106LBS
#3 Cade Olivas, CA (9)
#7 Gavin Teasdale, PA (9)
#12 Drew Mattin, OH (10) – State 3rd
#14 Jonatahan Tropea, NJ (11) – State 8th
#16 Anthony Madrigal, IL (9)
Ryan Chauvin, CO (9)
Tony DeCesare, OH (11) – State Runner-Up
Saul Ervin, KY (9) – State 3rd
Jonathan Gomez, NY (10) – State Runner-Up
Tomas Gutierrez, CO (11) – State Champ
Allan Hart, OH (10) – State 7th
Dane Heberlein, NY (10) – State Champ
Hunter Lucas, OH (10) – State 4th
Jaden Mattox, OH (9)
Matty Parker, PA (10)
Justin Portillo, IA (11) – State Runner-Up
Davon Powell, SC (12) – 2X State Champ
Joey Silva, FL (9) – State Champ
Justin Stickley, OH (11) – State 6th
Elijah Varona, FL (10)
Alec White, IN (10) – State 4th
Of the wrestlers currently ranked at 106, #3 Olivas and #7 Teasdale are the highest that will not be moving up to 113 in the next update, so for this tournament they can effectively be considered the top 2 wrestlers in the country at their weight. The pair wrestled just a few weeks ago, with Olivas winning a 3-1 match at Who’s Number One. Now the big question is whether they will meet again at Super 32, or if anyone else can emerge to knock off one (or both) of them.
Given the high annual turnover at 106, the remainder of this field is pretty wide open in comparison to the rest of the weight classes at Super 32. Whatever results transpire over the weekend will paint an early picture of the weight’s national landscape for the upcoming high school season.
Rounding out the 5 nationally ranked registrants are #12 Mattin, # 14 Tropea, and #16 Madrigal. Additionally, Gutierrez is a top-10 caliber guy who was competing up at 113 when the last rankings were published. Another pretty big name is DeCesare, who apparently will be dropping a weight after beating nationally ranked 113lbr Jason Renteria earlier this offseason. One major sleeper could be Mattox. If he’s close to a full-sized 106 I expect the freshman to make some serious noise and place somewhere in the back half of the top 8.
PICKS: 1) Olivas 2) Teasdale 3) Gutierrez 4) Madrigal
113LBS
#1 Spencer Lee, PA (10) – State Champ
#5 Devin Brown, PA (12) – 2X State Champ
#15 Jason Renteria, IL (10) – State Runner-Up
#18 Mitch Moore, OH (9)– Flo AA
#1 @106 Danny Vega, AZ (11) – 2X State Champ
#2 @106 Kaden Gfeller, OK (10) – State Champ
#4 @106 Paul Konrath, IN (10) – State Runner-Up
#9 @106 Drew Hildebrandt, IN (11) – 2X State Placer
#10 @106 Sebastian Rivera, NJ (11) – State 5th
#19 @106 Dan Moran, PA (10) – State Runner-Up
#20 @ 106 Garrett O’Shea, NJ (11) – State 6th
Ana Abduljelil, OH (11) – 2X State Placer
Michael Aquino, MA (12) – New England Champ
Noah Baughman, OH (11) – State Champ
Paul Bianchi, WI (11) – State Champ
Tito Colom, NY (11) – State 4th
Brandon Cray, NJ (11) – State 4th
Matteo DeVincenzo, NY (11) – State Champ
Alec Henze, IL (11) – State 3rd
Max Johnson, MI (11) – State Champ
Alec Kelly, NJ (11) – State 3rd
Dom LaJoie, MI (10) – State Champ
Joe Lobeck, PA (11) – State 4th
Marcelino Lopez, GA (11) – State Champ
Kennedy Monday, TX (11) – State Runner-Up
Toribio Navarro, TN (12) – 2X State Champ
Garrett Pepple, IN (12) – 2X State Runner-Up
Daniel Planta, MD (10) – Prep Nationals 3rd
Josh Portillo, IA (11) – State Champ
Nick Raimo, NJ (8)
Caleb Smith, FL (12) – State Runner-Up
Dillon Swift, IL (12) – State Runner-Up
Jarrett Trombley, MI (9)
Drew West, IA (10) – State Champ
Tyshawn White, PA (12) – 2X State Placer
It’s not too often that a weight with 12 nationally ranked wrestlers has an uncontested favorite, but #1 Lee is just that good. He was last year’s champ at this weight, and in the 12 months since he has arguably been the country’s most dominant high school wrestler. If anyone currently registered were to seriously challenge him this weekend it would be a huge surprise.
Other entrants ranked nationally at 113 are #5 Brown, #15 Renteria, and #18 Moore. Additionally, 8 of the country’s top 20 wrestlers at 106 are also slated to compete: #1 Vega, #2 Gfeller, #4 Konrath, #9 Hildebrandt, #10 Rivera, #11 Pappas, #19 Moran, and #20 O’Shea.
Looking beyond Lee, I think the next tier consists of Brown, Renteria, Vega, and Gfeller. Brown is actually a high school teammate of Lee’s, and last season went undefeated en route to his second consecutive PA state title. Renteria, meanwhile, is coming off a huge performance last weekend that saw him soundly defeat #4 Austin Gomez to win a USAW Preseason National title at 120lbs. Vega makes the move up to 113 after winning the USAW Triple Crown to establish himself as the country’s top 106 this summer. Finally, there’s Gfeller, a 2013 Cadet Freestyle National champ with tons of experience competing at major national events.
As for the remainder of the field, I am highest on Moore. He doesn’t have huge body of work at the national level, but based on what I saw at Flonationals I’m expecting him to have a monstrous freshman season. Of the unranked guys, I’d say Baughman, Kelly, and Smith have the best chance to crack the top-8. Smith especially could be a bracket buster. He used his unorthodox style to upset Konrath at the GFC a few weeks ago. Lastly, keep an eye on Raimo. He’s likely to be among the country’s elite freshmen when next fall rolls around.
PICKS: 1) Lee 2) Renteria 3) Brown 4) Gfeller
120LBS
#2 Daton Fix, OK (10) – State Champ
#3 Nick Suriano, NJ (11) – 2X State Champ
#8 Kyle Norstrem, FL (11) – 3X State Champ
#11 Yianni Diakomihalis, NY (10)– 2X State Champ
#13 Vitali Arujau, NY (10)– State Champ
#15 Alex Mackall, OH (11)– State Champ
#16 Doyle Trout, NE (12)– 3X State Champ
#7@113 Eli Stickley, OH (12)– State Champ
#8 @113 Luke Karam, PA (11)– 2X State Champ
#10 @113 Ian Parker, MI (11)– State Runner-Up
#11 @106 Peter Pappas, NY (10) – State Runner-Up
#12 @113 Ben Freeman, MI (10)– State Champ
#13 @113 Rudy Yates, IL (11) – State Champ
#16 @113 Bryce West, IA (10) – State 3rd
#20 @113 Benny Gomez, MI (12) – State Champ
Brian Courtney, PA (10)– State 3rd
Michael Cullen, IL (12)– 3X State Placer
Gage Curry, PA (11)– 2X State Placer
Cornelious Elliott, IN (12) – State 3rd
Jerry Fenner, MI (12)– State Champ
Chandler Fohey, MO (12) – 2X State Champ
Ryan Friedman, MD (12) – 3X National Prep AA
Noah Gonser, MI (12)– State 3rd
Mario Guillen, OH (11) – State 3rd
Brett Kulp, PA (11) – State 5th
Alex Madrigal, OPRF (12) IL – State 5th
Christian Moody, OK (12) – 2X State Champ
Corbin Nirschl, KS (10) – State Champ
Taylor Ortz, PA (11) – State 3rd
John Pipa, PA (10) – State Runner-Up
Josh Portillo, IA (11) – State Champ
Kyle Quinn, NY (12) – State Runner-Up
Jonathan Ragsdale, GA (12)– 3X State Champ
Jake Riegel, PA (10) – State Champ
Garrett Rowe, OK (11) – State Runner-Up
Bryce Sheffer, KY (10) – State Champ
Logan Sims, GA (11)– 2X State Champ
Jon Trowbridge, KS (9)
Printice Walls, IL (12) – State Runner-Up
Tyler Warner, OH (11) – 2X State Champ
Bryce West, IA (10) – State 3rd
Coltan Williams, TX (10) – State Champ
Tariq Wilson, OH (11) – State Runner-Up
Jacob Wynn, VA (11) – State Champ
For many, the most anticipated potential match of the tournament is at this weight class. Two weeks ago, #3 Suriano edged #2 Fix in a truly epic match at Flo’s 2nd annual Who’s Number One event. The event featured unlimited overtime from the neutral position, and it took Suriano over 30 minutes of live wrestling before he scored the match’s lone takedown to win 3-1. The pair’s previous meeting came in Freestyle at FILA Cadet Nationals in April. Points were equally hard to come by the first time around, and Fix won by criteria after the match ended in a score of 1-1. Now they are all lined up for a rubber match, but both will be tested early and often with 13 additional nationally ranked wrestlers in the field.
Others currently ranked at 120 are #8 Norstrem, #11 Diakomihalis, #13 Arujau, #15 Mackall, and #16 Trout. Meanwhile, #7 Stickley, #8 Karam, #10 Parker, #12 Freeman, #13 Yates, #16 West, and #20 Gomez all currently hold a national ranking at 113. Also, #11 Pappas is moving up from 106.
To be honest, I don’t think there’s a ton of separation among the remainder of the nationally ranked guys. Diakomihalis was last year’s Super 32 champ at 106, but has been a bit inconsistent since jumping a couple of weight classes. Norstrem placed 4th at 113 last year and looked like a hammer, but it’s tough to know where he currently stands after a pretty low-key offseason. Joining them as returning Super 32 AA’s are Stickley, Karam, Freeman, Warner, Moody, Curry, and Cray.
Right now the wildcard seems to be Mackall. He had a huge win over Diakomihalis less than a month ago at the Journeymen Classic, but followed it up with a loss to unranked Williams. Gomez is another guy with the potential to throw a major wrench in this bracket. He had a career performance in Fargo this summer at 113, but I wasn’t sure how he’d fare after moving up a weight. He put those doubts to rest at the GFC a couple weeks ago where he placed 3rd with a win over Freeman as well as #9 Lucas Hall.
Of those I have yet to mention, Riegel, Ragsdale, Madrigal, and Cullen all stand out as potential sleepers.
PICKS: 1) Suriano 2) Fix 3) Diakomihalis 4) Arujau
126LBS
#1 Luke Pletcher, PA (11) – 2X State Champ
#5 Chad Red, IN (11) – 2X State Champ
#9 Lincoln Olson, MI (12) – 3X State Champ
#17 Peter Lipari, NJ (12) – 2X State Placer
#1 @120 Nick Piccininni, NY (12) – 3X State Champ
#6 @120 Markus Simmons, OK (12) – 2X State Champ
#7 @120 Jose Rodriguez, OH (12) – State Champ
#17 @113 Patrick D’Arcy, NJ (12) – State Runner-Up
#20 @120 Kanen Storr, MI (11) – State Champ
Grant Aranoff, FL (9)
Derek Bohle, NH (12) – New England Runner-Up
Hunter Bray, OH (11) – State Runner-Up
Jake Brindley, FL (10) – 2X State Champ
Frankie Bruno, FL (9) – State Champ
Evan Cheek, OH (12) – State 3rd
Ryan Deakin, CO (11) – State Champ
Peter DelGallo, ME (11) – New England Champ
Quinn Devaney, MD (10) – National Preps 4th
Nick Farro, NJ (11) – State 6th
Jonathan Gabriel, PA (11) – State Runner-Up
Collin Glorioso, PA (11) – 2X State Placer
JD Gregory, VA (12) – 2X State Champ
Ben Lamantia, NY (11) – State 3rd
Shakur Laney, OH (12) – 2X State Placer
Joe Lee, IN (9)
Jake Lizak, PA (11) – State 5th
Durbin Lloren, CA (11) – 2X State Placer
Alex Martinez, MI (11) – State Runner-Up
Ryan Pomrinca, NJ (12) – State 3rd
Michael Russo, NJ (12) – State 3rd
Eli Seipel, OH (12) – State Champ
Dan Shear, MI (12) – State 3rd
Mason Smith, MI (12) – 2X State Champ
Jake Spiess, OH (11) – State Champ
Danny Swan, IL (12) – 2X State Champ
Richard Tolston, NC (12) – 2X State Champ
Franco Valdes, FL (10) – 2X State Champ
Cole Woods, OH (11) – State Runner-Up
Trevor Zdebski, MI (12) – State Champ
At this weight fans could be treated to a rare clash of #1’s: Pletcher (126) and Piccininni (120). Both were on last year’s 120 chart at Super 32; Pletcher won the belt and Piccininni finished 4th, but they did not meet head-to-head. However, they wound up meeting up ~5 months later in the finals at Flonationals. It was a match where the majority favored Pletcher, so it was quite a surprise when Piccininni not only won, but did so via major decision. Neither wrestle much Freestyle, so they’ve had limited competition in the months since their meeting at Flo.
Leading the rest of the field are 7 nationally ranked wrestlers: #5 Red, #9 Olson, and #17 Lipari are ranked at 126 while #6 Simmons, #7 Rodriguez, and #20 Storr are ranked at 120, and #17 D’Arcy is at 113. Of this group, I see Red, Olson, Simmons, and Rodriguez as strong picks to place. Lipari, Storr, and D’Arcy are also very capable, but their margin for error is much slimmer.
While this weight doesn't feature quite as many nationally ranked kids as most of its counterparts, the overall depth is among the tournament’s best. Cheek, Deakin, Gabriel, Lamantia, Pomrinca, Russo, Seipel, Smith, Spiess, and Zdebski are all highly accomplished veterans who are currently on the cusp of a national ranking. Look out for Cheek in particular; he’s a returning Super 32 AA and split Freestyle matches with Olson this summer. A couple others worth noting are Aranoff and Lee. They’re probably a year away from placing at an event of this caliber, but both are among the nation’s elite freshmen and will be heard from often in the near future.
PICKS: 1) Pletcher 2) Piccininni 3) Rodriguez 4) Olson
Please login to comment.
Let’s get the conversation started! Post your comment.
Become a Grappler Gold member and get access to premium Grappler articles and videos. Now only $12.99/month!