NHSCA High School Nationals - Freshman 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 Freshman 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.
I watch a ton of wrestling, but almost no middle school or younger wrestlers (unless they are competing against the high school kids). As a result - my knowledge of this class is sparse. I’ve highlighted those freshmen from the SE that I’ve seen and think can do well … but how good they are relative to the competition is hard to know (especially since we didn’t have Fargo or NHSCA’s last year). It is particularly difficult for me as it relates to freshmen in North Carolina because they haven’t wrestled their season yet … so if you haven’t wrestled at Super 32 or a qualifier - you probably won’t be on the list below.
Alabama
Mac Chandler (120)
Nick Dempsey (113)
Daishun Powe (106)
Each of these 3 have a chance to make the podium, but will have huge brackets to navigate through to make top 8.
Florida
Luis Acevedo (113)
Josh Aviles (120)
Kaiden Ballinger (120)
Gavin Balmeceda (132)
Sawyer Bartelt (195)
Brandon Cody (132)
Anderson Heap (113)
Gunner Holland (145)
Elijah Penton (152)
Ethan Rivera (106)
Gabriel Tellez (106)
Florida brings some heat with their freshmen including State Champs Sawyer Bartelt, Anderson Heap, and Gunner Holland. Ethan Rivera should be one of the favorites at 106 (remember LHP didn’t wrestle in the FHSAA this year - so no “state champ” designation for him). Gavin Balmeceda, Brandon Cody, and Gabriel Tellez are 3 others to watch as they work to make the podium.
Georgia
Jake Crapps (120)
Noah Danforth (120)
Davis Dendy (132)
Rylan Ibold (106)
Tucker Kazienko (106)
Seth Larson (145)
Brayden Mitchell (106)
Garrett Pace (120)
Nathan Payton (120)
Hoke Poe-Hogan (160)
Latrell Schafer (145)
Tyler Secoy (152)
Creed Thomas (160)
Reed Walker (106)
Marley Washington (132)
Konlin Weaver (126)
To quote Mark Twain, “The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated?” - and the same maxim can be applied to the next group of Georgia hammers. Georgia has worked its way onto the national scene, but I was told (by more than one) that the next group would be as good. Well looking at the names above … that certainly doesn’t seem to be the case. Crapps, Poe-Hogan, Dendy, Larson, Ibold, Danforth and so on can all work their way through the brackets and claim a title this weekend. I think Georgia might have more All Americans in this group than in any other division this weekend.
North Carolina
Rion Montaperto (120)
Eli Murray (138)
Joseph Sealey (152)
Cameron Stinson (106)
Joe Sealey is on another level and should be the favorite at 152. He routinely beats (or if he doesn’t beat them then he gives them one heckuva match) some of the best Seniors, Juniors, and Sophomores in the country. Stinson is a super tough 106 and it will be interesting to see how he does in a huge bracket (99 registered).
South Carolina
Joseph Morris (120)
JJ Peace (106)
Peace and Morris both stood out this past year in South Carolina … like the Alabama crew … they will wrestle in some large and deep brackets. Both have the ability to work their way through, but making top 8 (out of 99 or so) is going to be tough.
Tennessee
Landon Desselle (132)
Jarvis Little (113)
Like Morris and Peace above - Desselle and Little both had good seasons in Tennessee … they probably won’t make the podium at 132 and 113, but to get several wins over top competition will only set them up to make a run in future tournaments.