Posts in Breakdown
The Breakdown - Episode 7 - Cadet Freestyle Duals

Ohio Red downed New Jersey to claim the Cadet Freestyle Duals title this past Sunday. It was Ohio’s first-ever dual championship and they looked superb on the way to the title. Minnesota Blue finished 3rd, Illinois was 4th and Pennsylvania Blue, Oklahoma Blue, California, and Indiana Gold rounded out the All American group.

The Florida Cadets once again battled to the end … finishing second (and 10th overall) in the Bronze/Copper Pool. Georgia Blue took home the Red Pool title with a 46-30 win over Minnesota Red. Tennessee was 3rd in the Red Pool, Georgia Red was 2nd in the Yellow Pool, and Alabama finished 5th in the Green Pool.


Day 1

Georgia Blue started things off with a win over Alabama 53-22, but dropped their semifinal vs. Minnesota Blue 51-25. Georgia then lost to Idaho 45-30 before finishing Pool A in 5th with a 48-28 win over Utah. Florida downed Idaho twice 42-35 and 42-34 and added a 40-36 win over Utah to go along with a 44-23 loss to New Jersey to just miss on the All American pool (taking 3rd). Alabama took three consecutive losses - 53-22 to GA Blue, 44-28 to Utah, and 47-32 to PA red to finish 8th. Florida leaned heavily on Sawyer Bartelt and Branden Marrero in each of their three wins … as they either sealed the win or brought Florida back to within reach of getting the wins.


Illinois took Pool B with a 38-37 win over Colorado. Unfortunately for Colorado they dropped their True second match to Indiana Gold and missed a spot on the podium.

Oklahoma Blue downed PA Blue 38-33 to claim Pool C.

Georgia Red took 3 losses in Pool D and finished 8th. Tennessee finished their Pool D action in 5th and went 2-2 with wins over Kansas Blue 51-20 and Michigan Blue 47-22 (with losses to Oklahoma Red and Iowa).

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 10.02.47 PM.png

Day 2

Florida, as already noted, finished Day 2 in 2nd in the Bronze/Copper Pool. Beating Virginia 42-33, Indiana Blue 50-27, and Iowa 38-37 before losing to Wisconsin 48-27.

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 10.04.59 PM.png

Georgia Blue wrestled lights out on Day 2 - going unbeaten in their 3 matches including a 40-37 win over Tennessee. Tennessee finished 3rd in the Red Pool with their lone loss coming in that close one to Georgia. Georgia started out red hot with 3 tech fall wins and a very important 11-9 win for Cade Parent over Landon Desselle. Kaiden Bates finally got Tennessee on the right track with a thrilling 10-9 win over Georgia’s Tyler Secoy to narrow the Georgia lead to 16-4.

Georgia went back to work with Hoke Poe-Hogan and Omaury Alvarez getting tech falls to push Georgia up 24-5. Tennessee got 15 huge points up top with Workman, Jenkins, and Stutts getting falls (or in Jenkins case a forfeit). Georgia led 24-20 heading into the final 7 matches. Bowman and Murray both took forfeits for Georgia to push the lead back to 34-20 with 5 matches remaining.

Mason Jakob got the ball rolling for Tennessee with a tech fall of Antonio Mills at 100 lbs. Kieron McCormack’s 13-8 win over Jack Anderson would end up being the deciding factor as he pushed Georgia to the brink - Georgia led 38-25. With 3 matches remaining Tennessee needed falls to pull it out. Little (TN) downed McArthur 11-1 and Casen Roark (TN) pinned Noah Danforth to narrow the Georgia lead to 39-34. Sturgill would need a fall to send this one to criteria … but that wasn’t going to happen. Logan Paradice wrestled him close - losing 7-3 (taking the individual loss, but securing the dual for Georgia (I don’t know if it would have mattered given criteria - not sure what the first tiebreaker is … I think it is forfeits - so Georgia would have won regardless, but still a very good dual).

I don’t know why Tennessee wrestled for 3rd in the Red Pool after losing to Ohio Blue (and OH Blue finished 2-1 on their side), but that is what was wrestled.

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 10.16.32 PM.png

Georgia Red finished their freestyle with two very nice wins over Michigan Red and Texas Blue to take 2nd in the Yellow Pool.

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 10.20.26 PM.png

Alabama got a win on Day 2 over Kansas Blue, but faded to 5th in the Green Pool - losing to Texas Red, Nebraska, and Kansas Red.

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 10.22.13 PM.png

FIVE ON THE RISE FROM CADET Freestyle

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 schoolboy” 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 Freestyle:

  • 126 - Hunter Sturgill (Tennessee) - 8-0 over some very good competition. Sturgill seems to always be in the right spot … rarely out of position and capitalizes on others mistakes. We didn’t get to see him vs. Alarcon or Giddens, but beat a good Ashton Homan of Ohio handily.

  • 145 - Latrell Schafer (Georgia) - 5-0 after splitting time with Emil Necula at 145. Looked outstanding in his 5 matches especially in a tight one with Hudson Rogers of Idaho. Is Schafer on the path to a spot on the podium in Fargo? I’d say yes, but we missed seeing him go with Logan Shaw, Wynton Denkins, Dylan Evans, and some of the other top 145’s.

  • 152 - Dominc Bambinelli (Georgia) - 8-0 in freestyle including a 2-1 win over a tough Bryce Burkett of Minnesota. The only hole is what all the top Georgia wrestlers faced … not seeing some of the top in their weight (because they will need to beat the Strick’s, Ferrari’s, and Fox’s if they are going to claim a stopsign in Fargo). It is just the way the bracket worked … still I know Dominic would want to see where he stands with some of them ahead of a trip to Dakota.

  • 170 - Brian Burburija (Florida) - Dominated freestyle - went 8-0 with 5 tech falls, 2 falls, and a good 12-3 win over Ludington of New Jersey. Would have liked to see Burburija vs. Poe-Hogan - maybe we get that matchup in Fargo.

  • 195 - Sawyer Bartelt (Florida) - looked like the complete package at 195 - no matter who Florida was wrestling. He finished the two days 8-0 (plus unbeaten in Greco). He had a nice 6-4 win over a tough Connor Mirasola of Wisconsin. Bartelt looks like the SE’s best shot at crowning a Cadet National Champ in Fargo.

Others:

  • 88/94 - Wallace Blue (Alabama) - went 5-2 wrestling at both 88 and 94. Blue had a good week of wrestling and should feel confident about getting some wins in Fargo in July.

  • 94 - Ty Murray (Georgia) - went 7-1 (3-1 with forfeits). Only loss was a close one of Michael Olson of Minnesota Blue (Olson went on to finish 7-1 with a ton of wins in the gold pool).

  • 100 - Mason Jakob (Tennessee) - Jakob should be a force in Fargo. He finished 7-1 with his only loss to Johnston of Ohio. Had a nice win over Graff of Iowa 8-5.

  • 106 - Kiernon McCormack (Georgia) - finished 4-4 (3-4 with a forfeit), but came up clutch for his squad vs. Anderson in the Tennessee dual.

  • 113 - Jarvis Little (Tennessee) - After going 7-1 and losing 6-5 to Gioimo of Iowa - was certainly considered for 5 on the rise. Little wrestled superb in wins over Hermes of Ohio and Segorski of Michigan. Little has big upside and the next 4 weeks of preparation could be huge as he readys for Fargo.

  • 120 - Anderson Heap (Florida) - 6-2. Lost two matches he can win and will need to win to make the podium in Fargo. Lost 8-4 to Peters of Wisconsin and 7-0 to Stanich of New Jersey. Didn’t get to see how Heap matches up with the top 120’s - like Ayoub of Ohio or Braun of Minnesota.

  • 120 - Casen Roark (Tennessee) - Roark has all the ability to claim a freestyle title in Fargo. He finished 7-1 with a tough 16-15 loss to Phoenix Contos of Ohio. A match he certainly believes he should win.

  • 126 - Collin Mullins (Georgia) - 5-1 with a good win over Lucio of Michigan 13-8. For comparison purposes (and this isn’t a great comparison, but it does give context) - Lucio’s only other loss was to Sturgill 6-3 in another good match.

  • 132 - Cade Parent (Georgia) - 5-2 including a 9-9 criteria win over Alli of Ohio, a 10-8 win over Wells of Delaware, and a 11-9 win over Desselle of Tennessee. #Clutch

  • 138 - Josh Denson (Georgia) - 6-2 with a forfeit. Had a few really good wins over solid competition including 5-2 over Schrandt of Minnesota and 10-6 over Hancey of Utah.

  • 145 - Clay Johnston (Alabama) - 4-3 and wrestled tough in both wins and losses. Lost to Edwards of PA 14-13 and Manibog of Texas. Schafer was the only one to handle Johnston easily and Clay could have finished 6-1 … still need to find a way to keep a lead and finish out matches (like he did in his match vs. Brandt of Nebraska).

  • 152 - Kendrick Hodge (Florida) - 6-2 with a tough 14-9 loss to Fox of Iowa. Dominated several matches and got a a good 8-4 win over Dailey of Wisconsin.

  • 160 - Creed Thomas (Georgia) - 3-0 and split matches at 160 with Tyler Secoy. Three easy wins … outscored his opponents 32-1.

  • 160 - Cordell White (Florida) - Whether White wins or losses - it is always fun to watch. He won some thrilling matches … 20-16 over Slade of Iowa and 14-10 over Cericho. Probably needs another win or two over that level of competition in order to make the podium in Fargo.

  • 160 - Kaiden Bates (Tennessee) - Really good wins over Secoy and Tyrel Miller of Ohio. Bates should do well in Fargo … how far he goes will interesting to watch.

  • 170 - Hoke Poe-Hogan (Georgia) - Dominant 8-0 in freestyle. 5 tech falls and 3 falls. Still waiting to see Hogan vs. Burburija in freestyle.

  • 182 - Omaury Alvarez (Georgia) - Alvarez was outstanding all week - whether that was Greco or Freestyle. He dominated for the most part … had two wins over some tough competition in Smith of Utah and Mathiowetz of Minnesota.

  • 195/220 - Will Caneer (Alabama) - Caneer followed up a great Greco tournament by finishing 6-1 in freestyle wrestling at both 195 and 220. After watching Will wrestle many matches over 4 days - he might be Alabama’s best shot at having a Cadet All American in 2021.

  • 195/220 - Mason Ellis (Alabama) - Ellis also finished 6-1 (same as his teammate Caneer) - the two bumped around as the coaches needed and each came up with big wins. Ellis downed Forsyth of Kansas 13-11 and Montoya of Texas 9-6.

  • 285 - Caleb Rodriguez (Florida) - 7-1 to compliment a very good Greco tournament. Rodriguez looks like someone you need to keep an eye on as we head to Fargo next.

  • 285 - Willie Cox (Alabama) - 6-1 with a nice 5-4 win over Jayce Chew of Texas and a 21-13 barnburner for heavy’s over Tre Butler of Georgia.

  • 285 - Dion Stutts (Tennessee) - 6-2 with a forfeit. Lost to Hitt and Smith, but looked really good in his 5 wins.

The Breakdown - Episode 6 - Schoolboy Greco

Illinois won Pool A and then downed Oklahoma Red, New Jersey, Iowa, and finally Pennsylvania Blue 39-38 to claim the Schoolboy Greco title.

Already know the team results? Jump down to the bottom as we highlight some individuals that had a great 2 days in Greco.


Georgia SB.jpg

SE teams congregated in Pool C - with the exception of Florida which was in Pool D. Interested in the brackets from Pool A and Pool B? Visit the trackwrestling page.

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 12.02.08 PM.png

Tennessee downed Georgia 46-36 and Alabama fell to Iowa 67-10 all on the bottom side of the C bracket. Tennessee and Georgia traded wins for the first 7 matches before Tennessee went on a 5-0 run to put the dual out of reach. Georgia rebounded by downing Alabama 56-25 before losing to California 61-17. Georgia finished their day 2-2 with a win over Nebraska. Alabama got in th win column with a 57-24 win over Michigan Blue for 7th.

Tennessee lost to Iowa, beat Nebraska and then fell to California 60-20 to finish the day 2-2 and 4th (to put them into the Bronze/Copper Pool).


Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 12.09.14 PM.png

Florida came in as the top seed in Pool D, but dropped a very close 36-36 dual to Maryland I nthe opening round. Maryland really took control of the dual from 92-106 - winning all 4 matches and getting 17 points vs. Florida’s 1 (for those of you unfamiliar - if a losing wrestler scores - his team gets a point if the match is decided by a tech fall or decision … thus the 1 point earned by Tyler Gray at 97).

Florida rebounded and won a hard fought match vs. Pennsylvania Red 37-36. Landen Holley came up big for the Sunshine state at 130 with his fall of Deshonn Valentine to secure the win. Pennsylvania, like Maryland, took control from 92 to 119 lbs and that would prove to be a challenging spot in the lineup for Florida throughout Greco. They lost to Indiana Gold 49-33 and beat Oklahoma Blue 48-34 to finish 5th.


Day 2

Illinois, PA Blue, Minnesota Red, Iowa, New Jersey, Utah, Michigan Blue, and Oklahoma Red battled it out in the Gold/Silver Pool.

Tennessee was the only SE team to make it to the Bronze/Copper Pool (one below All American Status). Tennessee took some lumps on day 2 - losing to Indiana Gold 43-35, Ohio Gray 51-31, Wisconsin 53-28 and Maryland 48-24. Tennessee still had some outstanding individual performances, but struggled to pull together a team win on day 2.

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 1.25.48 PM.png

Florida and Georgia dominated the Red/Blue Pool - each won all 3 of their duals as they met in the finals for the last match of Greco for each team.

Florida pulled it off with a 42-36 win. Florida won the final 4 weights (all by tech fall) and came back from a 34-26 deficit to get the dub. Everett Stephens, Uy’Kwon Wimberly, William Buckley, and Lincoln Sledzianowski sealed it for the boys from the Sunshine State.

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 1.29.32 PM.png

Alabama finished their Greco tournament in the Green/Yellow Pool where they went 2-2 with wins over Colorado Blue and Michigan Red and losses to New York and Indiana Blue.

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 1.31.22 PM.png

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 schoolboy” each of the wrestlers are … but if any of the below are 1st-year schoolboys - 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:

  • 71 - Everett Stephens (Florida) - 8-0 with 3 forfeits, but dominated at 71 lbs. - only giving up 3 points the entire tournament. Didn’t get to see him vs. Collins of Minnesota or Sontaz of New Jersey, but still Stephens looked great in the matches he had.

  • 87 - Lincoln Sledzianowski (Florida) - 8-0 including a really good win over Evan Sanati of Virginia. Had 6 tech falls and a fall (plus the decision win over Sanati).

  • 97 - Nathaniel Boger (Tennessee) - 7-1 with his only loss coming in a 21-16 barnburner with Jayden Rinken of Iowa. Really good win over Elijah Almarinez of California and dominated the rest of the field.

  • 106/110 - Zac Bosken (Tennessee) - Split time between 106 and 110 and finished 6-1. Looked to get matched up with the best from the other squad and really battled through some wins and his only loss (which was to Declan Koch 3-2 of Wisconsin). Really nice win over Wyatt Sandoval of California 2-1 and Khimari Manns of Ohio.

  • 165 - Michael Mocco (Florida) - 8-0 with some really good wins including a 4-3 decision of Rojas of Indiana and a 13-8 decision of McMullen of Pennsylvania.

Others of note:

  • 71 - Noah Watkins (Tennessee) - 6-2 - wrestled Gavin Pongsai of California tough in one of the losses. Nice wins over Alex Huddleston of Indiana and Manz of Iowa.

  • 77 - Cooper McArthur (Georgia) - good tournament for Cooper finishing 6-2 with losses to Wimberly (Florida) and Ota (Texas Gold). Was really impressed with his 12-0 tech fall of Cordero of Tennessee.

  • 77 - Will Atkinson (Alabama) - stepped up and competed at 83 for 5 matches. Finished 5-2 in Greco with both losses coming up at 82 vs Crosson of Iowa and a criteria loss to Merli of New York. Really good win over Quigley of Michigan Red (also up at 83).

  • 77 - Uy’Kwon Wimberly (Florida) - 4-4, but a great win over McArthur of Georgia. Interested in scoring? Go watch the barnburner between Skin and Wimberly - Wimberly came out on the losing end, but it was fun to watch.

  • 83 - William Buckley (Florida) - 6-2 and it was the close matches that really stood out … lost to Carlie of Maryland 8-5, but beat Meink of Nebraska 4-3 and Rankin of Virginia 7-4.

  • 92 - William Phillips (Tennessee) - 4-0 and split time with Kellen Sanders. Really good wins over both Sievers of Georgia and Henderson of Indiana.

  • 97/102 - Isaac Hoshide (Georgia) - love when wrestlers step up for their team and that’s what Isaac did in duals vs. Idaho and Oklahoma Blue … wrestled up at 102 and got two wins (10-7 and 6-2).

  • 106/110 - Kiowa Vines (Alabama) - 5-1 wrestling at 106 and 110. Stepped up and took only loss in Greco to Quinonez of Colorado at 110. Looked superb at 106 including a good win over Braden Broderick of Michigan.

  • 110 - Andres Digrigoli (Florida) - 7-1 in Greco with several hard fought decision wins that helped Florida win the Red Pool. Only loss was to Reagan Milheim of Pennsylvania.

  • 114 - Phillip Jax (Georgia) - 5-3 in Greco with a 9-9 loss on criteria to Bradley Williams of Alabama. Jax had some nice wins over Judah Heeg and Findley Smout.

  • 114 - Bradley Williams (Alabama) - outstanding tournament for Williams - finished 6-1 with his only loss coming to a very good Ybarra of Colorado. Had a nice hard fought win over Jax of Georgia - otherwise dominated at 114.

  • 125 - Micah Wittenberg (Florida) - 7-1 in Greco with a close 9-8 loss to Lucas Boe of Indiana as his only loss of the tournament. Beat a good David Jewell of Georgia 8-6 … otherwise had tech falls, falls, and a forfeit.

  • 130/136 - Gavin Isaacs (Florida) - 7-0 with 2 forfeits. Dominant at both 130 and 136. - yielding just 4 points in the tournament. Certainly made a case for the 5 on the rise by wrestling up at 136 despite weighing in at 130.

  • 136 - Moose Bringer (Georgia) - 6-2 in Greco, but it was his win over Reza of California on criteria and his close loss to Huber of Texas that stood out.

  • 149 - Matthew VanWettering (Georgia) - 6-2 and looked great in wins over Picallo (Florida) and Russell of Oklahoma.

  • 149 - Cy Fowler (Tennessee) - 6-2 (5-2 with a forfeit). Absolutely dominant in his 5 wins. Loss two tough matches to Rodrigues of Maryland and Uyemura of California. There was some excellent competition at 149 and Fowler was right in the middle of it.

  • 187/250 - Alexander Smith (Florida) - 7-1 with 3 forfeits - only loss came on a DQ to Romo of Kansas.

  • 250 - Sebastian Garcia (Georgia) - finished unbeaten at 8-0 (with 3 forfeits). Garcia had a superb 3-1 win over Ceja of California

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

Screen Shot 2021-06-13 at 3.37.10 PM.png

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.


Screen Shot 2021-06-13 at 3.41.02 PM.png

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.


Screen Shot 2021-06-13 at 3.43.10 PM.png

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.


Screen Shot 2021-06-13 at 3.46.09 PM.png

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).


Screen Shot 2021-06-13 at 3.50.28 PM.png

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 …

Screen Shot 2021-06-13 at 3.55.00 PM.png

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.

TN.jpeg
Bama Cadets.jpg

Screen Shot 2021-06-13 at 3.57.06 PM.png

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.