West Forsyth (GA)

Head Coach: Evan Goff (entering 16th season; 6th at West)

Staff: Tony Vanhorn, Kurt Rosenberger, Joey Garner, Jon Allbritton, Imani Heslop, Jim Brown

West Forsyth took their shot a year ago and pushed Camden for the top spot in 7A, but (like many others) couldn’t unseat the defending champs. The Wolverines graduated several their hammers including State Champs Ethan Rickert and Dylan Fairchild as well as State Placers Chase Murray and Brody Knapp. The Wolverines will need to look to some new faces to fill those gaps, but the rest of the lineup looks ready to step up and make another run at Camden and the 7A title.

Reed Walker and Noah Danforth both finished 2nd as freshmen and figure to be a key part of the next wave. Despite losing those Seniors a year ago - this is a fairly Senior heavy squad again in 21-22. West Forsyth will be looking to as many as 8 Seniors to step in and make an impact. Seniors Noah Amick, Tony Tanory, Christian Walker, and Jay Helstone each won matches in Macon in 2021 and will be counted on to make a run for the podium in 2022. One key for West Forsyth is how well Seniors Quinn Bovinezer, DJ Little, Franky Strong, and others wrestle in 2021-22. West Forsyth has the pieces - how they fit in the puzzle will be important to how well this team does in 21-22.

“We graduated the nucleus of last year’s team. Two state champions that were almost guaranteed 6 points every time they wrestled. We also graduated two other placers and most all of last year’s seniors had over 30 wins for the season. No one is predicting us to do much but you can’t hide hard work. It won’t take long to get that bullseye back on our backs.”

— Coach Goff

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.

Pepperell (GA)

Head Coach: Austin Sanders (entering 1st year)

Staff: Joe Knight, Matt Sanders, Clint Jones

Coach Austin Sanders takes the reins at Pepperell and has quite a solid group to work with in his first season as the head coach (he was previously an assistant coach to Joe Knight). The Dragons do lose State Placer Drake Miller to graduation, but nearly everyone else returns from a team that finished 11th at the traditional state tournament a year ago. The Dragons have all of the pieces to make a serious run at a top 10 or top 5 spot in 2A in 2022. Returning State Champ Matthew Waddell returns looking to earn another individual title. He was joined on the podium a year ago by Jake Roberts (3rd at 182) - Roberts will be hunting that top step in 2022 as well.

The key for the Dragons is the continued development of their 2021 State Qualifiers and the rest of the lineup. Cory Moten, Kolten Edge, Jackson Lawrence, and Parker Glenn each won matches in Macon and if the four of them can find their way onto the podium … Pepperell will be in the hunt as a team. The Dragons also have a slew of newcomers to keep an eye on including Manolo Deleon, Wilmer Gonzalez, Cody Duck, Brooklyn Duck, and Kado Carlini.

Madison Baxter is Pepperell’s only returning girl wrestler and the first to place for the Pepperell girls program (5th last year in Girls State). Madison will look to make a run at the top step as well in 2022.

“We have a solid core returning with 6 state qualifiers, Roberts placed 3rd and Waddell 1st. We also have a few kids that were a match away from being state qualifiers. We have a great young group coming up and I think their addition will make our team a very strong one. The expectation at Pepperell is always high we look to place as a team and produce state champions. ”

— Coach Sanders