NHSCA High School Nationals - Sophomore Preview
NHSCA’s kicks off this Friday with Session 1 getting started at 745 am. Over the three days, wrestlers from across the nation will work their way through the brackets and All Americans and NHSCA Champs will be crowned on Sunday. Wrestlers are separated into their year in High School … so Senior 113’s will wrestle other Senior 113’s - no Junior, Sophomores, or Freshmen will be in the bracket.
Below is a look at each weight in the the Sophomore division. You can catch all of the action this weekend on flowrestling. Keep in mind - this is who was registered as of Monday of this week … names get added, dropped, and weights change - so take what you see with a grain of salt. Because there are so many entrants … I gave a short “who to watch” for each weight. Doesn’t mean each will place or that someone else won’t win it … these are just some of the names I will be watching this weekend (alphabetical order by last name). I chose names out of the SE because they “popped off the page” for me … meaning I have seen them compete at Super 32, Fargo, or somewhere else.
Sophomores are always tough to pick … there are several hammers that haven’t made their mark in their state yet, but will be tough to beat here. Also - New Jersey has several kids entered - I just don’t know many of them … so you won’t see many on the list, but know they are always tough.
106 (34 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
James Blood (ME)
Allen Calderon (GA)
Sean Campbell (NY)
Tyler Chappell (PA)
Kolby Dempsey (GA)
Thomas Giere (AL)
Hunter Newell (OH)
Alex Schaeublin (MA)
Luke Siranni (PA)
Bryson Terrell (TN)
Ty Tice (SC)
Cale Tucker (AL)
Caleb Uhorchuk (TN)
Tyler Washburn (FL)
From what I’ve seen … Tyler Chappell is the one to watch here. Siranni (also a PA kid) as well Schaeublin and others are tough, but Chappell is very good. SE brings a strong group with TN State Champ Caleb Uhorchuk, SC State Champ Ty Tice, and FL Champ Tyler Washburn (although he is registered both at NHSCA’s and in Wisconsin at the U15 World Team Trials). There are several other SE wrestlers that should be in the hunt as well … don’t sleep on Bryson Terrell of Tennessee.
113 (83 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
Jackson Baglio (NC)
Chase Burke (PA)
Vinnie D’Alessandro (OH)
Tyler Ferrara (NY)
Clay Gates (OK)
Zachary Jacaruso (PA)
Tommy Link (PA)
Hunter McCullough (GA)
Chaz McDonald (GA)
Aidan Munoz (CA)
Hayden Myers (RI)
Jaden Pepe (PA)
Blaine Taranto (FL)
Cam Tipton (AL)
Hudson Waldrop (AL)
PA bringing some heat with Burke, Jacaruso, Pepe, and Link (as well as many others). It will be interesting to see how Tipton, Waldrop, McCullough, and the other SE hammers do in a very deep weight.
120 (80 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
Joel Brown (MD)
Kade Davidheiser (PA)
Ryan Lobato (CA)
Max Gallagher (NY)
Ben Gulliam (SC)
Cooper Haase (FL)
Will Hendricks (SC)
Tyler Knox (MA)
Ethan Lebin (PA)
Ethan McCullough (GA)
Amantee Mills (GA)
Braden Potts (OK)
Isaiah Powe (AL)
Colt Shrader (SC)
Hayden Whidden (FL)
I’ve been waiting for a breakout national-level tournament from Cooper Haase - and this could be it. He looked very good against in the Florida semis over Danny Martinez on his way to a second Florida title. Haase, Powe, and Whidden should be in the mix late into the tournament … will any of the three knock off some of the NE hammers and claim the title? Keep an eye on Amantee Mills - trust me.
126 (99 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
William Baysinger (IL)
Hunter Bidelman (ID)
Brock Carey (NC)
Jack Doone (PA)
Jonathan Hernandez (CA)
Conner Kimbrough (GA)
Ethan Kolb (PA)
Hunter Mason (TN)
David McClelland (FL)
Tyson McCullough (GA)
Matthew Repos (PA)
Eligh Rivera (FL)
Devin Stone (AL)
Connor Warnock (TN)
This might be the largest bracket of the tournament with 99 registered as of Monday. Tennessee’s Hunter Mason has to be on the of the favorites … he has been superb all season. Pennsylvania brings quite a group to Virginia Beach including 3A State Placer Matt Repos. Keep an eye on the LHP duo of Rivera and McClelland.
132 (96 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
Tyler Archuleta (CO)
Yannis Charles (SC)
Eli Doolittle (GA)
Davis Freeze (NC)
Conner Heckman (PA)
Carter McCallister (MO)
Q’veli Quintanilla (WA)
Reggie Raiz (CA)
DJ Richards (VA)
Nathan Roth (PA)
Tyler Tracy (NC)
Dominic Wheatley (PA)
Cade Wirnsberger (PA)
Brock Woodcock (MO)
Another deep weight class with 96 registered. Keep an eye on Q’veli Quintanilla of Washington … watched him wrestle both Tom Crook and Ethan Mojena at Super 32. Another one to watch is Carter McCallister of Missouri. South Carolina’s Yannis Charles and Georgia’s Eli Doolittle have both made big jumps this past high school season and each will look to make the podium. Few North Carolina kids in the mix, but their season kicks off Monday - so hard to know how much they have grown since we last saw them wrestle.
138 (79 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
Chris Bacchioni (NJ)
Luke Belcher (TN)
Riley Fort (TN)
Andrew Harmon (PA)
Kelly Kakos (PA)
Lucas Kapusta (PA)
Bradyn Lucas (WV)
Tyler McKnight (GA)
Adam Ramsey (OH)
Antonio Rodrigues (MD)
Donovan Smith (NY)
Alex Soto (FL)
Lance Thacker (GA)
Keep an eye on Antonio Rodrigues of Maryland - watched him wrestle Brayden Ivy tough a few weeks ago. PA has some really tough kids at 138 - including State Placers Kakos and Harmon. SE hammers will have to fight through some tough matches if they are going to make podium at 138.
145 (84 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
Avery Allen (MT)
Joey Bertrand (GA)
Andrew Christie (PA)
Dagen Condomitti (PA)
Dominic Frotino (PA)
Richard Grungo (NJ)
Rawson Iwanicki (MA)
Patrick Jordan (VA)
Christian Moder (FL)
Ethan Mojena (FL)
Jeremiah Price (NC)
Cale Roggie (VA)
This should be an interesting weight to watch … Grungo beat Price 3-2 at Tyrant Duals - will be interesting to watch that match if they cross paths again. Patrick Jordan of Virginia is a hammer as are Ethan Mojena and Christian Moder from Florida. A name to keep an eye on is Rawson Iwanicki.
152 (58 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
Aidan Brenot (TN)
Khalil Bourjelli (CT)
Aaron Cramer (IL)
Justin Crutchmer (AZ)
KJ Evans (OK)
Rafael Knapp (MA)
Taythan Silva (CA)
Frank Solorzano (FL)
Cordell White (FL)
Slightly smaller group of names but still some hammers in the group. Keep an eye on Evans, Crutchmer, and Cramer as well as a pair of Floridians in Tito Solorzano and Cordell White.
160 (69 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
Zane Birtchet (NC)
Marcus Espinoza-Owens (UT)
Nick Giompalo (FL)
Rafael Hipolito (AL)
Zac McKnight (GA)
Stephen O’Neil (NJ)
Markell Rivera (AZ)
Kaleb Valdez-Lemos (CO)
Caiden Williford (CA)
Jake Zargo (NJ)
Another good weight that is headlined by NJ’s Stephen O’Neil. Saw Rivera wrestle a couple of years ago … he was tough then and I’d expect he has only gotten better. Keep an eye on Alabama State Champ Rafael Hipolito (although word was that he moved to Virginia). He is getting better exponentially and it will be interesting to see how he does here.
170 (51 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
Omaury Alvarez (TN/GA)
Jacob Baier (VA)
David Barrett (MA)
Seth Blackledge (NC)
Brian Burburija (FL)
Justin Griffith (NJ/DE)
Tyler Hicks (OH)
Dominic Joyce (FL)
Savoy New (NC)
Justin Onello (NJ)
Interesting weight class with some SE hammers in the mix. Brian Burburija and Dominic Joyce of Florida, Omaury Alvarez of Baylor (TN) and Seth Blackledge of North Carolina should be in the hunt for a spot on the podium.
182 (31 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
Mark Ayala (CA)
Stefan Bakiev (CA)
Matthew Furman (PA)
Hunter Jones (AL)
Camden McDanel (OH)
Kingsley Menifee (VA)
Landen Moss (GA)
Hunter Jones and Landen Moss are both poised to make a run at 182. Looking forward to watching both do some work in a field that I don’t know as well as some of the others (I’ve only seen a handful of those registered wrestle).
195 (34 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
Corey Boerio (PA)
Brady Colbert (DC)
Brendan Gilchrist (CT)
Cael Newton (FL)
Sonny Sasso (PA)
Aiden Selcher (WY)
Jacob Scheib (PA)
Justin Soriano (NY)
David Sweetman (AZ)
Cole Williams (GA)
Obviously the name that jumps off the page is Sasso. But don’t be fooled - Sonny was a PA State Placer up at 170 this past season - so he can go with anyone (watched him lose a close match to Christian Carroll at Ultimate Duals this past weekend as well).
220 (34 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
Zachary Evans (PA)
Sam Sorenson (NY)
Noah Todd (TN)
Nelson Toro (FL)
Caleb Wolfe (TN)
Interested to see how the two Tennessee hammers do - Noah Todd and Caleb Wolfe both wrestled well this past season and could make a push for the podium here. Sam Sorenson won the Journeymen in April.
285 (21 REGISTERED)
Who to Watch:
Max Acciardi (NJ)
Nathaniel Box (FL)
Carson Hall (AL)
Derrick Hart (FL)
Riley Robell (PA)
Emmanuel Ulrich (PA)
Carson Hall is a beast in Alabama … really interested to see how he looks against some very good heavyweights in Acciardi, Robell, and Ulrich. Florida’s Box really came on at the end of the year and should make a run for a spot on the podium as well.