Lake Highland Prep (Florida) weren’t the only SE hammers to venture to Spooky Nook (PA) this past weekend, but they are the only ones do so in force (taking much of their squad). SWAT (FL), Roundtree (GA), Raw (NC), The Master’s Academy (FL), Mat Assassins (SC), and others each had individuals go test their mettle against some of the top wrestlers in the Northeast and from around the country.

Winning the Journeymen is a big deal and comes with the coveted hammer - one of the best “trophies” you can win (in my opinion). But Coach Frank Popolizio runs a little different of a tournament - not your standard double elimination 16- or 32-man bracket. It is important to know the specifics when looking at the results below … Wrestlers are put into Groups (A, B or C) and then within pools in each Group. Wrestlers compete with everyone in their pool and then exit into their final “mini bracket”. It affords everyone that attends the opportunity to get multiple matches against similar level competition. Personally I am a big fan of the way Coach Popolizio runs it and the quality of matches each wrestler gets. Some of the weights had round robin (or pool) action for some of the best kids in the country.

So wrestlers in the “A” Group compete for the Hammer - but everyone is looking to win their group and get 4 or so matches during the day.

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Floridians Ethan Rivera and Mikey Tal-Shahar Take Home Hammers

(kind of)

As you can see by the Instagram post - the hammer was seized by TSA. Tal Shahar said “yeah it is back in Baltimore” when I asked him about it. Still some great wrestling this weekend by Tal Shahar, Rivera, and many of the other SE hammers that went north. Below is a breakdown of the action …

Ethan Rivera (FL) - 1st @ 113A Main Event

Rivera won Pool 4 in the 113A Main Event … beating Joseph Sciarrone 5-0, Emmitt Sherlock by forfeit, and Joseph Manfredi 5-1. By winning his pool he was in the semis at 113 with all of the other 113 lb. pool winners. Rivera beat Saoul Prado 4-0 and then Carter Nogle 3-1 to take home the hammer.

Mikey TalShahar (FL) - 1st @ 195A Main Event

TalShahar won Pool 1 in the 195A Main Event … beating Johnny Miller 3-2, Thomas D’Avanzo by forfeit, and then Kaden Cartee by fall. TalShahar then downed Pool 2 winner Michael Bartush 4-3 to claim the hammer.

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Other SE Wrestlers by Weight:

113B - Thomas Giere (AL) - 0-4 finished 5th in 113B

120A - Amantee Mills (GA) - 1-2 in Pool 2 and then lost to Coleman Nogle 5-0 before beating Gavin Bradley to finish 11th

120C - Colin Kacena (FL) - 4-0 finished 1st in 120C

125A - Danny Martinez (FL) - 1-2 in Pool 2 and then won 7-0 over Giovanni Alejandro and 4-2 over Isaac Thornton to finish 9th

125B - Colton Holmes (SC) - 0-2 in Pool 1 and then finished 0-2 in the bracket to finish 12th

130A - David McClelland (FL) - 2-1 in Pool 1 and then McClelland forfeited his final two matches to take 8th

130A - Brady Conlin (FL) - 2-1 in Pool 4 and then won 5-2 over Nathan Taylor before losing 1-0 to Kollin Rath to take 6th

135A - Eligh Rivera (FL) - 3-0 in Pool 3 with a nice 4-3 win over Luke Simcox, River lost to Sam Cartella in the semis and to Koy Buesgans to finish 4th

135A - Andrew Desola (FL) - 0-3 in Pool 4; Desola lost his final two matches to finish 16th

135B - Luis Bazan (FL) - 1-1 in Pool 3 and then 2-0 to finish 5th

140A - Brayden Ivy (TN) - 2-1 with a loss to Gavin Drexler in Pool 2, lost to Zach Hanson 2-1 before downing Matt Henrich to finish 7th

140B - Sean Pitts (TN) - 2-1 in Pool 4, won final two matches to finish 5th

140B - Claudio Torres (FL) - 1-2 in Pool 4, won final two matches to finish 9th

145A - James Latona (AL) - 2-1 in Pool 1 with a 1-0 loss to Jude Swisher, finished 1-1 for 7th

145A - Ethan Mojena (FL) - 1-2 in Pool 3, finished 1-1 for 11th

145B - Joshua Boykin (FL) - 2-1 in Pool 1, 1-1 to finish 7th

145B - Thomas Snipes (SC) - 3-0 in Pool 4 including 6-1 win over Price (NC), finished 1-1 with a loss to Colin Dupill 3-1 to take 2nd

145B - Jeremiah Price (NC) - 2-1 in Pool 4, 2-0 to finish 5th

152A - Dominic Bambinelli (GA) - 1-2 in Pool 1 with losses to Joe Sealey and Jayden Colon, finished 1-1 for 11th

152A - Michael Shannon (FL) - 0-3 in Pool 3, finished 1-1 for 15th

152B - Maxwell Kiel (NC) - 2-0 in Pool 1, finished 0-2 to take 4th

152B - Brandon Cody (FL) - 0-2 in Pool 1, finished 2-0 to take 9th

160A - Colby Dalon (TN) - 1-2 in Pool 2, finished 1-1 to take 10th

182A - Joseph Nicolosi (FL) - 0-2 in Pool 1, finished 1-1 to take 10th

195A - Caleb Beaty (NC) - 1-2 in Pool 2 and then lost to Johnny Miller 6-4 to finish 4th.

195A - Thomas D’Avanzo (FL) - won his first match and then forfeited the rest of his matches.

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LHP’s Mary Manis Claims a Hammer at 100 lbs.

Manis went 3-1 , but edged the rest of the 100 lb field to claim the hammer.

Manis beat Amelia Murphy 17-6, Kayla Batres 9-3, Juliana Alejandro 13-2 before dropping her last match by fall to Julia Horger.

Alejandro and Manis were the only two to finish with 1 loss and because Mary won that head-to-head match she takes home the hammer.

Kyla Oliver finished 4th with a 1-3 record at 112 lbs.

Top 4 in Each Weight

Interested in the pics from the tournament? Visit the pics page.

Things that Stood Out to Me

• 106

  • 48 wrestlers in the 106 lb. bracket with Gabriel Tellez as the top seed, Andrew Punzalan as #2, Degennaro #3, and Prosen #4. Top seed Gabriel Tellez had 3 1st period falls before downing Evan Martinez 8-3 in the semis and Josh Hartley 7-3 in the finals. Hartley was seeded #7 and wrestled fantastic … beating Punzalan 5-3 in the quarters and Degennaro 5-4 in the semis. Degennaro showed that he will be a force in 1A at 106 as a freshman in 2022. Martinez wrestled well to take 4th - had a nice 16-0 tech fall of Robert Albert in the quarters before losing to Tellez in the top semi.

• 113

  • 45 wrestlers weighed in at 113 … Top seed, and defending 106 lb. 2A State Champ, Tyler Washburn took care of business. He had 4 falls on his way to the finals including a 3rd period fall of Luis Acevedo of South Dade (the #5 seed). In the finals Washburn got the #6 seed Gavin Nolan of Clearwater Central Catholic. Good match that was close until Washburn was able to get 3 nearfall in the 2nd and get the 8-4 win. #2 seed Kevin Placer of Southwest Miami downed Acevedo to finish 3rd.

• 120

  • 58 wrestlers and a weight class where the top 8 seeds could probably have been put in a hat and pulled at random … each of the top 8 seeds made the quarters, but that is where the “upsets” started to rack up. Phillips (#8 seed) downed top seed Darrell Tabor of Brandon 8-7, Kacena beat Montero 7-4 in a battle of #4 and #5. Kendrick downed the #3 seed Marschka 6-2 and Hudson took out the #2 seed Vugman 11-6 … leaving the semis with wrestlers seeded #5-#8 (and none of the top 4). Kacena wrestled a close match to down Phillips before pinning Hudson in the 2nd period to take the title. Tabor rebounded to take 3rd, but had some tough matches on the backside including a 5-3 win over Herrero, a 1-0 over Kendrick and a sudden victory win over Phillips.

• 126

  • Another large bracket with 48 wrestlers … Top seed and 2021 State Placer Russell Raabe of Ft Pierce Central pretty much went to work on the rest of the field. He won by injury default, 17-1 tech fall, a 12-2 major, a fall of his teammate William McArdle in the semis and then a 12-4 major over Lowden Ward. Ward, who was unseeded, was superb on the bottom side of the bracket … he had a fall and a 15-4 major before downing Mason Basile 12-6 in the quarters and Blaine Taranto, the 3 seed, 10-7 in the semis. Taranto rebounded from that loss to beat Bruner 4-0 and McArdle 7-2 to take 3rd.

• 132

  • Pretty much the Cooper Haase show. Haase showed he has a gas tank as he spent a ton of time on his feet and working for takedowns (19-4 tech, 21-5 tech, 24-9 tech, 14-9 decision, 26-11 tech, and a 12-4 major decision of Aaron Lanster in the finals). Venice’s Gage Wiggins gave Haase a run in the quarters - losing 14-9, but otherwise Haase was in solid control throughout. Lanster cruised early before having to grind out a 9-7 win over Gonzalez in the semis. We got to see Gonzalez vs. Bazan twice … with the first match coming down to a takedown at the end. Georgia 7A 132’s might want to keep an eye on Gavin Daniels of Camden. Daniels wrestled tough and won some solid matches. The same could be said for Mirel and Gallo (Gallo lost early and then fought all the way back to the consi semis).

• 138

  • Brandon’s Maldonado looked in control over the weekend … 3 falls, an 8-2 decision, and a 4-0 decision over O’Dell before downing Nikolas Hernandez 5-0 in the finals. O’Dell was tough from the #4 seed - only loss on the weekend coming to Maldonado. Nikolas Hernandez blew up the bottom side from the #7 spot. He beat Torres and Schmadeke early (both of whom won multiple matches to come back through the backside) before downing #2 seed Elis Solis 6-3 and #3 seed Ronnie Theilacker 6-4 to advance to the finals. Hernandez had the toughest draw and wrestled lights out to reach the finals.

• 145

  • The first (and only weight except 220 - which was significantly smaller by comparison) weight that saw the top two seeds navigate a very large bracket and make the finals. Riverdale’s Alex Soto handled the top side with relative ease (3 falls) and then a very tough 6-4 decision of Diego Peralta (in the quarters) to reach the finals. South Dade’s Gavin Balmeceda also easily handled the bottom side - until the semis where he had to battle through a tough 3-2 decision of Albert Manzini to make the finals. It was all Soto in the finals - several cradles and he cruised to a 13-0 major and the title. Rocha downed Peralta for 3rd … Peralta actually trailed Manzini in the consi semis before gettign the fall and the win.

• 152

  • Outstanding weight class. When Kendrick Hodge is a 7 seed - you know you have a quality bracket. 2020 State Champ Alex Couto was the top seed, but fell to Adrian Ochoa of Southwest Miami in the semis. Ochoa had to survive a 7-5 sudden victory win over Nathan Furman of Palm Bay in the quarters. The bottom side saw Southridge’s Rosario down Connor Ivory and Lucas Moreno before losing in his semi match to Hodge. Hodge had to beat Byfield and then Riley Chapdelaine of Winter Springs (7-5) to advance to the semis … beating Rosario before losing to Ochoa in Sudden Victory in the finals. From top to bottom - 152 was one of the best weights of the tournament. Couto came back to take 3rd over Rosario. But the matches on the backside were superb. Moreno beat Watts 1-0 and then Chapdelaine 5-3 SV1 before losing to Couto. Furman beat Moore 1-0 and Ivory 3-2 before losing in sudden victory to Rosario.

• 160

  • If 152 wasn’t the best weight - then it was 160. Roman Garcia had to win some great matches on the bottom side of the bracket just to reach the finals opposite top seed (and Georgia State Champ) Konlin Weaver. Weaver had to do the same on the top side - getting a 5-3 TB1 win over Erik Borresen of Mantee in the quarters before downing Donatelle of North Port 3-2 in the semis. Garcia, the 3 seed, beat Elijah Penton 2-1 in the quarters and then pinned Cordell White of South Dade on the semis. Now some context - Garcia got the takedown on White with under 10 seconds left to secure the win (10-7), but in what Coach Balmeceda thought was a controversial lock on White’s back. The match was excellent and I’m not an official - so I have no idea if it was illegal or not - but it was discussed for some time after the match. Regardless Garcia won a really good semi over White. Borresen was huge in his comeback to take 3rd … beating Forbes 4-3 and White 3-0 before downing Penton 7-6.

• 170

  • Riley Orr didn’t end up getting his matchup with DD Rodriguez in the semis on Sunday, but he showed that he is a contender in 3A. He had 2 falls and 16-0 tech fall before getting the injury default over Rodriguez. Orr and Rodriguez were set to meet in the top semi, but Rodriguez “tweaked” his knee in his quarterfinal match vs. Joseph Rice and withdrew. Orr, the 4 seed, went onto beat Solorzano 3-2 for the title later on Sunday morning. Solorzano downed Georgia’s Ryder Wilder and Arizona State Runner-up Dalton Loyden to reach the 170 finals. Wilder rebounded from his quarterfinal loss to Solorzano to finish 4th - losing a 9-6 decision to Loyden in the consi finals.

• 182

  • Another very good weight that was dominated by Barron Collier’s Cory Cannan, the #3 seed. Cannan had 2 tech falls and two falls to reach the finals on the bottom side … including a fall of #2 seed Josiah Jenkins in the semis. Ranson Coons of Lakewood Ranch was unseeded and had a great run on the top side … beating Achilles Rocha 11-8 and top seed Dylan Deal by fall (leading 5-2 in the 3rd). Cannan pretty much handled the finals - winning with relative ease 10-4 over Coons. Deal bounced back from his loss to Coons to down Grey 8-1 and then beat Jenkins for 3rd.

• 195

  • 195 was kind of the wild west … Greil came in as the top seed, but this was a weight where there didn’t seem to be much separation from the top 4 seeds and the rest of the pack. Palm Harbor’s Greil took care of business on the top side with 2 falls and a 7-4 decision of #5 seed Cole Tolley in the semis. LHP’s Thomas DAvanzo, the #3 seed, easily took care of things on the bottom side - 2 falls and an 11-4 decision. DAvanzo edged Greil 3-2 to take the title. Tolley came back to take 3rd and Gabriel Thomas was 4th.

• 220

  • Top 2 seeds - Morvens Saint Jean and Ralph Sanchez easily made the finals at 220 … each had 3 falls on their way to that matchup. But it didn’t matter as Saint Jean injury defaulted the final to Sanchez. Jomar Sanchez, the #5 seed, downed Beau Higginbotham, the #3 seed, to take 3rd.

• 285

  • Round robin of 3 285’s saw Garrett Tyre of Clay beat Landon Jones and Cane Fernandez to claim the title.

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Unseeded (not in the top 4) to the Top of the Podium

• Colin Kacena (Lake Highland Prep) - 120

Unseeded (not in the top 4) to the podium

• Josh Hartley (Palm Harbor) - 2nd @ 106

• Evan Martinez - 4th @ 106

• Gavin Nolan (Clearwater Central Catholic) - 2nd @ 113

• Luis Acevedo (South Dade) - 4th @ 113

• Jonathan Hudson (Cardinal Gibbons) - 2nd @ 120

• Ryan Phillips (Winter Springs) - 4th @ 120

• Lowden Ward - 2nd @ 126

• William McArdle (Ft Pierce Central) - 4th @ 126

• Sena-Michael Gonzalez (North Port) - 4th @ 132

• Nikolas Hernandez - 2nd @ 138

• Julian Rocha - 3rd @ 145

• Diego Peralta - 4th @ 145

• Kendrick Hodge - 2nd @ 152

• Lawrence Rosario - 4th @ 152

• Erik Borreson - 3rd @ 160

• Elijah Penton - 4th @ 160

• Ryder Wilder - 4th @ 170

• Ranson Coons - 2nd @ 182

• Cole Tolley - 3rd @ 195

• Gabriel Thomas - 4th @ 195

• Jomar Sanchez - 3rd @ 220

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Off the Radar … Pay Attention to the Names

These wrestlers might not be “off the radar” to many people, but they are certainly less known than others in their weight (at least when we started on Saturday). Each wrestled very well - some made the podium - others did not, but each should be one to watch heading into the 2021-22 season.

• Logan Delos Santos - Lost to eventual Runner-up Hartley in the Round of 32 and then won 6 in a row to make the consi semis. Finished 7-2 for the tournament with losses to Hartley (2nd) and Martinez (4th).

• Landon Bates - Had a good run through the bracket - didn’t make the top 4 but had to walk away from the weekend with confidence. Went 3-0 to start before losing by fall to Washburn in the quarters. Then won 2 in a row to make the consi semis before losing to Placer 11-0. Bates had some quality wins and finished a tough bracket 5-2 with losses to #1 and #3 (all from an unseeded spot).

• Ryan Phillips - Went toe-to-toe with Kacena (who ended up winning) and split with Tabor (winning 8-7 and losing 11-9 in sudden victory for 3rd). Got a forfeit win over Vugman - which would’ve been an interesting match to watch.

• Ryan-Moustafa Ullayk - Only two losses came to wrestlers on the podium - losing to Taranto on the front side and McArdle (2-1) on the backside. Had solid wins over Basile, Luis Arboleda, and Charlie Armstrong (among others).

• Luis Bazan - Avenged his only loss of the tournament - an 8-6 decision loss to Gonzalez in the quarters - with a 10-2 major for 3rd. Bazan won 4 in a row to finish 3rd including a 6-5 decision over #4 seed Colson Elliott in the consi semis.

• Claudio Torres - Another Central Florida product that showed some mettle after losing early. Torres lost 10-3 to eventual Runner-up Nikolas Hernandez in the Round of 32 and then won 6 in a row to make the consi semis before losing to O’Dell 7-0. Torres beat Bellon, Vadyak, and Boree on his way back through the consis.

• Diego Peralta - could have gone with Rocha or Manzini, but Peralta won some very close decisions, got a fall over Manzini after trailing in the match and took Soto to the end of the match before losing on a takedown with 15 seconds left. Peralta might be a name that was under the radar (and not one of the bigger names returning for Gibbons), but his wrestling this weekend showed he should be on everyone’s radar in 1A.

• Lawrence Rosario - In the deepest bracket of the tournament - Rosario came from an unseeded spot to beat Ivory, Moreno and Furman to make the podium. Only losses came to Couto and Hodge on the weekend. Rosario is name that should be on everyone’s list as a contender in 2A at 152.

• Erik Borresen - easily could have gone with Garcia, but he isn’t under the radar at all. And in reality neither is Borresen (or Penton), but wins over White and Penton shows he has the ability to make the podium in 3A.

• Ryder Wilder - Wilder was the #6 seed - beat Feliciano 7-0 before losing to Solorzano. Then downed Aiden Duarte 4-0 to reach the consi semis and a forfeit over previously injured Rodriguez put him into the top 4. Duarte win 5 in a row on his way back through the consis and should also be someone to “watch” after this weekend’s performance (as is Joseph Rice).

• Ranson Coons - Coons makes the list after coming from an unseeded spot in the bracket to take out the #4 seed Rocha and the top seed Deal. Not sure why Coons was unseeded as he was a returning 2021 State Placer.

• Cole Tolley - Tolley was seeded 5th - beat Brown 9-0 and the #4 seed Marrero 7-2 to make the semis … lost a close match that was tied heading into the 3rd period vs. Greil. Came back to down Mercado 6-2 and Thomas 15-0 to take 3rd.

Top 4 in Each Weight

Things that Stood Out to Me

• 98

  • Mills is a small 106 - thinking ahead to the high school season (and I’m not even sure he is in high school yet … I didn’t look it up). But, if he is a freshman, will be one to watch at 106 in 2022.

• 106

  • Calderon vs. McDonald Round 2. Both had to work to get to the finals … Calderon beat Kusky 7-1 and then Vines 5-3; McDonald downed Chase Walker by fall before downing Pennsylvania’s Fanella 4-3. Calderon got it done again with a 5-4 decision to take the title. Vines 2-0 over Stone Phillips was a potential Alabama 7A state tournament match. Vines beat Bond of Baylor 4-2 in the Round of 16 (but Bond came back in the consi semis with a 9-0 win over Vines to finish top 4). Lots of freshmen to keep an eye here … Walker over Powe 3-0, Bond over Brickely 4-0, Moody over Alabama State Placer Soto 4-2, Kusky over Brickley 4-2, Bond over Walker 8-0 (that’s Baylor vs. Cleveland), Phillips over Kusky 3-0. Tons of freshmen behind Calderon and McDonald.

• 113

  • Jay Peace took care of business on the top side - wins over Marsh, Davis, and 8-4 over Christmas. Christmas beat fellow Alabamian Giere 3-2 in the quarters (also beat Georgia’s Malette by fall). Daishun Powe (Alabama Runner-up) was superb before losing his semi 1-0 to Ohio’s Tucker. Powe ended up 3rd and should be the #1 ranked Alabama 113. McArthur lost to eventual Champ Tucker in the first round and then won 6 in a row to make the podium. Some really good wins by McArthur.

• 120

  • Super deep. 36 wrestlers from across the SE. Drew Gorman came in the top seed and roared to the semis (outscoring his first 3 opponents 45-1 including a 15-0 tech fall of Hudson Waldrop of Alabama). Gorman lost his semifinal match to fellow Georgia hammer Jake Crapps. Crapps beat Yanni Vines of Alabama 6-0 in the quarters and then Crapps downed Gorman 5-2 to advance to the finals. Bottom side of the bracket had Amantee Mills (2 seed), Oren Decker (#3), Matt Rowland (#6), Will Anderson (#7) and Darrell Rochester (#10) … it also had Alabama State Placer Bradley Williams and Chad Strickland. Decker beat Strickland 5-2 before eventually losing to Rowland 2-1 in the quarters. Rochester pinned Anderson in the Round of 16 and then Mills beat Rochester 1-0 in the quarters. Mills beat Rowland 7-2 to advance to the finals. Mills downed Crapps in a great final to claim the 120 title … the deepest and most talented bracket in the tournament. Mills vs. Crapps was a really good match with a nice takedown by Mills to get the win.

  • The backside of 120 featured many more top matchups. Some in-state matchups - particularly for Alabama and Georgia wrestlers - make you pay attention to what “might” happen in the 2021-22 season. Gorman beating Rochester 5-1 is a potential 6A state title matchup. Will Anderson over Hudson Waldrop is a potential 5A/6A title matchup. Great weight class.

• 126

  • Another superb weight. Sellers wrestled lights out … had a couple of wins before pinning Danforth in the quarters and Warnock in the semis. Then beat Thiel 3-0 in the finals (really 1-0 until the very end, but still a great win). Thiel had some really good wins, but the one that stood out was 6-4 over Powe. Powe pinned Danforth in the 1st period in the consi semis and then pinned Warnock for 3rd. Really good weight class. Warnock beat Jarrett in a battle of Tennessean’s in the consi semis.

• 132

  • Chaos. None of the top 4 seeds made the podium, but in looking at this weight - not overly surprising. The top 12 wrestlers are all close. South Carolina freshman Blue Stiffler beat Alabama State Placer Bryce Wanagat 7-6 in the finals … Wanagat took out the #1 seed Brayton Killiri in the first round. Wanagat had some good wins over Christian Gordon, Josh Sanders, and others to make the finals on the top side. Stiffler beat Paradice, Sanks, Crawford to make the finals on the bottom side. The backside was a grind. Gordon pinned #2 seed Vadyak from Florida before downing Alabama Runner-up Sam Sutton … lost to Crawford 9-6 in the consi semis. Paradice beat Killiri and Sanders to make the consi finals. Stiffler shouldn’t have been unseeded … maybe not top 4 based on being a freshman, but certainly top 8. We get to enjoy Stiffler vs. Paradice for years to come.

• 138

  • Outstanding weight class and might be the 2nd best weight of the tournament behind 120 (I say might because there were a number of weights that were super deep). 30 wrestlers from all over the SE. Alabama’s Devin Stone had quite a run to the top step. Stone beat Marley Washington 3-2 in the quarters before getting falls over Bryce Kresho and Art Martinez to claim the title. Not sure who the “true 3 seed” was on the bottom side - both Lukas Crosby and Sean Pitts had 3’s next to their name (Crosby was on the traditional 3 line - so …). Anyway Pitts beat Pitts Crosby 7-0 in the quarters before losing to Martinez 3-2 in the semis. Brian Papcun and Ian Murdock both wrestled back and finished just off the podium … Papcun had a nice 4-2 win over Washington.

• 145

  • Another outstanding weight with 24 wrestlers that were not significantly different in terms of accolades. Top seed Melton Powe, Alabama State Champ, pinned Ryan Seeb before downing Braulio Cavazos 5-2 to reach the top semi. Powe for 4 seed Santiago Rueda who had a 7-3 win over Emfinger and a 2-0 win over Dalen Kimble. Powe got the fall over Rueda to make the finals. Not certain who the 3 seed was in the bracket (no one on the line for the 3 seed) but it matter little as Florida’s Nick Hejke took care of the 3rd quarter of the bracket with a 5-0 win over Cullen Kane, a 2-1 win over Mario Bolivar before downing Mcdermott 11-0. McKnight (the 2 seed) downed Stepherson (the #7 seed) 4-0 to advance to the semis opposite Hejke. Hejke downed McKnight 2-1 before losing 3-2 to Powe in the finals. Stepherson lost to Rueda 3-1 in the consi semis … Cavazos had a series of nice wins over Doolittle (4-1) and Kimble (3-2) before losing to McKnight 3-2 in the other consi semi. Some really close matches at 145 that could have gone different ways (and in a 6 minute match might have had a different outcome).

• 152

  • If 138 wasn’t the 2nd toughest weight this past Saturday then 152 is with the likes of Andrew Cory, Weston Eadie, Dominick Bambinelli, Carson Thorne, Harris Mitchell, etc. But none of them claimed the title when all was said and done. Icon’s Garrett Wood won a close one 6-5 over South Carolina’s Mathew Gummere before going on a run that included a 2-1 win over Eadie and an 8-7 win over Cory to claim the title. 152 featured some outstanding matches … and also some surprising results like Otting hammering Mitchell 9-0 in the Round fo 16 (only to have Mitchell get 2 sudden victory wins, a Ultimate Tie Breaker win over Eadie, and a 5-4 win to make the podium). Mitchell’s tournament is a perfect example of how close the 152 lb. bracket was. Bambinelli vs. Cory was a great semi on the top side, Wood 2-1 over Eadie was super on the bottom. This bracket had it all.

• 160

  • Another really good weight … but a good example of why seeding is so important (and I’m not saying it should have been seeded differently but a returning State Champ not seeded in the top 8 is surprising). Secoy vs. Garrett in the first round was surprising. Not that it matters - you gotta go out and win and Secoy did just that with a 1-0 decision. . So Secoy had quite a path - Garrett 1-0, Hecket (a Tennessee State Champ) 4-3 before losing to Sheffield 4-2 in the semis. Manning and Shered were both solid on the bottom side, but Baylor’s Mason Alley was special. He took out the #2 seed Miles Watts by fall then beat Lhaubouet, Fairbanks, and Manning before losing to Sheffield 3-2 in the finals. Watts showed a ton - lost in the first round to Alley and then won 4 in a row before losing to Secoy 5-3 in the consi semis. Same for Garrett - who lost to Secoy in the first round and also won 4 in a row before losing to Manning 5-1 in the consi semis.

• 170

  • Cambridge’s Daniel Driggs took out top seed Gabriel Juarez 2-1 UTB in the first round and t hat opened up the top quarter for Buford’s Conor McCloskey (the 8 seed) to work his way to the semis (unfortunately for McCloskey he forfeited both his semi and consi semi matches - no clue what happened). Joe Bambinelli was on fire from the 4 seed - he had a major decision before to 1st period falls (and the forfeit) to make the finals. He downed Zachary-Daniel McKnight of Cass in the finals 6-5 in a fun match to watch. McKnight came from the 3 seed to get 3 wins (one a forfeit over Wyatt of Alabama - wanted to see that match, but Wyatt was injured) before downing New Jersey’s Nick Bernik 6-5 in the semis. Juarez, the top seed, showed a lot of grit as he rebounded from a tough loss to Driggs to win 6 in a row and take 3rd with a 3-2 win over Aiden Knight.

• 182

  • Hunter Adams was superb (and no offense to the rest of the 182’s), but he was significantly better than everyone else. He had 4 falls (1:41, 1:30, 0:15, and 1:16)on his way to the title. Richmond Hill’s Charles King took out the 3 seed in Jagger Gray 5-1 before pinning Kalob Johnstone and winning by a 9-3 decision over Kennedy Wyatt to advance to the finals. Gray came all the way back to finish 3rd and Conlon, the 4 seed finished 4th.

• 195

  • Returning Georgia State Champs Landen Moss and Luke Cochran met in the 195 lb. final. Moss “got one back” as he downed Florida’s Chris Geil 4-2 in the quarters (Greil - I believe beat him at Carr’s Duals a week ago). Moss beat Houghton as well, but couldn’t handle Cochran and dropped his finals match 7-1. Cochran was superb with a nice opening round win over Patrick Brophy 7-3 before beating Rhodes 12-3, pinning Tyler Johnston, and downing Moss.

• 220

  • Interesting weight class. Georgia’s Logan Webster, the top seed, won his match easily, but then had to battle to a 4-3 win over Tubbs of Alabama (Tubbs didn’t end up placing). Webster then pinned Thomas Crawford in the finals after being up 5-0. Crawford was solid on the bottom side … pinning Gavin Proffitt before downing Trace Gallman 9-5 … both Gallman and Proffitt end up in the top 4.

• 285

  • Not surprisingly both 220 and 285 were fairly small brackets … the big guys that made it either played football the night before and then came down to spend the day on the mat or they don’t play football. Most of the top 220’s and 285’s don’t wrestle during football season. Unseeded Jarek Stewart-Karolewics had a fall, a 5-4 decision over top seed Calvin Roberts before downing #2 seed Nesbitt Desmond 4-2 in the finals. Hats off to the big guys that came and competed … I know some of them pulled double duty and that shows how much they want to be on the mat.

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Unseeded (not in the top 4) to the Top of the Podium

• Brogan Tucker (St Paris Graham) - 113

• Ethan Sellers (Colquitt County) - 126

• Blue Stiffler (Roundtree Wrestling Academy) - 132

• Garrett Wood (Icon) - 152

• Jarek Stewart-Karolewics (828 WC) - 285

Unseeded (not in the top 4) to the podium

• Lee Camp (Cass) - 2nd at 98

• Jacob Bond (Baylor) - 4th at 106

• Maddox McArthur (Teknique) - 4th at 113

• Jake Crapps (Cass) - 2nd at 120

• Matthew Rowland (Combat Athletics) - 4th at 120

• Bryce Wanagat (Warrior Wrestling Club) - 2nd at 132

• Jackson Crawford (Richmond Hill) - 3rd at 132

• Logan Paradice (Colquitt County) - 4th at 132

• Nick Hejke (Dolphin Nation) - 2nd at 145

• Dominic Bambinelli (Roundtree Wrestling Academy) - 3rd at 152

• Mason Alley (Baylor) - 2nd at 160

• Tyler Secoy (Columbus/Icon) - 3rd at 160

• Aiden Knight (BWC) - 4th at 170

• Charles King (Richmond Hill) - 2nd at 182

• Patrick Brophy (Ring Worms) - 3rd at 195

• Janyd Houghton (Weddington) - 4th at 195

• Trace Gallman (Devils Den) - 3rd at 220

• Aaron Garcia (Roundtree Wrestling Academy) - 3rd at 285

• Bradley Wilbourn (Alabama Takedown Academy) - 4th at 285

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Off the Radar … Pay Attention to the Names

These wrestlers might not be “off the radar” to many people, but they are certainly less known than others in their weight (at least when we started on Saturday). Each wrestled very well - some made the podium - others did not, but each should be one to watch heading into the 2021-22 season.

• Lee Camp is someone to keep an eye on at 106 for Cass this coming season.

• Yanik Simon - Huntsville has a good one with Simon and his brother. Beat Reed Walker 12-0 in the first round.

• Maddox McArthur - look out Georgia. McArthur lost to Tucker in the first round and then won 6 in a row - including 6-0 over Christmas before losing 4-3 to Powe for 3rd at 113.

• Tony Serrano was 5-2 with losses to Rowland and Anderson. Took a forfeit over Vines - but in a deep weight that was a good day for someone “off the radar”.

• Judson Jarrett was 4-2 with wins over Mullins and Velt; losses to Warnock and Powe (close to the podium, but not quite).

• Jackson Crawford - 5-1 with only loss coming to eventual Champ Stiffler in the semis. Crawford beat Sutton, Vigh, Gordon, and Paradice.

• Brian Papcun and Ian Murdock - both finished just off the podium. Murdock beat Papcun 11-0 in the first round. Papcun won 5 in a row to make the consi semis including a good 4-2 win over Marley Washington and a fall over Emil Necula. Murdock lost to Necula 5-1 and then won 4 in a row to make the consi semis before losing to Kresho.

• Braulio Cavazos finished 4-2 with losses to Powe and McKnight and win over Taylor, Doolittle, and Kimble.

• Tough to pick one at 152 … neither Riley Fort or Harris Mitchell are really “off the radar”. Neither is Throne, Wood, Cory, Bambinelli or Eadie. So we are going to go with McClain Otting. Otting was a Tennessee 3A State Qualifier but didn’t score a win at the state tournament. He had wins over Mitchell (an Alabama 7A State Placer) plus a 15-5 win over Robbie DeHaven of Woodward Academy.

• Mason Alley - easy. Alley came in definitely “off the radar” to most (not to his teammate Nick Corday who said you better watch out for Mason before we began wrestling on Saturday) … but wins over Watts, Lhaubouet, Fairbanks, and Manning and a tough 3-2 loss to Sheffield shows you he definitely belongs in the conversation.

• Charles King finished 2nd at 182 - downing 3 seed Jagger Gray as well as Alabama State Placer Kennedy Wyatt. King wasn’t in the lineup for Richmond Hill a year ago … I’d expect we will see more of him in Georgia 6A in 21-22.

• Patrick Brophy - I thought Brophy would be seeded, but he wasn’t and pulled the #2 seed, and eventual Champ Cochran in the first round. Brophy won 4 in a row to take 3rd.

• Trace Gallman was unseeded and finished 3rd - only loss coming to Crawford 9-5 in the semis. Had to win a close one - 6-4 over Nunez to make the podium before pinning Proffitt.

• Jarek Stewart-Karolewics finished 3-0 with two close decisions.