Another Saturday night dual meet starting at 7:00 p.m. EST, and it's another big-time high school matchup. Based on the InterMat team rankings as of Jan. 19, it is No. 2 Blair Academy, New Jersey hosting No. 3 St. Paris Graham, Ohio. Blair Academy comes into this dual meet off a dominating 5-0 day at the NHSCA Final Four in which they lost only nine individual matches. On the other hand, Graham comes into the match after losing a 27-25 heartbreaker to No. 5 St. Edward, Ohio.
Last season, Blair Academy traveled to Graham as the consensus number one, but got absolutely pummeled. The Buccaneers are in search of serious revenge on a special day for Blair Academy wrestling, as they dedicate their wrestling room in honor of long-time head coach Jeff Buxton. Flowrestling.com will be providing live coverage of the dual meet as part of its "Big Live Duals" series.
Here are the projected lineups for this dual meet (Blair vs. Graham):
103: No. 7 Joey McKenna vs. Chase Crabtree
112: No. 1 Evan Silver or Max Hvolbek vs. No. 9 Ryan Taylor
119: No. 11 Caleb Richardson or Silver vs. Micah Jordan
125: No. 3 Mark Grey or Richardson vs. Nate Henkle
130: No. 10 Todd Preston or Grey vs. Lane Thomas
135: No. 2 Austin Ormsbee or Preston vs. No. 19 Case Garrison
140: Ross Parsons vs. No. 7 Nick Brascetta
145: Dylan Milonas vs. No. 5 Bo Jordan
152: Patrick Coover vs. No. 11 Matt Stephens
160: Michael Mocco vs. Isaac Jordan or Robert Mannier
171: Addison Knepshield vs. Kyle Ryan
189: Frank Mattiace vs. No. 5 Huston Evans
215: Willie Wilson vs. Mark Meyer
285: No. 5 Brooks Black vs. Darin Bovey
Each team has a key personnel question to answer in terms of a wrestler's health status. Austin Ormsbee did not wrestle at all for Blair Academy at the Final Four, while Isaac Jordan remained out of the lineup against St. Edward (his absence being one of the reasons Graham fell short in the dual). Blair Academy also has significant lineup flexibility in the lower portion of the lineup, as they also have some other capable options in addition to those listed above -- namely Kyle Taylor (119), Paul Klee (119/125), Walker Dempsey (130), and Abram Ayala (135). All four won at least one match this past weekend.
The randomly drawn starting weight could play a crucial role in this dual meet, as Blair is incredibly strong in the lower weights and at 285, while Graham is very strong in the middle of its lineup. In all, this match should help provide some answers about how positions two through five nationally sort themselves out -- or it may create even more disorder and chaos.
New Jersey All-Star Classic matches set for Sunday
Every year on the last Sunday of January, there is an All-Star Classic held at Brick Memorial High School in New Jersey where some of the state's best wrestlers match up against one another in an exhibition showcase for the fans prior to the state tournament series. Though the matches may not be number one against number two, they normally are terrific, and the proceeds go to a good cause -- scholarships for a couple of the participants in the event.
The following are the matchups as of Tuesday evening (rankings as of Jan. 26 per The Star Ledger):
103: No. 1 Luis Gonzalez (North Bergen) vs. No. 3 Mike Bohling (Sayreville)
112: No. 2 Kevin Corrigan (Toms River South) vs. No. 4 Mike Magaldo (Watchung Hills)
119: No. 8 Dante Porazzo (DePaul) vs. Billy Ward (Buena)
125: No. 3 Brandon Keller (Timber Creek) vs. No. 7 Dan Haines (Hoptacong)
130: No. 1 Anthony Perrotti (West Essex) vs. Zach DiPini (Pope John)
130/135:No. 2 Julian Quintero (North Berge) vs. Luis Filipe (Long Branch)
130/135: No. 5 (135) Alex Richardson (St. Peter's Prep) vs. No. 4 (130) BJ Clagon (Toms River South)
135: No. 4 Connor Melde (Bergen Catholic) vs. No. 7 Curt Delia (Delsea Regional)
145: No. 1 James Green (Willingboro) vs. No. 3 Sal Mastriani (Don Bosco)
**These wrestlers are ranked 4th and 13th nationally
152: No. 3 Christian Barber (Westfield) vs. No. 4 Connor Brennan (Brick Memorial)
160/171: No. 2 (160) Otis Wright (Montclair) vs. No. 3 (171) Colin Hewitt (Fraklin)
171: No. 2 Anthony Pafumi (St. Peter's Prep) vs. No. 7 Mike LaBell (Lenape Valley)
189: No. 1 James Fox (St. Peter's Prep) vs. No. 5 Brian Lussier (Cherry Hill East)
**Fox is ranked 9th nationally
215: No. 1 Andrew Campolattano (Bound Brook) vs. No. 8 Mitch Seigel (Marlboro)
**Campolattano is ranked 1st nationally
285: No. 3 Zach Troutman (New Providence) vs. No. 8 Ryan Moskwa (Perth Amboy)
Oregon's best convene at Reser's Tournament of Champions
Even though the state wrestling tournament in Oregon features five separate classifications, fans can get a true sense of who the best wrestling teams and programs are in the state regardless of class this weekend at the Reser's Tournamet of Champions held just outside of Portland. Four of the five teams ranked first in their classification are in the field, as are seven of the top ten teams in all classifications. Eight wrestlers ranked first overall in the state are in the field, along with another sixteen ranked either second or third in their classification.
Here is a listing of wrestlers ranked in the top three statewide in the field this weekend:
Rankings are as of early January 2010, posted on The Oregon Wrestling Forum by Richard Rockwell)
103: No. 3 Anthony Halstead (Reedsport)
112: No. 1 Ryan Haney (Redmond), No. 3 Colton Schilling (Sweet Home)
119: No. 2 Levi Martinez (McNary), No. 3 Tyler Berger (Hermiston)
130: No. 1 Joey Delgado (Hermiston), No. 2 Mikey Rodriguez (Hillsboro); 135 pound Reno ToC champion Reed Van Anrooy (Roseburg) is ranked fourth.
135: No. 1 Drew Van Anrooy (Roseburg), No. 2 Ryan Bullock (Crook County)
140: No. 2 Abraham Rodriguez (Hermiston), No. 3 AJ Ballard (Canby)
145: No. 2 Nick Hettinga (Newberg)
152: No. 1 Seth Thomas (Roseburg), No. 2 Bryce McMahon (Hermiston)
160: No. 3 Brady Fischer (Oregon City)
171: No. 1 Brandon Griffin (Sprauge), No. 2 Dylan Fors (Roseburg)
*Griffin is ranked 16th nationally
189: No. 1 Curtis Berger (Hermiston), No. 2 Zac Cardwell (Lowell), No. 3 Devan Fors (Roseburg)
215: No. 1 John Hatch (Newberg)
285: No. 1 George Swartzlander (Burns), No. 2 Jared Groner (Oregon City), No. 3 Kevin Montigue (Westview)
Featured teams in the field: No. 1 Roseburg*, No. 2 Hermiston*, No. 3 Newberg, No. 6 Oregon City, No. 8 Culver*, No. 9 Crook County, and No. 10 Burns*
--Those marked with an * are ranked first in their state tournament classification. Roseburg is ranked 41st in the national Fab 50.
Vacaville starting journey on a second thousand victories
With a 30-24 dual meet victory against De La Salle, California this past Saturday, the Vacaville High School wrestling program out of the San Joaquin Section in California earned its 1,000th win in program history. The Bulldogs have been wrestling since 1961.
Yesterday, Vacaville traveled to Napa for a league dual meet, will be competing at the Puma Classic on Saturday, and close out regular season competition one week from yesterday in a league dual meet at William C. Wood High School.
Change in plans for Campolattano
Based on published reports from multiple outlets in New Jersey, Andrew Campolattano (Bound Brook, New Jersey) -- ranked No. 1 at 215 pounds, and No. 11 in the Class of 2011 -- has withdrawn his verbal commit to play football at Rutgers University. Instead, Campolattano will pursue wrestling in college, and it is essentially open season among the nation's top programs in seeking to secure his services.
The three-time state champion has a career high school record of 151-1. Should he win fourteen more matches this year, he would hold the all-time wins record in the Garden State; Frank Cagnina (Bergen Catholic/Queen of Peace) graduated last year with a 164-4 record, and is having a spectacular true freshman season for Lehigh at 133 pounds. Presuming Campolattano wins a state title this year at 215 pounds, the projected college 197 will join Mike Grey (Delbarton) as the only four-time state champions in New Jersey history; Grey is currently a senior at Cornell.
Tulsa Nationals placements posted
Top six placement finishes for each weight class at last weekend's Tulsa Nationals have been posted. Competition was held in the following age divisions: 6-and-under, 8-and-under, 10-and-under, 12-and-under, as well as 15-and-under.
Results: http://www.worldofwrestling-roller.com/tournament/results/30
Among the notable champions was Marcus Simmons from Oklahoma, who beat out Ke-Shawn Hayes from Missouri to win the 89 pound weight class in the 15-and-under division. Other notable winners in that division include Dylan Lucas from Florida at 101 pounds, Aaron Pico from California at 108 pounds, Mason Manville from Virginia at 135 pounds, and Michael Johnson, Jr from Illinois at 285 pounds.
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