Posts in National Tournament
NHSCA High School Nationals - Sophomore Boys Wrap Up

I don’t have the time or the bandwidth to write this like a normal article … so I’m going to highlight with bullets the things that stood out to me. Keep in mind that there were tons of matches - and as of Monday I have only been able to watch a handful (I will go back over the next two weeks and watch every match that an SE wrestler competed in - but it isn’t in time for this wrap-up).

An important note … not all brackets are created equal. A wrestler could have gone 4-2 in a very deep weight - not made the podium, but in my estimation had a very good tournament. That doesn’t diminish any wrestler that made the podium in a weight that wasn’t as deep or didn’t have the top-end talent like some others … those wrestlers came to compete - they did and they did their job of making the podium. I just want everyone to know that because I highlight someone that didn’t make the podium (over someone that did) doesn’t mean anything (don’t read too much into it). The same is true for the draw … some draws are easier than others. But winning close matches and advancing says a lot - you have no control over your draw - you only have control over how you compete.

THE RESULTS

The Sophomore class doesn’t have the profile of the class in front of them … to be fair few classes in recent SE memory do. But that doesn’t mean that this class should be overlooked by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, several wrestlers used this weekend’s NHSCA tournament as a bulletin board to demonstrate their talent.

  • North Carolina led the way with 2 Champs - Jackson Baglio and Jeremiah Price. Unfortunately no other sophs from NC made the podium.

  • Florida led the way (again) in terms of AA’s. Florida had 8 wrestlers make the podium and watched teammates Eligh Rivera and David McClelland square off for the 126 lb. title.

  • Tennessee stood out with some outstanding performances and put 5 on the podium.

  • Georgia and Alabama each had 2 All Americans (and one of those 2 could be counted as from Tennessee - Omaury Alvarez wrestles at Baylor, but is from Georgia) and South Carolina had 1.

SOPHOMORES

Championship Finals

  • 113: Jackson Baglio (NC) dec. Jacob Joyce (RI), 6-4

  • 126: Eligh Rivera (FL) dec. David McClelland (FL), 6-4

  • 145: Jeremiah Price (NC) dec. Dagen Condomitti (PA), 2-1

  • 170: Dylan Newsome (OH) dec. Omaury Alvarez (GA/TN), 6-4

All American Matches

3rd/4th

  • 106: Bryson Terrell (TN) dec. Caleb Uhorchuk (TN), 6-0

  • 120: Cooper Haase (FL) dec. Jaden Pepe (PA), 7-3

  • 145: Ethan Mojena (FL) dec. Brayden Shelton (MD), 8-2

  • 160: Rafael Hipolito (AL) dec. Patrick Johnson (WV), 13-7

  • 220: Noah Todd (TN) forfeit over Myles johnson (OH)

5th/6th

  • 106: Ty Tice (SC) dec. Luke Sirianni (PA), 10-8

  • 120: Amantee Mills (GA) dec. Ethan Lebin (PA), 5-0

  • 170: Daniel Comer Williams (FL) dec. Toby Schoffstall (VA), 3-0

  • 182: Matthew Furman (PA) dec. Thomas Stadel (TN), 10-2

  • 285: Derrick Hart (FL) dec. Gage Howard (UT), 3-1 SV1

7th/8th

  • 138: Luke Belcher (TN) dec. Cooper French (AZ), 10-2

  • 170: Nathan Fury (KS) forfeit over Dominic Joyce (FL)

  • 285: Nathaniel Box (FL) dec. Max Sunderman (AL), 5-2


BRIEFLY BY WEIGHT CLASS

106

The SE brought several good Sophomore 106’s to Virginia Beach. The most notable one missing was Tyler Washburn of Florida who was in Wisconsin trying to make a World Team in both Freestyle and Greco. Still the SE had 3 make the podium in TN’s Bryson Terrell and Caleb Uhorchuk and South Carolina’s Ty Tice. Terrell is the only one of the three that didn’t win a state title this year (losing in the TN 3A finals), but he finished the highest of the 3 on the podium (and beat Tice 5-0 and Uhorchuk 6-0 on his way to 3rd). Terrell’s only loss came to eventual Champ Brady Roark of MO in the semis. Uhorchuk finished 5-2 and was in some really good matches. He beat Dolan of WV 4-2 in sudden victory, beat Sirianni 3-2 and lost to PA’’s Wagner 3-2. Tice lost his first match - an 8-6 decision to Toby Bullerman of Indiana and then won 6 in a row to make the podium (including avenging his earlier loss to Billerman 1-0 in the consi quarters). Georgia’s Kolby Dempsey was 3-2.

113

Jackson Baglio wrestled outstanding on his way to the 113 lb. title. He had 4 falls, an 11-2 decision of Milheim of PA before downing Rhode Island’s Jacob Joyce 6-4 in the finals. Baglio probably had the best tournament of any SE sophomore. No other SE wrestlers made the podium, but several had good tournaments. Alabama’s Hudson Waldrop was 3-2 as was North Carolina Hunter Gundry was also 3-2 (with a nice 8-0 win over Waldrop in the consis). Several other SE hammers went 2-2.

120

Really good weight class that saw two SE hammers make the podium - Florida’s Cooper Haase in 3rd and Georgia’s Amantee Mills in 5th. Haase wrestled great in winning some tight matches … he beat AJ Rallo of Missouri 5-3 and then Massachustetts Tyler Knox 4-2 in an ultimate tibreaker. His only loss came to eventual Champ Luke Poore of Delaware 3-2 in the semis. Haase beat Mills 1-0 to make the consi finals. Mills had 2 losses on the weekend (to go along with his 6 wins) - one to Haase and one to eventual Runner-up Joel Brown of Maryland (4-2 in the quarters). Some context … Mills beat Oklahoma’s Braden Potts (a Knockout placer) 4-2 in the round of 32. South Carolina’s Ben Guilliam also had a good weekend - going 3-2 with a loss to Haase and PA’s Dylan Granahan.

126

It doesn’t happen often that you get an SE vs. SE matchup in a national final … it is even rarer still to get the same state in the finals (it happened 3 times in 2021). It is probably unheard of to have teammates in the finals against one another. But that is what happened at Soph 126 with Lake Highland Prep teammates Eligh Rivera and David McClelland. Rivera absolutely dominated the bottom side of the bracket (except his match with PA’s Barnhart - get a chance go watch this quarter) - he had 3 falls and a tech fall before downing David Cross of Missouri 6-0 in the semis. McLelland was also dominant on the top side - 2 falls a 7-3 decision over O’Donnell of PA and a 9-5 decision of Gage Owen of Maryland. NC’s Brock Carey was 5-2 on the weekend, but defaulted his last match to Ethan Kolb (who finished 7th). Fellow Floridian Aaron Lanster went 4-2 and lost in the consis (2 wins from making the podium). Georgia’s Conner Kimbrough and TN’s Connor Warnock each went 3-2.

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132

Soph 132 was one of the deepest weights of the tournament. No SE hammers made the podium - Missouri’s Carter McCallister was outstanding in taking the top step. NC’s Tyler Tracy was 4-2 with a nice 8-2 win over TN’s Gumlick. Tracy lost his opening match to eventual 3rd place finisher Collin Arch of Missouri - he rebounded with 4 wins before being eliminated. Alabama’s Devin Stone also finished the weekend 4-2 - advancing to the quarters before taking 2 losses (to Marrero and Roth - both finished on the podium).

138

Bradley Central’s (TN) Luke Belcher was the only SE hammer to navigate through a tough 138 lb. bracket and make the podium - he finished 7th with a 10-2 win over AZ’s Cooper French. Belcher lost a close quarter to Antonio Rodrigues (MD) 4-3 … he finished the weekend 5-2. North Carolina’s Daniel Tierney was closest of the SE hammers to making the podium. He lost in the bloodround to PA’s Andrew Harmon after getting some nice wins (including a 10-0 decision of Duke Byfield of Florida and 8-2 of GA’s Elijah Doolittle). GA’s Lance Thacker, Tyler McKnight, and Eli Doolittle, NC’s Logan Fite, and TN’s Ryan Tisdale all had nice weekend’s but none were able to breakthrough to find the podium.

145

Florida’s Ethan Mojena came in as the top seed at 145 … he finished the weekend 9-1 and 3rd on the podium. His only loss coming in the round of 16 to Avery Allen of Montana (who ended up not making the podium). Mojena’s six straight wins on the backside was impressive. Perhaps more impressive was North Carolina’s Jeremiah Price who won 6 in a row on the front side to claim the title at 145. Price was super in tough matches - he beat Dominic Frontino (PA) 3-1 SV in the quarters, Missouri’s Brayden Shelton 8-7 UTB in the semis and then downed Dagen Condomitti (PA) 2-1 in the finals. Outstanding job by both of these two SE hammers. Florida’s Alex Soto, Georgia’s Kacen Taylor, and South Carolina’s Santiago Rueda were each 3-2, but in a bracket as large and deep as SO 145 - that wasn’t close to making the podium.

152

No SE hammers made the podium in a very deep 152 bracket. Georgia’s Joey Bertrand finished 5-2 and some nice wins over TN’s Aidan Brenot (1-0) and Adrian Ochoa (FL). Florida’s Adrian Ochoa also had a good weekend finihsing 3-2.

160

Alabama’s Rafael Hipolito put the finishing touches on a really good sophomore season. He went 7-1 at 160 and finished 3rd with his only loss coming to eventual Champ Sergio Montoya of California in the quarters. Florida’s Nick Giompalo lost his opening match to eventual Champ Montoya and then won 5 in a row before losing in the bloodround. Giompalo could’ve made the list of those on the rise if I had opened a few more spots. South Carolina’s Gabriel Juarez finished the weekend 4-2 (with a close loss to Hipolito in the bloodround). GA’s Zac McKnight 3-2 (loss to Hipolito and Patrick Johnson of West Virginia who finished 4th).

170

3 SE hammers made the podium at 170 including Baylor’s (TN) Omaury Alvarez who reached the finals before losing to Ohio’s Dylan Newsome 6-4. Alvarez had some nice wins over some tough competition - he finished the tournament 5-1 with wins over Justin Griffith of NJ 5-4 and Toby Schoffstall of VA 6-4. LHP’s Daniel Comer Williams isn’t probably well known to many Floridians because LHP didn’t wrestle in the FHSAA this year - but watching him wrestle Gabe Arnold earlier in the year - you knew he would be a problem. He finished 5-2 with losses to eventual Champ Newsome and NJ’s Griffith and ended up 5th on the podium. The final SE wrestler to make the podium is Florida’s Dominic Joyce who was 8th (he medically forfeited his last match). Really good tournament especially a tough 9-8 win over Damon Nelson of Maryland in the bloodround.

182

Very good tournament for Tennessee State Placer Thomas Stadel of Maryville. Stadel finished 3-3 and took 6th, but it was his ability to get close wins that stood out. He beat Kade Werner of PA 4-3 in his opening match, Sam Schmidt of Oklahoma 5-1 to make the podium and John Roberts of Oklahoma 4-2 to finish top 6.

195

No SE hammers made the podium, but TN’s Hayden McDonald went 3-2 and lost in the bloodround 8-1 to Dustin Gue of Virginia.

220

TN’s Noah Todd stepped up in a big way and finished 3rd with an impressive 5-1 record. He had nice wins over Brothers of West Virginia and Evans of PA and took his only loss in overtime to runner-up Sam Sorenson of New York. TN’s Caleb Wolfe bounced back from a first round loss to Trent Sibble to win 3 in a row before losing in the bloodround to John Vinciguerra of NJ 3-2.

285

3 SE wrestlers made the podium at 285 - FL’s Derrick Hart was 5th, FL’s Nathaniel Box was 7th, and AL’s Maddox Sunderman was 8th. Good showing for the SE big guys. Sunderman lost to both Hart (2-0) and Box (5-2). Hart wrestled extremely well finishing the weekend 5-2 … he lost to PA’s Brosko 3-2 in the quarters, but rebounded to make the podium. He had a nice win over Utah’s Gage Howard for 5th. Box was in some close matches this weekend … losing in TB2 to Gage Howard, but beating Ohio’s Tyler Jackson 3-2. Young heavyweights continue to get better … Florida and Alabama should keep an eye out for these 3 over the next two years.


On the Rise

The following 10 Sophomores - in my opinion - saw their stock rise after the NHSCA’s. The Sophomore season is a good year to make a name if you want to wrestle in college. These 10 wrestled well enough to pop up on some radars.

  1. Jackson Baglio (NC) - Jackson not only claimed the top spot at 113 - he did so in dominating style. He had 4 falls (3 in the 1st period), a major decision, and then beat Joyce 6-4 for the title. In the final he gave up the first takedown, but then rallied for a 3-2 lead after the 1st period. Joyce got a reversal to start the 2nd, but Baglio got a reversal about 30 seconds later and never looked back on his way to a 6-4 win.

  2. Rafael Hipolito (AL) - Hipolito had to be flying well under the radar back in February … since then he has burst onto the scene. He won a very tough weight in the Alabama 5A-6A State Tournament and followed that up with a 3rd place finish at NHSCA’s - his only loss coming to eventual champ. Four months ago - few people outside of the Pelham area knew how good Hipolito was … that is no longer the case.

  3. Jeremiah Price (NC) - Few had a better weekend than Jeremiah Price. He could be #1 on this list, but we went with #3 because he came into the tournament with the expectation of making a run at the title. Still the close matches he won in the quarters, semis, and finals were outstanding.

  4. Cooper Haase (FL) - Haase broke through this weekend and really made a run at a national title. He lost a close match in the semis, but demonstrated he has all of the ability to claim a national title.

  5. Noah Todd (TN) - nearly made the 220 final - losing to eventual runner-up Sorenson of New York in the semis. If schools are looking for a developing heavyweight - look no further than Todd who continues to get better each time out.

  6. Eligh Rivera (FL) - Rivera would probably not usually make this list because he is already recognized as one of the best Sophomore 126’s around … but what stood out was how dominant he was and how he was able to knock off Spencer Barnhart (with a fall) in the ultimate tiebreaker.

  7. Bryson Terrell (TN) - beat Tice and Uhorchuk to take 3rd at 106. Only loss came to the eventual Champ in the semis. Really good tournament for Bryson.

  8. David McClelland (FL) - McClelland seems to be getting better and better … and a very good room will help make those types of jumps. He was in control of every match - except in the finals vs. Rivera. A nice run to the finals puts him #8 on this list.

  9. Omaury Alvarez (TN/GA) - Alvarez made a nice run to the finals … he (like Price, Mojena, and Rivera) is probably on some radar’s already, but a run to the finals here can only help raise his stock.

  10. Ethan Mojena (FL) - won 6 in a row in the backside to finish 3rd at 145. I know Ethan had set his sights on the top step, but to rebound and fight your way back through the bracket speaks volumes.

NHSCA High School Nationals - Junior Boys Wrap up

I don’t have the time or the bandwidth to write this like a normal article … so I’m going to highlight with bullets the things that stood out to me. Keep in mind that there were tons of matches - and as of Monday I have only been able to watch a handful (I will go back over the next two weeks and watch every match that an SE wrestler competed in - but it isn’t in time for this wrap-up).

An important note … not all brackets are created equal. A wrestler could have gone 4-2 in a very deep weight - not made the podium, but in my estimation had a very good tournament. That doesn’t diminish any wrestler that made the podium in a weight that wasn’t as deep or didn’t have the top-end talent like some others … those wrestler came to compete - they did and they did their job of making the podium. I just want everyone to know that because I highlight someone that didn’t make the podium (over someone that did) doesn’t mean anything (don’t read too much into it). The same is true for the draw … some draws are easier than others. But winning close matches and advancing says a lot - you have no control over your draw - you only have control over how you compete.

THE RESULTS

The Junior class in the SE is something special and it showed at NHSCA’s … and at the World Team Trials in Wisconsin where Cory Land made another Greco World Team. This group had a ton of titles and all of the accolades to go with 3 years of being on top … as a result - the names mentioned below might include a few “others” that are looking to close the gap on the top group.

  • The SE had an impressive 10 in the finals and walked away with 5 titles - mind you in 2 finals we had SE vs. SE wrestlers.

  • Georgia crowned 3 Champs and had 6 All Americans in total - Ohio also had 3 JR Champs (the only state to match Georgia on the top step).

  • Florida eclipsed all others in the SE with 8 All Americans - Florida was 4th overall behind Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York.

  • North Carolina was very strong with 6 All Americans (and 2 finalists)

  • Tennessee had 2 All Americans and Alabama and South Carolina each had 1

JUNIORS

Championship Finals

  • 113: Cole Hunt (GA) dec. Yanni Vines (AL), 8-1

  • 120: Joey Cruz (CA) dec. Kyle Montaperto (NC), 6-2

  • 132: Danny Nini (FL) dec. Jake Niffenegger (OH), 4-3

  • 145: Michael Kilic (GA) dec. Fin Nadeau (MT), 8-2

  • 160: Luke Geog (OH) dec. Gunner Filipowicz (GA), 9-2

  • 170: Matthew Singleton (GA) dec. Jonathan Conrad (FL), 10-1

  • 195: David Harper (TN) dec. Evan Anderson (OH), 4-2

  • 285: Antonio Ramos (MA) dec. Jamier Ferere (NC), 3-2 UTB

All American Matches

3rd/4th

  • 106: Isaic Paulino (MA) dec. Christian Guzman (FL), 8-1

  • 126: Braden Basile (FL) dec. Damian Mendez (KS), 8-6 TB2

  • 138: Thomas Snipes (SC) dec. Owen Cline (WA), 10-5

  • 182: Gunnar Garriques (TN) dec. Mitchell Broskie (OH), 4-2

  • 220: Austin Kohlhofer (OH) dec. Carson Floyd (NC), 8-1

5th/6th

  • 138: Jacob Woodburn (NC) dec. Reese Davis (OK), 10-9

  • 145: Jeremy Paradice (GA) forfeit over Derek Raike (WV)

  • 152: Jonathan Ley (FL) dec. Mark Takara (CA), 5-4

  • 160: Ceasar Garza (CA) dec. Sergio Desiante (FL), 4-3

  • 182: Hunter Adams (GA) fall Caleb Uhlenhopp (NV), 1:00

  • 285: Nolan Neves (OH) dec. Matthew Jimenez (FL), 4-2

7th/8th

  • 113: Noah Luna (NC) dec. Sefton Douglass (WY), 10-6

  • 126: Jackson Polo (NY) dec. Andrew Austin (FL), 13-5

  • 170: Devon Bell (NC) dec. Orion Thivierge (MT), 2-1


BRIEFLY BY WEIGHT CLASS

106

Florida State Champ Christian Guzman wad the only SE 106 to make the podium. He finished 4-2 with some solid wins and lost to Massachusetts Isaic Paulino twice. Georgia’s Colby McBride won his first match to make the quarters, but lost two close matches and was eliminated.

113

Cole Hunt did what was expected … he dominated 113. It would have been interesting to see him vs. Cruz or Montaperto at 120, but at 113 he had no equals. He went 6-0 with 4 falls, and 11-3 decision over Connecticut’s Evan Linder and beat Alabama’s Yanni Vines 8-1 in his closest match of the tournament. His dominance could have gotten him in our top 10 “on the rise”, but I’d bet he is being recruited by many schools. Vines did make our top 10 on the rise with a great run on the top side. He downed California’s Ethan Perryman - again - and then beat Utah’s Bridger Ricks 3-1 SV1 in the semis. Don’t usually cover Louisiana - but have to give a shoutout to Glenn Price - went 7-3 and won some great matches.

120

NC’s Kyle Montaperto took care of business on the bottom side of the bracket - reeling off 6 consecutive wins to make the finals opposite California’s Joey Cruz. Be sure to go back and watch Kyle’s match vs. Evan Binder of Missouri in the quarters. Unfortunately Kyle lost to Cruz 6-2 in the finals - Cruz is a beast and was rarely challenged on the weekend (other than Montaperto’s match - the only one that was close was his match vs. Phaturos of PA in the quarters). Tough weight, but another wrestler that stood out was NC’s Mark Samuel. Samuel was 5-2 and lost to Binder in the bloodround (he also had a nice win over Florida State Champ Adrian Morales). Georgia’s Ditomasso and Silka each went 2-2 in a very deep weight.

126

Floridians Braden Basile and Andrew Austin both made the podium at 126. If you recall - Austin beat Basile in the Florida 2A finals 6 weeks ago, but it was Basile this weekend that looked on fire. He had 3 falls and a 3-1 decision over NY’s Jackson Polo before losing his semifinal to Nash Singleton. Basile then rebounded to down Kentucky’s Cole Thomas 4-1 and Kansas’s Damien Mendez 8-6 TB2 to finish 3rd. Austin was 5-3 on rhe weekend - had some nice wins including one over Ethan Sellers of Georgia (4-2 in the bloodround). North Carolina’s Jacob Cox and Georgia’s Reese Jones and Ethan Sellers each had good tournaments, but couldn’t find the podium at 126.

132

Florida’s Nini had a breakthrough tournament in my opinion. He has been very close many times of the last few years, but his matches this weekend over Jimmy Harrington of Massachusetts and Jake Niffenegger of Ohio showed he is among the elite at 132. No other SE hammers made the podium in one of the deepest weights of the tournament (regardless of division). Georgia’s Jacob Seymour and Bryce Kresho as well as Alabama’s James Latona and Bryce Wanagat and South Carolina’s (at least I think Layton is still in SC) Dylan Layton all had very good tournaments, but lost close matches and were eliminated. Layton beat Latona 2-1 (eliminating Latona). Layton lost to Nini 3-1 and NY’s Angelo Centrone 4-3 (Centrone finished 6th) - Layton lost in the bloodround. Kresho also lost in the bloodround after making the quarters.

138

South Carolina’s Thomas Snipes and North Carolina’s Jacob Woodburn both made the podium in a deep 138 lb. bracket. Snipes finished 3rd … his only loss coming to eventual Champ Kelvin Griffin 6-0 in the quarters. Few had a better weekend than Snipes. NC’s Jacob Woodburn won 5 in a row to make the semis before he lost to eventual runner-up Benny Rogers of NY. His 10-9 win over Oklahoma’s Reese Davis was a wild one as Woodburn finished 5th. Georgia’s David Panone was 4-2 and lost 6-2 to NY’s Jack Roszko in the bloodround to just miss making the podium. NC’s JT Richards (who lost to Panone in the consis) finished 4-2 and also had a very good weekend. GA’s Anthony Doyle was also 4-2 on the weekend.

145

Georgia was very strong at 145 with Champ Michael Kilic and All American Jeremy Paradice. Kilic won his 2nd NHSCA title (in 2 attempts - remember there wasn’t a tournament last year) and was dominant all the way through. He outscored his opponents 44-10 and also recorded a fall to finish the tournament a perfect 6-0. None of the matches were very close - the closest being a 3-1 decision over Logan Ours of Ohio in the Round of 16 - Kilic scored the takedown in the closing moments of the 3rd period to get the win (FYI - Ours finished 3rd and was dominant in every match except for his loss to Kilic). Paradice nearly made it an all-Georgia final as he lost a tough one to Montana’s Fin Nadeau 4-3 in the semis. The most impressive thing about Paradice’s performance was the two sudden victory wins on the Round of 16 (over Coughlin of VA) and in the quarters (over Acklin of OK). Those wins were the difference between making the podium or not.

Tennessee’s Garrett Foreman was 5-2 on the weekend (with a loss in the consis to Ours). 145 was a huge bracket - look at Florida’s Alex Couto or Alabama’s Melton Powe - both went 4-2 losing to eventual AA’s in and were still 2 rounds from making the podium.

152

Another superb weight class. This was must watch if you enjoy high school wrestling … the JR division from 120 through 160 was the best weights to watch all weekend. Florida’s Jonathan Ley was the only SE hammer that was able to navigate the bracket and make the podium. SC’s David Hunsberger and TN’s Kodiak Cannedy both lost in the bloodround. Cannedy lost 2-1 to Ley (after losing in the Round of 32 to Takara - also an AA). Hunsberger’s two losses came to the 3rd and 4th place AA’s on the podium (Gaitan and Poore).

160

Georgia Gunner Filipowicz and Florida’s Sergio Desiante made the podium in a deep 160. Desiante had a nice win over GA’s Porter Faulk and VA’s Dominic Baker (as well as others) to make the semis where he lost to Filipowicz. Desiante ended the tournament losing twice more in close matches to Matthews of Idaho and Caesar Garza of California. Filipowicz looked great on his way to the finals - beating Desiante and getting an escape with 5 seconds left to beat NY’s Carter Baer 7-6. He lost in the finals to OH’s Luke Geog. NC’s Aidan Curry, GA’s Porter Faulk, Cole Cochran, Zyan Hall, and FL’s Quiton Johnson each went 3-2, but couldn’t breakthrough to find the podium (Cochran was the closest losing 4-3 in the bloodround).

170

170 was the Matty Singleton show. Singleton wasn’t challenged throughout the tournament - outscoring his opponents 71-4! He easily downed Ohio’s Brody Conley 7-1 and Florida 4xer Jonathan Conrad in the semis and finals. Conrad took care of the bottom side - beating Missouri’s Chase Cordia 7-5, ND’s Brock Fettig 5-3, and NY’s Michael Altomer 2-1 before running into Singleton. The SE also added a third member to the podium - NC’s Devon Bell. Bell was 7th with wins over AL’s Kenndy Wyatt, GA’s Joseph Bambinelli to name a few. His losses came to NY’s Altomer 6-4 in the quarters and to Fettig 5-4 in the consis. Alabama’s Caleb Roe went 3-0 before running into Singleton in the quarters and then lost a heartbreaker to Cordia 9-8 in the consis to miss the podium. Alabama’s Levi Miller also had a good tournament - losing in the bloodround to PA’s Jack Lledo 3-2. Georgia’s Bambinelli also finished the weekend 3-2. Was Singleton really the #4 seed?

182

182 had two SE hammers make the podium - TN’s Gunner Garriques and GA’s Hunter Adams. Adams finished 5-2 and took 5th. He had a tough 1-0 loss to Garriques in the consi semis (and that is what separated the two from the spot on the podium). Garriques was 6-1 with his only loss coming to eventual Champ Dylan Fishback of Ohio in the semis. Garriques had nice close wins over Uhlenhopp, Adams, and Broskie. TN’s Gervacio Gonzalez finished 4-2 and Florida’s Dylan Deal and Georgia’s Nolan Pozzobon were 3-2. Gonzalez and Pozzobon both lost in the bloodround.

195

TN’s David Harper was the 2 seed - Harper had a pretty easy time on his way to the top step. He beat a good Jacob Meissner of Minnesota 7-3 in the semis and the top seed Evan Anderson 4-2 of Ohio in the finals. He did give up the first takedown to Anderson in the finals, but got an immediate escape and then an escape and a takedown in the 2nd. Florida’s Thomas Davanzo was 3-2 and missed the podium by a couple of wins.

220

NC’s Carson Floyd went 4-2 and finished 4th at 220. He lost a tough 4-3 quarter to Levid Rodriguez (who is listed as from VA, but I thought he wrestled in KY). Floyd rebounded with three wins before losing to Ohio’s Austin Kohlhofer for 3rd.

285

Good weight at 285 - especially since we are in the middle of spring football (in-season for North Carolina and regular spring for the rest of the country). North Carolina’s Jamier Ferere was been knocking on the door of making a national final for quite some time … he broke through with some really good wins to take 2nd here … losing in the finals on an ultimate tiebreaker. Still Ferere had a nice win over Adrian Sans of Florida, as well as wins over Laventure of PA and Betancur of RI. Florida’s Matthew Jimenez finished 4-3 and took the #6 spot on the podium. He had 2 sudden victory wins and really showed a lot of grit in getting several wins (and is 2 of his losses). FL’s Ethan Vergara was 3-2 and lost to Harrison Merriman to be eliminated in the consis.


On the Rise

The following 10 Juniors - in my opinion - saw their stock rise after the NHSCA’s. Not that some of the them needed their stock to rise, but that they wrestled well in tight spots.

  1. Danny Nini (FL) - Nini won all of the close matches and pushed his way to the top of the podium in a deep 132 lb. bracket.

  2. Thomas Snipes (SC) - Snipes rebounded from a quarterfinal loss to the eventual champ to get wins over VA’s Evan Holloway, NC’s Woodburn, and WA’s Owen Cline to take 3rd at 138.

  3. Jonathan Ley (FL) - 8-2 on the weekend including wins over Cannedy, Sam Beckett of PA, Mark Takara of CA (who he lost to on the championship side). An absolutely great run through a very tough field to take 5th.

  4. Jamier Ferere (NC) - Ferere had a breakthrough tournament. He won some very close matches and nearly took homw the 285 lb. title.

  5. Gunner Garriques (TN) - Garriques has made some significant strides over the last 12 months. He looked good at GFC in the fall and then handled the TN season and State Tournament. His close wins over quality competition shows he is continuing to develop and get better.

  6. Jeremy Paradice (GA) - Paradice came through huge in two overtime wins on the front side. He nearly beat Nadeau to make the finals opposite Kilic. But those two wins on the front side were extremely important in his making the podium … the road from a loss in the Round of 16 would have been brutal.

  7. Yanni Vines (AL) - Vines is a grinder that is always working. He ran into an absolute hammer in Cole Hunt in the finals, but proved that he can compete with anyone at 113/120.

  8. Mark Samuel (NC) - nearly made the podium in a very tough 120 lb. bracket. Samuel is a North Carolina State Champ that doesn’t get noticed as much with Montaperto, Basile, Cole Hunt, Cory Land, and others in the SE - but he showed he can wrestle with anyone.

  9. Sergio Desiante (FL) - Desiante was impressive on his way to making the podium - particularly his win over VA’s Domonic Baker in the quarters.

  10. Jacob Woodburn (NC) - very deep weight and Woodburn won some close matches to push into the semis - he finished the weekend 6-2 and 5th on the podium.

NOTE: You may wonder why Cole Hunt, Michael Kilic, Matthew Singleton, Kyle Montaperto, David Harper, Gunner Filipowicz, Jonathan Conrad as well as many All Americans didn’t make the list. If you are a member of the Junior class in the SE it is tough to distinguish yourself … Cory Land wasn’t here, but made a world Team, Caleb Henson wasn’t here … in all honesty the names above (Kilic, Hunt, etc.) did what we expected them to do. They dominated. Singleton nearly made the list with a dominant win over 4x Florida State Champ Jonathan Conrad (and outscored his opponents 71-4 on the weekend), but I opted to go with a few others that might not be on the tip of the tongue for some D1 schools - but they should be.

NHSCA High School Nationals - Senior Boys Wrap up

I don’t have the time or the bandwidth to write this like a normal article … so I’m going to highlight with bullets the things that stood out to me. Keep in mind that there were tons of matches - and as of Monday I have only been able to watch a handful (I will go back over the next two weeks and watch every match that an SE wrestler competed in - but it isn’t in time for this wrap-up).

An important note … not all brackets are created equal. A wrestler could have gone 4-2 in a very deep weight - not made the podium, but in my estimation had a very good tournament. That doesn’t diminish any wrestler that made the podium in a weight that wasn’t as deep or didn’t have the top-end talent like some others … those wrestler came to compete - they did and they did their job of making the podium. I just want everyone to know that because I highlight someone that didn’t make the podium (over someone that did) doesn’t mean anything (don’t read too much into it). The same is true for the draw … some draws are easier than others. But winning close matches and advancing says a lot - you have no control over your draw - you only have control over how you compete.

The Results

  • SE put 5 into the finals, but NC’s Richard Treanor was the only Senior able to walk away with a National title.

  • The put 8 into the consi finals - winning 6 of the 8 matches. Way to finish strong.

  • The SE had 8 wrestle for 5th or 7th and in all - the SE had 21 Senior All Americans.

  • One interesting note … no Georgia Seniors made the podium - which in my opinion was a surprise. Here is the AA’s broken down by state:

    • AL (1)

    • FL (10) - Florida led all States in the Senior division in terms of the # of AA’s.

    • NC (5)

    • SC (2)

    • TN (3)

Championship Finals

  • 120: Chris Calderon (CA) dec. Daniel Uhorchuk (TN), 3-2

  • 132: Richard Treanor (NC) dec. Joel Mylin (MO), 6-2

  • 152: Alex Ramirez (CA) dec. Will Miller (AL), 3-2

  • 160: Peyton Kellar (OH) dec. Chandler Amaker (SC), 8-4

  • 170: Nicholas Fine (RI) dec. Tylynn Lukens (FL), 4-0

All American Matches

3rd/4th

  • 113: James Levy (SC) dec. Kevin Lopez (NY), 5-3

  • 126: Josh Koderhandt (IL) dec. Sebastian Melguizo (FL), 7-0

  • 138: Jaekus Hines (FL) dec. Nate Wade (NY), 4-3

  • 152: Darian Estevez (FL) dec. Steven Mitchell (WV), 6-4

  • 170: Dylan Kohn (FL) dec. Max Wilner (CA), 3-1

  • 195: Jack Forbes (CO) dec. Holden Cypher (NC), 6-4

  • 220: Tristan Middlebrook (FL) dec. Josh Evans (VA), 5-4

  • 285: Triston Norris (NC) dec. Emilio Franco (CA), 2-1

5th/6th

  • 126: Max Leete (MA) dec. James Joplin (NC), 6-4

  • 160: Cody Rice (FL) fall Ulises Varner (NC), 0:22

  • 220: Jayden Dobson (AZ) dec. Xavier Stillgess (FL), 3-1 SV1

7th/8th

  • 113: Conner Hueck (FL) tf. Logan Pugh (UT), 18-2

  • 126: Owen Woolcott (PA) dec. Brice Barton (TN), 5-0

  • 132: Dayne Dalrymple (TN) forfeit over Trenton Grant (DE)

  • 138: Reese Osborne (WY) dec. Preston Walls (FL), 9-1


Briefly by Weight Class

113

SC’s James Levy and FL’s Conner Hueck were the only two SE wrestlers to make the podium. Levy was 3rd and Hueck was 7th. Hueck lost his first match 6-4 SV1 to VA’s Trevon Gray and fought his way back to make the podium. Levy won 2 before losing to MA’s Evan Kinney in the semis - he bounced back to finish the tournament 4-1.

120

TN’s Daniel Uhorchuk was 2nd - and he was the only SE hammer to make the podium at 120. NC’s Elijah Boyd lost to eventual Champ Carlos Calderon 3-1 in his fist match … he had two nice wins before losing to NY’s Jace Schafer 3-0 and was eliminated. NC’s Chance Cottingham finished 3-2, but it was his 9-4 win over FL’s Chris Albo and a tough 4-2 loss to Uhorchuk that puts him on the radar.

126

Florida’s Sebastian Melguizo was the top finisher from the SE at 126 - taking 4th after losing to a very tough Koderhandt twice (6-0 and 7-0). Melguizo’s fall of AL Champ Jacob Dease was impressive. The SE had two others make the podium - Brice Barton of TN was 8th and James Joplin of NC was 4th. 126 was a deep weight and to see Barton get some tough wins was impressive … his losses came to Nico Provo (Provo was the eventual Champ at the weight), Melguizo, and Owen Woolcott of PA.

132

Treanor won 5 in a row to claim the 132 lb. title. His most impressive win (in my opinion) was his semifinal vs. Kyren Butler of Ohio - a 3-2 decision (down 2-0 with 20 seconds left to score 3 including a takedown in the final seconds to win it). Plus one of his coaches was wearing a Fat and Scrappy shirt! TN’s Dalrymple was 4-2 and finished 7th. I thought he wrestled a good match vs. Dylan Chappell of PA (in a losing effort 7-4).

138

Florida’s Jaekus Hines lost early to eventual Champ Rudy Lopez of Colorado 6-4 … but he rebounded and won 6 in a row to claim 3rd in the podium. His 4-3 win over Nate Wade of New York is one to go watch. 138 was a really deep weight and featured a lot of SE wrestlers. One that stood out was Vincenzo Napolitana of Florida. Napolitana lost 8-6 to Riley Edwards of North Carolina to begin the tournament, but they had 3 wins including a 3-2 win over Zachariah Lewis of North Carolina. His lost to Hones 6-0 to finish the tournament 3-2. FL’s Preston Walls was the other SE wrestler to make the podium … he got his money worth this weekend - going 6-3 and finishing 8th.

145

No SE wrestlers made the podium at 145. Aaron Faison started well - 2-0 and making the quarters, but lost to Ohio’s Jack Haskin 3-1 and CA’s Cade Lucio 7-1 and didn’t make the podium.

152

Really good weight class that saw Alabama’s Will Miller beat Florida’s Darian Estevez 4-3 in the semis. Miller ended up 2nd and Estevez was 3rd. Several wrestlers had good wins including Jake Piccirilli of GA, Erik Rodriguez of FL, Grantt Hopkins of SC, but none were able to string more than a win or two together. Miller and Estevez both looked superb.

160

South Carolina’s Chandler Amaker came to wrestle this weekend - he won a close match vs. Chase Anestis of MA, but it was his falls of Ortiz and FL’s Cody Rice that impressed me most. He lost a tough one to OH’s Peyton Kellar in the finals to take 2nd. Rice bounced back from his semifinal loss to Amaker to take 5th. NC’s Ulises Varner was 6th. Swan, Bost, McLees, Moreno and others didn’t make the podium … that should help illustrate how good of a run Amaker, Rice, and Varner had.

170

Really good weight class with SE hammers. Florida’s Tylynn Lukens stepped up and finished 2nd and Dylan Kohn (also from Florida) was 3rd. In fact - the Lukens vs. Kohn quarterfinal was one match I sought out on Saturday morning to watch. It looked like Lukens was wearing an LHP singlet … hmm. Lukens takedown, cradle and fall of Kohn was impressive. Kohn rebounded from his loss to Lukens to take 3rd and looked great in beating California’s Wilner 3-1 in the consi finals. TN’s Kevin Muschel didn’t make the podium but wrestled well - pinning GA’s Dalton Battle and beating fellow Tennessean Matheson Meade 8-4. GA’s David Bertrand was 4-2 - losing a 1-0 decision in the Round of 16 and then was eliminated in the Blood round by Kohn (8-0 decision).

182

182 had a few SE wrestlers entered, but none were able to make the podium. Sutton, Silimon, Parker, and Oyeneye each lost some close matches.

195

North Carolina’s Holden Cypher was the only SE hammer to make the podium … most impressive from Cypher was his ability to overcome a first round loss to Logan Stafford of Washignton. Cypher then won 5 in a row including avenging his earlier loss to Stafford before losing to Colorado’s Jack Fobes 8-4 to finish 4th.

220

A pair of Florida hammers made the podium at 220. Tristan Middlebrook had wins over SC’s Kodie Hughes Hightower and Colorado’s Jake Boley before losing to OH’s Mason Cover in the semis (Cover would be the eventual champ). Xavier Stillgess had 3 wins (2 by fall) to advance to the semis - he had 3 tough losses (to Thacker in the semis and then 9-0 to Josh Evans and 3-1SV to AZ’s Jayden Dobson) to finish 6th.

285

NC’s Triston Norris bounced back from a tough semifinal loss to eventual Champ Garibaldi of New York to finish 3rd. Alabama’s James Zogg went 2-2, but both losses came to wrestlers that make the podium (Norris and Tamburin).


On the Rise

The following 10 Seniors - in my opinion - saw their stock rise after the NHSCA’s. Not that some of the them needed their stock to rise, but that they wrestled well in tight spots. I think if a program needed their weight next year - a few might get a look as a result of their weekend.

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  1. Richard Treanor (NC) - Army Commit (or signee). Already at the top, but breaking through and claiming an NHSCA title was outstanding.

  2. Chandler Amaker (SC) - South Carolina doesn’t usually get much love in terms of recruiting (at least to D1 schools). Amaker had a really good tournament and showed he has the ability to grind out wins over tough competition.

  3. Tylynn Lukens (FL) - Lukens came in at 170 (after winning Florida 3A at 182 this past year) … he looked super tough and pinned fellow Floridian Kohn in the quarters.

  4. Will Miller (AL) - Uncommitted as far as I know. Miller had nice wins over John Altieri of PA 6-3, Anson Dewar of NH 8-5, and Estevez 4-3 to make the finals - losing to CA’s Alex Ramirez 3-2.

  5. Daniel Uhorchuk (TN) - I got rightfully called out that I missed Daniel on the list … he is certainly on the rise and had a great tournament. Not sure why I missed him other than I started at the bottom weight and went up and wasn’t paying attention. So why does Daniel make the list at #5? I think he could be higher - but 120 wasn’t as deep as some of the others. I will admit his win over Marlon Yarbrough was quite impressive … I watched it live and expected a closer match, but Daniel dominated.

  6. Brice Barton (TN) - Not at the top of the 126 radar, but wrestled well to make the podium - losing to two D1 signees along the way.

  7. Ulises Varner (NC) - Varner was 3rd a year ago in North Carolina 2A - so wasn’t really on the radar coming into this tournament. He went 4-3, but most impressively won some close matches to keep advancing … 5-2 over NY’s Ross, 5-1 over MT’s Graves, 10-7 over MA’s Pinzino.

  8. Darian Estevez (FL) - Estevez lost a close one to Miller in the semis - otherwise he might be taking home a national title. The reason Estevez makes this list is because of his two matches vs. Kaleb Burgess of New York. Go watch them - they are worth the time.

  9. Holden Cypher (NC) - it is always impressive when someone loses their first round match and then battles through the backside to make the podium.

  10. Tristen Middlebrook (FL) - Middlebrook showed he can compete with anyone. He got out of position and gave up two headlocks in his semi vs. Cover, but loved his bounce back to take 3rd over Jayden Dobson and Josh Evans.

  11. Triston Norris (NC) - I believe that Norris believes he is the best in the weight - so taking 3rd is probably a disappointment. In my mind - he didn’t wrestle particularly good vs. Garibaldi of New York (his only loss and to the eventual champ in the semis), but (like Middlebrook) his ability to bounce back and get tough wins over Tamburin in the consi semis and over Franco in the consi finals shows the kind of mettle Norris has … and that will be an asset as he moves into wrestling in college.