8 from the Elite 8
I could go through and breakdown every weight and talk about what was positive and negative of the wrestlers from the SE, but that seems to takeaway from some outstanding individual performances this past weekend. Instead let’s focus on 8 from the Elite 8 that stood out. I’ve chosen 5 from the Minions Legend Squad that was primarily made up of wrestlers from the #dirtysouth and 3 wrestlers that compete in the South, but wrestled on another squad this past weekend. Oklahoma Mobbin Media dropped some info about their kids that I’ve included at the bottom that goes along with 1 wrestler from each squad that stood out to me.
Minions beat Kong to win the inaugural Elite 8 Duals, and the weekend was filled with some outstanding individual performances. There are wrestlers listed below who went unbeaten, but there are also wrestlers listed who had a loss, but it was how they lost that was important. Wins and losses are important, but in a dual format they are not always the best indicator of a contribution (my opinion … you can have your own). It should also be noted that there were singular instances when I was super impressed by an specific individual … the three instances that stand out are:
The re-match between Cooper Flynn and Beau Mantanona. Flynn was DQ’d in the first match, but didn’t let his emotions get the best of him in the rematch. He went out and did his job in the dual semis and delivered a solid 6-2 win for his team
David Panone vs. Greyson Clark in the dual finals. Panone went up 8-5 going into the 3rd only to watch his lead evaporate with 2 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Whether they were deserved or not is up to you, but they were called and narrowed his lead to 8-7 with 45 seconds remaining. He rode hard and gritted out an 8-7 win that proved huge in the dual vs. Kong.
Trae McDaniel faced a very motivated Nic Bouzakis in the final dual after the Panone match. It got physical, but McDaniel was always calm and cool under the Bouzakis pressure. He went out and did his job … keeping Bouzakis to a simple win instead of a major, tech or pin and his temperament was enough the settle the Minions down and allowed them to get back to work on winning the match.
Minions Legend
Drew Gorman - 100 lbs.
Few squads have an 8th grader that will start things off the way Gorman does. He was calm, cool, and collected in even the biggest matches. The moment was never too big for the middle schooler and he should be the next SE hammer bringing home belts and national titles. He lost to Mantanona on Saturday, but proved his mettle in getting that match back on Sunday in the semifinals. He was a huge catalyst in getting the Minions off to a fast start vs. Kong in the finals.
Spencer Moore - 113 lbs.
Moore split time with Cole Hunt on Saturday, but was the key for the Minions on Sunday. He beat Eberly and Sanchez, but it was his 3-2 to loss to #1 Marc-Anthony McGowan in the finals that stood out. He had an opportunity to take the match, but was huge in keeping the Cadet World Champ in check and giving the Minions a lot of momentum.
Hunter Noland - 138 lbs.
Every time I turned around someone was asking me who this kid was. Noland might have been under the radar on this star-studded squad when the Elite 8 began, but he was on centerstage throughout the two days. He took Jordan Williams to the brink - losing a close 8-7 decision on Saturday. His 3-2 win over Kal Miller of Kong would prove huge when all was said and done on Sunday night.
Gabe Arnold - 170 lbs.
There was no steadier force for the Minions than Gabe Arnold at 170. Whenever they needed a win - Gabe stepped up. When things were in danger of going the wrong direction - Arnold was there to give the Minions 4 points … no matter who he wrestled. After Hamiti’s major of Chittum in the finals it was Arnold that shut that down with a 17-6 decision of his own.
Noah Pettigrew - 220 lbs.
To say Pettigrew was resilient in the finals would be one of the biggest understatements of the weekend. He had his ups and downs over the course of the two days, but when push came to shove he stepped up for his squad. His takedown in the waning seconds against #1 Bennett Tabor was what wrestlers dream of … he made the Minions dream of claiming the title a reality on Sunday night.
Other SE Hammers:
Brendon Abdon - 145 lbs. Black Mambas
Lake Gibson’s Abdon came up huge time and again for the Black Mambas. He was in every match he wrestled and had a superb weekend in even the few matches he took an L in (see the Ethen Miller match as an example). His win over Jared Hill in the JK Squad dual set the tone for a really good weekend for the Florida hammer.
Hunter Mason - 126 lbs. JK Squad
Mason was outstanding all weekend long. His only loss came to Vincent Robinson and his wins over Chase DeBlaere, Greyson Clark, Braden Basile, as well as Brendan Barnes showed that Mason is the next superstar out of Tennessee.
Gavin Cagle - 160 lbs. JK Squad
I’m not sure anyone wrestled with more grit than McCallie’s Gavin Cagle. He lost his opening match to Will Miller on a strange call, but rebounded to beat Brayden Hohman and Antonio Segura before losing to Hamiti on Day 1. He bumped up to help his squad vs. Cali and took a close 3-2 loss to Enzo Morlacci at 170 to begin day 2, but rebounded again with a 3-2 win over Ray Arebalo at 170 to help JK beat Dynasty 28-27.
From Oklahoma Mobbin Media:
Jordan Williams (Dynasty): did the seemingly impossible by having some of both the grittiest and slickest takedowns of the tournament. Williams, an uncommitted junior who is entertaining a multitude of offers from the nations top schools showed why his pedigree sets him a cut above by going undefeated.
Ishmael Guerrero (Dynasty) The 8th grader made himself a conversation piece by taking out multiple time HS state champions. Guerrero also had the gym on its feet in a highly contested match with Super 32 champ, senior Virginia Tech commit, #2 Conner Flynn.
Emmanuel Skillings (Dynasty) was solid all weekend. His only loss coming from Super 32 champ Noah Pettigrew. Uncommitted, Skillings is currently considering UNI, App State, Purdue, Wyoming & Clarion.
Jared Hill (JK Squad) capped his tourney off with a fall over Ohio State commit Gavin Brown.
1 from Each of the other Squads:
Brian Soldano of POWA. Soldano was the key to so many wins for POWA. He and Ayzerov got the wins to give POWA a shot vs. Kong, his 4-2 win over TJ Stewart was key to getting the win over Dynasty, and his win over Wilner in the consi finals was huge.
Brock Mantanona of Cali Customs. Mantanona was huge in kicking things off for Cali. He rebounded from his loss (to Drew Gorman) to get things headed in the right direction for Cali Customs in the semis vs. Minions (it didn’t work out well for the team, but he did his job). He dropped his only other match to Desmond in the 3rd place dual, but kept grinding and gave his team a chance.
Garrett Grice of Black Mambas. Grice lost to Mantanona and Flynn, but beat Kasak and had several other outstanding wins. He was often the spark the Mambas needed to keep them in the dual.
Dean Hamiti Jr. of Team Kong. Sure you could always go with Bouzakis … he is a legit hammer, but Hamiti was stellar in helping Kong manage the middleweights. He was simply outstanding. I didn’t much care for the showboating over Chittum, but when Kong needed him he stepped up in a major way. He is a superstar in the making.
Mikey Tal Shahar of JK Squad. Tal Shahar could’ve made the list above as he is from South Florida, but he is my pick as a key contributor for JK Squad. Tal Shahar rose the the occasion time and again for JK. The one match that stood out to me was when JK bumped up to try to close the gap on Cali and he beat Juan Mora 2-1 at 220. Noah Nininger could also have grabbed this spot.
Patrick Jordan of Predator. Jordan started slow - losing to Jordan Williams, Jordan Soriano, Kal Miller, and Teague Travis. In fact Jordan was 0-4 after day 1. But he didn’t hang his head … he came out in day 2 and beat Hunter Noland and Ivan Morris to finish the tournament on a high note. It would’ve been easy to pack it in, but Jordan epitomized the Predator mindset and fought back.
Dillon Campbell of Dynasty. There wasn’t a better 106 in the Marriott this weekend. Campbell beat everyone in his way and was a major contributor for Dynasty. Campbell contributed a total of 26 points over 6 matches (amongst the best of anyone in at the Elite 8).