Posts in Southeast
GA's Hoke Poe-Hogan and Florida's Matthew Jimenez - Freakshow Elite Champs
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Freakshow is one of the premier regional events on the West Coast with wrestlers from California, Arizona, etc. coming to Las Vegas for two days of action. The Southeast isn’t typically very well represented at the event (in terms of numbers), but we always a few hammers head west to see the West Coast competition. 2021 is no different - and two SE hammers return with a freakshow singlet after winning their weight.

Georgia’s Hoke Poe-Hogan won 5 matches to claim the 182 lb. title in the 18U Elite division. Poe-Hogan downed Brian Thorpe 5-0 to claim the title. He has a fall, a major decision, and 2 other decisions to take home the title.

Florida’s Matthew Jimenez claimed the 285 lb. title with relative ease - beating the top seed Izaya Jackson 3-1 for the title. He also had a forfeit and 2 major decisions on the weekend.

The Southeast also put two others on the podium - Poe-Hogan’s Jefferson teammate David Dendy finished 6th at 145 and Florida’s Jewell Williams was 6th at 138. The SE had others wrestle in the age-group weights, but no other high school elites made the podium from the SE.

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Rankings Methodology

Rankings of the SE will drop Wednesday October 13th

Below is some background on how the wrestlers were ranked along with a post of the #1’s in each weight

Goals: Everyone’s goal is different. Some want to qualify for the state tournament, others want to win the title. For some in these rankings - those goals are long in their rearview mirror and the opportunity to win a national title, win Who’s #1, or to land a Division 1 scholarship is the focus. Because comparing different states - and in reality, different classes in the same state are sometimes like comparing an apple and a horse (not just apples and oranges) - the focus of these rankings has to be on performing at large regional and national events. Winning a state title or making the podium at the state tournament is pretty much the minimum to be considered. That disenfranchises some that do not have the ability to travel to large events that are located in North Dakota, Iowa, or even to Virginia or North Carolina … I recognize that is a limitation, but it is simply not something that is easy to overcome when some athletes do not compete in a larger pool of talent.

Weight Class: The design is to rank wrestlers at their weight for a national-level event like Fargo, Super 32, etc.. That is sometimes difficult because some wrestlers may plan to compete at a lower weight (for example, being registered at Super 32), but haven’t seen that weight class in nearly a year. As a result, they are placed in the weight that seems like their “likely” weight for a national-level tournament.

Methodology: As illustrated by the graphic on the front page of the rankings, the focus is on several national-level events, as well as some regional events. There are 5 tiers and they are ranked in importance based on conversations with college coaches. I should emphasize that many of the coaches I spoke with aren’t all “big fans” of rankings and really are more interested in how wrestlers “take care of business” in the classroom, in life, and on the mat. Many have told me that the outcome of a particular match is far less important in the future success than a number of other things. That said, while I have hesitated to even do rankings it is by far the thing I am asked most about through emails, on social media, or in person. I do think that they serve a purpose and are valuable, but keeping them in context is incredibly important. Interested in what I mean? Read the “Are Rankings Valuable?” piece I wrote. It may help you better understand my philosophy as it relates to rankings.

Tier 1: Fargo (particularly freestyle) and the NHSCA High School Nationals are the most important in determining the rankings. The Grappler Fall Classic is elevated to this level because of the proximity in recent years to the SE - meaning we have an opportunity to not only see a lot of SE vs. SE matches, but also to watch the best in the Southeast vs. nationally-ranked wrestlers from across the country.

Tier 2: The National Recruiting Showcase in Iowa in the spring, as well as the Journeymen tournament in Pennsylvania.

Tier 3: Super 32 Qualifiers in North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia are important regional events that afford those that do not have the ability to travel far to get noticed.

Tier 4: USA Wrestling’s Schoolboy, Cadet, and Junior National Duals, USA Wrestling’s Southeast Regionals as well as NHSCA National Duals are the fourth tier of events for these rankings.

Tier 5: The final tier is some regional events like Deep South, Disney, Dirty Don’s, Southern Throne, etc. - they provide a great opportunity to get mat time, but are weighed significantly less than those on the other tiers.

NOTE: Olympic Duals, Battle of the Burgh, Rocky Mountain Nationals, and others are considered, but we see so few SE matchups in those events that they are not examined very closely. The last note is that you may notice wrestlers that did not win a state title or even place at the state tournament that are now in the rankings … that is because those wrestlers have been very active in recent events and have done very well.

Next Rankings: The next set of rankings will occur in early November after two premier national events - Super 32 and Pre-Season Nationals. Those two events will take over the top tier in the next set of rankings and every other tournament will shift down in importance.

The Breakdown - Episode 35 - GFC Elite

Georgia Crowns 5; Florida 3 and South Carolina their first – GFC Elite

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The Woodward Academy crew had quite a weekend as their three hammers – Kilic, Filipowicz, and Singleton – each claimed a GFC Elite title.  Georgia also had two champs from Roundtree with Antonio Mills taking the title at 98 and Jake Crapps at 119.  Mills started the ball rolling for Georgia as he took out the #2 seed Colyn Limbert of Ohio in a tight one at 98.  Jake Crapps won outstanding wrestler with an absolutely outstanding weekend – downing nationally-ranked Kyle Montaperto of North Carolina in the semis and the nationally-ranked Evan Tallmadge of New Jersey in a crazy finish in the finals.

Florida crowned 3 champs but could have had at least two more if they hadn’t drawn Kilic and Filipowicz in the finals.   Kilic downed Joe Gonzalez 4-2 in SV1 to claim the 145 lb. title and Filipowicz won a wild (and controversial) one over Jonathan Ley in the 160 lb. final.  There were also two all-Florida matchups in the finals with Tom Crook downing Ethan Mojena at 140 lbs. and Andrew Austin taking out Cooper Haase in a wild one at 125.

South Carolina put two in the finals – Dylan Layton and Yannis Charles.  Layton lost to nationally-ranked Nasir Bailey of Illinois at 135 and it looked like South Carolina would finish without a champ until Yannis Charles turned it on in the 3rd period.  Charles looked challenged heading into the 3rd period … trailing Virginia’s Patrick Jordon 6-1.  An escape by Charles in the 3rd made it 6-2 with about a minute remaining and then lightning struck.  Charles had 3 takedowns in a row plus two point nearfall to tie it 9-9 with about 15 seconds remaining.  Charles then let Jordon up and got the final takedown to win it with just seconds remaining.

The Southeast had one other champ – Gunnar Garriques … but he was listed as Illinois in the bracket.  The reason … Gunnar goes to Baylor and as a result we claim him, but his family lives in Illinois (which what was listed).  Garriques, the #2 seed, downed top seed Caden Ferris of Michigan 3-0 to claim the 215 lb. title.  Overall it was a good weekend for the SE. 

 

Close but not quite

Eight SE wrestlers made the finals, but came up just a bit short.  Mojena, Ley, Haase and Gonzalez weren’t the only Floridians to drop their finals match.  Braden Basile lost a 5-4 match to nationally-ranked Vincent Robinson of Illinois at 130.  Tennessee’s Justin Bradford looked to have the 113 lb. title take care of and then lost a close one in overtime to Michigan’s Jackson Blum.  Bradford gave up a penalty point (finger pull) late in the 3rd which had an impact on the match and pushing it to overtime.  Dylan Galloway dropped a close 285 lb. final to Jimenez – 2-1.


More Info

I’m working on a more detailed breakdown of what I saw - who stood out, best matches, and so on for the SEWrestle+ part of the website. That will be posted soon (probably tomorrow).


41 other SE hammers made the podium (top 8)

High School Elite - 98

  • 3rd Place - Liam Davis of Florida

  • 6th Place - Cooper Foster of North Carolina

  • 8th Place - Adaias Ortiz of Florida

High School Elite - 105

  • 4th Place - Roman Lermer of Florida

  • 7th Place - Gabriel Tellez of Florida

  • 8th Place - Allen Calderon of Georgia

High School Elite - 112

  • 3rd Place - Zeno Moore of Florida

  • 4th Place - Christian Guzman of Florida

  • 5th Place - Cameron Stinson of North Carolina

  • 8th Place - Tyler Washburn of Florida

High School Elite - 119

  • 4th Place - Kyle Montaperto of North Carolina

  • 5th Place - Matthew Rowland of North Carolina

  • 7th Place - Colin Kacena of Florida

  • 8th Place - Colton Bishop of Georgia

High School Elite - 125

  • 4th Place - Danny Martinez of Florida

  • 6th Place - Mark Samuel of North Carolina

  • 7th Place - Jacob Silka of Georgia

High School Elite - 130

  • 3rd Place - Keyveon Roller of Tennessee

  • 5th Place - Marcus Jackson of North Carolina

  • 8th Place - Brandt Fajerman of North Carolina

High School Elite - 140

  • 3rd Place - Emil Necula of Georgia

High School Elite - 145

  • 3rd Place - Jeremiah Price of North Carolina

  • 8th Place - Rafael Diniz of Florida

High School Elite - 152

  • 4th Place - Dominic Bambinelli of Georgia

  • 5th Place - Brendon Abdon of Florida

  • 7th Place - Alexander Couto of Florida

  • 8th Place - Creed Thomas of Georgia

High School Elite - 160

  • 5th Place - Cole Cochran of Georgia

  • 7th Place - Mason Alley of Tennessee

  • 8th Place - Tyler Secoy of Georgia

High School Elite - 171

  • 4th Place - Kodiak Cannedy of Tennessee

  • 6th Place - Riley Orr of Florida

  • 7th Place - Aiden McCafferty of North Carolina

High School Elite - 189

  • 3rd Place - Brian Burburija of Florida

  • 4th Place - Devon Bell of North Carolina

  • 6th Place - Nolan Pozzobon of Georgia

  • 7th Place - Dominic Joyce of Florida

  • 8th Place - Dylan Deal of Florida

High School Elite - 215

  • 4th Place - Ralph Sanchez of Florida

  • 5th Place - Nelson Toro of Florida

  • 6th Place - Carson Floyd of North Carolina

  • 7th Place - Logan Webster of Georgia

  • 8th Place - Deonte Dozier of Georgia

High School Elite - 285

  • 3rd Place - Anthony Yancey of Georgia