Note: The Prep '10 will be updated in early August following Fargo and the Grand River Rumble. At this point all 2014 HS grads will be removed, and all wrestlers' grades will be adjusted to those of the 2014-15 season.
#1 Logan Massa, St Johns (11)
As impressive as Logan was throughout the scholastic season, it pales in comparison to the level he has wrestled at this spring/summer. He’s one of the country’s rising stars on the Freestyle scene, and has shown a great deal of international promise for the future. He was a FILA Junior champion at 70kg/154.5lbs, and then moved up to 74kg/163lbs to take 3rd at the Junior World Team Trials. Most Recently, Logan dominated his way to an undefeated record at the Junior Duals. Among the most notable opponents he has beaten throughout this run are Columbia NCAA qualifier Markus Scheidel (twice), Iowa redshirt/Midlands 3rd place finisher Brandon Sorenson, 3X state champ/Oklahoma State incoming freshman Ryan Blees, 4X state champ/Oklahoma State incoming freshman Chandler Rogers, and 3X state champ/Northwestern incoming freshman Bryce Brill. At this point, Logan has completely separated from the pack in Michigan, and is arguably the top returning HS wrestler in the entire country.
Offseason Summary
1st FILA Junior FS (70kg/154.5lbs)
3rd FILA Junior FS World Team Trials (74kg/163lbs)
7-0 Junior FS Duals (160/170lbs)
#2 Zac Hall, St Johns (12)
Much like his teammate Logan Massa at #1, Zac’s #2 rank is very clear-cut, and there is a great deal of distance between him and the rest of the pack. He’s had mixed results this offseason, but his most notable win was a TF over 2X NCAA qualifier Lenny Richardson of Old Dominion at the Junior FS Duals. On the flip side, he dropped matches against class of 2016 #7 Isaiah White of IL and class of 2017 #5 Brady Berge of MN. Respectively, both are elite HS wrestlers, but were also opponents that I expected Zac to beat. Overall, the losses were a small bump in the road for one of the most accomplished Freestylers to ever come through Michigan, and it’s also important to remember that he is still in somewhat of a transition phase as prior to this spring all of his national competition had come a couple classes below his current competition weight of 145lbs.
Offseason Summary
5th FILA Junior FS World Team Trials (66kg/145.5lbs)
3-2 Junior FS Duals (145lbs)
3-1 Junior Greco Duals (145lbs)
#3 Drew Garcia, Detroit CC (12)
After winning his 3rd consecutive D1 title this March, Drew has taken some well deserved time off from competition this spring/summer as he prepares to begin his “greyshirt” season prior to enrolling at Cornell. He has been #3 in the Prep 10 for over a year a now based on a pair of wins over Arthur in the 2012-13 HS season, and that’s where he remains for the final Prep 10 appearance of his storied career.
#4 Angus Arthur, St Johns (11)
Angus has been absent on the national scene since wrestling at the FILA Cadet World Championships last summer, but his dominant regular season is enough for him to hold down the #4 spot for the time being.
#5 Nick Bennett, Detroit CC (12)
Like his teammate Garcia, Bennett has taken some time off after winning his D1 state title as he prepares to transition the grind of wrestling for a premier NCAA program, Nebraska. He was absolutely dominant in his lone HS season as Michigander, and it’s enough to earn him a top-5 ranking in his final Prep 10 appearance.
#6 Cole Weaver, Hudson (12)
After wrestling at 140lbs during the HS season Cole made his return to action at 132lbs for the Junior duals last month, and it resulted in an impressive showing against some of the nation’s strongest competition. Most notably, he scored a signature win in Freestyle competition over Tommy Thorn, a 4X Freestyle national champion and 2X FILA Cadet World Team member. His only losses came in a match against class of 2015 #6 Ke-Shawn Hayes of MO, and twice at the hands of graduated 2X NJ state champ Anthony Giraldo. On the Greco side of things Cole was also outstanding, posting a spotless record that was highlighted by a win over graduated 4X OK state champ Gary Wayne Harding. Keep in mind that while he finishes #6 in his final Prep 10, there is very little separating him from Garcia, Arthur or Bennett.
Offseason Summary
3-3 Junior FS Duals (132lbs)
4-0 Junior Greco Duals (132lbs)
#7 Alec Pantaleo, Canton (12)
Alec moves up in this edition of the Prep 10 despite losing his D1 state finals match against unranked Malik Amine in March. While that result is still very much a factor in his ranking, Alec more than made up for that lone match with an absolutely spectacular outing at the Junior Duals. Despite coming in with no previous competition experience in Freestyle or Greco, Alec walked away as one of tournament’s most impressive performers regardless of weight. His only FS loss to came to class of 2016 #2 Mason Manville of NJ; a current member of the Freestyle and Greco FILA Cadet World Teams. However, on the following day Alec bounced to soundly avenge the loss by a score of 6-1. Among his other notable wins was a dominant 9-1 decision over IL’s class of 2015 #23 Larry Early. Furthermore, he scored a signature Greco victory when he bumped up to 160lbs and won 4-3 against MD’s Logan Breitenbach who was 4th at Junior Greco Nationals in Fargo last summer.
Offseason Summary
4-1 Junior FS Duals (152/160lbs)
3-1 Junior Greco Duals (152/160lbs)
#8 Nate Limmex, Grand Rapids CC (11)
Injuries have limited Nate’s competition schedule a great deal over the past year, but last month he was able to get back on the mat against some studs at the AAU Disney Duals. There he backed up his status as a one of the top recruits in the incoming senior class by posting a 9-0 record that was highlighted by a trio of dominant wins over OH state placers Tyler Knul/Ryan Ford, and PA state placer Grant Bond.
Offseason Summary
9-0 AAU Disney Duals (132lbs)
#9 Myles Amine, Detroit CC (11)
Back in Myles got over the hump against longtime nemesis Justin Oliver in the D1 state finals March, and he hasn’t looked back since. He started his offseason strong with a 3rd place finish at Flonationals, and has since made a seamless transition up a couple of weight classes to 152lbs. Most recently, he turned in an awesome Freestyle performance at the Junior Duals that was highlighted by a match where he bumped up to 160lbs and recorded a 15-2 TF over NJ’s Christian Stackhouse; a 3rd place Junior Freestyle National finisher in Fargo last summer.
Offseason Summary
3rd Flonationals (138lbs)
2nd Junior FS Central Regional (152lbs)
3-1 Junior FS Duals (152/160lbs)
2-3 Junior Greco Duals (152/160lbs)
#10 Justin Oliver, Davison (12)
After a quiet spring Justin returned to action and turned in a very solid outing at the Junior Duals last month. His only loss in Freestyle competition came at the hands of NJ’s Joey McKenna, who is a member of this year’s FILA Junior Freestyle World Team. However, in a rematch dual with NJ, Justin bumped up to 145lbs and scored a 13-3 TF over 2012 FILA Cadet Freestyle World Team member Jordan Kutler. He performed equally well in Greco, and altogether it was enough for him to beat out several very strong candidates for the #10 spot in what will be the final Prep 10 of his HS career.
Offseason Summary
4-1 Junior FS Duals (138/145lbs)
4-1 Junior Greco Duals (138/145lbs)
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