Upcoming TOM Features: Our most recent rankings. TOM’s Top Prospect Rankings. 2011 Clinch Gear Pre-season All-American Team. 2011 Clinch Gear National High School Team Rankings. This year we are considering doing the team rankings in two formats. The first would be “Dual Rankings” and the second would be “Tournament Rankings”.

Anyways, we have a lot planned for the upcoming season. Stay tuned.

98 Results

Well, we start out a bit shaky here but we did get 2 of our four picks into the top 4. Matt Garelli of Illinois who was someone we had not been watching steps up and gains our attention. One thing we can say from the start of this article is that Team Illinois showed up to compete. It will be interesting to see how the High School season plays out for these guys.

1st Place – Matt Garelli of Illinois
2nd Place – Mark Raghunandan of New York
3rd Place – Colton Howell of Missouri
4th Place – Nkosi Moody of Illinois
5th Place – Jan Rosenberg of New Jersey
6th Place – Jj Dorrell of Missouri
7th Place – Izaak Tobin of Oregon
8th Place – Jay Fresh of Iowa

TOM’s Prediction
1. Colton Howell (MO) (3rd)
2. Bobby Nachreiner (WI)
3. Nkosi Moody (IL) (4th)
4. Juan Javier Jimenez (CA)

105 Results

With Greco Champ Rodriguez moving up, the door was open for a new face to step up. That is exactly what Ross Spencer of (CT) did. He knocked off Navejas (WA) in the finals. That was more impressive by the fact that Navejas had teched or pinned every guy but one leading up to the finals. Several kids we were not aware of also stepped up to grab AA honors.

1st Place – Ross Spencer of Connecticut
2nd Place – Ruben Navejas of Washington
3rd Place – Jordan Wigger of South Carolina
4th Place – Holden Gagner of Montana
5th Place – Justin Lombardo of Oklahoma
6th Place – Manny Marin of California
7th Place – Colby Knight of Iowa
8th Place – Michael Bedard of North Carolina

TOM’s Prediction
1. Freddie Rodriguez (MI) (1st – 112)
2. Ruben Navejas (WA) (2nd)
3. Kevon Powell (IL)
4. Manny Marin (CA) (6th)

112 Results

Freddie Rodriguez (MI), wow is all we can really say. He has stamped himself as one of the best wrestlers in the nation period. Rodriguez knocks of TOM’s 2010 Clinch Gear 1st Team All-American Evan Silver (MI) in the finals (0-6, 6-2, 7-0). We are trying to decide where to place him in the rankings; will he go 103 or 112? He will be a junior this year, and may need to start putting on some weight for his future college career if that is the path he chooses. This was one tough weight as you can see below and will make our rankings all the more difficult. Congrats to those who earned AA honors.

1st Place – Freddie Rodriguez of Michigan
2nd Place – Evan Silver of Maryland
3rd Place – Dylan Peters of Iowa
4th Place – Derek Elmore of Illinois
5th Place – Cory Clark of Iowa
6th Place – Jordan Kingsley of Minnesota
7th Place – Tyler Fraley of New Jersey
8th Place – Nahshon Garrett of California

TOM’s Prediction
1. Tyler Fraley (NJ) (7th)
2. Evan Silver (MD) (2nd)
3. Nahshon Garrett (CA) (8th)
4. Corey Clark (IA) (5th)

119 Results

Carson Kuhn (UT) claims the top spot here. Kuhn who we picked #2 seemed to cruise in this one. Runner up Hunter Weber (WI) who was a bit of a surprise made it though a tough pool to make the finals, so credit where credit is due. Well done Mr. Hunter. Otherwise we may not have had the exact order correct but there were no real shocking moments at this one.

1st Place – Carson Kuhn of Utah
2nd Place – Hunter Weber of Wisconsin
3rd Place – Bricker Dixon of Missouri
4th Place – Earl Hall of Florida
5th Place – Rob Deutsch of New Jersey
6th Place – Eric Friedman of Maryland
7th Place – Conor Youtsey of Michigan
8th Place – Eric DeVos of Iowa

TOM’s Prediction
1. Joey Dance (VA)
2. Carson Kuhn (UT) (1st)
3. Bricker Dixon (MO) (3rd)
4. Conor Youtsey (MI) (7th)

125 Results

This was a tough one for us to predict as there were numerous hard nosed kids in this one. Eddie Klimara flexed more of that Illinois muscle by defeating Zach Horan (PA) in the finals. His pool was tough and he did suffer a loss to Grey (NJ) but with a win over Norstrem (FL) he was able to make the finals. Horan had dominated the bottom pool but fell short in the finals.

1st Place – Eddie Klimara of Illinois
2nd Place – Zachary Horan of Pennsylvania
3rd Place – Cody Brewer of Missouri
4th Place – Kevin Norstrem of Florida
5th Place – Mark Grey of New Jersey
6th Place – Ben Morgan of Minnesota
7th Place – Pat Rollins of North Dakota
8th Place – Jesse Schiffbauer of West Virginia

TOM’s Prediction
1. Mark Grey (NJ) (5th)
2. Johnni Di Julius (OH)
3. Rossi Bruno (FL)
4. Kevin Norstrem (FL) (4th)

130 Results

A weight were our predictions looked ok produced champion Tyler Liberatore (FL). Liberatore defeated a very tough Kelliher (MN) in the finals. Look for these two to butt heads again this winter at the clash. Some other guys stepped up in this weight that have been under our radar as well.

1st Place – Tyler Liberatore of Florida
2nd Place – Matt Kelliher of Minnesota
3rd Place – Trevor Jauch of Illinois
4th Place – Chase Ferman of Oklahoma
5th Place – Joey Gosinski of Illinois
6th Place – Cameron Jackson of Michigan
7th Place – Todd Preston of New Jersey
8th Place – Ronnie Garbinsky of Pennsylvania

TOM’s Prediction
1. Terrell Wilbourn (MO) (2nd – 135)
2. Matt Kelliher (MN) (2nd)
3. Arty Walsh (PA)
4. Tyler Liberatore (FL) (1st)

135 Results

Austin Ormsbee (NJ) is king of the hill here. Ormsbee navigated a very deep field and made his case for a top ranking. He knocked of TOM’s #1 Tsirtsis (IN) in the pool and went on to beat a very tough Terrell Wilbourn (MO) in the finals. Keep an eye on Taylor Moeder (KS) this upcoming season.

1st Place – Austin Ormsbee of New Jersey
2nd Place – Terrell Wilbourn of Missouri
3rd Place – Jason Tsirtsis of Indiana
4th Place – Taylor Moeder of Kansas
5th Place – Mark Pinero of Louisiana
6th Place – Brandon Charbonneau of Kansas
7th Place – Jake Sueflohn of Wisconsin
8th Place – Matthew Nelson of Minnesota

TOM’s Prediction
1. Josh Dziewa (PA)
2. Jason Tsirtsis (IN) (3rd)
3. Jake Sueflohn (WI) (7th)
4. Nate Skonieczny (OH)

140 Results

Team Iowa gets on the board her with Jacob Ballweg claiming the title here. Ballweg defeated Edwin Cooper (IL) (1-0, 7-0) in the finals. His toughest match came when he beat Nick Dardanes (IL) (4-3, 0-1, 1-0) in the pool. Illinois managed to claim 3 of the top 8 spots at this weight.

1st Place – Jacob Ballweg of Iowa
2nd Place – Edwin Cooper of Illinois
3rd Place – Nick Dardanes of Illinois
4th Place – Cullen Morrissey of Wisconsin
5th Place – Lex Ozias of Maryland
6th Place – Matthew Cimato of Pennsylvania
7th Place – Blaise Butler of Illinois
8th Place – Daniel Ownbey of North Carolina

TOM’s Prediction
1. Josh Kindig (PA)
2. Edwin Cooper (IL) (2nd)
3. Jacob Ballweg (IA) (1st)
4. Alex Dieringer (WI) (1st – 145)

145 Results

Alex Dieringer is also making his case to be considered one of the top wrestlers in the nation. He managed to knock of the very tough Dylan Ness (MN) for the second time this summer. Two of our picks here battled injury and some other issues, while some new faces showed up on the podium.

1st Place – Alex Dieringer of Wisconsin
2nd Place – Dylan Ness of Minnesota
3rd Place – Kaleb Friedley of Missouri
4th Place – Chris Mayolo of Washington
5th Place – Colby Kloetzer of Idaho
6th Place – Henry Carlson of Alabama
7th Place – Duke Pickett of Virginia
8th Place – Colin Shober of Pennsylvania

TOM’s Prediction
1. Dylan Ness (MN) (2nd)
2. Zach Brunson (OR)
3. Colin Shober (PA) (8th)
4. James Green (NJ)

152 Results

Destin McCauley (MN) wins a very solid weight class here. He defeated Matt Hickman (CA). Both McCauley and Hickman had to get by some tough guys to make it here and both had some pretty close matches along the way. This one was no cake walk so props to McCauley on his championship.

1st Place – Destin McCauley of Minnesota
2nd Place – Matt Hickman of California
3rd Place – Taylor Massa of Michigan
4th Place – Matt White of Oklahoma
5th Place – Ravaughn Perkins of Nebraska
6th Place – Nick Nelson of California
7th Place – Andy McCulley of Wyoming
8th Place – Matt Gray of Wisconsin

TOM’s Prediction
1. Destin McCauley (MN) (1st)
2. Taylor Massa (MI) (3rd)
3. Dylan Reel (IL)
4. Justin Koethe (IA)

160 Results

Nick Moore (IA) defeated Kokesh (SD) by fall in the finals. Each of the faced some tough matches on their way to finals. South Dakota is an emerging state and some talented kids that coaches should take note of. Moore, capped off a great HS career and is headed to the Hawkeyes. There is a lot of talent in this weight and we would keep an eye on all of they in the future.

1st Place – Nick Moore of Iowa
2nd Place – Robert Kokesh of South Dakota
3rd Place – Michael Kelly of Iowa
4th Place – Steven Keogh of Minnesota
5th Place – Wally Figaro of Florida
6th Place – Kyle Crutchmer of Oklahoma
7th Place – Jordan Thomas of Michigan
8th Place – Nick Proctor of Illinois

TOM’s Prediction
1. Nick Moore (IA) (1st)
2. Ian Miller (OH)
3. Robert Kokesh (SD) (2nd)
4. Kyle Crutchmer (OK) (6th)

171 Results

This was another very balanced weight class. Logan Storely (SD) gets the nod here with his (2-1, 4-2) win over Nick Sulzer (OH) in the finals. If you look at the top 8 guys you will realize how tough this one was. Some of the top recruits in the country make up this AA list. Also note that SD managed two AA in this one.

1st Place – Logan Storely of South Dakota
2nd Place – Nick Sulzer of Ohio
3rd Place – Stephen McPeek of Texas
4th Place – Evan Knight of Iowa
5th Place – Mike England of Iowa
6th Place – Patrick Rhoads of Missouri
7th Place – Jake Waste of Minnesota
8th Place – Kris Klapprodt of South Dakota

TOM’s Prediction
1. Nick Sulzer (OH) (2nd)
2. Logan Storley (SD) (1st)
3. Michael Moreno (IA)
4. Devin Peterson (WI) (5th – 189)

189 Results

We did pretty well with our selections here, but we did miss runner-up Matthew Riley from Iowa. He dropped his finals match to our top pick Morgan McIntosh (CA). McIntosh won by fall to make his claim to the title. Matter of fact McIntosh only gave up points in 1 period the entire tournament. He spotted 5 to Beckwith of NY in first period of their match. Other then that he was lights out.

1st Place – Morgan McIntosh of California
2nd Place – Matthew Riley of Iowa
3rd Place – Austin Marsden of Illinois
4th Place – Tyler Beckwith of New York
5th Place – Devin Peterson of Wisconsin
6th Place – Dan Santoro of Illinois
7th Place – Austin Morehead of California
8th Place – Ian Korb of Ohio

TOM’s Prediction
1. Morgan Mcintosh (CA) (1st)
2. Austin Marsden (IL) (3rd)
3. Tyler Beckwith (NY) (4th)
4. Lucas Sheridan (CA)

215 Results

Tanner Hall (ID) was impressive here. He certainly got even more of our attention by beating some very tough guys. He defeated Iowa’s Cody Krumwiede in the finals by Fall. One thing that would be interesting is mixing these All-American’s with the Cadet 215 All-Americans. Now that would be one tough tournament.

1st Place – Tanner Hall of Idaho
2nd Place – Cody Krumwiede of Iowa
3rd Place – Nick Gwiazdowski of New York
4th Place – Scott Schiller of North Dakota
5th Place – Gage Harrah of Illinois
6th Place – Alex Polizzi of Wisconsin
7th Place – Kyle Caylor of Kansas
8th Place – Matt Loew of New York

TOM’s Prediction
1. Spencer Myers (PA)
2. Trevor Rupp (ID)
3. Tank Knowles (CA)
4. Tanner Hall (ID) (1st)

285 Results

What can we say here, this one just baffled us. For the second time this summer our #1 Heavy gets knocked off. Congrats to Greg Kuhar (OH) for winning a pretty deep weight class. Matter of fact to be honest we were pretty confident our top four prediction. So we were surprised. Kuhar came up big beating our current #1 Blythe (IA). That helped him reach the finals as he suffered a loss to former #1 Logendyke (MN). The bottom half of this pool was very tough to say the least. Kuhar defeated Chris Lopes (IL), another surprise for us, in the finals. Re-doing this weights ranking will be fun.

1st Place – Greg Kuhar of Ohio
2nd Place – Chris Lopez of Illinois
3rd Place – Derek Papagianopoulos of Massachusetts
4th Place – Austin Blythe of Iowa
5th Place – Collin Campbell of North Carolina
6th Place – Donnie Longendyke of Minnesota
7th Place – Connor Medbery of Colorado
8th Place – Parker Betts of Minnesota

TOM’s Prediction
1. Donnie Longendyke (MN) (6th)
2. Austin Blythe (IA) (4th)
3. Connor Medberry (CO) (7th)
4. Niko Bogojevic (WI)

The three-time Div. I All-American wrestler for the University of Minnesota made a respectable Octagon debut against rising welterweight Paulo Thiago at UFC 106 last November. And though he lost a unanimous decision, the promotion invited the 29-year-old fighter back as a two-week late replacement to face Martin Kampmann at UFC 108 in January. Volkmann said he erroneously chose to stand with Kampmann, an accomplished Dane striker, which led to his second straight defeat.

Volkmann said he won’t make that mistake again.

Read more by Loretta Hunt of www.sherdog.com here…

LEWISBURG, Pa.

In addition to announcing it will host the EIWA Championships, Bucknell on Thursday unveiled its complete 2010-11 schedule. Highlighting the home slate is a dual match against EIWA foe and in-state rival Lehigh on Dec. 3, immediately following road competitions at Nebraska and Oklahoma State on back-to-back days in late November. Overall, the Bison will face no fewer than five teams that finished in the top 25 at last year’s NCAA Championships.

Bucknell, which is entering its fifth year of competition since the program was reinstated prior to 2006-07, will have a total of seven home duals, as well as the EIWA Championships on its home slate. All regular-season home matches will take place in Davis Gym and will feature free admission. The EIWA Championships, however, will be a ticketed event.

“We are excited to be hosting the EIWA Championships,” said Bucknell head wrestling coach Dan Wirnsberger. “The EIWA is a premier, prestigious conference and it will be exciting to showcase our program, campus and facilities to a tremendous part of the wrestling community. I know our guys are looking forward to wrestling in front of their home fans in Central Pennsylvania and I expect to see some outstanding competition next March.”

An all-session ticket purchased in advance will cost $50 for adults and $25 for students of competing institutions and children 18 and under. The all-session ticket purchased at the door will be $60 for adults and $30 for students and children. Single-session tickets will also be available. Session 1 tickets will be $25 for adults and $13 for students. Session 2 tickets are $20 (adults) and $10 (students/children), while sessions 3 and 4 will cost $15 (adults) and $8 (students/children) apiece.

Tickets for the EIWA Championships will go on sale Aug. 16 at 11 a.m. Fans can purchase the tickets by calling the Weis Center Box Office at 570-577-1000 or online at www.bucknell.edu/boxoffice.

Additionally, there will be a limited number of reserved parking spots available in designated lots for the EIWA Championships. Reserved parking can be purchased the same way as tickets. A weekend pass is $25, while a single-day parking pass is $15.

Bucknell has had plenty of success in recent years at the EIWA Championships. Last year Andy Rendos won the program’s first-ever individual title as he led the Bison to a fourth-place finish. One year earlier Bucknell tied for third in the team standings, the best showing in program history.

Bucknell’s 2010-11 season will commence Nov. 20 at the Navy Classic. Four Bison claimed individual titles at the event last year. The road trip to Nebraska and Oklahoma State follows. The Huskers finished 12th at last year’s NCAA Championships, while Oklahoma State claimed sixth.

The dual with Lehigh, which finished 17th at last year’s NCAA Championships, kicks off the home schedule. Bucknell will also be home on Dec. 17 for the annual Bison Duals against Princeton and Drexel, Jan. 21 vs. Old Dominion, Jan. 23 against Liberty, Feb. 4 opposite Lock Haven and Feb. 10 against EIWA foe Army.

Including Nebraska and Oklahoma State, the road dual slate includes matches at Rutgers, Penn, Brown and American, as well as a neutral-site outing at Lower Dauphin High School against Maryland.

Tournament competition once again includes the Midlands Championships in late December and the Virginia Duals a week later in addition to the season-opening Navy Classic.

Bucknell is coming off a 2009-10 season where it had two All-Americans (Kevin LeValley, Andy Rendos), the first EIWA champion in program history, went 12-6 and was an unblemished 6-0 against EIWA competition. The 12 victories equaled a school record, while it was the program’s first unbeaten conference mark since 1987-88.

2011 EIWA Championships Information

Saturday, March 5

Session 1: 10 a.m.-approx. 3 p.m. (Round of 16, Quarterfinals & Consolations, Consolations)

Session 2: 3:30 p.m. (Semifinals)

Sunday, March 6

Session 3: 10 a.m.-approx. 1 p.m. (Consolation Semifinals, Place Finals)

Session 4: 3 p.m. (Finals)

Ticket Information (570-577-1000 or www.bucknell.edu/boxoffice starting Aug. 16 at 11 a.m.)

All-Session Pass (advance purchase)

Adult: $50

Student/Children: $25

All-Session Pass (purchase at door)

Adult: $60

Student/Children: $30

Single-Session Tickets

Session 1: Adult ($25)/Student/Children ($13)

Session 2: Adult ($20)/Student/Children ($10)

Session 3: Adult ($15)/Student/Children ($8)

Session 4: Adult ($15)/Student/Children ($8)

Note: Student ticket valid for competing institution student with valid ID and children 18 and under

Reserved Parking

Reserved parking is available in designated lots. An all-session parking pass is $25. A single-day parking pass is $15. There are limited reserved parking spaces and they are expected to sell out quickly.

www.BucknellBison.com

Courtesy of Todd Merriett, Asst. Dir. of Athletic Communications, Bucknell University

KENT, Ohio

“Matt takes the approach that it’s all about hard work,” Head Wrestling Coach Jim Andrassy said. “His philosophy is to get guys to work harder than ever before to improve. We had a lot of good candidates for this position and it was a very tough decision. But ultimately we felt that Matt gives our athletes the best chance to improve on what we’ve been doing.”

Hill has remained involved in wrestling over the past year working with Seneca Valley High School and the Freedom Wrestling Youth Club. He also stayed in touch with a number of KSU wrestlers, whom he looks forward to reuniting with.

“I learned a lot from Jimmy (Andrassy) and Josh (Moore),” Hill said. “And with the experience I took from Edinboro, I felt like we created a pretty successful atmosphere. I think we have two guys (Dustin Kilgore & Nic Bedelyon) that can win national titles this year and several others that can be up on the podium.”

During Hill’s two seasons as a graduate assistant, the Golden Flashes produced 11 national qualifiers, went 29-8 in dual meets and captured a 2009 MAC regular season title.

While at Edinboro, Hill compiled 105 career victories, going 32-7 as a senior.

Kent State’s 2010-11 season gets underway Nov. 6 in Salem, Va. with dual meets against Iowa State and Chattanooga.

Courtesy of Aaron Chimenti, Assistant Director, Kent State Athletic Communications

Oklahoma head coach Jack Spates announces 2010-11 signees.

NORMAN, Okla. – University of Oklahoma head coach Jack Spates recently wrapped up the 2010-11 recruiting class, signing four InterMat Top 100 recruits for the second-consecutive year and finishing with a consensus top 10 class.

Collectively, the future Sooners combined to win 20 state championships, spanning five states across the country.

“We are really excited about this recruiting class,” head coach Jack Spates said. “They are very talented, very accomplished, excellent students and great kids.”

The Sooners class ranks No. 9, 12 and 14 by recruiting publications The Open Mat, CollegeWrestling.net and InterMat, respectively. However, those rankings were released before Spates crew secured two of their top commitments.

“It is another top-ten class for us, but our rankings are misleading,” said Spates. “These rankings were issued before we landed some of our top recruits including, JUCO national champion Chase Nelson and four-time state champion Ian Fisher.”

Nelson, ranked the No. 2 JUCO wrestler at 157 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News, headlines the class. The Wichita, Kan., native was a JUCO national champion at Labette junior college where he terrorized his competition. Nelson provides added depth for the Sooners at 165 pounds.

The Sooners inked three Oklahoman’s ranked in the top 93 nationally by InterMat in Justin DeAngelis (No. 61), Ronnie Balfour (No. 75) and Quincy Mondaine (No. 93).

DeAngelis, a Tulsa, Okla. Product, was a three-time state champion at Jenks where he finished his career with a record of 100-11. In addition to his InterMat ranking, DeAngelis, 149 pounds, checks in as the 56th-ranked recruit by CollegWrestling.net.

Another Tulsa, Okla., native, Balfour, was a state champion at Union and ranks as the 67th best wrestler in the country by CollegeWrestling.net.

Mondaine, a one-time state champion from Muskogee is ranked the No. 11 and No. 8 recruit at 197 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News and Tom’s College Prospect Rankings, respectively.

Expected to wrestle at 165 pounds for OU, Parker Madl from Stillwell, Kan., is notched as the 79th-best wrestler nationally by InterMat and No. 80 by CollegeWrestling.net. Madl was twice crowned Kansas state champion and placed fourth at Senior Nationals.

Another Oklahoman, Fisher, will compete at 141 pounds for the Sooners. The Perry high school star racked up four state championships and compiled 168 wins during his career.

The Sooners signed two heavyweights in Kyle Colling and Kosta Karageorge. Colling, a product of Arcade, N.Y., was a two-time state champion and high school All-American. Amateur Wrestling News ranks him the sixth-best recruit at 215 pounds. Karangeorge is from Worthington, Ohio, where he finished in the top six at the Ohio state finals.

Spates also gained commitments from two-time Kansas state champion Jordan Keller (Wichita, Kan.), South Carolina state champion Derek Geiges (Charleston, S.C.), 2009 Florida state champion Chase Gordan (Oviedo, Fla.) and Oklahoma state champion Dax Perrier (Pawhuska, Okla.).

Rounding out the Sooners’ class is Dustin Reed from Choctaw Okla., Sean Datte of Las Flores, Calif., Zac Corrales of Lawton, Okla., and a transfer from Virginia Tech, Scott Chene.

“We are really looking forward to great things from these young men,” Spates concluded.

Courtesy of Oklahoma Sports Information

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.

For the sixth-straight year, the Gophers will open the season at the Bison Open in Fargo, N.D. on Saturday, Nov. 13. One week later, on Nov. 20, Minnesota will be in Omaha for the Kaufman-Brand Open hosted by Nebraska-Omaha. The Gophers return to their home state on Saturday, Nov. 27, competing in the Northern Quad with Appalachian State, North Dakota State and Central Michigan in Rochester, Minn.

Minnesota kicks off the month of December with its first meet on campus when Oklahoma State visits the Sports Pavilion on Sunday, Dec. 5. That competition is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff. The Gophers then hit the road for the remainder of the month starting with a dual against Nebraska on Thursday, Dec. 9. Just two days later, Minnesota will be back in action with three dual meets against Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly in Bakersfield and Fullerton, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 11 before competing in the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C. on Dec. 29-30. The team rounds out the road trip with its first competition of 2011 at National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa the weekend of January 8- 9.

On Friday, Jan. 14, the Gophers will host their first Big Ten dual of the year when they take on Indiana at the Sports Pavilion to kick off the conference season before another road trip that will take the program to Iowa State on Sunday, Jan. 16, Purdue on Jan. 21 and Illinois on Jan. 23. Minnesota rounds out the month of January with a home dual meet against Wisconsin on Sunday, Jan. 30 at 2:00 p.m. The Badgers meet marks the second dual in less than two weeks in which the Gophers will face a team that finished in the top four at the 2009 NCAA Championships. Wisconsin finished fourth in the event while Iowa State took third-place honors.

The Gophers open February with a conference matchup on the road against Ohio State on Saturday, Feb. 5 before traveling to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan on Feb. 11. Minnesota returns home on Sunday, Feb. 13 for Big Ten dual with Penn State at the Sports Pavilion. The Nittany Lions meet is tabbed for a 2:00 p.m. start time.

Minnesota closes out the regular season with a home dual against the Iowa Hawkeyes in what is annually one of the most anticipated meets of the season. The Gophers are slated to host the defending national champion Hawkeyes on Sunday, Feb. 20 at Williams Arena. A 2:00 p.m. start time is scheduled for the dual.

With March comes tournament time and Minnesota will be on the road at the Big Ten Championships on Mar. 5-6 in West Lafayette, Ind. and at the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia on Mar. 17-19.

The Golden Gopher wrestling program will also host the 2010-2011 Meet the Team event prior to the start of the season. Information for the event will be released as it becomes available.

Courtesy of Brian Deutsch, Minnesota Sports Information

Schedule
Sat. Nov. 13 Bison Open Fargo, N.D. All Day
Sat. Nov. 20 Kaufman-Brand Open Omaha, Neb. All Day
Sat. Nov. 27 Northern Quad Rochester, Minn. All Day
Sun. Dec. 05 Oklahoma State Sports Pavilion 2:00 p.m.
Thu. Dec. 09 Nebraska Lincoln, Neb. 7:00 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 11 Cal State Fullerton Bakersfield & Fullerton, Calif. All Day
Sat. Dec. 11 Cal Poly Bakersfield & Fullerton, Calif. All Day
Sat. Dec. 11 Cal State Bakersfield Bakersfield & Fullerton, Calif. All Day
Wed. Dec. 29 Southern Scuffle Greensboro, N.C. All Day
Thu. Dec. 30 Southern Scuffle Greensboro, N.C. All Day
Sat. Jan. 08 National Duals Cedar Falls, Iowa All Day
Sun. Jan. 09 National Duals Cedar Falls, Iowa All Day
Fri. Jan. 14 Indiana Sports Pavilion 7:00 p.m.
Sun. Jan. 16 Iowa State Ames, Iowa TBA
Fri. Jan. 21 Purdue West Lafayette, Ind. TBA
Sun. Jan. 23 Illinois Champaign, Ill. TBA
Sun. Jan. 30 Wisconsin Sports Pavilion 2:00 p.m
Sat. Feb. 05 Ohio State Columbus, Ohio TBA
Fri. Feb. 11 Michigan Ann Arbor, Mich. 6:00 p.m.
Sun. Feb. 13 Penn State Sports Pavilion 2:00 p.m.
Sun. Feb. 20 Iowa Williams Arena 2:00 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 05 Big Ten Championships West Lafayette, Ind. All Day
Sun. Mar. 06 Big Ten Championships West Lafayette, Ind. All Day
Thu. Mar. 17 NCAA Championships Philadelphia, Pa. All Day
Fri. Mar. 18 NCAA Championships Philadelphia, Pa. All Day
Sat. Mar. 19 NCAA Championships Philadelphia, Pa. All Day

The view from section GG – Jim Brown

John Smith won two NCAA titles at Oklahoma State and then went on to win 2 Olympic Gold Medals and four freestyle World Championships. Dan Gable also won two NCAA championships while wrestling for the Iowa State Cyclones. Gable’s post-graduate freestyle career includes a Pan American Games title, the 1971 World Championship, the championship at the 1972 Tbilisi tournament and the 1972 Olympic Gold Medal. Bruce Baumgartner, too, was an NCAA champion while wrestling at Indiana State. In his storied freestyle career he accumulated more Olympic and World hardware than some entire countries have won.

For decades America’s best college wrestlers successfully transitioned from intercollegiate competition to the international stage. Glen Brand, Bill Smith, Doug Blubaugh, Tom Brands and countless others advanced from NCAA championship trophies to Olympic gold. And then – as if to keep the chain unbroken – many of them went in to coaching and trained the next generations of international freestyle champions.

At least to this fan, the chain seems to be weakening.

Read more from Jim Brown here…

Cadet – 84

Congratulations to Brent Fleetwood for capturing the title. He seemed to have cruised through the weight posting some nice wins. He won a close one with our number one pick Davion Jefferies of Oklahoma who ended up third. Congrats to all of the wrestlers who earned All-American honors.

1st Place – Brent Fleetwood of Delaware
2nd Place – Tyler Casamenti of New Jersey
3rd Place – Davion Jeffries of Oklahoma
4th Place – Aaron Dick of Minnesota
5th Place – Gannon Volk of Minnesota
6th Place – Sam Phillips of Iowa
7th Place – Carlos Fuentez of Illinois
8th Place – Hunter Wright of Virginia

TOM’s Selections

1. Davion Jeffries – OK (3rd)
2. Parker Howell – KS
3. Casey Cobb – ID
4. Volk Gannon – MN (5th)

Cadet – 91

This weight had a few surprises. Ronnie Bresser of Oregon wins the title here. If you go back and read our preview, Bresser was our Dark Horse selection at this weight. He beat a very tough Noah Teaney of Missouri in the finals. We did not mention Teaney in our preview and boy were we wrong for missing him. Another interesting side note for this weight or at least something we found interesting is that Minnesota managed to take all of the middle places (3-6).

1st Place – Ronnie Bresser of Oregon
2nd Place – Noah Teaney of Missouri
3rd Place – Zach Siegle of Minnesota
4th Place – Tommy Thorn of Minnesota
5th Place – Jarred Oftedahl of Minnesota
6th Place – Skyler Petry of Minnesota
7th Place – Dylan Lucas of Florida
8th Place – Armando Torres of Ohio

TOM’S Selections

1. Jarred Oftedahl – MN (5th)
2. Dylan Akers – TX
3. Brandon George – UT
4. Jordan Lind – IL

Cadet – 98

Well, we got this one right for the most part. Phillip Laux of Iowa continues to impress. He brings home the national title with a nice win over a very tough Darian Cruz (PA). We also pegged Tomasello in the correct place. This was a very tough weight to navigate loaded with young talent. Look for these guys to make a splash this upcoming season.

1st Place – Phillip Laux of Iowa
2nd Place – Darian Cruz of Pennsylvania
3rd Place – Nathan Tomasello of Ohio
4th Place – Dalton Macri of West Virginia
5th Place – Mason Pengilly of California
6th Place – Kyle Gliva of Minnesota
7th Place – Zac Hall of Michigan
8th Place – Jacob Trujillo of Colorado

TOM’s Selection’s

1. Phillip Laux – IA (1st)
2. Darian Cruz (#14) – PA (2nd)
3. Nathan Tomasello (#4) – OH (3rd)
4. Joey McKenna – NJ

Cadet – 105

Austin Hood (MO) comes in under our radar to win this weight. Cortez who we pegged as the favorite here moved up a weight. Jacob Schmitt (MI) continued his great summer by taking 2nd. We did get our 3rd place finisher right in Ashnault (NJ) who dropped a very close match to Schmitt.

1st Place – Austin Hood of Kansas
2nd Place – Jacob Schmitt of Michigan
3rd Place – Anthony Ashnault of New Jersey
4th Place – Sebastian Pique of Illinois
5th Place – Jake Konzal of Washington
6th Place – Jaret Singh of Missouri
7th Place – P.J. Klee of California
8th Place – Mark Duda of Illinois

TOM’s Selection’s

1. #7 (112) Jared Cortez – IL (1st – 112)
2. #19 (112) Marshawn Sharp – GA
3. #6 Anthony Ashnault – NJ (3rd)
4. #5 Jacob Schmitt – MI (2nd)

Cadet – 112

Our top pick from 105 moved up to take the top spot at 112. Jared Cortez (IL) He cruised through a tough weight on his way to the top. We are very impressed by his performance here. We did get the runner up correct in Jack Hathaway (IA). He also gave Cortez all he could handle in this one dropping a (0-1, 4-0, 1-0) match in the finals. We had picked Dom Malone of (CT) for our top spot here. He ended up 3rd and had a good tournament his only loss came to Hathaway in a very tight one.

1st Place – Jered Cortez of Illinois
2nd Place – Jack Hathaway of Iowa
3rd Place – Dominick Malone of Connecticut
4th Place – Sam Brancale of Minnesota
5th Place – Tate Robinson of Tennessee
6th Place – Barlow McGhee of Illinois
7th Place – Will Steltzlen of Oklahoma
8th Place – Vito Pasone of Pennsylvania

TOM’s Selections

1. #4 Dom Malone – CT (3rd)
2. #19 Jack Hathaway – IA (2nd)
3. #11 Sam Brancale – MN (4th)
4. #12 Paul Petrov – IN

Cadet – 119

At 119 we did manage to get the top two spots correct. Thomas Gilman (NE) grabs the top spot here defeating Bryce Brill (IL) in the finals in a (1-1, 1-1, 2-0) match. It does not get much closer then that. Two guys that impressed us were Bengtson (MN) and Meyers (OH). The both had very good tournaments. They have been on our radar in the past and have now made a case to move up. This is the first weight all of our pre-tournament selections were AA.

1st Place – Thomas Gilman of Nebraska
2nd Place – Bryce Brill of Illinois
3rd Place – Mitch Bengtson of Minnesota
4th Place – Stephen Myers of Ohio
5th Place – Clayton Ream of Missouri
6th Place – Hayden Tuma of Idaho
7th Place – Skylar Wood of Missouri
8th Place – Corey Keener of Pennsylvania

TOM’s Selections

1. #13 Thomas Gilman – NE (1st)
2. #15 Bryce Brill – IL (2nd)
3. #17 Corey Keener – PA (8th)
4. #20 Skylar Wood – MO (7th)

Cadet – 125

Ben Whitford (IL) continues his path of destruction here. This guy has been on fire this summer and one to watch long term. Whitford defeated Mike Labry (OH) in the finals, Labry was another one under our radar but did get our attention with this performance. Some new faces showed up in this one and wrestled well. We will be keeping our eyes on many of them.

1st Place – Ben Whitford of Illinois
2nd Place – Mike Labry of Ohio
3rd Place – Josh Bennett of Missouri
4th Place – Josh Pennell of Michigan
5th Place – Darick Lapaglia of Missouri
6th Place – Austin Roper of Missouri
7th Place – Dylan Cottrell of West Virginia
8th Place – Ryan Blees of North Dakota

TOM’s Selections

1. #7 Ben Whitford – IL (1st)
2. #14 Dakota Trom – MN (2nd – 130)
3. Zach Ross – PA
4. Darick Lapaglia – MO (5th)

Cadet – 130

Brandon Jeske (VA) shows that he is back in top form by navigating a very solid weight class. He knocked off Dakota Trom (MN) in the finals, Trom was our #2 pick at 125 and shows well here coming up to 130. Jeske squeezed out a tight (1-0, 1-0) match in the finals. Zane Richards (PA) ended up where we thought he would taking 3rd in the event losing only to Trom.

1st Place – Brandon Jeske of Virginia
2nd Place – Dakota Trom of Minnesota
3rd Place – Zane Richards of Illinois
4th Place – David Evans of Missouri
5th Place – Natrelle Deminson of California
6th Place – T J Miller of New Jersey
7th Place – Jared Johnshoy of Idaho
8th Place – Joe Grable of Washington

TOM’s Selections

1. #5 Natrelle Demison – CA (5th)
2. #3 (119) Brandon Jeske – VA (1st)
3. Zane Richards – IL (3rd)
4. TJ Miller – NJ (6th)

Cadet – 135

We come close here but we had it backwards. Jake Short (MN) walks away with the honor of National Champion. Short racked up 6 falls/Technical Falls in the event. He did win a close match with our top pick Brandon Sorensen (IA). Sorenson racked up 5 bonus wins on his way to finals as well. Several of our previewed wrestlers moved up to 140. One surprise for us was the 3rd place finish by Aniciete (NV).

1st Place – Jake Short of Minnesota
2nd Place – Brandon Sorensen of Iowa
3rd Place – Alex Aniciete of Nevada
4th Place – Angelo Silvestro of Illinois
5th Place – Toby Hague of New Jersey
6th Place – Austin Eads of Missouri
7th Place – Wayne Stinson of New Jersey
8th Place – Mitch Berenz of Wisconsin

TOM’s Selections

1. #8 Brandon Sorenson – IA (2nd)
2. # 17 Jake Short – MN (1st)
3. #15 Joey Lavallee – NV (3rd – 140)
4. #16 Isias Martinez – CA (5th – 140)

Cadet – 140

Our #3 and #4 picks prove us wrong and make the finals. Brian Murphy (IL) adds the states impressive performance by winning in the finals over Tim Fox (OH). Murphy only gave up 3 points the entire tournament, which is very tough to do at this event. Joey Lavallee (NV) moved up from 135 where we also picked him to place 3rd, which he did here.

1st Place – Brian Murphy of Illinois
2nd Place – Tim Fox of Ohio
3rd Place – Joey Lavallee of Nevada
4th Place – Jake Marlin of Iowa
5th Place – Isiah Martinez of California
6th Place – Alex Abono of California
7th Place – Kaleb Baker of Tennessee
8th Place – Nick Mudloff of Wisconsin

TOM’s Selections

1. Brandon Kingsley – MN
2. Tyler Askey – GA (4th – 145)
3. Brian Murphy – IL (1st)
4. TJ Fox – OH (2nd)

Cadet – 145

Chance Marsteller (PA) bounces back from his Greco loss to capture the 145 title. Marsteller beat a very tough Coleman Hammond (CA) in the finals (0-6, 5-0, 6-0). Tyler Askrey (GA) moves up a weight and captures 4th. Someone we will keep an eye on now is Brett Pfarr (MN) who gets it going to take a 3rd place finish. Pfarr side of the bracket was loaded and he impressed.

1st Place – Chance Marsteller of Pennsylvania
2nd Place – Coleman Hammond of California
3rd Place – Brett Pfarr of Minnesota
4th Place – Tyler Askey of Georgia
5th Place – Travis Curley of Michigan
6th Place – Kyle Perrault of California
7th Place – Dylan Blackford of Iowa
8th Place – Jason Grimes of Georgia

TOM’s Selections

1. #15 Chance Marsteller – PA (1st)
2. #17 Gabriel Moreno – IA
3. #13 Coleman Hammond – CA (2nd)
4. #19 Jared Reis – ND

Cadet – 152

The south makes a statement at 152 by taking three of the top four spots here. Oliver Pierce (TX) wins this one over Morris (PA) with a (1-0. 1-0) win in the championship. Pierce only gave up 2 points during the event and those came in the 1st round. Morris also impressed as he worked his way through the bracket. Scott Gibbons (LA) takes 3rd only losing to Pierce. Rounding out the south group is Nick Hall of (AL) who managed a solid 4th place finish.

1st Place – Oliver Pierce of Texas
2nd Place – Eric Morris of Pennsylvania
3rd Place – Scott Gibbons of Louisiana
4th Place – Nick Hall of Alabama
5th Place – Beau Vrancken of New Jersey
6th Place – Ryan Gartner of Wisconsin
7th Place – Victor Pereira of California
8th Place – Tim Corse of Illinois

TOM’s Selections

1. Glenn Climmons – GA (1st – 160)
2. # 18 Oliver Pierce – TX (1st)
3. Zach Beard – OK
4. Tim Riley – PA

Cadet – 160

This was an interesting weight. Our #1 selection Glenn Climmons (GA) moves up and makes us look good by winning the title at 160. Climmons beat Tyler Coates (WA) in the finals. Coates came out of the gate firing that’s for sure. He posted 6 straight falls in his way to finals. That is impressive. We can not make the claim that we were spot on in this weight with our selections. This weight gave us plenty of new guys to keep our eye on this upcoming season.

1st Place – Glen Climmons of Georgia
2nd Place – Tyler Coates of Washington
3rd Place – Alex Meyer of Iowa
4th Place – Andras Lukacs-Farkas of Iowa
5th Place – Domenic Abounader of Ohio
6th Place – Jacob Stillings of Wisconsin
7th Place – Ray Waters of Nevada
8th Place – Kip Jangula of North Dakota

TOM’s Selection

1. Andras Lukacs-Farkas – IA (4th)
2. McCoy Newberg – TN
3. Spencer Wilson – KA
4. Dan Rowland – IL

Cadet – 171

We were able to get the top two spots in the correct order here. In what may have been the most impressive performance of the Cadet tournament Jordan Rogers (WA) wins by fall in the finals. Not only that Rogers Teched or Pinned every opponent in the tournament. In the finals he faced Sam Brooks (IL) who had teched everyone but teammate Jack Dechow (IL) up until the finals. Some new faces come into the picture again at this weight as well.

1st Place – Jordan Rogers of Washington
2nd Place – Sam Brooks of Illinois
3rd Place – Jack Dechow of Illinois
4th Place – Preston Lehmann of North Dakota
5th Place – Dakota DesLauriers of Pennsylvania
6th Place – Shelby Krout of Oklahoma
7th Place – Jacob Morrissey of Wisconsin
8th Place – Jonah Newburg of Ohio

TOM’s Selections

1. #5 Jordan Rodgers – WA (1st)
2. #7 Sam Brooks – IL (2nd)
3. Jonathon Inman – MO
4. Matt Reed – KA

Cadet – 189

Mitch Sliga (IN) completes the Triple Crown with a very impressive showing and wins this one. He defeated Adam Josepheson (MN) in the finals. They both made it past some very tough guys to reach the finals. Josepheson is someone we will keep a close eye on as he was not on our radar.

1st Place – Mitch Sliga of Indiana
2nd Place – Adam Josephson of Minnesota
3rd Place – Brad Johnson of Illinois
4th Place – Hashem Omari of Missouri
5th Place – Mickey Pelfrey of Iowa
6th Place – Ryan Cone of Wisconsin
7th Place – Kevin Marvel of Maryland
8th Place – Haydon Dvorak of Wisconsin

TOM’s Selections

1. #7 Mitch Sliga – IN (1st)
2. Hashem Omari – MO (4th)
3. Mickey Pelfrey – IA (5th)
4. #20 Jesse Doyle – NC

Cadet – 215

1st Place – Ty Walz of Ohio
2nd Place – Adam Coon of Michigan
3rd Place – Michael Kroells of Minnesota
4th Place – Brett Geilenfeldt of Wisconsin
5th Place – Taylor McGiffen of Illinois
6th Place – Marcus Beckwith of Virginia
7th Place – Jimmy Trull of Washington
8th Place – Ryan Solomon of Pennsylvania

TOM’s Selections

Well, we missed Ty Walz (OH) here. Walz was impressive knocking off our top choice Adam Coon (MI) in the finals in a (2-0, 1-4, 1-0) match. We are surprised, Coon had been on fire this summer and we felt he was the heavy favorite here. Congrats to Walz on his win. Michael Kroells (MN) continued to show he is one of the top big guys in the country by taking home a 3rd place finish as well.

1. #3 Adam Coon – MI (2nd)
2. #5 Michael Kroells – MN (3rd)
3. #16 Joe Scanlan – IA
4. Dawson Peck – PA

Cadet – 285

We almost had this one perfect. As we expected Brooks Black (PA) met up with Doug Vollaro (FL) in finals here. Black walked away the champion with a (1-0. 1-0) win. These are two of the best big men in the country. Our 3rd and 4th selections, McGee (OK) and Devine (MD) placed a respectable 4th and 5th. Sneaking in there and under the radar was John Dreggors (FL) taking 3rd.

1st Place – Brooks Black of Pennsylvania
2nd Place – Doug Vollaro of Florida
3rd Place – John Dreggors of Florida
4th Place – Evan McGee of Oklahoma
5th Place – Dylan Devine of Maryland
6th Place – John Jude of Wisconsin
7th Place – Gaylen Edmo of Idaho

TOM’s Selections

1. #2 Brooks Black – PA (1st)
2. #20 Doug Vallaro – FL (2nd)
3. Evan McGee – OK (4th)
4. Dylan Devine – MD (5th)

As with anything, we do not know every wrestler from every state. We base this on the information and research we have. We have attempted to give you a preview of each weight and provide you with some guys to keep an eye on that we feel may have good tournaments. By no means is it meant to be all inclusive. There are many fine young men who could win the event; this is just to give people a way to follow the event.

If we are missing someone or if you think there are other wrestlers that people should keep and eye on, please leave a comment so people can be informed.

The tournament looks to be an exciting one. There are a few weights that are loaded and as we all know, there are always guys who come out of nowhere to make things even more interesting. Video will be available each day of the event and you can find it on the right side of this website.

There are some notable guys also missing from the registrations opening the door to new names and faces. We will have to wait and see how we do with our predictions.

Cadet Preview

Results
Cadet Greco
Cadet Freestyle
Junior Greco
Junior Freestyle
Women

Coverage
Video
Chat
TheMat.com Special Section

98

Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
N/A

Outgoing seniors
N/A

A lot of new faces here so bear with us. We will do our best to preview the weight and make predictions, if we miss someone we apologize, but we looked at each guy in the weight to point out a few guys we think will contend. Team Missouri roles into Fargo with three guys that all have a shot at winning this weight. Colton Howell leads the way. He went undefeated at the Junior Duals and was a 2009 Double All-American and won a Cadet National Championship. The second guy from the Missouri squad is JJ Dorrell who posted a 9-1 record at the Duals and should be in the mix. To round out the Missouri contingent is Auston Finley who owns a 5th place finish at this year FILA Cadet Championships.

Now Missouri is not the only state competing this year and there are several others who have a chance of winning this one. Bobby Nachreiner of Wisconsin was this years FILA Cadet Greco National Champion. We will see if his Freestyle is where it needs to be to put him self in the top spot. Look for Zach Howell of Delaware to also be in contention. He as 6-2 at the duals and was a 2009 Cadet AA placing 4th. An interesting wrestler who we think may be right there at the end is Illinois wrestler Nkosi Moody. Moody was 6th at FILA Cadets this year and is also a returning AA from 2009. To wrap this weight up we have our dark horse pick in Juan Javier Jimenez of California. He was the CA state freestyle champ this year and may lack some national exposure but do not be surprised if he finds himself in a position to win it.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Colton Howell (MO)
2. Bobby Nachreiner (WI)
3. Nkosi Moody (IL)
4. Juan Javier Jimenez (CA)

105

Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#2 (112) Freddie Rodriguez (MI)
#20 (112) Ruben Navejas (WA)

Outgoing seniors
N/A

This is not a large weight, but we will go out on a limb and say there is a clear favorite. #2 Freddie Rodriguez of Michigan is the man to beat here. We could go on and on about the summer this guy is having, but we do not have the time. He has beat many of the nation’s best already and looks to win his title in Fargo. But we wrestle the matches for a reason. Washington’s #20 Rueben Navejas certainly thinks he has a good chance here. Navejas is a returning National Champion (98 lbs) from 2009. He was also 2nd in Greco last year. Look for these two to be on a collision course to the finals. Kevon Powell of Illinois will be waiting for them and has his own plans of ending this one at the top. Powell is a returning double AA and past FILA Cadet runner-up. We can not guarantee anything, but we would expect that when the dust settles these three will be in the top spots.

There are two other guys we suggest you keep an eye on and may just upset one of the top 3 guys. California’s Manny Marin is a 2009 double AA (98 lbs) and will be looking to show he can win this thing as well. Finally we have Jake Smith of Alabama. Smith was a Greco AA last year placing 3rd and should be in the mix for the top 8.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Freddie Rodriguez (MI)
2. Ruben Navejas (WA)
3. Kevon Powell (IL)
4. Manny Marin (CA)

112

Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#5 Nahshon Garrett (CA)
#6 Corey Clark (IA)
#8 Derek Elmore (IL)
#9 Tyler Fraley (NJ)
#13 Curtis Lampert (NV)
#14 Kegan Galvadon (CO)
#16 Steven Hopkins (WA)
#8 (119) Evan Silver (MD)

Outgoing seniors
N/A

Now things start to really get interesting and far more difficult to predict we are focusing here on the guys we have ranked with a few exceptions. This weight contains eight ranked wrestlers from TOM’s latest rankings. Look for some early battles at this weight. Out of the gate we are looking at #5 Nahshon Garrett of California. Garrett was a CA state champ this year and was a double AA last year. We will say this when this years tournament is done there most likely will be some major shake ups in our rankings. The next guy to take a look at is Iowa’s Corey Clark. Clark has been impressive this year. He is already a 2 time IA state HS champ. He went 5-1 at the Junior Duals and should be in a position to make a run here.

#8 Derek Elmore of team Illinois is talented wrestler that will be right there at the end as well. He was 5-1 at the duals losing to Clark and was a double AA last year in Fargo. #9 Tyler Fraley of New Jersey will be looking to place himself in a spot to win as well. Fraley went 10-0 at the duals and posted some impressive wins. Interesting is that he has 4 AA honors already, and is a 2-Time Greco Fargo Champion. Last year he was a double finalist. In Freestyle he has a runner-up finish in 2009 and a 3rd in 2008. Fraley may just be the man to beat here.

#13 Curtis Lampert of Nevada adds to the depth of this weight. Although he lacks the national credentials of some of the others here, he has been solid in his home state and looks to become a national name. Next we have #14 Kegan Galvadon of Colorado. He was a Cadet AA last year and has impressed in state. Look for him to provide some tests to the top guys. #16 Steven Hopkins of Washington looks to make his own statement. Rounding out our preview of this weight is #8 (119) Evan Silver of Maryland. With the drop into 112 he makes himself a contender for the top spot. Known for his folk style Silver deserves a hard look. He is a past AA here and should be right there at the end of this one.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Tyler Fraley (NJ)
2. Evan Silver (MD)
3. Nahshon Garrett (CA)
4. Corey Clark (IA)

119

Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#8 (103) Morgan Engbrecht (SD)
#6 Conor Youtsey (MI)
#10 Bricker Dixon (MO)
#14 Nathan Kraisser (MD)
#18 Joseph Martinez (CO)
#19 Joey Dance (VA)

Others to watch
Eric DeVos (IA)
Robert Deutsch (NJ)
Hayden Zillmer (MN)

Outgoing seniors (Last Years Rankings)
Carson Kuhn (Utah) – 3rd last year, Sr. Nat. 2nd

Interesting weight and to be honest any number of guys could win this one. There is a lot of talent and a lot past accomplishments. Some of these guys have may not have had the best year, but have shown they can win big events in the past. #6 Conor Youtsey of Michigan is one of the favorites based on the summer he has been having. He went 10-1 at the Junior Duals posting some impressive wins, he did drop a match so as we have said nothing is a given. Out going Senior Carson Kuhn of Utah will be looking to improve upon his 3rd place finish last year. He was a Senior National runner-up this year as well. He ended up at #14 in our end of the year rankings. #19 Joey Dance of Virginia has to be a major consideration here as well. Dance who was last years 105 lbs freestyle Champion and Greco finalist has struggle some this year but we would not count him out of this one. He was also a double AA in 2008.

#10 Bricker Dixon of Missouri went 9-1 at the duals losing a close match to Youtsey. He was an AA last year placing 6th and looks to make a move forward is this tough weight. We are also interested in seeing how #14 Nathan Kraisser Maryland does here. He is a previous AA and was the Cadet FILA runner-up this year. He has some good wins this year and should be considered a threat to the top spot. #18 Joseph Martinez of Colorado should be a consideration to do well. He is not a well known name but has been very solid in his home state. Moving up from 103 is #8 Morgan Engbrecht of South Dakota. We will see how he handles the weight. If he does, look for him to be in the mix.

Well that covered our ranked wrestlers, but let me assure you there are several others at this weight that could end up winning this and are on our bubble for the rankings. Eric DeVos of Iowa was 3rd last year at Cadet Nationals and is well known by many as one tough wrestler. He was also 7-1 at the duals. Do not count DeVos out here. New Jersey’s Rob Deutsch is a past Cadet Finalist and has been solid this summer. He went 9-1 at the duals with his only loss coming to Youtesy and he will be looking to avenge that. Wrapping up this weight we have Hayden Zillmer of Team Minnesota who is a past Cadet Double National Champion. Zillmer has not been at the top of his game but you can not count him out here.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Joey Dance (VA)
2. Carson Kuhn (UT)
3. Bricker Dixon (MO)
4. Conor Youtsey (MI)

125

Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#3 Mark Grey (NJ)
#3 (130) Johnni Di Julius (OH)
#5 Kevin Norstrem (FL)
#6 (130) Rossi Bruno (FL)
#10 Jeffrey Ott (MA)
#11 Cody Brewer (MO)
#12 Eddie Klimara (IL)
#12 (130) Bronson Steuber (MN)
#13 (130) Alec Mooradian (MI)
#20 Kyle Larson (IA)

Outgoing seniors
N/A

Wow, is one word to describe this one. 10 ranked wrestlers fight for the top spot and numerous guys coming down a weight to make this very interesting to say the least. This may be one of the toughest weights for us to pick the top four. But nobody likes a quitter so we will give it an AA effort. Let’s kick it off with #3 Mark Grey of New Jersey. He has been here the past 2 years, competed in both styles and has been in the finals every time and has captured 3 National Titles already and a 2nd place finish. It is pretty hard to argue with that in our opinion. Look for Grey to make a run at a 4th national title here (Maybe 5th depending how Greco goes). A guy who has beat Grey twice this year is #5 Kevin Norstrem of Florida. He was 8-1 at the duals only losing to top ranked Theilke of Wisconsin who is not at this weight. He was also the Cadet FILA runner-up in Freestyle where he beat Grey and lost to Jeske.

Next we have our 130 #3 Johnni Di Julius of Ohio. He went a perfect 10-0 at the Duals with some very impressive wins. He has had a great year and is looking to cap it off with a national title, and trust us that will not be an easy task at this weight. The drop in weight should help him as well. Another Florida wrestler that should also be considered for the top spot is #6 (130) Rossi Bruno. He has 6 AA honors already and is now looking to make claim to the top spot in the nation. There is a possibility of an all FL final here. Adding to the mix is #10 Jeff Ott of Massachusetts. He has been beating some tough competition out east and is looking to become a national contender.

As we continue we will now look at #11 Cody Brewer of Team Missouri. This former Cadet Double National Champion looks to get back to the top of the podium after not competing in 2009. #12 Eddie Klimera of Illinois had a good Dual event going 7-1 with some pretty nice wins. Another #12 (130) from Minnesota is Bronson Steuber. He did go 6-1 at the duals. He has beaten some tough guys in the past and deserves a look here. Another guy coming down from our 130 rankings is #13 Alec Mooradian of Michigan. Mooradian is a talent and should be looking at AA status. Watch for #20 Kyle Larson of Iowa. He went 7-0 at the duals with some decent wins. Finally an unranked guy that may surprise some people here is Brandon Nelson of Indiana who posted a perfect record at the duals and beat # 12 Klimara.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Mark Grey (NJ)
2. Johnni Di Julius (OH)
3. Rossi Bruno (FL)
4. Kevin Norstrem (FL)

130

Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#18 (125) Alex Shaffer (NJ)
#11 Tyler Liberatore (FL)
#14 Jameson Oster (IL)
#16 Arty Walsh (PA)
#3 (135) Terrell Wilbourn (MO)
#10 (135) Matt Kelliher (MN)

Outgoing seniors
N/A

This is an interesting weight in the sense of the fact it is pretty wide open. You could see some guys lesser known make a run. We are covering guys, but do not be shocked if we miss some here that are currently not in our rankings. On paper the favorite is #3 Terrell Wilbourn of Missouri. Wilbourn went 5-0 at the duals and looked good doing so. He was last years Cadet National Champion and managed a 3rd the year before that. He looks to add a Junior Title this year. Coming down from 135 is #10 Matt Keliher of Minnesota and he will be looking to knock Wilbourn off. He went 3-2 at the duals but those losses came at the hands of two of the top kids in the land. He was 3rd last year and 6th the year before. He will be looking for that #1 this year.

#16 Arty Walsh of Pennsylvania will also look to keep things rolling after an impressive 9-1 at the duals. Walsh should be right there at the end of this one. #18 Alex Shaffer of New Jersey is a little lesser know on the freestyle circuit but capable of doing well here. Not to be counted out is #11 Tyler Liberatore of Florida. He just went 9-0 at the duals and will look to continue that success here. Ending our preview of this weight is Illinois wrestler #14 Jameson Oster who owns some wins over some good kids. Look for him to make his case for AA honors this year.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Terrell Wilbourn (MO)
2. Matt Kelliher (MN)
3. Arty Walsh (PA)
4. Tyler Liberatore (FL)

135

Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#18 (130) Tony DeAngelo (NC)
#1 Jason Tsirtsis (IN)
#7 Nate Skonieczny (OH)
#9 Jake Sueflohn (WI)
#12 Ty Lydic (PA)
#16 Quinton Murphy (NY)
#18 Zack Tanenbaum (KS )
#6 (140) Austin Ormsbee (NJ)
#15 (140) Bo Schlosser (IA)

Outgoing seniors (Last year’s rankings)
#1 Josh Dziewa (PA)
Seth Lange (SD)
Kade Moss (UT)

Well this kicks off a run of weight classes that should be full of fireworks. If you are a wrestling fan things really start to get interesting now. The favorite is the defending champion and Iowa recruit who had has an amazing year Josh Dziewa (last years #1). Dziewa exploded on the scene last year when he won the title and has not looked back sense. We are excited to see him in Fargo. Our Current #1 wrestler in the weight Indiana’s Jason Tsirtsis is hoping that he ends this event on top. A Cadet runner-up last year he looks to earn that title this year. He also has a Cadet FILA title under his belt as well as numerous other honors.

The fun is nowhere near ending there though. There are a lot of guys here that have a chance of walking away the 2010 National Champion. We will just go down the list. #6 (140) Austin Ormsbee of New Jersey had a decent duals and has had some good wins this past year. Look for him with the weight drop to be in the mix early. #7 Nate Skonieczny is looking to make a statement as well. He should prove to be a force at this weight also. One guy we are interested in seeing here is #9 Jake Sueflon of Wisconsin. He went 8-2 at the duals and looked good. He took one loss to a very tough Rinken of IA who is not ranked, but is entered at this weight. His other loss was to Steiber of Ohio who is not entered here. He has beaten some tough guys this year including Ormsbee. Next in-line is #12 Ty Lydic of Pennsylvania look for him to challenge many in this deep field.

New York has #16 Quinton Murphy. Murphy placed 3rd at Cadet FILA’s beating Lydic and only losing to the champion Tsirtsis. Murphy should do well here. #15 (140) Bo Schlosser of Iowa is one tough customer. He has some big wins in his career and do not be surprised if he pulls off an upset or two here. Rounding out our ranked wrestlers at this weight is #18 Zack Tanenbaum of Kansas. He has been very tough on his local turf, let’s see how he does here.

We now have two more outgoing seniors we think you should also keep a close eye on. Seth Lange of South Dakota ended up #15 in our year end rankings and is a very tough wrestler. As a senior he is looking at going out with a bang. Kade Moss of Utah was a Greco AA last year and finished up a great HS career. Look for him to me in the mix down the stretch as well.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Josh Dziewa (PA)
2. Jason Tsirtsis (IN)
3. Jake Sueflohn (WI)
4. Nate Skonieczny (OH)

140

Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#3 Edwin Cooper (IL)
#7 Travis Himmelman (CO)
#13 Lex Ozias (MD)
#18 Devin Scott (MN)
#20 Casey George (ID)

Outgoing seniors (End of last year rank noted)
#3 Jacob Ballweg (IA)
#19 Luke Goettl (AZ)
#1 Josh Kindig (PA)

Others to Watch
Matthew Cimato (PA)
Alex Dieringer (Wisconsin)

This has all the ingredients to be another interesting and entertaining weight. We will say that there is a favorite here and it is Last year’s #1 Josh Kindig of Pennsylvania. He has won before and has pretty much been unstoppable. Look for him to be the man to beat here. #3 Edwin Cooper is one guy who would like to beat him. Cooper went 10-1 at the Duals losing to Ballweg. He has a lot of credentials and should be considered a serious contender for the top spot. #7 Travis Himmelman of Colorado was an AA last year in Greco and some wins over some top opponents makes him a wrestler to watch. #18 Devin Scott of Minnesota went 7-1 at the duals and will look for a top 8 finish in this tough weight. #20 Casey George of Idaho was a Cadet runner-up in Greco last year. Let’s see how he does on Freestyle this year.

Last years #3 Jacob Ballweg had a few tough losses this off season but has shown he is someone that can contend. He has a win this year over cooper but also has a loss to Scott. We will see how things shake out at this weight. Draws will be interesting for sure. #19 (last year) Luke Goettl from Arizona is looking to end his HS career on a high note as well. He has beaten some big names in the past and has 4 HS titles to his name. You can not count him out of the mix here.

There are two wrestlers not currently in the rankings we feel will make their case. Matthew Cimato of Pennsylvania is one of them. This summer at the NHSCA Duals he went undefeated and posted a 7-1 make at the Disney Duals. We would not count him out in this weight at all. Finally, is Alex Dieringer of Wisconsin. He was undefeated at the duals and holds a win over top wrestler Dylan Ness this year. Look for him to be right there in the thick of things.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Josh Kindig (PA)
2. Edwin Cooper (IL)
3. Jacob Ballweg (IA)
4. Alex Dieringer (WI)

145

Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#1 Zachary Brunson (OR)
#2 Blake Roulo (VA)
#3 James Green (NJ)
#5 Jordan Wohlfert (MI)
#8 Jeremy Davenport (OK)
#11 Colby Kloetzer (ID)
#18 STEPHEN ROBERTSON (IL)
#20 Henry Carlson (AL)
#14 (135) Caleb Ervin (KY)
#4 (152) Ryne Cokeley (KS)
#5 (152) Joey Kielbasa (IL)
#7 (152) Christopher Castillo (WA)
#19 (152) Logan Addis (AZ)

Outgoing seniors (End of last year rank noted)
#8 Kaleb Friedley (MO)
# 3 Dylan Ness (MN)
#10 RaVaughn Perkins (NB)
#2 Colin Shober, (PA)
#7 Stephen Hernandez (NV)

Really? Where should we even start with this one? We have stated before that a weight is loaded but we really mean it this time. With that said we will look at the guys we feel may end up at the top instead of breaking down each wrestler in this one. As you can see above, there is more then enough talent to go around. 19 Wrestlers who are currently or ended the year ranked in our top 20. We will break this weight down in two groups of four.

In group 1 we start with our current #1 wrestler (Less out going seniors) Zach Brunson of Oregon. He is already a 3 time AA and had a 3rd place finish this year at FILA Cadet Nationals while wrestling up at 152. He is coming off a great HS season winning the State Tournament with 4 falls and racking up some impressive wins. Brunson should be right in there with the older guys and should not be counted out. Last years #2 Colin Shober has to be considered for the top spot here as well. Shober is a 2-time PA state champ and dominated the event his senior year. He added a 3rd place finish at the Senior Nationals. Then there is last year’s #3 Dylan Ness of Minnesota. For starters he posted a 9-0 record at the Duals a 5 time AA and he has 3 Fargo National Titles under his belt already (2 in Greco and 1 in freestyle). On paper he is the one to beat. Rounding out the first group is #4 Ryne Cokeley of Kansas who went 6-0 at the duals and was a HS Nationals runner-up. He has some real nice wins under his belt and will have his skills tested with this group.

The second group kicks off with Nebraska’s RaVaughn Perkins. He has 3 AA honors and was last years Greco Champ. Look for Perkins to push people and mix things up. He is very capable of winning the whole thing. Stephen Hernandez who was our #7 last year is tough and will bring his workman style to this tough class. Like many of the weights, draws will be key for many of these guys. Next, watch our # 3 Blake Roulo of (VA) who captured a High School National Title this year and should be right there in the mix. We will end this weight for now with James Green of New Jersey who went 10-0 at the duals where he had some pretty big wins and if he continues on that path he should be in a good position.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Dylan Ness (MN)
2. Zach Brunson (OR)
3. Colin Shober (PA)
4. James Green (NJ)

152

Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#1 Destin McCauley (MN)
#1 (160) Taylor Massa (MI)
#2 (160) Dylan Reel (IL)
#6 Justin Koethe (IA)
#9 Kory DeBerry (AZ)
#11 David Wesley (VA)
#13 Cody Caldwell (IA)
#14 (140) Lorenzo Thomas (PA)
#9 (145) Devin Aguirre (OK)

Outgoing seniors
N/A

While maybe not as deep as the last weight, but this one may have the match up people most want to see. We start with our #1 ranked wrestler at this weight Destin McCauley of Minnesota. He is already a 4-time AA, 4-time State Champion and Cadet National Champion. He also had an impressive 3rd place finishes at the FILA Junior Nationals and FILA Junior World Team Trials. Then you have #1 (160) Taylor Massa from Team Michigan. Let’s see Massa had been a double champion the past 2 years. That is 4 National Titles in 2 years. Add to that a FILA Junior National Title this year and you have 5 National Titles. That is why everyone is looking forward to this match up. If they meet up it should be an exciting one.

Several wrestlers will be trying to prevent that match up and earn the top spot for themselves. #2 (160) Dylan Reel of Team Illinois is one of them. Reel lost to Massa at the duals but it was a good match for him if he can improve off that who knows what could happen. He has been an AA in the past and was a FILA Cadet Champion as well. Then you have Iowa’s #6 Justin Koethe. Although he did not have the best day at the Duals, we all know he is very capable of beating top wrestlers. He won FILA Cadets this year knocking of Brunson from Oregon. He was a double finalist last year and was the Cadet Freestyle National Champion. As you can see he should not be ignored.

* Editors Note. We had this wrong when we published it. We have adjusted this weight, it will be the only one we do.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Destin McCauley (MN)
2. Taylor Massa (MI)
3. Dylan Reel (IL)
4. Justin Koethe (IA)

160

Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#3 (152) Ian Miller (OH)
#4 Jordan Thomas (MI)
#13 Seth Thomas (OR)
#14 Kyle Crutchmer (OK)
#17 Wally Figaro (FL)
#18 James Wilson (CA)
#13 (171) Zach Skates (OK)

Outgoing seniors (End of last year rank noted)
#5 Robert Kokesh (SD)
#11 Michael Kelly (IA)
#2 Nick Moore (IA)
#19 Nick Proctor (IL)

We have another weight that has some depth and guys moving in from other weights. We think that there will be some interesting match ups in this one. Both Oklahoma and Iowa have two guys capable of making a run. We start this one off with last year’s #2 wrestler Nick Moore of Team Iowa. He has plenty of credentials including 4 IA State titles and a 10-0 run at the Duals this year. The depth at the weight will make Moore earn it if he wins this weight. Coming up from 152 is Ohio’s #3 (152) Ian Miller. Miller is coming off a great performance at the Duals where he went 7-0 knocking of several highly ranked wrestlers. He appears to be at the top of his game and we expect him to be right there at the end. Last year’s #5 Robert Kokesh has had a great year and should be able to make some noise here. We would not count him out of title contention.

#4 Jordan Thomas of Team Michigan will also be looking to make some noise, if you look at his duals record you may be asking why we are making such a statement. He went 6-4 but if you look at who he had in that weight you may see why. Also, those matches were all at 171 where he lost some very close matches to some very big names. #11 (Last year) Michael Kelly of Iowa will also look to do some damage here. Kelly has to be able to get past in-state rival Moore to have a shot. Oregon’s #13 Seth Thomas is also a wrestler of interest. Already a 3-time AA he is looking to make a move to the top of the podium. Oklahoma has two guys at this weight that may be able to work their way into the mix. #14 Kyle Crutchmer went 6-2 at the duals and was a finalist in both styles at the FILA Cadet Nationals this year. Rounding this weight out is #13 (171) Zach Skates of Oklahoma. Skates is coming down a weight and that should put him in the mix here. He also went 6-2 at the duals and both loses came to top guys. He is also a 3-time AA.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Nick Moore (IA)
2. Ian Miller (OH)
3. Robert Kokesh (SD)
4. Kyle Crutchmer (OK)

171
Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#3 Logan Storley (SD)
#4 Devin Peterson (WI)
#6 Jake Waste (MN)
#12 Kris Klapprodt (SD)
#15 Nate Brown (PA)

Outgoing seniors (End of last year rank noted)
#17 Zack Coates (MN)
#15 Mike England (IA)
#5 Michael Moreno (IA)
#4 Nick Sulzer (OH)
#18 Stephen McPeek (TX)

This is an interesting weight with a good mix of young and old here. We really think that this one could shake out any one of numerous ways. In a way it is a battle between the old and new guard. We will start with last years #4 wrestler from Ohio Nick Sulzer. Sulzer has beat several people in this field recently and has positioned himself as the front runner. He did go 9-1 at the duals and his only loss came to a wrestler not entered here. #4 Devin Peterson of Team Wisconsin has been wrestling pretty well as of late as well. He has some wins over others in this weight and needs to be considered a contender.

Our #3 Logan Storley of South Dakota has had a great year and looks to continue it here. He won HS Nationals this year so we know he can go with the best in the country. #5 (Last year) Michael Moreno of Iowa went 8-2 at the duals. While he did lose to Peterson and Sulzer, but he did beat Akui who beat the other two. With that said he deserves some serious consideration. One person we are interested in seeing how he does is last year’s #17 Zack Coates of Minnesota. He is a 2-time state champion and won the Flo Nationals this year. He may be a dark horse but could surprise people. Also, briefly do not count out #6 Jake Waste of Minnesota. He has some losses to others in this group, but he is very tough and could reverse some of those. Take a look at the others we listed. We would not be surprised if any of the remaining guys break the top four.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Nick Sulzer (OH)
2. Logan Storley (SD)
3. Michael Moreno (IA)
4. Devin Peterson (WI)

189
Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#2 Morgan Mcintosh (CA)
#4 Austin Marsden (IL)
#6 Lucas Sheridan (CA)
#9 Mike Mauk (DE)
#17 Ian Korb (OH)
#19 Riley Argyle (ID)
#10 (171) Drake Stein (IN)
#19 (171) John Bolich (PA)

Outgoing seniors (End of last year rank noted)
#2 Tyler Beckwith (NY)

On paper this weight looks to be a two horse race. This year’s #2 Morgan Mcintosh of Team California is a past double finalist and was 3rd this year at FILA Juniors only losing to Penn State Wrestler Ed Ruth. Last years #2 (171) Tyler Beckwith of New York is an exciting wrestler who has been very tough this year. He has beat some tough guys, had four AA honors and a National HS title. The question here is how will the move up in weight play a role?

#4 Austin Marsden of Team Illinois deserves a hard look here as well. He went 7-0 at the duals and won the FILA Cadet Nationals already this year. Marsden was also last years Cadet National Champion. He has been here before and will look to make it two championships in a row. Another California wrestler to watch is #6 Lucas Sheridan. Sheridan was the runner up to Marsden at the FILA Nationals, dropping a close match in the finals. Last year he finished 2nd and 3rd here so we know he can make some noise. The remaining guys as well as a few others we do not have ranked will also be up for the challenge.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Morgan Mcintosh (CA)
2. Austin Marsden (IL)
3. Tyler Beckwith (NY)
4. Lucas Sheridan (CA)

215
Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#2 Tank Knowles (CA)
#4 Gage Harrah (IL)
#5 (189) Tanner Hall (ID)
#6 Cody Krumwiede (IA)
#8 Nick Gwiazdowski (NY)
#10 Michael Sojka (IL)
#13 Patrick Gillen (CT)
#14 Jay Taylor (FL)
#20 West Cathcart (IL)
#3 (189) Curtis Berger (OR)
#11 (189) Clint Wilson (SD)

Outgoing seniors (End of last year rank noted)
#17 Kyle Caylor (KS)
#1 Spencer Myers (PA)
#4 Alex Polizzi (WI)
#2 Trevor Rupp (ID)
#5 Scott Schiller (ND)

Here we have another weight I feel confident in saying is loaded. There is a lot of talent gathered here and a large number of seniors who turned out. This one may be tough for the younger guys to break into the top spots. So let’s start out with the leading candidate from the non-seniors #2 Tank Knowles of California. The CA State High School Champion was a double AA last season is considered one of the better big men in the country right now. He has his hands full in this one though. Last year’s #1 Spencer Myers of Team Pennsylvania is very tough and in our opinion he is the man to beat here. Looking to show he is the top man in the land is #2 (Last year) Trevor Rupp who looks to avenge a loss to Myers. He was 2nd at Junior FILA’s this year and placed 2nd and 3rd at this event last year.

Our current #4 Gage Harrah of Team Illinois is another one to watch. He was last year’s Cadet National Champ at this weight, this year’s FILA Cadet runner-up and went perfect at the duals. His loss at FILA Cadet’s was to #5 (189) Tanner Hall from Idaho. Hall has numerous National Titles under his belt and should be taken as a serious threat here. He does have a loss this you to Rupp in Greco. We are going to look at two more guys here. The first is last year’s #4 Alex Polizzi of Wisconsin. He has wins over some pretty top notch guys as well as some losses to guys in this weight. He went 10-1 at the duals with his only loss coming to Caylor of Kansas (listed above). Finally we will look at North Dakota wrestler and last year’s #5 Scott Schiller. Schiller went 5-0 at the duals; he did drop a match to Polizzi in Greco though. He has been an AA four times at Fargo and we expect him to add to that this year.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Spencer Myers (PA)
2. Trevor Rupp (ID)
3. Tank Knowles (CA)
4. Tanner Hall (ID)

285
Currently ranked wrestlers (Rankings here)
#1 Austin Blythe (IA)
#1 (215) Connor Medbery (CO)
#3 Donnie Longendyke (MN)
#14 Greg Kuhar (OH)
#16 Orry Elor (CA)

Outgoing seniors (End of last year rank noted)
#7 Niko Bogojevic (WI)
#19 Derek Papagianopoulis (MA)

Well we are ending with a smaller weight, but I would not say it is any less interesting. We have two #1 ranked wrestlers and one former #1. Austin Blythe of Team Iowa recently took over the #1 spot after his dominating performance at the Junior Duals where he went 9-0 beating former #1 Longendyke of Minnesota. He also had a win over last year’s #7 Niko Bogojevic of Wisconsin. Longendyke is not having the summer he may have hoped for, but nothing to be to down about. He was the Cadet National Champion last year and will be looking to avenge that loss and take back that top spot.

Let’s not forget #1 (215) Connor Medbery is looking to show he is the best big man in the land. Medbery has been on a role. The question is how will be how handles the big men. We think he will be right there in the mix. We mentioned Bogojevic earlier and for good reason. He is a multiple AA and was last years Greco Champion in Fargo. He is talented and will push all of the above mentioned guys. The other guys we have listed are all capable and may make their move. We suggest keeping a close eye of Team Massachusetts #19 (last year) Derek Papagianopoulis. He is talented and could easily find himself in a good position.

TOM’s Prediction
1. Donnie Longendyke (MN)
2. Austin Blythe (IA)
3. Connor Medberry (CO)
4. Niko Bogojevic (WI)

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