New Smyrna Beach (FL)

Head Coach: Kevin Kehoe (entering 8th season)

Staff: Mike Strouse, Issac Bernard

Coach Kehoe and NSB return a solid squad that will look to make some noise in 2A this season. They do lose State Placer Doug Dittmer to graduation and Michael Shannon to transfer, but return a solid squad that could be even better in 2021-2022. State Qualifiers Jamie Bruner and Jace Engberg will lead the way and both should be hunting a spot on the podium this season. Don’t be surprised if Bruner and Engberg are joined in Kissimmee by siblings … Jonathan Bruner - a freshman with a ton of experience and Simjay Engberg who was having a great season last year before Covid complications ended his season.

Keep an eye on Aidan Sutton, Justis Chandler, Jackson Farmer, and Dylon York … each will play a key role in the success of the Barracudas in 2021-2022. Austin Mitchum and Braden Sullivan are two other names to watch for as is North Carolina transfer Cole Billings. NSB should be in the thick of things again this season.

“Our team is loaded with senior leadership and a strong work effort with a commitment to win. Our line up is solid with competition at several weight classes and we look to improve on last year’s (19-2) team Dual’s Regional Championship and get 8 or 9 guys to the State Tournament.”

— Coach Kehoe

Hudson (FL)

Head Coach: Rob Burgos (entering 5th season)

Staff: Billy Uribes, Jon DeLucco, Brian Monser, Ken Simmons

Hudson returns a healthy group and is back in 1A in 2021-22. Matthew Tanner and Cole Kanehl each put up multiple wins at the region tournament last year and look to be Hudson’s best shot at having a state qualifier in 2022. Keep an eye on Gavyn Uribes and Ahmed Mehyar - both could surprise a few people this season as well as Ethan Josephik who transferred from Ancolte and Martin Michaels who transferred from Clearwater.

Also watch for Julia Salgado who is ranked on Kabra in the girls division and Keeana "Kiki" Bush 106 newcomer with a lot of promise in the girls division, Landon Monser and Michael Pascale both return as well as does Joshua Jofre after missing last season.

“We were moved to a new District and Region after finishing second in our District last year. We have a great mix of returning guys as well as transfers with experience. We should be tough and we are looking forward to the new competition.”

— Coach Burgos

The SE was well-represented in Des Moines this past weekend. North Carolina had 4 All Americans including 220 lb. JR/SR National Champion Carson Floyd (pictured below). Tennessee more than doubled NC as Ella Murphrey won the 200 lb. Girls title and the Volunteer state put 11 on the podium. For those of you unfamiliar with USA Wrestling’s Pre-Season Nationals - the high school boys are separated into a Junior/Senior bracket and a Freshman/Sophomore bracket. The High School girls are put into one single bracket.

The tournament lists states in the brackets, but results are done by “club” - so if I miss any of the All Americans please let me know. We will cover them by state below.

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Alabama

• Alabama did not have any All Americans. It appears Levi Miller was the only one to compete (going 3-2 in JR/SR 182). Miller is formerly of Homewood, Alabama, but goes to school and compete in Ohio during the season.

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Florida

• Florida brought several from the Sunshine State and put 8 on the podium. Those eight are highlighted below.

  • Junior/Senior bracket highlights two big guys that made a run to the top step. Nelson Toro took 2nd at 220 to NC’s Carson Floyd. Toro was unseeded and beat Wells (AZ) before downing the 2 seed Leo Meyer of Illinois and the 3 seed Jacob Hustoles of Colorado to make the finals. Matthew Jimenez drew Super 32 Runner-up KJ Miley of Missouri first and dropped a 3-1 decision before winning 3 in a row to take 3rd.

  • Florida Freshmen/Sophomores battled all weekend and had some really good wins. Colin Kacena was 3rd at 120 - Kacena won 5 in a row to make the semis before losing to New Jersey’s Jackson Young. Two tough wins on the backside put him 3rd. Kendrick Hodge finished 3rd at 152. Hodge lost early (in his 2nd match) and then won 8 in a row to take 3rd - including a nice 11-7 decision of Tennessee’s Cy Fowler on the way back through. Hodge also avenged his earlier loss to Ryker Fullmer in the consolation finals. Elijah Penton took 8th at 160. Penton won 2 in a row before dropping a 1-0 decision to Georgia’s Tyler Secoy. He finished 1-2 on the backside and took 8th. Omer Barak battled to 6th at 170. After a bye he dropped his Round 2 match 9-8 to Noah Torgerson. Barek then won 4 in a row to make the podium.

  • Two Florida Girls made the podium. Kyla Oliver was 7th at 112 and Alyssa Favara was 4th at 200. Oliver lost her opening match and then won 4 in a row to make the podium including a 9-7 sudden victory win in the bloodround. Favara lost her opening match as well and then won two in a row to make the consi finals.

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Georgia

• It looks like Georgia significantly fewer wrestlers to Iowa after a strong showing at Super 32 (that and the fact that the Georgia High School season has begun).

  • Tyler Secoy was 4th at FR/SO 160 and Kriecg Roe was 6th in the same bracket. Secoy finished the weekend 4-2 - beating fellow SE wrestlers Penton and Roe. Roe finished 5-3 - he lost early to McCollum and won 4 in a row to make the podium (before losing to Secoy).

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North Carolina

• North Carolina brought quite a few north to Des Moines and walked away with a boys JR/SR National Champ and 3 Girls All Americans.

  • Carson Floyd continued his upward momentum after a solid Super 32 a week ago. Floyd had a fall, a 5-2 decision, and a 10-1 major decision before downing Floridian Nelson Toro 6-0 in the finals at 220. For Floyd that makes 3 podium finishes this fall at the “major” tournaments - Grappler Fall Classic, Super 32, and now Pre-Season Nationals.

  • The North Carolina women brought a force to Iowa and walked away with 3 medals. Michaiah Allen was 6th at 127, Savannah Bramhall was 7th at 164, and Ella Beam was 2nd at 180. Allen won her first two matches before losing to Shelby Moore in the semis. Bramhall dropped her first match of the tournament and had to work her way back onto the podium with wins over Marisol Lopez and Erika Peterson. Beam won her first two matches before losing to Sabrina Nauss in the finals.

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South Carolina

• I don’t believe South Carolina brought any to Iowa - correct me if I am wrong.

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Tennessee

• Tennessee brought their “A” game to Iowa this weekend and showed why they will be a force in 21-22 and into the future. Bentley Ellison, Mason Sells, and Gervacio Gonzalez each made the podium in the Junior/Senior bracket. Logan Fowler, Landon Desselle, and Jake Stacey made the podium in the freshman/sophomore bracket and 5 ladies made the podium including Pre-Season National Champ Ella Murphrey.

• Junior/Senior Bracket. Cleveland’s Bentley Ellison started the season with a bang … he won 4 in a row on his way to the 120 lb. semis - including a very good win over Missouri’s Peyton Shepard in sudden victory. He lost his semi match to Colorado’s Brandon Cannon 5-4 before downing Caelan Riley of Illinois and Bubba Wright of Kansas to take 3rd. Blackman’s Mason Sells had a nice run at 132 to finish 6th. He won 4 in a row also including a 1-0 UTB win over Matt Ellis of Ohio to make the semis before losing to Dyson Durham of Idaho. He dropped his next two matches to finish 6th. Christian Brothers’s Gervacio Gonzalez finished 3rd in a very competitive 182 lb. bracket. He, like Ellison and Sells, won 4 in a row to make the semis, but fell in that round to Connor Havill of Ohio 4-3. He won his final two matches 7-3 and 4-3 UTB to take 3rd.

• Freshmen/Sophomore Bracket. The next wave of Tennessee hammers are here and three of them climbed onto the podium this past weekend. Cleveland’s Logan Fowler was 8-2 and finished 3rd at 126. Fowler won 2 in a row before being knocked into the consis by Minnesota’s Alex Braun. Fowler then won 6 in a row to finish 3rd. Summit’s Landon Desselle won 3 in a row before falling to Tucker Cell 5-4 in the quarters at 132. He then won 4 in a row to finish 3rd. Jake Stacey of Green Hill finished 3-2 and 4th at 170. He had two exciting matches to begin the tournament - 2-1 TB1 and 5-3 SV1 wins before losing to Noah Torgerson in the semis. Stacey downed Florida’s Omer Barak 3-2 on the backside.

• Girls Bracket. Tennessee put 2 in the finals (Maggie Graham and Ella Murphrey) and a total of 5 on the podium this weekend. Ella Murphey captured the 200 lb. title with 3 consecutive falls including a pin of Azreal Smith in the finals. Maggie Graham made her way to the finals at 144 by downing teammate Bryce White 5-2 in the bottom semi. Graham dropped her finals match to AshLynn Goodwin 5-3 to take 2nd. White lost her consi semi match, but downed Jayden Lange of Colorado to take 5th. Justina ChongNee won her opening match by fall before losing 2-1 in the 200 lb. semis … she medically forfeited her remaining matches to take 6th. Shayra Calderon lost her opening match to eventual Runner-up Zoe Adam before coming back to win 2 in a row to take 3rd at 225.