The Breakdown - Episode 5 - Florida Cadets just miss on "All American" in Greco at Duals
Here is the breakdown from the 16U (Cadet) Greco National Duals that took place over 2 days in Westfield, Indiana. A breakdown of the 14U (Schoolboys) will be coming later today/tomorrow. And then we will get the Freestyle portion posted.
Not to bury the lead with results and other information … but the takeaway from the 2 days of action was that the Florida Cadets just missed making the All American in Greco and finished on top of the Bronze/Copper Pool. Georgia Blue finished 7th in the Bronze/Copper pool in Greco. Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia Red all had good individual performances, but struggled overall to make the top pools as a team.
Already know the team results? Jump down to the bottom of each section as we highlight some individuals that had a great 2 days (each style) of wrestling.
Let’s Start the Breakdown with a look at Greco …. Day 1 Pool Action
Florida lost their opening match to Minnesota Blue (the overall eventual Champs), but rebounded with wins over Indiana Blue, Oklahoma Red, and Iowa (39-38 in a match that came down to a Sawyer Bartelt win) to take 3rd. Because Pennsylvania Blue lost to Minnesota in the finals … Florida had a shot at true second, but lost a close one to PA 42-31. As a result they would move to the Bronze/Copper Pool.
Illinois downed Indiana Gold to win Pool B … Georgia Red finished with losses to Minnesota Red, Texas Red, and Michigan Blue to take 8th. Alabama lost to Indiana Gold 48-24, but got a nice win over Michigan Blue 49-24 in the consis. Alabama then lost to Minnesota Red and Texas Red to finish 6th.
Tennessee suffered two very close losses - 40-35 to Missouri and 35-34 to Pennsylvania Red to fall to the 7th/8th place match in Pool C. They easily beat Delaware, but would be relegated to the Red Pool for Day 2. Oklahoma Blue finished 1st with Idaho 2nd.
Georgia Blue received a by into the semis where they got the top seed California - losing 53-22 to the team that would eventually take first in the Pool (and 3rd overall). Georgia rebounded with a 65-16 win over Texas Blue and a 55-16 hammering of Nebraska 55-16 to take 3rd. Georgia lost a tough 45-30 match to Wisconsin for true second. Georgia joined Florida in the Bronze/Copper Pool for Day 2.
Day 2:
Minnesota Blue would end up taking the title with wins over Indiana Gold, Idaho, California (53-18) and Oklahoma Blue 48-26. In fact - Florida gave Minnesota Blue their toughest match of the tournament (minus the final vs. Oklahoma).
Florida took care of business going 4-0 on the day … wins over Kansas Red (48-32), Colorado (42-33), and Georgia (47-30) as well as New Jersey (52-25) to finish 9th overall - one spot from All American. Georgia finished the tournament with losses to Colorado, Kansas Red, and Florida before downing Nebraska to finish 7th in the pool.
Oklahoma Red won the Yellow pool over Texas Red …
Tennessee finished up the Greco part of the duals red hot with wins over Texas Blue, Indiana Blue, Michigan Blue before downing Alabama 37-30 to take the top spot in the Red Pool. Alabama also finished well - suffering their only loss of Day 2 to Tennessee.
Georgia Red - which had several forfeits throughout their lineup - finished the tournament 5th in the Green Pool - getting their lone dual win over Michigan Red 44-18.
Five on the Rise from Cadet Greco
It should be noted that not all results in the duals are created equal. Because who you face on the second day depends entirely on how well your team wrestles in Day 1. So there are wrestlers with losses that make the list and others that went unbeaten that may not make the list. It is the nature of the beast as it relates to duals.
Also the difference between being a first-year or a second-year cadet is huge. I don’t know which “year cadet” each of the wrestlers are … but if any of the below are 1st-year cadets - you better lookout for next year.
These are the 5 that jumped off the screen … but the “other” listed below also had an outstanding two days of Greco:
120 - Casen Roark (Tennessee) - Tough to pick between Roak, Sturgill, Desselle, and Mason Jakob. All four were unbeaten. Roark gets the nod here with two very good wins over Hudson Waldrop and Vincent Echavarry. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to see Roark or his teammates against some of the best because Tennessee lost their first two matches. Don’t get me wrong - wins over Echavarry and Waldrop are outstanding, but we would have liked to have seen Roark vs. Kilkeary (who beat Heap on criteria).
170 - Brian Burburija (Florida) - Burburija was simply superb this weekend in Greco. He finished 9-0 with a nice 15-7 win over Cole Han-Lindemyer of Minnesota along with tech falls of Hoke Poe-Hogan of Georgia and Harvey Ludington of New Jersey. It was his 10-0 tech of Braden Brown of Oklahoma that was really impressive. We didn’t get to see him vs. David Malin of Wisconsin, but that match is likely to happen in the next month.
182 - Omaury Alvarez (Georgia) - 8-0 splitting time between 182 and 195. 5 tech falls, 2 falls, and a forfeit. Only downside was we didn’t get to see Omaury vs. Smith of Utah or Schoppe of New Jersey (we didn’t even get to see him vs. Roos of Iowa or Shupp of Pennsylvania). When we did get to watch Omaury wrestle - he was outstanding, but he didn’t get the bigger names that he will likely need to beat to take home a stop sign from Fargo.
195 - Sawyer Bartelt (Florida) - 9-0 at 195/220. Stepped in a big way time and again for Florida. The moment was never too big and he came through for the team on more than one occasion. Anyone that beats Sonny Sasso 5-0 has to be among the favorites heading into Fargo.
220 - William Caneer (Alabama) - finished unbeaten (8-0 with 7 tech falls and a 13-9 decision win over Henry of Indiana). Unfortunately we didn’t get to see how Caneer matched up with Bartelt, Alvarez, Agresti, or Sonny Sasso. Still going unbeaten is a major accomplishment and should put him on the “watch list” for Fargo.
Others to keep an eye heading into Fargo:
100 - Fredrick Mitchum (Florida) - 8-1 and was key to Florida hanging tough with Minnesota and beating Colorado. Wins over Lyden and Declan Strait pop out - but needs to be closer with wrestlers like Graff of Iowa if he wants to make the podium in Fargo.
100 - Mason Jakob (Tennessee) - 7-0 (6-0 with a forfeit). Wins over Cale Tucker and Malachi Stratton. Didn’t get to see Jakob vs. Kleimann or Mauger - which would have been interesting. But Jakob used the opportunity to sharpen his skills and will be on the radar heading into Fargo.
106 - Brodie Christmas (Alabama) - 5-2 (4-2 with a forfeit) - must find a way to beat the likes of Tishner if Brodie is going to make the podium in Fargo.
106 - Christian Fretwell (Florida) - 7-2 (6-2 with a forfeit). Wrestled Ambrose of Minnesota tough, but the bar is Sam Herring if you want to be on the podium in Fargo (which was Fretwell’s only other loss).
106 - Jack Anderson (Tennessee) - finished 4-3, but had a huge win over Brodie Christmas to help lead Tennessee to first in the Red Pool.
113 - Will Anderson (Alabama) - 6-2 (5-2 with a forfeit) - lost a close one to Milano of Michigan otherwise was close to making the top 5. Needs to find a way to match Laudenbach of Minnesota if he wants to take home a stop sign from Fargo.
120 - Anderson Heap (Florida) - 8-1 (6-1 with 2 forfeits) - only loss to Vincent Kilkeary (one of the top 120’s in the country) …. losing 7-7 on criteria. Heap is a good example of someone that could make the 5 above. His wins over Reece of Colorado and Casella of Kansas show he is ready to make a run for a stop sign in Fargo.
126 - Logan Paradice (Georgia) - 5-3 (4-3 with a forfeit). Wrestled well in a very tough weight … lost a close one to Alarcon of Colorado, but will need to be more in the matches with the likes of Guffey and Koenig if Logan wants to make the podium in Fargo.
126 - Hunter Sturgill (Tennessee) - Sturgill looks like a lock to make a run in Fargo. This weekend didn’t provide the matchup we wanted (vs. Alarcon, Robideau, Koenig, etc.) but wins over Magro, Jones, etc. did nothing to make us think he won’t be in the hunt in July.
132 - Landon Desselle (Tennessee) - 6-0 … but similar situation as his unbeaten Tennessee teammates. Good wins over Graham and McClain, but we didn’t get to see Desselle vs. Smith, Root or Faglioni.
132 - Cade Parent (Georgia) - 5-3 (4-3 with a forfeit) … similar to his teammate Paradice. Good wrestling in a very tough weight.
138 - Brandon Cody (Florida) - 6-3 … beat wrestlers that you’d expect, but lost to Perentin New Jersey, Hanson of Minnesota, and Searcy of Indiana in matches that weren’t that close. Cody is on track to be in the hunt in Fargo, but will need to up the game if he wants to make the podium in Dakota.
152 - Dominic Bambinelli (Georgia) - 7-1. Bambinelli is right there. Lost a close one to Khosravy of California 4-3. Didn’t get to see Bambinelli vs. Strick, Ferrari or Baker. That would give everyone a good idea if he is likely to make a run for a stop sign or not. Still 7-1 over some very competition.
160 - Cordell White (Florida) - 8-1 with his only loss coming to Travis Smith of Minnesota. White wrestled extremely well and should be on every 160’s radar heading into Fargo … he’s not likely to win it, but he’s good enough to make the podium and knock some hammers off along the way.
182 - Will Conlon (Alabama) - 4-1 with a loss to Schreiber of Tennessee. Won close matches and lost a close match.
285 - Caleb Rodriguez (Florida) - 6-3. Lost to some hammers, but also had some very good wins. Rodriguez was an important piece of the puzzle for Florida and there is no way they finish 9th without him. Still … he is close to making a run in Fargo, but needs to be more in matches like vs. Wyatt Smith and Sebastian Lopez if he wants to be on the podium.
There were a few others that wrestled hard and did well vs. the competition, but the level wasn’t nearly what they can expect to see in Fargo. It will be interesting to see which Cadets use this experience as a springboard to winning some tough matches in late July.