The much anticipated collision between defending national champion Apple Valley, Minnesota (currently ranked first nationally) and perennial national champion Blair Academy, New Jersey (ranked third nationally) happened on the last two days of 2010. Even with five champions, including the season debut of Evan Silver (ranked No. 1 in the preseason at 119 pounds) down at 112 pounds, Blair Academy was not able to overcome the surreal depth of Apple Valley.
Champions for Blair included No. 6 Joey McKenna (103), Silver at 112, No. 3 Mark Grey (125), No. 2 Austin Ormsbee (135), and No. 5 Brooks Black (285). The Buccaneers also had a runner-up finish from No. 9 Todd Preston at 130 pounds, and five other wrestlers place inside the top nine (third, fourth, fifth, seventh, and ninth) in totaling 652 points.
However, the entry match, pool, and then bracket format emphasizes the overall depth that a team possesses. In a field with 29 nationally-ranked wrestlers and eight teams ranked inside the top 25, to have 13 wrestlers finish in the top six of their weight class (and all in the top nine) would be beyond impressive and almost surreal. None the less, that is what Apple Valley did to close out 2010. Even though No. 1 Destin McCauley (152) was the only champion for the Eagles, eight other wrestlers finished as runners-up: No. 13 Dakota Trom (125), No. 12 Mark Hall (130), No. 10 Brandon Kingsley (140), Daniel Woiwor (145), No. 4 Steven Keogh (160), No. 6 Jake Waste (171), and Matt Hechsel (189). Other place finishes for Apple Valley were a pair in fifth, a pair in sixth, and one in ninth -- as the squad totaled 734-1/2 points.
Finishing third in the team standings was No. 8 Simley, Minesota with 559-1/2 points anchored by their lone champion Micah Barnes, who knocked off No. 4 Keogh 2-1 in the final at 160 pounds. Nine other wrestlers finished inside the top eight, including a trio each in third and fourth place -- among those were No. 16 Kyle Gliva (103) finishing third and No. 6 Jake Short (140) taking fourth. A relatively close fourth place with 526-1/2 points was No. 14 Clovis, California anchored by their pair of finalists in Zach (171) and Nick (285) Nevills. Zach, a junior ranked 12th nationally, upended No. 6 Waste 3-2 in the tiebreaker; while Nick, a freshman, lost to No. 5 Black 2-1 (this was the second one-point win for Black over Nick Nevills in the tournament). Eight other wrestlers also finished inside the top nine (third, fourth, two fifth, two sixth, seventh, and ninth).
There was a rather close battle for places five through seven in the standings between No. 10 Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, No. 5 Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania, and No. 12 Marmion Academy, Illinois. Finishing fifth was Wisconsin Rapids with 491-1/2 points anchored by tournament champion No. 4 Devin Peterson (189); eight other wrestlers finished in the top nine (two third, fourth, fifth, sixth, two seventh, and ninth). Sixth place went to Wyoming Seminary with 477 points, anchored by champion No. 8 Dominick Malone (119) along with runner-up finishes from No. 19 Eric Morris (152) and AJ Vizcarrando (215). Seven other Blue Knights finished in the top nine (two third, fifth, seventh, and three ninth). Despite having the third most finalists in the tournament, it was not enough for Marmion Academy to finish above seventh place. The Cadets were led by champion No. 3 Ben Whitford (130); while No. 17 Johnny Jimenez (103), No. 6 Jered Cortez (112), and George Fisher (119) earned runner-up finishes. Only five other Marmion wrestlers had a top eight finish (fourth, two seventh, and two eighth).
Rounding out the tournament champions were a trio of Badger State natives -- No. 4 Jake Sueflohn (140) of Arrowhead, No. 1 Alex Dieringer (145) of Port Washington, and Jordan Gruettner (215) of Muskego. Also of note was that No. 25 Montini Catholic, Illinois finished ninth with 300-1/2 points; the Broncos are still without state champion Kevon Powell (119) and a couple of other starters.
Full Results: http://www.trackwrestling.com/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=1233009
Unkind hosts at the POWERade
The convergence of seven nationally-ranked teams and 22 ranked teams upon Canon-McMillan High School just outside of Pittsburgh did its part to answer questions about where teams and individuals stood after the first part of the scholastic season. However, in attempting to answer questions, the 44th annual POWERade Christmas Wrestling Tournament seemed to create more chaos.
Twelve days after finishing second at North Canton to No. 41 Wadsworth in a weaker tournament, the hosts Canon-McMillan (ranked 42nd nationally) asserted its strength to distance themselves from one of the strongest tournament fields that will be seen all year long. The Big Macs used six placers, including five inside the top three, to assert their dominance with 194-1/2 points. Champions were Colt Shorts (103), No. 3 Conner Schram (112), and Cody Klempay (285); No. 20 Solomon Chisko (130) finished second; while No. 17 Nick Catalano (145) took home third place.
The next two teams in the standings tied for a tournament high seven placers. No. 16 Central Dauphin, Pennsylvania had won this event the three prior years. However, with only three of those finishing in the top three, the Rams fell slightly short of the title finishing second with a total of 182 points. No. 5 Kenny Courts (189) was their lone champion, and was truly dominant with three technical falls and a pin among the five victories.
Even without a champion, No. 28 Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pennsylvania used an impressive showing by their middle-weights and upper-weights to finish third with 161-1/2 points. From 140 pounds on back, the Vikings had placers at every weight except 171 pounds led by runner-up finishes from Eric Nutter (145) and Lorenzo Thomas (152). No. 2 Jason Luster (160) and Perry Hills (189) finished third, a pair of wrestlers took fifth, while another took seventh.
A pair of unranked teams with four placers each finished in fourth and sixth place. Walsh Jesuit, Ohio took fourth led by championships from No. 5 Johnni DiJulius (130) and No. 3 Nate Skonieczny (135). Solanco, Pennsylvania had four place-winners in the top five, including Super32 Challenge runner-up Dan Neff (140) taking second and Thomas Haines (215) -- ranked 16th among Class of 2014 wrestlers -- earning a fifth place finish.
Three nationally-ranked teams each had five medalists to finish fifth, seventh, and eight respectively. No. 35 Burrell, Pennsylvania -- led by No. 12 Travis McKillop, champion of the 160 pound weight class -- took fifth with 141-1/2 points. They also had another champion in Brian Beattie (215), while Dakota DesLauriers (171) earned a runner-up finish. McKillop had one of the more impressive tournanment runs with two pins, an 8-1 victory over state runner-up Aaron McKinney (West Allegheny, Pennsylvania), a 7-4 victory over No. 2 Luster, and then a 4-3 victory over No. 3 Cody Wiercioch (Charleroi, Pennsylvania). Defending tournament champion Wiercioch had not given up a point in the tournament prior to the final.
No. 30 Christiansburg, Virginia was led by a pair of runners-up in finishing seventh with 132-1/2 points. No. 9 JR Wert (112) lost a razor thin 1-0 decision to No. 3 Schram; while No. 7 Joey Dance (119) lost another ultimate tiebreaker match to No. 1 Jimmy Gulibon (Derry Area, Pennsylvania), this time the score was 2-1. Finishing in eighth place was No. 21 Collins Hill, Georgia with 123 points; the Eagles had medalists finishing in third, fourth, and a trio taking sixth place.
Rounding out the nationally-ranked teams in the standings was No. 32 LaSalle, Pennsylvania with 114-1/2 points anchored by tournament champion No. 18 Matt Cimato (140), whose tournament was sparked by a 6-4 semifinal victory over No. 3 Evan Henderson (Kiski Prep, Pennsylvania). Other weight class champions included No. 1 Gulibon (119); No. 1 Nico Megaludis (125) of Franklin Regional, Pennsylvania; No. 7 Pete Baldwin (145) of Osceola, Florida; No. 10 Chance Marsteller (152) of Kennard Dale, Pennsylvania; and Nick Bonnacorsi (171) of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
With his fourth POWERade championship -- this one coming on the strength of three technical falls, a 16-3 major decision, and an 8-1 victory over No. 9 Geoff Alexander (Shady Side Academy, Pennsylvania) in the final -- Megaludis joined an elite club of two others and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Full Results: http://poweradewrestling.com/2010/Brackets.pdf
Upsets mark Granite City Holiday Tournament
No. 47 Neosho, Missouri out-pointed No. 44 Minooka, Illinois to win the Granite City Holiday Tournament. Without three starters, including No. 9 Terrell Wilbourn (140), No. 39 Francis Howell Central, Missouri struggled to an eleventh place finish with 303-1/2 points.
Led by three champions -- Nate Rodriguez (119), Blake Stauffer (171), and Dallas Smith (189) -- Neosho scored 616 points to win the tournament. They also had eight other wrestlers finished in the top seven; Riley Plew (285) took second, one took third, one in fourth, three in fifth, and two in seventh. Minooka had one champion in upset specialist Kalvin Hill (160), who defeated No. 17 Dylan Reel (Washington, Illinois) 8-5 in the semifinals. Corbet Oughton (112) and Jake Residori (152) finished as runners-up, while eight others finished in the top nine of this pool-to-bracket event.
The featured finals match of the tournament saw No. 8 Zane Richards (Carbondale, Illinois) defeat No. 4 Cody Brewer (Oak Park, Missouri) 9-3 at 130 pounds in a battle of wrestlers with very strong Fargo resumes. The Northmen from Oak Park had three other wrestlers in the finals at this tournament, after having five champions in their last major event at the Kansas City Wrestling Classic; Noah Teaney (103) and Hashem Omari (215) won titles, while Cain Salas (135) earned a runner-up finish.
The other team with multiple champions was West Aurora, Illinois, who had Nicholas Drendel (125) and Greg Jacquez (140) earn top of the podium finishes. Rounding out the tournament champions were James Krischke (112) of Fort Zumwalt West, Missouri; Jacob Gregerson (135) of the host school, Granite City, Illinois; Devonte Mahomes (145) of Oak Park River Forest, Illinois; Mike Kissell (152) of Whitfield, Missouri; and Nick Tufts (285) of Northwest, Missouri.
Full Results: http://www.trackwrestling.com/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=1315009
Red Wings rule roost at Goordich TOC
No. 14 St. John’s, Michigan asserted their dominance in what is arguably Michigan’s best in-season tournament. The Red Wings were led by six champions in scoring 224 points: No. 12 Zac Hall (103), No. 8 Jacob Schmitt (112), Josh Pennell (125), Travis Curley (145), Jordan Wohlfert (152), and No. 1 Taylor Massa (160). Finishing second were No. 38 Detroit Catholic Central, Michigan with 201 points on the strength of five finalists and four third place finishes. Champions for the Shamrocks were TJ Fagan (119) and Alec Mooradian (135).
Dundee, Michigan finished in a relatively close third place with 186-1/2 points on the strength of five finalists, including three champions -- No. 17 Joe Rendina (130), Chris Rau (140), and No. 15 Justin Heiserman (189). Other tournament champions were No. 7 Jordan Thomas (171) and Justin Zimmer (285) from Greenville, and Chris Nash (215) from Roseville.
Outstanding Wrestler for the lower-weights went to Rendina, as he became a four-time tournament champion; while Massa was OW for the upper-weights, as he won for the third time in as many years.
Full Results: http://michigangrappler.com/files/High_School/HS1011/results/Dec29/2010GOODRICHTOC.pdf
More upsets in the Land of Lincoln
While the absolute dominance of No. 33 Crystal Lake Central, Illinois at the Lincoln Holiday Tournament last week came as no surprise, the championship finals matchup of state champions at 152 pounds did provide a somewhat major one. It was a collision between two-time state champion No. 7 Joey Kielbasa (Crystal Lake Central, Illinois) and two-time state finalist No. 4 Max Schneider (Chicago Lane Tech, Illinois), who had not lost since the state final his freshman year in 2009.
Both wrestlers came into the finals with falls in their three prior matches. After a scoreless first period, Schneider chose the down position; after securing near fall points earlier in the second period, Kielbasa would score the fall right at the midpoint of the second period. With that result, Kielbasa earned Outstanding Wrestler honors for the tournament, as well as most falls in the least time with four in 6:25.
Full Results: http://www.illinoismatmen.com/2010-11/tournaments/lincoln/lincoln.pdf
In dual meet action, Carl Sandburg, Illinois traveled to No. 26 Glenbard North, Illinois this past Wednesday and left with a 30-22 upset victory. The Eagles came home with victories in eight of the fourteen matches, including a 3-1 record in one-point matches. Carl Sandburg was runner-up last year in the state dual meet tournament, while Glenbard North has finished third in the last two years. It is likely that these two teams will be in the same half bracket at dual meet state
Full Recap: http://www.illinoismatmen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34258
Tone set for Buckeye State wrestling during the holidays
Both of the major holiday wrestling tournaments in Ohio served as strong statements for the teams that emerged as champions. At the Medina Invitational, No. 6 St. Edward used a 13-3 record in championship semifinal and finals matches to create 80 points of separation from No. 15 Massillon Perry in the team standings (288 to 208). The Panthers were 1-7 in the semifinal round, including a 0-5 mark against St. Edward; their lone championship came from Zach Dailey at 140 pounds.
The six St. Edward champions were Edgar Bright (112), No. 19 Dean Heil (119), Matt Van Curen (145), Domenic Abounader (152), Ty Walz (215), and No. 11 Greg Kuhar (285). Heil came up with a key 5-4 victory over No. 18 Mitch Newhouse of Massillon Perry in the semifinal round on a late reversal.
Outstanding wrestler honors went to No. 2 Ian Miller (152) of Oak Harbor and No. 8 Alex Utley (189) of CVCA. Other weight class titles went to No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (103) of CVCA, Dillon Campbell (125) of Harrison, Josh D’Urso (130) of Springboro, Dan Mirman (135) of Medina Highland, and Jake Cramer (171) of Oak Harbor.
At the Brecksville Holiday, team championship honors went to St. Peter Chanel, Ohio -- which was able to upend two-time defending tournament champions Wadsworth, Ohio by a 191-167 team point score. Finishing second or third at the state tournament seven times in the last ten years, the Firebirds are looking for their first state title since 1988; while No. 41 Wadsworth won the big-school state title last season, ending the 13 year grip that St. Edward had on the title. Key to the tournament title for Chanel was a 7-2 record in championship semifinal and final matches, along with having six of their seven medalists finishing inside the top three.
Champions for Chanel were Aaron Assad (103), Danny Orrill (145), and Cody Walters (160); Joey Keifer (152) finished second; while Jon Schafer (189) and Kennedy Smith (215) finished third. Wadsworth had a pair of champions in No. 8 Kagan Squire (125) and No. 6 Nick Tavanello (215). Tavanello won the premier match of the finals 3-1 on a late takedown against No. 9 Logan Erb of Wapakoneta, Ohio, in a battle of defending state champions. While Wadsworth had seven placers, like Chanel; their other five place-winners finished fourth or below.
The terrific trio for Monroeville all dominated the competition at their weight classes on the way to championships. No. 1 Hunter Stieber (135) had three pins, a technical fall, and a 10-0 major decision; No. 3 Chris Phillips (171) was held to decisions in his last three matches, but still did not give up an offensive score; while No. 2 Cam Tessari (140) scored pins in his last four matches after a 16-0 technical fall in the opening match to become only the third four-time champion in tournament history. Tessari also left with two other big pieces of hardware, most falls in the least time (4 in 6:46) and Outstanding Wrestler honors.
Rounding out the weight class champions were No. 4 George DiCamillo (112) of St. Ignatius, Vinny Pizzuto (119) of Jackson-Milton, No. 18 Brent Fickel (130) of Padua, Jimmy King (152) of Lake Catholic, No. 13 Ian Korb (189) of Cincinnati Elder, and Garrett Gray (285) of Oregon Clay. Korb earned a 3-1 victory in overtime against No. 18 Chaz Gresham of Goshen in the championship final.
Medina Results: http://www.baumspage.com/medina/res10.htm
Brecksville Results: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B17ZUASlYiliODk3YWEyM2ItODE5MC00M2Y0LWE0OGItNDVjYjhmMWExMDZi&hl=en
Lehigh Valley rivals dominate pair of holiday tournaments
Perennial favorites in Pennsylvania’s District XI, No. 17 Easton and Nazareth dominated their respective holiday tournaments, each taking home four championships on the way to tournament titles. Easton made their 27th trip to the Manheim Lions Holiday Wrestling Tournament, and came home with their 17th title -- including 11 in the last 12 years. Winning weight classes for the Red Rovers were Kyle Baker (103), Joey Rizzolino (140), No. 13 Mitch Minotti (145), and Jalal Paige (285); while Peter Stanley (112), Ricky RIzzolino (125), and Anthony Minotti (152) finished as runners-up.
It was a close battle for second place between Robinson, Virginia and Reynolds, Pennsylvania as each had four finalists. Robinson earned that position with 157 points on the strength of weight class titles from Dallas (112) and Jake (119) Smith as well as Wes Jones (160); Santiago Valdez (130) finished in second place. Reynolds was third place with 151 points anchored by championships from No. 2 Mason Beckman (125) and Dylan Durso (130), while Adam Matthews (135) and Justin Rhodes (145) finished in second place. With four wins by technical fall, Beckman was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler for the second straight year.
Rounding out champions at Manheim were Michael DePalma (135) of Jeanette, Tyle Parsons (152) of Erie Cathedral Prep, Jake Taylor (171) of Bald Eagle Area, Matt McCutcheon (189) of Kiski Area, and Brandon Bradney (215) of Fort LeBeouf.
Using the return of two of their star wrestlers, Nazareth traveled to the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Tournament and dominated the field with four champions and seven other place-winners in totaling 220 points. Champions for the Blue Eagles were No. 2 Zach Horan (130) and Aaron Bradley (285), along with Franco Ferraina (125) and Ryan Krecker (160) who was each making their season debuts. There was a close three team battle for second place between Northampton, Pennsylvania; St. Mark’s, Delaware; and Council Rock South, Pennsylvania.
Despite just a single finalist in champion John Lambert (152), and only seven other placers, the Konkrete Kids were able to muster 177-1/2 points to finish in second place. With nine total placers, and three finalists, St. Mark’s finished in third place with 168 points. Josh Snook (171) was the sole champion for the Sparants, while Tyler Pendergast (130) and Patrick Cassidy (285) each were runners-up. Fourth place in the standings, despite ten total medalists, went to Council Rock South with 166 points. Matt Martoccio (145) was their sole champion, while Connor Moore (140) finished as runner-up.
Other weight class champions included Brett Martino (103) and Anthony Cabrera (112) of Bethlehem Liberty; Chad Walsh (119) and TJ Miller (140) of Camden Catholic, New Jersey; No. 6 Steve Spearman (135) of Erie McDowell; Tyler Mauger (189) of Boyertown; and No. 2 (at 189) Andrew Campolattano of Bound Brook, New Jersey.
Manheim Brackets: http://media.lehighvalleylive.com/sports_impact/other/mFinal%20Brackets.pdf
Bethlehem Holiday Classic Brackets: https://sites.google.com/site/hurricaneholidayclassic/brackets
Oviedo outlasts field to win home tournament
No. 49 Oviedo, Florida was able to outlast 25 other teams, including eight that finished inside the top ten at their state tournaments last year, in winning the 9th annual Zac Jarzynka Memorial Ironman in front of its home crowd. Four Lions wrestlers -- No. 15 Geordan Speiller (160), Lee Wildes (171), Carlos Martinez (215), and No. 9 Doug Vollaro (285) -- earned weight class titles among their group of ten medalists as Oviedo scored a total of 260-1/2 points.
Despite six finalists, No. 27 Springstead, Florida was only able to earn a second place finish in the tournament with 245-1/2 points. This was due to two reasons -- the Eagles only had nine total placers, and they were only able to earn a split from their championship matches. Winning weight class titles were Virgil Toms (130), Nick Soto (135), and Shawn Landgraff (152); while No. 3 Richie Bliss (103), Cody Ross (140), and John Dreggors (285) finished as runners-up.
In fact, the three second place finishers lost to wrestlers that were selected as Outstanding Wrestlers for the tournament. Dylan Lucas, an eighth-grader for Tampa Bay Christian, earned a fall over Bliss in the final, and was named Outstanding Wrestler among lower-weights; Austin Trott of Camden County, Georgia scored a 4-3 decision over Ross, and was named OW for middle-weights; while Vollaro defeated Dreggors 3-2 in overtime, and was named OW for upper-weights.
Gray Jones (189) joined Trott as a weight class champion for the Camden County, Georgia -- which finished in third place as a team with 242-1/2 points. They also had runner-up finishes from Nigel Hamilton (119) and Tim Gilbert (160) among their ten total placers. Rounding out the weight class champions were Lucas at 103; Zach Whitmire (112) of Dr. Phillips, Florida; Mark Gulesian (119) of Christopher Columbus, Florida; Taz Torbit (125) of Parkview, Georgia; and Ramiro Rojas (145) of Braddock, Florida.
Full Results: http://www.trackwrestling.com/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=1263009
High Point dominates weather-delayed Mustang Classic
The best individual bracket event during the regular season in New Jersey was delayed almost one full week due to extreme winter weather conditions. However, this did not change the fact that No. 20 High Point is clearly the state’s best team (excluding No. 3 Blair Academy, which competes among National Prep teams). The Wildcats were dominant at the Mustang Classic hosted by Brick Memorial with six finalists, five of whom emerged as champions. And that came with No. 14 John Guzzo (160) not wrestling, and with No. 14 Nick Francavilla (125) leaving the tournament with an injury default in the quarterfinal round.
Standing atop the podium for High Point were Justin Bellis (112), Bill Hagany (119), Joe Gaccione (145), No. 19 Ethan Orr (171), and No. 17 William Smith (285), while Drew Wagnehoffer (140) earned a runner-up finish.
On the other hand, it was a disappointing tournament for No. 48 Timber Creek, New Jersey, which was only able to muster three wrestlers in the top four -- Nick Virgilio (125) and Brandon Keller (125) finishing third, and Kevin Birmingham (135) taking home fourth place.
Rounding out the weight class champions were Michael Bohling (103) of Sayreville; Kyle Casaletto (125) of Southern Regional, who was named Outstanding Wrestler; Anthoy Perrotti (130) and Frank Marotti (152) of West Essex; No. 5 Jeff Canfora (135) and No. 11 Devon Gobbo (140) of Delbarton; Anthony Dawson (160) of Paulsboro; No. 10 James Fox (189) of St. Peter’s Prep; and Adrew Marr (215) of Wall.
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