High School Wrestling Rankings

TOM’s High School Regional Rankings: Southeast (Dec. 9th)

By Earl Smith

Posted on 12/09/2020

photo courtesy of SEWrestle.com

Welcome to the second season of TOM’s High School Regional Rankings. Over the next few weeks, we will release rankings for eight different regions that cover the entire nation. Why is this needed, you may ask? These rankings will allow us to focus more attention on wrestlers from around the country that could be considered overlooked at this time. With talent clustered in certain areas of the nation, there are plenty of wrestlers from outside those “power-states” or regions that get slighted. And don’t worry, we have rankings for those areas too!

We started this round of rankings with the Rocky Mountain Region and the Midwest Region and now we’ll move on to the Southeast region. This area will include wrestlers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
106
1	Nick Corday	Baylor School	Tennessee	Junior	Army West Point
2	Ethan Rivera	Lake Highland Prep	Florida	Freshman
3	Christian Guzman	Columbus (Miami)	Florida	Junior
4	Caleb Uhorchuk	Signal Mountain	Tennessee	Sophomore
5	Blaise Alberado	Thompson	Alabama	Senior
6	Adrian Morales	South Dade	Florida	Junior
7	Bryson Terrell	Bradley Central	Tennessee	Sophomore
8	Tyler Washburn	Palmetto Ridge	Florida	Sophomore
9	Ty Tice	Eastside	South Carolina	Sophomore
10	Anderson Heap	Osceola (Kissimmee)	Florida	Freshman
11	Leland Reeves	Taylor County	Kentucky	Freshman
12	Jay Peace	Cane Bay	South Carolina	Freshman

As with all of the region’s this one stands to change the most going forward. West Point recruit Nick Corday dropped down for the Elite 8 Duals, but I expect to see him back at 113 as the season progresses. While we already have a few prominent freshmen in the rankings, expect more to establish themselves in the coming months. Ethan Rivera has already won a Florida State title and recently was third at the Journeymen Fall Classic. The Florida upperclassmen, Christian Guzman and Adrian Morales, made the leap up the rankings based on strong performances at their state’s Super 32 Early Entry Tournament.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
113
1	Kyle Montaperto	Central Academy of Technology	North Carolina	Junior	Virginia
2	Spencer Moore	Walton-Verona	Kentucky	Senior	North Carolina
3	Isaiah Powe	Gardendale	Alabama	Sophomore
4	Yanni Vines	Thompson	Alabama	Junior
5	Trevon Gray	Oscar Smith	Virginia	Senior	Pitt-Johnstown
6	Justin Bradford	Blackman	Tennessee	Junior
7	Peter Henderson	McAdory	Alabama	Senior
8	Jacob Silka	Cherokee	Georgia	Junior
9	Jake Crapps	Cass	Georgia	Freshman
10	Hunter Herrington	Fleming Island	Florida	Senior
11	Josh Noble	Mt. Pisgah	Georgia	Senior
12	Owen Rawls	Nansemond River	Virginia	Sophomore

The number one ranked wrestler at this weight, Kyle Montaperto, burst onto the national scene when he took fifth at the Super 32. For fifth place, he defeated #2 Spencer Moore head-to-head. Moore reclassified from the Class of 2022 to 2021 this offseason. On Monday, Virginia state champion, #5 Trevon Gray inked with Pitt-Johnstown. He was sixth at the Grappler Fall Classic earlier this year. One to watch at this weight is #9 Jake Crapps, who looks like the top-freshman from Georgia.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
120
1	Cory Land	Moody	Alabama	Junior
2	Keyveon Roller	Lakeway Christian Academy	Tennessee	Junior	Virginia
3	Cole Hunt	Cass	Georgia	Junior
4	Jackson Bond	Baylor School	Tennessee	Junior
5	Adrian Morales	Southwest (Miami)	Florida	Sophomore
6	Elijah Musk	Merritt Island	Florida	Senior
7	Michael Roe	Woodstock	Georgia	Senior
8	Daniel Uhorchuk	Signal Mountain	Tennessee	Senior	Army West Point
9	Cooper Haase	Osceola (Kissimmee)	Florida	Sophomore
10	Trace Eckman	Union County	Kentucky	Junior
11	Foster Cardinale	Liberty (Bealeton)	Virginia	Junior
12	Alex Walker	Lake Gibson	Florida	Junior

We have #1 Cory Land at this weight after he competed at 113 lbs at the Super 32 (3rd), but has been wrestling 132 lbs in the early going this high school season. National Prep All-American Keyveon Roller makes it two Super 32 placers at 120 lbs. He was also very impressive at the Tyrant Bison Duals. Jackson Bond gets the third spot on the strength of a win against #4 Danny Martinez at the Grappler Fall Classic. #11 Foster Cardinale jumped to the top of the heap in a deep Virginia weight class after a strong showing at the Journeymen Fall Classic.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
126
1	Hunter Mason	Greeneville	Tennessee	Sophomore
2	Danny Nini	Lake Highland Prep	Florida	Junior
3	Sebastian Melguizo	Southwest Miami	Florida	Senior	Campbell
4	Erik Roggie	St. Christopher’s	Virginia	Senior	Virginia
5	Richard Treanor	Hough	North Carolina	Senior	Army West Point
6	Braden Basile	Jesuit (Tampa)	Florida	Junior
7	Eligh Rivera	Lake Highland Prep	Florida	Sophomore
8	James Joplin	NW Guilford	North Carolina	Senior	NC State
9	Cole Thomas	Ryle	Kentucky	Junior	Chattanooga
10	Trey Bates	Beech	Tennessee	Senior
11	Brenden Barnes	Benedictine	Virginia	Senior	Air Force
12	Dylan Sparkman	Palm Harbor	Florida	Senior

Hunter Mason has been excellent over the summer and into the fall, taking fifth at the Grappler Fall Classic and sixth at the Super 32, along with a runner-up finish at Reno Worlds. The Florida contingent at 126 lbs is extremely deep and they account for five of the top-12 spots. We’ll have to see how the Lake Highland Prep lineup shakes out, as they have two of the five from Florida. UVA has done well recruiting lightweights in the region. #3 Sebastian Melguizo made up for a subpar Super 32 by taking home a hammer at the Journeymen. With signee #4 Erik Roggie here, the Cavaliers have a top-four wrestler at each of the last three weights. #5 Richard Treanor was fifth at the Grappler Fall Classic and defeated #6, Braden Basile, along the way.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
132
1	Tom Crook	Jesuit (Tampa)	Florida	Junior
2	Ethan Mojena	Countryside	Florida	Sophomore
3	Dylan Layton	Indian Land	South Carolina	Junior
4	Evan Holloway	New Kent	Virginia	Junior
5	Thomas Snipes	Hillcrest	South Carolina	Junior
6	David Panone	Lassiter	Georgia	Junior
7	Brayden Ivy	Lakeway Christian Academy	Tennessee	Junior
8	Mason Barrett	Liberty (Bealeton)	Virginia	Senior
9	Emory Taylor	McCallie School	Tennessee	Senior	Pittsburgh
10	Matthew Rodriguez	Ridgeview	Florida	Senior	Lehigh
11	Devon Herron	North Hardin	Kentucky	Junior
12	Brennan Watkins	Dobyns-Bennett	Tennessee	Senior

One of the surprises at this weight could be #3, Dylan Layton. Dylan was third at the Grappler Fall Classic and notched wins over Melguizo and Eligh Rivera. He also had a respectable five-win showing at the Super 32. #1 Tom Crook was a finalist at the GFC and also won five bouts at the S32. Another South Carolina wrestler cracks the top-five as Thomas Snipes gets the nod over David Panone due to his win over Panone at the Chaos Duals.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
138
1	Caden McCrary	Woodland (Cartersville)	Georgia	Senior	North Carolina
2	Trae McDaniel	Cleveland	Tennessee	Senior	Army West Point
3	Jack Crook	Jesuit (Tampa)	Florida	Junior
4	Hunter Noland	Dalton	Georgia	Senior
5	Joseph Sealey	High Point Central	North Carolina	Freshman
6	Brennan Van Hoecke	Palmetto Ridge	Florida	Junior
7	Jaekus Hines	Osceola (Kissimmee)	Florida	Junior
8	Collin Dupill	Liberty (Bealeton)	Virginia	Sophomore
9	Jared Dinh	Riverdale	Florida	Senior	Gardner-Webb
10	Riley Edwards	Northwest Guilford	North Carolina	Senior	Appalachian State
11	Jake Keeling	St. Christopher’s	Virginia	Senior
12	Isaac Church	Charlotte	Florida	Junior

138 lbs really starts the run of top-flight talent from Georgia. #1 Caden McCrary presides over this weight after winning the Super 32. McCrary did slip up and lose to #3 Jack Crook at the Grappler Fall Classic, but he rebounded at the S32 and has a more robust track record. This weight includes perhaps the region’s best freshman in #5 Joseph Sealey. Joseph was fourth at the Grappler Fall Classic and third at Reno World’s this year. #4 Hunter Noland had a nice weekend at the Elite 8 Duals, grabbing two wins over California third-place finisher Nicco Ruiz and then-top ten ranked Kal Miller.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
145
1	Cody Chittum	Rhea County Academy	Tennessee	Sophomore
2	Michael Kilic	Woodward Academy	Georgia	Junior
3	Garrison Dendy	Baylor School	Tennessee	Junior
4	Kodiak Cannedy	Greeneville	Tennessee	Junior
5	Myles Griffin	Lake Highland Prep	Florida	Senior
6	David Hunsberger	Byrnes	South Carolina	Junior
7	Jeremiah Price	Surry Central	North Carolina	Sophomore
8	James Latona	Thompson	Alabama	Junior
9	Jaden New	Alexandria	Alabama	Junior
10	Adrian Neco	South Dade	Florida	Senior
11	Garrett Foreman	Pigeon Forge	Tennessee	Junior
12	Zach Cowan	Madison Central	Kentucky	Senior

Cody Chittum is back in the South after spending his freshman year at Blair Academy and assumes the region’s top spot. He was victorious at FloWrestling’s Who’s #1 and bumped all the way up to 160 at the Elite 8 Duals to knock off Cael Valencia. Right behind him is #2 Michael Kilic, who has come into his own over the last year. Kilic emerged victorious over a challenging field at the Grappler Fall Classic and followed it up with a third-place finish at the Super 32. #5 Myles Griffin is finally getting the opportunity to shine for Lake Highland Prep and was fifth at the GFC.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
152
1	Caleb Henson	Woodland (Cartersville)	Georgia	Junior
2	Jonathan Ley	Lake Highland Prep	Florida	Junior
3	RJ Weston	Lassiter	Georgia	Senior	Northern Iowa
4	Darian Estevez	Somerset Academy	Florida	Senior
5	Nick Vafiadis	New Kent	Virginia	Junior	Navy
6	Brendon Abdon	Lake Gibson	Florida	Junior
7	Christian Moder	Golden Gate	Florida	Sophomore
8	Will Miller	Thompson	Alabama	Senior
9	Sam Harris	Ola	Georgia	Junior
10	Jeremy Paradice	Colquitt County	Georgia	Junior
11	Chandler Amaker	Fort Dorchester	South Carolina	Senior
12	Colby Dalon	Lakeway Christian Academy	Tennessee	Junior

Another Super 32 champion in the region was #1 Caleb Henson. Caleb dropped a few matches early in the summer at the Grand River Rumble but has emerged stronger since. One of the biggest developments of the Super 32 was Jonathan Ley, who had lost in the state finals twice to Lake Highland Prep wrestlers. Now he’s a part of LHP’s team. Florida runner-up #4 Darian Estevez gets the nod over #5 Nick Vafiadis due to his win in the Super 32 consi’s. Vafiadis was fourth at the GFC and later defeated the tournament’s winner, Kamdyn Munro, at the S32. We could end up seeing a Florida state final between #6 Brendon Abdon and #7 Christian Moder as both are in the 2A classification.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
160
1	Kamdyn Munro	Richmond Hill	Georgia	Senior
2	Dylan Kohn	Hagerty	Florida	Senior	Edinboro
3	Gunner Filipowicz	Blessed Trinity	Georgia	Junior
4	Gavin Cagle	McCallie School	Tennessee	Senior	Virginia
5	Lucas Willis	Charlotte	Florida	Senior
6	Cole Cochran	Woodland (Cartersville)	Georgia	Senior
7	Jesse Alvarado	Great Bridge	Virginia	Senior
8	Zane Cox	Benedictine	Virginia	Junior
9	Kevin Schork	St. Christopher’s	Virginia	Senior	Maryland
10	Tre Morrisette	Dobyns-Bennett	Tennessee	Senior
11	Brayden Gianonne	Lafayette	Kentucky	Senior
12	Dawson Matthews	Alexander	Georgia	Senior

As mentioned in the previous weight class summary, Munro was the Grappler Fall Classic winner at 152 lbs. He won three matches at the Super 32 and moved up to 160 for the Elite 8 Duals. I’d expect to see him at 160 during the regular season. This weight is the only one with three Virginia wrestlers. There’s an argument to be made for at least one more; however, they don’t have much in the way of national credentials. #7 Jesse Alvarado was an Escape the Rock placewinner last season, while Zane Cox and Kevin Schork were National Prep All-Americans. Alvarado fell to #6 Cole Cochran in the consis at the Grappler Fall Classic.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
170
1	Matthew Singleton	Woodward Academy	Georgia	Junior
2	Alex Whitworth	McCallie School	Tennessee	Senior	Harvard
3	Domonic Baker	New Kent	Virginia	Junior	Campbell
4	Jonathan Conrad	Carrollwood Day	Florida	Junior
5	Bailey Flanagan	Lake Highland Prep	Florida	Senior	Army West Point
6	Dalton Russelburg	Lafayette	Kentucky	Junior
7	Lance Schyck	Lemon Bay	Florida	Junior
8	Cale Hoskinson	Clay	Florida	Senior
9	Greyson Clark	West Laurens	Georgia	Senior
10	Clint Morrisette	Dobyns-Bennett	Tennessee	Senior
11	Joshua Swan	South Dade	Florida	Senior
12	Warren Hoyt	Grissom	Alabama	Senior

Matthew Singleton won the Super 32 at 160 though he was higher for the Elite 8 Duals and may end up staying at 170. He was 3-0 at the duals competing up at 182 lbs. He leads a group that features two others currently in the national rankings. #2 Alex Whitworth and #3 Dom Baker ended up meeting in the Super 32 Round of 12, with Whitworth winning, 4-3. Baker was a finalist at the Grappler Fall Classic and went 5-1 at the Elite 8 Duals. #5 Bailey Flanagan also had success at the GFC, taking fourth in the same bracket.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
182
1	Jaxon Smith	Woodland (Cartersville)	Georgia	Senior	Maryland
2	Tylynn Lukens	Manatee	Florida	Senior
3	Stephen Little	Union County	Kentucky	Junior
4	Mason Blackwell	Wetumpka	Alabama	Senior
5	Sawyer Bartelt	South Dade	Florida	Freshman
6	Gunner Garriques	Baylor School	Tennessee	Junior
7	Holden Cypher	Millbrook	North Carolina	Senior	NC State
8	Noah Duke	Ryle	Kentucky	Junior
9	Eyan McKnight	Hillcrest	South Carolina	Senior
10	Ricardo Harrington	Patrick Henry (Roanoke)	Virginia	Senior
11	Tate Evans	Richmond Hill	Georgia	Senior
12	Avery Krippner	Forsyth Central	Georgia	Senior

A pair of familiar faces are at the #1 and #2 spots with Jaxon Smith and Tylynn Lukens. The two met in the Knockout Christmas Classic finals and Lukens prevailed in sudden victory. Lukens was only 1-2 at the Super 32 and suffered a loss (which was avenged) to freshman #5 Sawyer Bartelt at the GFC. Overall resume gives Smith the nod here. Behind them is one of the top wrestlers in Kentucky, Stephen Little. Stephen was a finalist in the same GFC weight class and earned wins over Smith (injury default) and #6 Gunner Garriques. #7 Holden Cypher was not able to place at the Super 32 but did down Lukens there.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
195
1	David Harper	Baylor School	Tennessee	Junior
2	Landon Foor	Fred T. Foard	North Carolina	Senior	Appalachian State
3	Mikey Tal-Shahar	American Heritage	Florida	Junior
4	Nolin Eaddy	Osceola (Kissimmee)	Florida	Senior
5	Levid Rodriguez	Johnson Central	Kentucky	Junior
6	Dedric Marshall	Southridge (Miami)	Florida	Senior
7	Levi Kluttz	Mount Pleasant	North Carolina	Senior	Coker
8	Carter Shipp	Jefferson Forest	Virginia	Senior	Lander
9	Bryant Wilkinson	Rome	Georgia	Senior
10	Sean Concepcion	Somerset Academy	Florida	Senior
11	Kyle Fink	Robbinsville	North Carolina	Junior
12	Jonathan Morton	Elizabethton	Tennessee	Senior

Most of the top 195 lbers have not been in action over the fall, so there isn’t much new information to go off of. One of the exceptions is Mikey Tal-Shahar, who was seventh at the Grappler Fall Classic at 189 lbs. He also competed at the Elite 8 Duals. Dedric Marshall also placed at the GFC. He did so at 215 lbs. Dedric also had the deepest run at the Super 32 of anyone in this group as he won four matches.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
220
1	Noah Pettigrew	Valdosta	Georgia	Junior	North Carolina
2	Triston Norris	North Henderson	North Carolina	Senior	Appalachian State
3	Sakarri Morrison	Lake Norman	North Carolina	Junior
4	Bo Kite	Deep Run	Virginia	Senior	Army West Point (Football)
5	Peyton McComas	Grundy	Virginia	Senior	Gardner-Webb
6	Ashton Davis	Cleveland	Tennessee	Junior
7	Chase Thompson	American Heritage	Florida	Junior
8	Parker Peterson	Father Ryan	Tennessee	Senior
9	Dylan Lyerly	North Forsyth	Georgia	Junior
10	Elijah Burns	Commerce	Georgia	Senior
11	Carson Floyd	Lake Norman	North Carolina	Junior
12	Kaleb Walley	Rockdale County	Georgia	Senior

Like Chittum at 145, Noah Pettigrew is home from Blair Academy and will take over the top spot at 220 lbs. The North Carolina recruit was a runner-up at the Super 32 and third at the Grappler. One of the stars of the preseason for this region has been Triston Norris. Triston was fourth at the Super 32 and went on to compete at the Elite 8 Duals and currently holds a top-20 national ranking. #3 Sakarri Morrison defeated a ranked 195 lber (#7 Levi Kluttz) for his state title in 2020 and was eighth at the Super 32. #5 Peyton McComas impressed at the Elite 8 Duals, moving up to 285 lbs and unseating a nationally ranked opponent.

Weight/Rank	Name	School	Grade	State	College
285
1	Chase Horne	West Laurens	Georgia	Junior	NC State
2	James Howard	McCallie School	Tennessee	Junior
3	Dylan Fairchild	West Forsyth	Georgia	Senior	Georgia (Football)
4	Will Jeffcoat	Pelion	South Carolina	Senior
5	Mason Arnold	Carrollwood Day	Florida	Senior
6	Parker Bennett	Creekview	Georgia	Senior
7	Levi Andrews	Avery	North Carolina	Junior
8	Joe Fusile	Richmond Hill	Georgia	Senior
9	TyDarius Kelly	Christian County	Kentucky	Senior
10	Jamier Ferere	Southern Guilford	North Carolina	Junior
11	Joshua Mancia	Woodbridge	Virginia	Junior
12	Ryan Walker	Newton Canover	North Carolina	Senior	UNC Pembroke

Once again, we have a little bit of youth at the 285 lb weight class. In a class generally dominated by 12th graders, juniors Chase Horne and James Howard hold down the top-two spots, respectively. Horne won at Who’s #1 and then regained the national number-one ranking by defeating Hayden Copass at the Elite 8 Duals. Both Dylan Fairchild and Will Jeffcoat appeared in these rankings last spring and are back. Holding down the #5 spot is Mason Arnold, who is a two-time state runner-up that transferred from Jesuit over the summer. North Carolina natives #7 Levi Andrews and #10 Jamier Ferere both finished in the top-five at the Grappler Fall Classic.