) of Edmond North, Oklahoma; and Caleb Cline (285) of Norman North, Oklahoma.
Link to tournament information: http://www.gearyschools.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/Geary%20Wrestling%20Tournament
Ohio State Duals Recap
The Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association (OHSWCA) hosted its annual state dual meet championships this past Sunday at three locations across the state. The Division I (big-school) tournament featured three nationally-ranked teams -- No. 5 St. Edward, No. 18 Massillon Perry, and No. 47 Wadsworth. St. Edward dominated their way to the championship match with a 54-18 quarterfinal win over Mayfield and a 50-10 victory over Cincinnati Elder.
On the other hand, Massillon Perry and Wadsworth had to duke it out in a semifinal slug-fest. That match was set by opening round wins for each squad: Massillon Perry upending Beavercreek 58-6, while Wadsworth knocked off Moeller 34-13 in a match with only one fall and two major decisions (both having margins of eight points).
The first twelve bouts of that semifinal match featured nine that were decided by one or two points. Of the other three, No. 18 Mitch Newhouse (119) and Zach Dailey (140) earned a 9-3 decision and a fall respectively for Massillon Perry, while No. 8 Kagan Squire (125) scored an 11-4 decision for Wadsworth. When No. 6 Nick Tavanello (215) of Wadsworth scored a 3-1 overtime decision at 215 pounds over Anthony Wise, the Grizzles had a 21-18 lead in the dual meet having won seven of the first 12 weight classes. However, Doug Mayes (285) of Massillon Perry scored a first period pin at 1:28 over Jake Crowley to propel the Panthers to the lead. David Bavery (103) then sealed the deal with a 9-1 major decision victory in the last match to give Massillon Perry the 28-21 victory.
Then, the championship final match started with a pair of nationally-ranked wrestlers taking to the mat, as No. 18 Newhouse of Massillon Perry met up with No. 19 Dean Heil of St. Edward for the third time this season at 119 pounds. The pair of wrestlers split two earlier meetings, and this match reflected that trend. The action was back-and-forth, but when the day was done, Heil emerged as a 7-6 winner in the tiebreak.
Though Massillon Perry did rally to take a 10-7 lead after Zach Dailey's 14-5 major decision at 140 pounds, St. Edward won five consecutive matches to put the dual meet out of reach. Coming through with big wins were juniors Matt Van Curen (145), Mark Martin (152), Jacob Davis (171), and James Suvak (189), along with sophomore Domenic Abounader (189). Anthony Wise of Massillon Perry stemmed the tide with a 7-5 overtime victory over Ty Walz at 215 pounds. However, No. 11 Greg Kuhar (285) would seal the deal for the Eagles with a 3-2 victory over Doug Mayes. The teams split the last two bouts, and St. Edward ended up champions on the strength of a 34-16 victory.
No. 3 Graham emerged as champions in the Division II tournament, while St. Peter Chanel won the Division III tournament.
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