North Carolina Super 32 Early Entry Tournament Results
Over the weekend the great state of North Carolina held their early entry tournament for the Super 32 Challenge that takes place on October 21-22 in Greensboro. Wrestlers from all over the southeast showed up for their opportunity to get to the main event. Now that the dust has settled, let’s look at how it all played out.
106 pounds
The name that stood out at 106 pounds was Mac Johnson, who over the summer had a great showing at the AAU scholastic duals in Orlando going undefeated. Along with Johnson, 2023 1A 106-pound North Carolina state champion Cooper Foster led the pack. Johnson would begin the day unseeded and make the semi-finals, before dropping a close 3-2 match to Royce Wetzler of Virginia. Johnson would wrestle back and pin Jacob Buffum of Virginia to place 3rd. Foster would begin the day as the number 1 seed and dominate to the finals with a tech-fall in the opening round, two pins, and a major decision, prior to edging out Wetzler 3-0 in the finals. Below are the top 4 finishers at 106 pounds.
1st place - Cooper Foster (DOGTOWN)
2nd place - Royce Wetzler (VATP)
3rd place - Mac Johnson (CAFE)
4th place - Jacob Buffum (Skyline)
113 pounds
113 pounds had an interesting field led by Tye Johnson. Johnson was 8-1 over the summer at the AAU scholastic duals in Orlando. Johnson began the day with back-to-back major decisions, before edging out Aidan Enright in the quarterfinals 7-5. Johnson would then drop a major decision to Aidan Szewczyk in the semi-finals. Ayden Sumners had quite the tournament. Beginning the day in the middle of the bracket and working his way to 1st place finish, with a 5-4 close decision win over Szewczyk in the finals. A name that may not have made the podium but had a good overall day was Luke Kibelbek from Tennessee. Kibelbek finished 3-2 on the day and missed the podium by one match. Below are the top 4 finishers at 113 pounds.
1st place - Ayden Sumners (K-Vegas Elite)
2nd place - Aidan Szewczyk (CA)
3rd place - Tye Johnson (CAFE)
4th place - Jacob Nally (C2X)
120 pounds
Who is Cayden Glass? With not a lot of knowledge on this guy, outside of a 6th place finish last season at the North Carolina state championships 4A 113 pounds. Glass made a name for himself over the weekend. Glass would win the 120-pound bracket beginning the day with three straight pins before edging out Jackson Orrell from Pennsylvania 4-3 in the quarterfinals, Cole Gumlick from Tennessee 4-2 in the semifinals, and finally Jameson Burns from Virginia 10-4 in the finals. A name that had a good day but missed the podium was Billy Hamilton from Georgia. Hamilton a former USAW Georgia State Champion finished 3-2 on the day after dropping a decision to 4th place finisher Jackson Orrell in the round of 16. Below are the top 4 finishers at 120 pounds.
1st place - Cayden Glass (CA)
2nd place - Jameson Burns (CWC)
3rd place - Cole Gumlick (tnwa)
4th place - Jackson Orrell (RLION)
126 pounds
126 was another weight with a surprise winner with Kyle Gibson from Virginia starting in the middle of the pack and finishing on top. Gibson went 5-0 on the day three close decision wins and two pins. Gibson would meet fellow Virginian Jerry Simon in the finals, defeating him with a first period pin. A name that had a good day but missed the podium was Tiaj Thao of North Carolina. Thao went 3-2 on the day, with three straight close decisions before dropping a close 7-5 decision to runner-up Simon in the semifinals. Below are the top 4 finishers at 126 pounds.
1st place - Kyle Gibson (NKH)
2nd place - Jerry Simon (RCW)
3rd place - Joshua Kozminski (Eastern Carolina Wrestling Academy)
4th place - Justin Travers (PINE)
132 pounds
132 pounds was the Bentley Sly show, well at least until the finals. Last year’s 3A 120-pound North Carolina state champion began the day with a major decision, followed up by a tech fall in the round of 16, and a pin in the quarterfinals. Sly would edge out Benjamin Aguilar from Virginia 5-2 in the semifinals before dropping a close 5-4 decision to Spencer Reep, last year’s division 2 Tennessee state champion at 126 pounds. Jaylen Bethea of North Carolina had a good day despite missing the podium. Finishing 4-2 on the day, dropping a close 8-6 decision to 4th place finisher Benjamin Aguilar from Virginia in the quarterfinals. Below are the top 4 finishers at 132 pounds.
1st place - Spencer Reep (LCA)
2nd place - Bentley Sly (DH)
3rd place - Tobin McNair (Raleigh Area Wrestling)
4th place - Benjamin Aguilar (Legacy Dragons)
138 pounds
Cameron Helton from Tennessee became yet another surprise winner at 138 pounds. Beginning the day in the middle of the bracket, Helton would have three pins and a major decision in route to a finals appearance. In the finals, Helton would defeat Frank Bianco 5-4. Bianco would upset number 1 seed Myrin Nixon (Virginia) 7-2 in the semifinals. Boedi Kirkland from North Carolina had a great day finishing 3rd place. Kirkland went 5-1 on the day with his lone loss a close 4-2 decision to runner-up Bianco in the quarterfinals. Below are the top 4 finishers at 138 pounds.
1st place - Cameron Helton (tnwa)
2nd place - Frank Bianco (Raleigh Area Wrestling)
3rd place - Boedi Kirkland (DH)
4th place - Myrin Nixon (Great Bridge High School)
144 pounds
Luke Murray from Virginia dominated to a 1st place finish at 144 pounds. Murray would give up 0 offensive points during his five matches on the day. Murray would have two pins and a major decision prior to the semifinals. In the semifinals Murray would defeat Ryan Mann from North Carolina by decision 6-0, before defeating Cal Beadling from Ohio 4-0 in the finals. Colin Lutz from North Carolina had a gutsy performance on the day. Dropping his first match in the round of 32 to Gage Helms also from North Carolina 6-4, before ripping off six straight wins to finish 3rd. Four out of six of Lutz final matches were close decision wins. Lutz is a name we should all keep an eye on moving forward. Below are the top 4 finishers at 144 pounds.
1st place - Luke Murray (Virginia Slaughterhouse)
2nd place - Cal Beadling (unaffiliated)
3rd place - Colin Lutz (CHS)
4th place - Finn McCafferty (NC Wrestling Factory)
150 pounds
Beau Lewis from Virginia also dominated throughout the tournament at 150 pounds. Lewis started as the 2 seed and didn’t disappoint. Lewis outscored his opponents 58-8 along with two pins, one tech fall, and one major decision in route to a 1st place finish. Ian Cho from Ohio did give Lewis a fit in the semifinals. Lewis would edge out Cho in a close 5-0 decision. The closest match Lewis would have all day. Parker York had a solid day despite missing the podium. York would finish 4-2 dropping a match to Cho one match out of placing top 4. Below are the top 4 finishers at 150 pounds.
1st place - Beau Lewis (Great Bridge High School)
2nd place - Cedric Griffin Jr. (Hoke County)
3rd place - Ian Cho (Team Miron)
4th place - Bailey Wilman (Wake Forest)
157 pounds
It seems that Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Virginia is headed towards a great season in 2023. Caleb Neal followed teammate Beau Lewis in dominating the competition at 157 pounds. Last year’s 4A Virginia state champion at 138 pounds began the day with back-to back pins prior to a close 4-2 decision in the semifinals over 3rd place finisher Colt Campbell from North Carolina. Neal would then win by major decision over Pete Winterstein from North Carolina to become the second Great Bridge High School wrestler to win the tournament. Cameron Curva from North Carolina had a good day despite missing the podium. Curva would be edged out by decision 7-3 to Winterstein in the semifinals before being eliminated one match out of placing top 4 by 4th place finisher Blake Jones in a 5-1 decision. Below are the top 4 finishers at 157 pounds.
1st place - Caleb Neal (Great Bridge High School)
2nd place - Pete Winterstein (Raleigh Area Wrestling)
3rd place - Colt Campbell (CA)
4th place - Blake Jones (Legacy Dragons)
165 pounds
Joey DiVello from Virginia would begin as the number 1 seed and would steamroll to a 1st place finish. DiVello would begin the day in the round of 16 with an 8-2 decision win over Hunter Macklin from North Carolina. In the quarterfinals DiVello pinned Jacob Powell, also from North Carolina before a 7-0 decision over fellow Virginian Ronin Foldes in the semifinals. In the finals Divello would gain a first period pin over Connor Ridgell from North Carolina to win the 165-pound bracket. Foldes would have a good day placing 4th on the day. After running into DiVello in the semifinals, Foldes would defeat fellow Virginian Ali Khawaja by fall prior to dropping the 3rd place match in a close 5-3 decision to Harrison Jones from South Carolina. Below are the top 4 finishers at 165 pounds.
1st place - Joey Divello (Skyline)
2nd place - Connor Ridgell (Combat Athletics)
3rd place - Harrison Jones (Ring Worms)
4th place - Ronin Foldes (Virginia Team Predator)
175 pounds
In one of the smaller brackets of the day Jay Eversole from Tennessee made a name for himself. Last season Eversole placed 6th at the Tennessee division 2 state championships at 145 pounds. Eversole would go 3-0 on the day outscoring his opponents 21-1 in route to a 1st place finish. Andre Hill from North Carolina, who would finish 3rd on the day gave Eversole a tough match in the semifinals. Dropping the match by 3-1 decision. Tre Wilfong from North Carolina had a good day despite missing the podium. Wilfong would drop a close semifinal match 4-2 to runner-up Troy Shannon from North Carolina. Below are the top 4 finishers at 175 pounds.
1st place - Jay Eversole (LCA)
2nd place - Troy Shannon (unaffiliated)
3rd place - Andre Hill (ORAN)
4th place - Giancarlo Evans (HOGH)
190 pounds
In yet another small bracket, Zaid Marjan who placed 6th last season at the North Carolina state championships 4A 182 pounds would outscore his opponents 22-6 in route to a 1st place finish. Jake Dempsey from Tennessee would give Marjan a tough match in the quarterfinals dropping a close 3-0 decision before finishing in 3rd place. Keep an eye on Harrison Compton from North Carolina. Despite not placing at the North Carolina state championships a year ago, Compton finished the day with two pins in route to a 2nd place finish. Below are the top 4 finishers at 190 pounds.
1st place - Zaid Marjan (Raleigh Area Wrestling)
2nd place - Harrison Compton (Raleigh Area Wrestling)
3rd place - Jarrett Eubanks (CRDG)
4th place - Jake Dempsey (tnwa)
215 pounds
As we get to heavier weight classes the brackets become smaller and smaller. This holds true at 215 pounds with an 8-man bracket. As this is a pre-season tournament during the football season, this isn’t surprising. Despite the low numbers, Gavin Hardister, who failed to place last winter at the North Carolina state championships, had a solid day. Hardister would knock off Billy Hoelscher, also from North Carolina 5-2 in the quarterfinals prior to defeating Derik Mirts from North Carolina 6-0 in the semifinals. In the finals Hardister would edge out Joshua Neblo from South Carolina in a tight 3-2 decision. Below are the top 4 finishers at 215 pounds.
1st place - Gavin Hardister (Eop)
2nd place - Joshua Neblo (RB)
3rd place - Jeremiah Fletcher (MW)
4th place - Billy Hoelscher (C2X)
285 pounds
In the smallest bracket of the day, Deondre Johnson would make a name for himself. Despite not placing last season at the North Carolina state championships, Johnson would pin Jayden Cuevas from Virginia in his first-round match. In the semifinals Johnson would defeat Everest Ouellette from North Carolina by a tight 4-3 decision prior to edging out Andres Rivera also from North Carolina 3-1 in the finals. Below are the top 4 finishers at 285 pounds.
1st place - Deondre johnson (Team Dynamic)
2nd place - Andres Rivera (PCRK)
3rd place - Jayden Cuevas (Great Bridge High School)
4th place - Everest Ouellette (OBX)
The top 4 from each weight class have automatically qualified for Super 32 on October 21-22 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.