NHSCA High School Nationals - Senior Boys Wrap up
I don’t have the time or the bandwidth to write this like a normal article … so I’m going to highlight with bullets the things that stood out to me. Keep in mind that there were tons of matches - and as of Monday I have only been able to watch a handful (I will go back over the next two weeks and watch every match that an SE wrestler competed in - but it isn’t in time for this wrap-up).
An important note … not all brackets are created equal. A wrestler could have gone 4-2 in a very deep weight - not made the podium, but in my estimation had a very good tournament. That doesn’t diminish any wrestler that made the podium in a weight that wasn’t as deep or didn’t have the top-end talent like some others … those wrestler came to compete - they did and they did their job of making the podium. I just want everyone to know that because I highlight someone that didn’t make the podium (over someone that did) doesn’t mean anything (don’t read too much into it). The same is true for the draw … some draws are easier than others. But winning close matches and advancing says a lot - you have no control over your draw - you only have control over how you compete.
The Results
SE put 5 into the finals, but NC’s Richard Treanor was the only Senior able to walk away with a National title.
The put 8 into the consi finals - winning 6 of the 8 matches. Way to finish strong.
The SE had 8 wrestle for 5th or 7th and in all - the SE had 21 Senior All Americans.
One interesting note … no Georgia Seniors made the podium - which in my opinion was a surprise. Here is the AA’s broken down by state:
AL (1)
FL (10) - Florida led all States in the Senior division in terms of the # of AA’s.
NC (5)
SC (2)
TN (3)
Championship Finals
120: Chris Calderon (CA) dec. Daniel Uhorchuk (TN), 3-2
132: Richard Treanor (NC) dec. Joel Mylin (MO), 6-2
152: Alex Ramirez (CA) dec. Will Miller (AL), 3-2
160: Peyton Kellar (OH) dec. Chandler Amaker (SC), 8-4
170: Nicholas Fine (RI) dec. Tylynn Lukens (FL), 4-0
All American Matches
3rd/4th
113: James Levy (SC) dec. Kevin Lopez (NY), 5-3
126: Josh Koderhandt (IL) dec. Sebastian Melguizo (FL), 7-0
138: Jaekus Hines (FL) dec. Nate Wade (NY), 4-3
152: Darian Estevez (FL) dec. Steven Mitchell (WV), 6-4
170: Dylan Kohn (FL) dec. Max Wilner (CA), 3-1
195: Jack Forbes (CO) dec. Holden Cypher (NC), 6-4
220: Tristan Middlebrook (FL) dec. Josh Evans (VA), 5-4
285: Triston Norris (NC) dec. Emilio Franco (CA), 2-1
5th/6th
126: Max Leete (MA) dec. James Joplin (NC), 6-4
160: Cody Rice (FL) fall Ulises Varner (NC), 0:22
220: Jayden Dobson (AZ) dec. Xavier Stillgess (FL), 3-1 SV1
7th/8th
113: Conner Hueck (FL) tf. Logan Pugh (UT), 18-2
126: Owen Woolcott (PA) dec. Brice Barton (TN), 5-0
132: Dayne Dalrymple (TN) forfeit over Trenton Grant (DE)
138: Reese Osborne (WY) dec. Preston Walls (FL), 9-1
Briefly by Weight Class
113
SC’s James Levy and FL’s Conner Hueck were the only two SE wrestlers to make the podium. Levy was 3rd and Hueck was 7th. Hueck lost his first match 6-4 SV1 to VA’s Trevon Gray and fought his way back to make the podium. Levy won 2 before losing to MA’s Evan Kinney in the semis - he bounced back to finish the tournament 4-1.
120
TN’s Daniel Uhorchuk was 2nd - and he was the only SE hammer to make the podium at 120. NC’s Elijah Boyd lost to eventual Champ Carlos Calderon 3-1 in his fist match … he had two nice wins before losing to NY’s Jace Schafer 3-0 and was eliminated. NC’s Chance Cottingham finished 3-2, but it was his 9-4 win over FL’s Chris Albo and a tough 4-2 loss to Uhorchuk that puts him on the radar.
126
Florida’s Sebastian Melguizo was the top finisher from the SE at 126 - taking 4th after losing to a very tough Koderhandt twice (6-0 and 7-0). Melguizo’s fall of AL Champ Jacob Dease was impressive. The SE had two others make the podium - Brice Barton of TN was 8th and James Joplin of NC was 4th. 126 was a deep weight and to see Barton get some tough wins was impressive … his losses came to Nico Provo (Provo was the eventual Champ at the weight), Melguizo, and Owen Woolcott of PA.
132
Treanor won 5 in a row to claim the 132 lb. title. His most impressive win (in my opinion) was his semifinal vs. Kyren Butler of Ohio - a 3-2 decision (down 2-0 with 20 seconds left to score 3 including a takedown in the final seconds to win it). Plus one of his coaches was wearing a Fat and Scrappy shirt! TN’s Dalrymple was 4-2 and finished 7th. I thought he wrestled a good match vs. Dylan Chappell of PA (in a losing effort 7-4).
138
Florida’s Jaekus Hines lost early to eventual Champ Rudy Lopez of Colorado 6-4 … but he rebounded and won 6 in a row to claim 3rd in the podium. His 4-3 win over Nate Wade of New York is one to go watch. 138 was a really deep weight and featured a lot of SE wrestlers. One that stood out was Vincenzo Napolitana of Florida. Napolitana lost 8-6 to Riley Edwards of North Carolina to begin the tournament, but they had 3 wins including a 3-2 win over Zachariah Lewis of North Carolina. His lost to Hones 6-0 to finish the tournament 3-2. FL’s Preston Walls was the other SE wrestler to make the podium … he got his money worth this weekend - going 6-3 and finishing 8th.
145
No SE wrestlers made the podium at 145. Aaron Faison started well - 2-0 and making the quarters, but lost to Ohio’s Jack Haskin 3-1 and CA’s Cade Lucio 7-1 and didn’t make the podium.
152
Really good weight class that saw Alabama’s Will Miller beat Florida’s Darian Estevez 4-3 in the semis. Miller ended up 2nd and Estevez was 3rd. Several wrestlers had good wins including Jake Piccirilli of GA, Erik Rodriguez of FL, Grantt Hopkins of SC, but none were able to string more than a win or two together. Miller and Estevez both looked superb.
160
South Carolina’s Chandler Amaker came to wrestle this weekend - he won a close match vs. Chase Anestis of MA, but it was his falls of Ortiz and FL’s Cody Rice that impressed me most. He lost a tough one to OH’s Peyton Kellar in the finals to take 2nd. Rice bounced back from his semifinal loss to Amaker to take 5th. NC’s Ulises Varner was 6th. Swan, Bost, McLees, Moreno and others didn’t make the podium … that should help illustrate how good of a run Amaker, Rice, and Varner had.
170
Really good weight class with SE hammers. Florida’s Tylynn Lukens stepped up and finished 2nd and Dylan Kohn (also from Florida) was 3rd. In fact - the Lukens vs. Kohn quarterfinal was one match I sought out on Saturday morning to watch. It looked like Lukens was wearing an LHP singlet … hmm. Lukens takedown, cradle and fall of Kohn was impressive. Kohn rebounded from his loss to Lukens to take 3rd and looked great in beating California’s Wilner 3-1 in the consi finals. TN’s Kevin Muschel didn’t make the podium but wrestled well - pinning GA’s Dalton Battle and beating fellow Tennessean Matheson Meade 8-4. GA’s David Bertrand was 4-2 - losing a 1-0 decision in the Round of 16 and then was eliminated in the Blood round by Kohn (8-0 decision).
182
182 had a few SE wrestlers entered, but none were able to make the podium. Sutton, Silimon, Parker, and Oyeneye each lost some close matches.
195
North Carolina’s Holden Cypher was the only SE hammer to make the podium … most impressive from Cypher was his ability to overcome a first round loss to Logan Stafford of Washignton. Cypher then won 5 in a row including avenging his earlier loss to Stafford before losing to Colorado’s Jack Fobes 8-4 to finish 4th.
220
A pair of Florida hammers made the podium at 220. Tristan Middlebrook had wins over SC’s Kodie Hughes Hightower and Colorado’s Jake Boley before losing to OH’s Mason Cover in the semis (Cover would be the eventual champ). Xavier Stillgess had 3 wins (2 by fall) to advance to the semis - he had 3 tough losses (to Thacker in the semis and then 9-0 to Josh Evans and 3-1SV to AZ’s Jayden Dobson) to finish 6th.
285
NC’s Triston Norris bounced back from a tough semifinal loss to eventual Champ Garibaldi of New York to finish 3rd. Alabama’s James Zogg went 2-2, but both losses came to wrestlers that make the podium (Norris and Tamburin).
On the Rise
The following 10 Seniors - in my opinion - saw their stock rise after the NHSCA’s. Not that some of the them needed their stock to rise, but that they wrestled well in tight spots. I think if a program needed their weight next year - a few might get a look as a result of their weekend.
Richard Treanor (NC) - Army Commit (or signee). Already at the top, but breaking through and claiming an NHSCA title was outstanding.
Chandler Amaker (SC) - South Carolina doesn’t usually get much love in terms of recruiting (at least to D1 schools). Amaker had a really good tournament and showed he has the ability to grind out wins over tough competition.
Tylynn Lukens (FL) - Lukens came in at 170 (after winning Florida 3A at 182 this past year) … he looked super tough and pinned fellow Floridian Kohn in the quarters.
Will Miller (AL) - Uncommitted as far as I know. Miller had nice wins over John Altieri of PA 6-3, Anson Dewar of NH 8-5, and Estevez 4-3 to make the finals - losing to CA’s Alex Ramirez 3-2.
Daniel Uhorchuk (TN) - I got rightfully called out that I missed Daniel on the list … he is certainly on the rise and had a great tournament. Not sure why I missed him other than I started at the bottom weight and went up and wasn’t paying attention. So why does Daniel make the list at #5? I think he could be higher - but 120 wasn’t as deep as some of the others. I will admit his win over Marlon Yarbrough was quite impressive … I watched it live and expected a closer match, but Daniel dominated.
Brice Barton (TN) - Not at the top of the 126 radar, but wrestled well to make the podium - losing to two D1 signees along the way.
Ulises Varner (NC) - Varner was 3rd a year ago in North Carolina 2A - so wasn’t really on the radar coming into this tournament. He went 4-3, but most impressively won some close matches to keep advancing … 5-2 over NY’s Ross, 5-1 over MT’s Graves, 10-7 over MA’s Pinzino.
Darian Estevez (FL) - Estevez lost a close one to Miller in the semis - otherwise he might be taking home a national title. The reason Estevez makes this list is because of his two matches vs. Kaleb Burgess of New York. Go watch them - they are worth the time.
Holden Cypher (NC) - it is always impressive when someone loses their first round match and then battles through the backside to make the podium.
Tristen Middlebrook (FL) - Middlebrook showed he can compete with anyone. He got out of position and gave up two headlocks in his semi vs. Cover, but loved his bounce back to take 3rd over Jayden Dobson and Josh Evans.
Triston Norris (NC) - I believe that Norris believes he is the best in the weight - so taking 3rd is probably a disappointment. In my mind - he didn’t wrestle particularly good vs. Garibaldi of New York (his only loss and to the eventual champ in the semis), but (like Middlebrook) his ability to bounce back and get tough wins over Tamburin in the consi semis and over Franco in the consi finals shows the kind of mettle Norris has … and that will be an asset as he moves into wrestling in college.