Who’s #1 Picks

[Tyler Perry]

Here are my picks for WNO this year,

PS: There is an article coming out in a day or two on Tkdwn Media on Rokfin where me and Jesse compare picks and rational. If you want to read his side, or just click on the post and pretend to read, it would be much appreciated  

106: Kooper Deputy over Luke Loren

Kooper was 5th at worlds this summer, capping off an impressive year that included a PA state championship. 

Luke Loren won a Fargo title this summer, but ultimately, I think Deputy edges him out.

 

113: Evan Restivo over Analu Woode  

Analu Woode was the story of Fargo this year, becoming Hawaii’s second ever champion. He ended up securing a fall over Thales Silva, but was losing 3-0 up until that point, and does not have the folkstyle results to justify picking him over Evan Restivo, who was our U17 world team rep this year. 

 

120: Mikey Batista over Brayden Wenrich 

Here is a Fargo rematch from just a few months ago, where Brayden Wenrich won in convincing fashion. But, I’ll go with the inverse for the encore.  I like Batista’s leg attacks and mat savviness, something he didn’t get to display in their last meeting. Wenrich’s length was a big issue for him, but I think he makes the adjustments and wins this weekend.

 

126: Sammy Sanchez over Landon Sidun 

Landon Sidun is as impressive as they come, he broke his hand this year, and didn’t wrestle until the state series, where he won. Sidun also won WNO last year, beating Rocklin Zinkin 14-3. Sidun, the Penn State commit is a 2x PA state champ and is one of the best in the country, but there’s no way to pick against Sammy Sanchez right now, he’s a world champ, CA state champ and finalist, and he dominated his way through Fargo this summer, including an 11-1 win over #3 at 126, Hayden Schwab in the finals. 

 

 

132: Paul Kenny over Grey Burnett 

Another great matchup here, we’ll see a battle between a future Hawkeye and Nittany Lion at WNO. Ultimately, I’ll go with Kenny, I think he has has offense to counter Burnett’s seemingly impenetrable defense, and has the poise to not get out of position against Burnett who dares you to make a mistake. 

 

138: 

Dean Anderson over Gavin Mangano 

Gavin Mangano is an excellent scrambler, which I think will be his biggest weapon here. Dean likes to shoot, and if Mangano can get him lost in the sauce, this may flip the other way, but Dean Anderson had an great year, highlighted by a finals appearance at the open, and capped it off with an excellent weekend at Elite 8, where he went 4-0 with a win over Isreal Borge. 

 

144: Jesse Grajeda over Braylon Reynolds 

This one is pretty simple, Grajeda is as good and fun to watch as anyone in the country. He dominated Reynolds in the Fargo finals this year 11-0, and since then, Reynolds took 3 losses at Elite 8, including a loss to Gavin Green. 

 

150: Clinton Shepherd over Jason Dube

Jason Dube actually took this match late at Fargo this summer, kicking Shepherd to the cons where he ultimately did not place. Dube is lightning quick with excellent defense, but Shepherd’s body of work is ultimately too good to bet Dube does it twice. 

 

157:

Mac Crosson over Michael Romero 

Crosson is coming off a Fargo finals appearance and Iowa state title, while Romero is coming off a state title of his own in CA. Ultimately, Mac Crosson has impressed me more this summer, I think he squeaks out a close one.

 

165:

Melvin Miller over Cam Howard

The marquee match of the card, the no.1 big boarder in 2027 and 2028 will face off at WNO. Melvin is much more credentialed up to this point, and I think Melvin, who has won the last 4 Fargo’s, 3 PA state championships, and was a finalist at both U20 and U23 trials this summer, comes out on top.

 

175: Jayden O’Farrill vs Zach Aquila 

Oh boy, this one is a fun one which I think will be highly contested and is bound to get chippy. Both guys wrestle with tons of energy, and not afraid to plant someone on that resolite. O’Farrill missed all of last year with an injury, but let’s not forget he is last two appearances on U.S. soil ended with a Super 32 finals birth and a U17 world team spot. Aquila fought through a gauntlet in order to win a Fargo title this summer, but I’ll go with O’Farrill here.

 

190: Salah Tsarni over Mario Carini 

Both guys have had uber impressive, Carini is a 2x CA state champ, a Fargo finalist this past year, and can go with anyone on his feet, evidenced by a 4-3 loss this summer to U20 world bronze medalist Ryan Burton. Tsarni though, has been on fire, placing 4th at Super 32, winning Powerade, and made the finals of U17 worlds this summer. Tsarni makes it look like he’s not even trying at times, yet still dominates. 

 

215: Jimmy Mastny over Nick Moylan 

Michael Boyle is out for football, and while a super match between him and Mastny would be fireworks, he gets a very solid match with future Tarheel, Dan Moylan. Moylan was 3rd at CA state up at HWT, and lost an 11-10 match in the Fargo finals this past earlier this summer. Moylan is very good, but I don’t think he will be able to keep up with U20 world bronze Jimmy Mastny here.

[HokieDave87]

106: Deputy

113: Restivo

120: Wenrich

126: Sanchez

132: Burnett

138: Anderson

144: Grajeda

150: Dube

157: Crossen

165: Miller

175: O'Farrill

190: Carini

215: Mastny

 

[mattramosjr]

locks are shepard, miller,  grajeda,  deputy, anderson

[Truzzcat]

not predicting 106 or 113 because I am not sure they are happening which is honestly on flow because I think Kooper last wrestled a tournament at 120.

120: I am about as big of a Wenrich guy as you will find being a PA homer, so I will be predicting him to get it done here. His only loss during the scholastic season last year was when he was up at 121 falling to an extremely talented Dom morrison who probably should have knocked off Sidun at states. I think at the time Wenrich was definitely a 113 and has grown a little bit into a true 120 now. Ultimately I expect this to be much closer than the fargo final but Wenrich gritting out a 1-0 win in the state finals for his first title and then getting a fargo title on top of that gives me confidence in both the grit and his own self confidence to keep the ball rolling.

126: I was adamant that Zinkin was going to beat sidun last year and Sidun made me look like a fool. I think Rocklins self belief in his ability to scramble really cost him in that match. Landon was seemingly getting to his double at will and then just not allowing any room for Zinkin to extend the positions. Transitive property is not in Sammy's favor here being that Rocklin has beaten him twice in the last year, however Landon missed a good chunk of time and I thought did not look his sharpest at states. Now we are 6 months removed from that so probably a foolish anecdote but its the last time I have really seen him compete so its the datapoint I will use. If sammy can stay on the outside and pick his spots I think he has a really good shot of converting one of his leg attacks or maybe a duck/short drag or boot scoot. I could also see him winning it in tiebreakers. If landon gets to his ties and makes it a more physical match I think he has a big edge there. I think I am going to go with Landon largely because I do not want him to make me look silly again but this is going to be an awesome match.

132: Burnett vs Kenny: This match should be an absolute coin flip but I feel pretty confident in picking Burnett. Kenny has some really tricky stuff, a great duck from elbow control and he is super crafty wizzer seat belt and in what I would consider 50/50 or stalemate positions. Burnett having a good feel for him at this point I think is more of an advantage for him than it is the inverse for Kenny. Burnett has shown he can go get matches late as well which I always like.

138: I believe this match was largely settled on the mat at super 32. I have only seen Dean get better since then however and have not seen a ton of Gavin. I will be going with Dean but would like to point out Gavin may weigh 15lbs more than him by the time they wrestle, I was a bit shocked that he was going 138 here. Dean is prolific from his feet and attacks all levels of the body. I think a smart approach here to mitigate scrambles with Gavin especially given the potential size discrepancy would be utilize that foot sweep to an opposite side single or a snatch single that he is nasty at (I honestly just want to see him hit it).

144: Grajeda 

150: Very big fan of both guys. The first time I saw Dube he was wrestling Bo at ironman and I believe only gave up 1 takedown in the first period as a sophmore. Needless to say his handfight is pretty prolific and hes tough. He seems to still be improving at a pretty rapid rate and while I am not saying Shepherd is not in I am going to go with the hot hand who already has a head to head win.

157: Crosson is very good and really has that state of Iowa style to me, but I think this may be Romeros coming out party. He reminds me a bit of Jayden James from a weight perspective he was a tiny guy for a long time and seems to just let himself grow and not try to fit into a weight. I think this is more of where he is going to settle in and I think we are going to see some of his best wrestling moving forward.

165: I do not know that I think this match is going to be as close as some people do. Cam could slow Melvin down with the hooks but I could also see if he is over committing to them and melvin blocks off well that opening up a lot of melvins misdirection stuff and opposite side attacks.

175: I think Aquila may have a pretty big advantage on the mat here but I really like Jayden on the feet. Jayden is a guy that I would say has always had a strong pace, but I will be interested to see him in a higher pressure 6 minute match for the first time now that he is no longer at Mccort to see where the cardio is. If he comes out balls to the wall as he often does but maybe the training has been a bit different I could see Aquila getting it going late and I think that postulation is going to make me pick Aquila

190: Absolutely no lean here flipped a coin and it was heads which was Carini should be a delight to watch.

215: I am not sure that Moylan has had to deal with a top game like Mastnys strong lean Mastny here.

[Simpleman424]

My Picks:

106: Pass

113: Pass

120: Wenrich

126: Sanchez

132: Burnett

138: Anderson

144: Grajeda

150: Sheperd

157: Romero

165: Miller

175: O'Farrill

190: Carini

215: Mastny

[Tyler Perry]

7 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

not predicting 106 or 113 because I am not sure they are happening which is honestly on flow because I think Kooper last wrestled a tournament at 120.

120: I am about as big of a Wenrich guy as you will find being a PA homer, so I will be predicting him to get it done here. His only loss during the scholastic season last year was when he was up at 121 falling to an extremely talented Dom morrison who probably should have knocked off Sidun at states. I think at the time Wenrich was definitely a 113 and has grown a little bit into a true 120 now. Ultimately I expect this to be much closer than the fargo final but Wenrich gritting out a 1-0 win in the state finals for his first title and then getting a fargo title on top of that gives me confidence in both the grit and his own self confidence to keep the ball rolling.

126: I was adamant that Zinkin was going to beat sidun last year and Sidun made me look like a fool. I think Rocklins self belief in his ability to scramble really cost him in that match. Landon was seemingly getting to his double at will and then just not allowing any room for Zinkin to extend the positions. Transitive property is not in Sammy's favor here being that Rocklin has beaten him twice in the last year, however Landon missed a good chunk of time and I thought did not look his sharpest at states. Now we are 6 months removed from that so probably a foolish anecdote but its the last time I have really seen him compete so its the datapoint I will use. If sammy can stay on the outside and pick his spots I think he has a really good shot of converting one of his leg attacks or maybe a duck/short drag or boot scoot. I could also see him winning it in tiebreakers. If landon gets to his ties and makes it a more physical match I think he has a big edge there. I think I am going to go with Landon largely because I do not want him to make me look silly again but this is going to be an awesome match.

132: Burnett vs Kenny: This match should be an absolute coin flip but I feel pretty confident in picking Burnett. Kenny has some really tricky stuff, a great duck from elbow control and he is super crafty wizzer seat belt and in what I would consider 50/50 or stalemate positions. Burnett having a good feel for him at this point I think is more of an advantage for him than it is the inverse for Kenny. Burnett has shown he can go get matches late as well which I always like.

138: I believe this match was largely settled on the mat at super 32. I have only seen Dean get better since then however and have not seen a ton of Gavin. I will be going with Dean but would like to point out Gavin may weigh 15lbs more than him by the time they wrestle, I was a bit shocked that he was going 138 here. Dean is prolific from his feet and attacks all levels of the body. I think a smart approach here to mitigate scrambles with Gavin especially given the potential size discrepancy would be utilize that foot sweep to an opposite side single or a snatch single that he is nasty at (I honestly just want to see him hit it).

144: Grajeda 

150: Very big fan of both guys. The first time I saw Dube he was wrestling Bo at ironman and I believe only gave up 1 takedown in the first period as a sophmore. Needless to say his handfight is pretty prolific and hes tough. He seems to still be improving at a pretty rapid rate and while I am not saying Shepherd is not in I am going to go with the hot hand who already has a head to head win.

157: Crosson is very good and really has that state of Iowa style to me, but I think this may be Romeros coming out party. He reminds me a bit of Jayden James from a weight perspective he was a tiny guy for a long time and seems to just let himself grow and not try to fit into a weight. I think this is more of where he is going to settle in and I think we are going to see some of his best wrestling moving forward.

165: I do not know that I think this match is going to be as close as some people do. Cam could slow Melvin down with the hooks but I could also see if he is over committing to them and melvin blocks off well that opening up a lot of melvins misdirection stuff and opposite side attacks.

175: I think Aquila may have a pretty big advantage on the mat here but I really like Jayden on the feet. Jayden is a guy that I would say has always had a strong pace, but I will be interested to see him in a higher pressure 6 minute match for the first time now that he is no longer at Mccort to see where the cardio is. If he comes out balls to the wall as he often does but maybe the training has been a bit different I could see Aquila getting it going late and I think that postulation is going to make me pick Aquila

190: Absolutely no lean here flipped a coin and it was heads which was Carini should be a delight to watch.

215: I am not sure that Moylan has had to deal with a top game like Mastnys strong lean Mastny here.

Excellent write up.

 

Im willing to be money Aquila/O’Farrill gets very chippy 

[Ragu]

That was a good no call imo. Great first match. Wish they still let the guys who missed weight go. Just no ability to be #1

[Truzzcat]

3 hours ago, Ragu said:

That was a good no call imo. Great first match. Wish they still let the guys who missed weight go. Just no ability to be #1

I think its more of a glorified all star match at this point if I am being completely honest. Some of these guys will not see this weight again and if they do it will be for super 32 with day before weigh ins and then not touching down again. Mangano not to keep bringing up his weight he looked great but he wrestled the entire scholastic season last year at 144. I think it loses a bit of the mystique of being who's 1 if the guy really is not in the weight class.

[KSoze]

This is takedown, yes? 

[Truzzcat]

2 hours ago, KSoze said:

This is takedown, yes? 

yes but "reaction time" I believe was the argument before time ran out which to me essentially means if there is 1 second left you cannot get a takedown which is very stupid

[Hoyt Matthews]

17 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

I think its more of a glorified all star match at this point if I am being completely honest. Some of these guys will not see this weight again and if they do it will be for super 32 with day before weigh ins and then not touching down again. Mangano not to keep bringing up his weight he looked great but he wrestled the entire scholastic season last year at 144. I think it loses a bit of the mystique of being who's 1 if the guy really is not in the weight class.

30 hours from weigh in to event start more or less. 

[Truzzcat]

59 minutes ago, Hoyt Matthews said:

30 hours from weigh in to event start more or less. 

this is obviously an extreme example that I am sure even kids who are cutting a lot do not do but we see pretty much every UFC card guys with similar time frames post weigh 20-25lbs heavier by the time they get into the octagon. I have also heard some accounts of an allowance I am not sure if that's true I am sure you can confirm but I think given the proximity to the season if you have no intention of wrestling the weight during the scholastic season at least by when you get the 2lbs I do not think you should be competing at it for who's 1. Perhaps I am the only person that cares enough about that though its still a great product and I love watching it.

[KSoze]

5 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

yes but "reaction time" I believe was the argument before time ran out which to me essentially means if there is 1 second left you cannot get a takedown which is very stupid

That has to be the argument because this is a takedown 100% of the time in college. I thought they used college rules for this event, which is why I was sure it should have been awarded in this exchange. 

Either way, not the end of the world. 

[Hoyt Matthews]

6 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

this is obviously an extreme example that I am sure even kids who are cutting a lot do not do but we see pretty much every UFC card guys with similar time frames post weigh 20-25lbs heavier by the time they get into the octagon. I have also heard some accounts of an allowance I am not sure if that's true I am sure you can confirm but I think given the proximity to the season if you have no intention of wrestling the weight during the scholastic season at least by when you get the 2lbs I do not think you should be competing at it for who's 1. Perhaps I am the only person that cares enough about that though its still a great product and I love watching it.

I think the question is this: is it an event or does it set the rankings for the top spot for the preseason? I mean that’s what I think it boils down to. Either way yes good wrestling, but preferences of the particular details are probably based on what one feels the event is. Most wrestlers would take the call either way, it probably makes little difference to them. I’m not sure on allowances etc but you hear things. Id say most just look at it like a card as opposed to an event that should set the preseason #1, which many of those matches can get run back. Idk my two cents. 

[BruceyB]

6 hours ago, Truzzcat said:

this is obviously an extreme example that I am sure even kids who are cutting a lot do not do but we see pretty much every UFC card guys with similar time frames post weigh 20-25lbs heavier by the time they get into the octagon. I have also heard some accounts of an allowance I am not sure if that's true I am sure you can confirm but I think given the proximity to the season if you have no intention of wrestling the weight during the scholastic season at least by when you get the 2lbs I do not think you should be competing at it for who's 1. Perhaps I am the only person that cares enough about that though its still a great product and I love watching it.

I'm not positive but IIRC this has been talked about on FRL. I believe it was essentially started with the intention of settling the top guy at each weight (or close to it) for the upcoming season, but when Flo would reach out to athletes/coaches and inquire about an athletes weight/plans they would essentially just be fed whatever information would get the athlete on the card. I think Flo just had to accept the reality that coaches and athletes would not necessarily be forthcoming with their true intentions and now have more of a "best two guys that can make the weight even though we can't guarantee they will both be competing at said weight in the future" attitude. Which, to be fair, I don't really know what else you can do if you're Flo, and I don't fault a kid for wanting the opportunity and honor of competing in such a showcase event, even if it requires them to claim they have an intent to wrestle a weight class that they don't intend on wrestling.

[Simpleman424]

Even with a win, unless it’s just beyond decisive, you still have to take other factors into consideration I would think. This is a one match sample size amongst other potential bullet points. Not to mention maybe some of these guys aren’t in peak physical shape considering they’re just coming off the offseason…no one’s turning down the opportunity either way. I’d just say it’s a good very good bullet point and ultimate tie breaker if you really need one.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

21 hours ago, KSoze said:

This is takedown, yes? 

No idea.  Too busy looking at the blondes in the second row.

[ScottishSteel]

10 hours ago, BruceyB said:

I'm not positive but IIRC this has been talked about on FRL. I believe it was essentially started with the intention of settling the top guy at each weight (or close to it) for the upcoming season, but when Flo would reach out to athletes/coaches and inquire about an athletes weight/plans they would essentially just be fed whatever information would get the athlete on the card. I think Flo just had to accept the reality that coaches and athletes would not necessarily be forthcoming with their true intentions and now have more of a "best two guys that can make the weight even though we can't guarantee they will both be competing at said weight in the future" attitude. Which, to be fair, I don't really know what else you can do if you're Flo, and I don't fault a kid for wanting the opportunity and honor of competing in such a showcase event, even if it requires them to claim they have an intent to wrestle a weight class that they don't intend on wrestling.

I wonder if this is where not having Willie hurts - like if he was just better at those relationships/negotiating and could get a more honest truth out of the coaches/athletes to make the better (more accurate) card?

Edited September 28 by ScottishSteel

[MPhillips]

1 hour ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

No idea.  Too busy looking at the blondes in the second row.

Product placement.

[BruceyB]

3 hours ago, ScottishSteel said:

I wonder if this is where not having Willie hurts - like if he was just better at those relationships/negotiating and could get a more honest truth out of the coaches/athletes to make the better (more accurate) card?

It's possible.

[MPhillips]

4 hours ago, ScottishSteel said:

I wonder if this is where not having Willie hurts - like if he was just better at those relationships/negotiating and could get a more honest truth out of the coaches/athletes to make the better (more accurate) card?

When was the last card that Will did?

[ScottishSteel]

6 minutes ago, MPhillips said:

When was the last card that Will did?

Google says he left Flo in November 2019; so my guess is the 2019 card

[MPhillips]

At the FloWrestling 2019 Who's #1 high school wrestling event held on October 5, 2019, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the winners who defended or earned the country's top spot in their respective weight classes included:

106 lbs: Richard Figueroa (California) def. Jacob Decatur (Ohio), 1-0

113 lbs: Richard Figueroa (California) def. Stevo Poulin (New York), 8-1

120 lbs: Jesse Ybarra (Arizona) def. Jakason Burks (Nebraska), 3-1

126 lbs: Robert Howard (New Jersey) def. Trevor Mastrogiovanni (New Jersey), 4-2

132 lbs (Match A): Jesse Mendez (Indiana) def. Ryan Jack (Connecticut), 9-8

132 lbs (Match B): Shayne Van Ness (New Jersey) def. Dominick Serrano (Colorado), 16-6

138 lbs: Jojo Aragona (Pennsylvania) def. Keegan O'Toole (Wisconsin), 5-2

145 lbs: Victor Voinovich (Ohio) def. Jesse Vasquez (California) by Fall, 3:42

152 lbs: Sonny Santiago (California) def. Travis Mastrogiovanni (New Jersey), 5-3

160 lbs: Keegan O'Toole (Wisconsin) def. Paddy Gallagher (Ohio), 12-1

65 kg: Anthony Echemendia (Arizona) def. Joshua Saunders (Missouri), 10-0

Pro Match: Pat Downey tech fall Nick Rodriguez, 12-0

[MPhillips]

https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/7956735-all-time-whos-number-one-results-archived-matches

[mattramosjr]

My stock sinks on Jesse Grajeda, heard he didn't even make weight and won by a fluke, his real weight is 150. He is a weight bully.