A Fan's Guide to the North Carolina 2A State Tournament
Welcome to the Fan’s Guide for the North Carolina 2A State Tournament
So what is a Fan’s Guide?
The Fan’s Guide is a look at the tournament as a whole and each individual weight class … from a fan’s perspective. But it is not a prediction of who will win or who will make the podium. In fact, a Fan’s Guide is a little different. It is a look at a few individual pieces from each bracket … they include:
Favorite: the wrestler that enters the tournament as a region champ and has the best shot to claim the top step.
Contenders: a wrestler that finishes 1st or 2nd at regions and has a decent chance to make the podium.
Darkhorse: a wrestler that finished 2nd, 3rd, or 4th at one of the region tournaments, but could make a run for the top step.
Bracketbuster: a wrestler that finished 3rd or 4th in their region, but could make a run for the podium.
Isn’t that kind of a prediction?
Yes and no. I do identify the favorite, but beyond that I have no idea of who will march through the bracket and claim a title (don’t get me wrong - I’ve watched a lot of wrestling this season so I have an idea of what will happen). I could give you an educated guess about a possible finals match and who will make the podium, but in the world of high school wrestling that is dangerous territory. Few wrestlers (if any) are unbeatable … but we do have past results and past accomplishments on which to make a guess or two. As I read recently, “Confidence in a predictable future, therefore, is the providence of charlatans and fools.” In reality, I am as much of a fan as any of you and like to talk wrestling. I hope each athlete goes out and performs to their ability and we, as fans, get an opportunity to watch some great wrestling.
Remember the sole purpose of the website, twitter, instagram, fan’s guides, pictures, etc. is to promote the sport in the Southeast. Have a great time this weekend, enjoy the wrestling, and best of luck to everyone competing.
NOTE: ALL INFORMATION BELOW IS ASSUMING THAT THE INFORMATION INPUTTED INTO TRACKWRESTLING EITHER BY THE EVENT DIRECTOR OR THE COACHES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON IS CORRECT.
A Look Back to 2023
There were actually 80 teams that had a qualifier in 2023 - we took the top 40 in order to take a deeper look at how the team race played out. Here are a few takeaways (and they inform in what we talk about in other parts of the Fan’s Guide):
The correlation between # of qualifiers and team points is quite strong at 0.83. We could draw a scatterplot and determine whether the 0.83 is statistically significant or not, but that is getting in the weeds a bit. The basic way to look at a correlation is whether there is a linear relationship between the two variables (# of qualifiers and team points) … and at 0.83 it is considered by many to be a strong correlation (and a stronger correlation than we saw in either 3A or 4A). So what does that mean … well typically the more qualifiers you have the more likely you are to score a lot of points. Keep in mind though that there are always outliers in the data. Southwest Onslow qualified 10, but finished in 12th. With 10 qualifiers they had more in the field than any other team - numbers are important, but they do not always equal points. Brevard had just 3 qualifiers and finished one place behind Southwest Onslow. The takeaway … more qualifiers mean more opportunities, but they don’t guarantee anything.
12 teams had State Champions and 37 teams had at least one state placer. The number of champs was very much spread out over the field - will that happen in 2024? Only Morehead and Surry Central had more than 1 champ.
A few other things that stood out include:
Seven of 14 weights were won by Seniors in 2023 and just 1 freshman (Elijah Horton at 106) won a title - the other 6 were juniors a year ago.
36 of 84 (43%) Placers were Seniors (lower than one might expect). Just 6 of the placers were freshmen (Horton at 106, Gabe Rogers at 106, Cameron Gue at 106, Dominic Hittepole at 160, Andrew Meadows of East Surry, and Nich McClellan of East Gaston).
Returning State Champs are:
Elijah Horton of Morehead (106)
Jared Thomas of Morehead (120)
RJ James of Reidsville (126)
David McEachern of Mt Pleasant (132)
Jacob Price of Surry Central (160)
Jaxon Turner of Brevard (170)
Jose Flores of Southwestern Randolph (220)
We include all of this background information simply to give you an idea of who to watch and how the team race might play out over the weekend.
Region Dominance
One conversation that is always interesting to have is which region is strongest … well if we simply look at # of state placers from 2023 (and honestly a true look would be going back several years, but we will stick with just last year for this conversation). Let’s take a closer look at how each region did at last year’s state tournament (2A only):
FYI: in the table below - the columns represent state place
As you can see the West and Midwest Regions led the way … the West crowned 6 individual champs and had 29 of 84 (35%) of the state placers in 2023. Will that change in 2024 or will we see some similar numbers to last year?
Sectional Placing Predicts State Place
The relationship between where you place at sectionals and if/where you place at the state tournament is also fairly clear.
Region Champs almost always make the state podium (at least last year). 40 of 56 (71%) of those that won a region title went onto make the podium the following weekend. 10 were champs and 19 made the finals. But one of the best things about the sport is that no one is out of it … 5 wrestlers that qualified as a #4 from their region also made the podium (now the majority didn’t fair as well - most going 0-2), but 5 made the podium including one - John David Curtis of Burns who claimed the 145 lb. title. The other 4:
Fernando Teniente of West Caldwell
Patrick Goins of West Lincoln
Nick Brewster of Manteo
Nick McClellan of East Gaston
are examples of our bracketbusters (as we described above). John David Curtis is a perfect example of the Darkhorse - someone that climbed all the way to the top step.
The 2024 Team Race
The table below is a list of every qualifier by school, along with their place. So we could talk about a number of different teams, but in reality there are just a handful that have enough to really make a run for a team title. They are discussed below the table.
This one should be close. Trinity has the edge in number of qualifiers but by just one over Seaforth and Washington. Each of them has about 7 or 8 that finished in the top 2 at their region … and that’s huge. Mt Pleasant trials in terms of numbers, but brings 6 region champs. Morehead brings 10 qualifiers and 4 champs, but will need their 3 4th place finishers to win matches in order to stay with this pack. Those are the five teams … can’t imagine anyone else breaking into the mix. This might be the best team race in Greensboro this weekend.
106 lbs.
Favorite: Gabe Rogers (Seaforth) ME 1st
Contenders:
Cameron Gue (Mt Pleasant) MW 1st
Alan Benitez (Forbush) MW 2nd
Isaac Powell (Lincolnton) W 1st
Sam Boltes (Washington) E 1st
Darkhorse: Alex Monks (Bunn) ME 2nd
Bracketbuster: Aiden Burkholder (Trinity) MW 3rd
Things to know:
Tough to pick between Gue and Rogers as the favorite … we went with Rogers as he is the returning Runner-up at this weight and is unbeaten this season, but Gue was 3rd a year ago and beat a good Benitez to claim the Midwest title … unfortunately the two are on the same side of the bracket
Keep an eye on a pair of runners-up up top in Benitez and Monks
Both Powell, the West Region Champ and Monks are returning SQ - that could be a good quarter
113 lbs.
Favorite: Elijah Horton (Morehead) ME 1st
Contenders:
Isaiah Pittman (Newton-Conover) W 1st
Seth Almond (Mt Pleasant) MW 1st
Sam Gosnell (Rutherfordton-Spindale) W 2nd
Bryce Perry (Washington) E 1st
Darkhorse: Jordan Miller (Seaforth) ME 2nd
Bracketbuster: Alexander May (Hendersonville) W 3rd
Things to know:
Fantastic weight that includes
returning 106 lb. State Champ Elijah Horton
returning 113 lb. Placer in Seth Almond
returning 106 lb. Placer in Sam Gosnell
returning 113 lb. SQ Isaiah Pittman … we could go on …
Horton beat Miller 12-1 to take the Mideast title and with a performance like that he is our favorite
Pittman pinned Gosnell to take the West title
Almond vs. Miller in the quarters is a potential match of two 2023 113 lb. State Placers … in the quarters … Is 113 the best weight in 2A?
Keep an eye on Gosnell vs. Perry in the quarters as well
120 lbs.
Favorite: Spencer May (Trinity) MW 1st
Contenders:
Josh Miller (Seaforth) ME 1st
Fernando Teniente (West Caldwell) W 1st
Brandon Nolasco-Rayo (Louisburg) ME 2nd
Christian Price (Washington) E 1st
Darkhorse: Phoenix Michaud (Newton-Conover) W 2nd
Bracketbuster: Kaden Shoup (Burns) W 3rd
Things to know:
Two returning Runners-up headline the weight
Josh Miller was 2nd at 113 and won the mideast title with a 13-3 major of Nolasco-Rayo
Spencer May was 2nd at this weight last year and won the Midwest with a fall of Drake Parker
They are the favorites and fortunately they are on opposite sides of the bracket
Fernando Teniente is a returning placer as well - 4th at 113 and another to watch .. his only loss this season came to Jace Barrier in November
126 lbs.
Favorite: Layne Armstrong (Seaforth) ME 1st
Contenders:
Josh Hammac (Mt Pleasant) MW 1st
Jared Thomas (Morehead) ME 2nd
Adrian Fox (Chase) W 1st
Bailor Peebles (Ayden - Grifton) E 1st
Darkhorse: Brayden Hall (Trinity) MW 2nd
Bracketbuster: Xavier Salazar (Surry Central) MW 3rd
Things to know:
Jared Thomas is the returning 120 lb. State Champ - but he lost to returning State Placer Layne Armstrong in the Mideast finals (5-0 decision)
Josh Hammac was 3rd last year at this weight and is certainly one to watch as well - he beat returning State Placer Brayden Hall (3rd at 113) in the midwest final by fall
Adrian Fox and Bailor Peebles won their regions … keep an eye on Xavier Salazar who could cause chaos in the 3rd quarter of the bracket
132 lbs.
Favorite: Rayshun James (Reidsville Senior) ME 1st
Contenders:
Levi Dennis (Trinity) MW 1st
Corey Fazekas (Northeastern) E 1st
Gunner Horton (Rutherfordton-Spindale) W 1st
Simitrio Hernandez (North Wilkes) W 2nd
Darkhorse: Maddock Cody (Seaforth) ME 3rd
Bracketbuster: Logan Reynolds (West Lincoln) W 3rd
Things to know:
RJ James is the returning 126 lb State Champ and is unbeaten this season at 33-0
James is the favorite, but he hasn’t wrestled any of the other region champs and that’s noteworthy
Corey Fazekas was 2nd at this weight in 2023 and Gunner Horton was 5th at this weight as well
Levi Dennis was 5th at 126 in 2023 - so there is plenty of returning experience to make any path difficult - But James is still the favorite
138 lbs.
Favorite: Boedi Kirkland (Newton-Conover) W 1st
Contenders:
Jaden Allred (Trinity) MW 1st
Trey Swaney (Wheatmore) MW 2nd
Nathan Howard (Morehead) ME 1st
Jensen Miller (Southwest Onslow) E 1st
Darkhorse: David B-meza (Washington) E 2nd
Bracketbuster: Jemarion Folks (Ayden - Grifton) E 3rd
Things to know:
Kirkland returns after missing last year and he is our favorite in a weight that could be more wide open
Jaden Allred beat Trey Swaney 4-2 to claim the midwest title; Swaney was 4th at 132 in 2023
Both Howard and Miller are returning SQ’s … be on the lookout for the bottom side … it could be chaotic
144 lbs.
Favorite: David McEachern (Mt Pleasant) MW 1st
Contenders:
Charles Schaefer (Trinity) MW 2nd
Nicholas Johnson (Heide Trask) E 1st
Jayden Alston (Bunn) ME 1st
Zack Sheets (West Wilkes) W 1st
Darkhorse: Gabe Foreman (Washington) E 2nd
Bracketbuster: Hunter Digh (East Gaston) MW 3rd
Things to know:
David McEachern won the state title at 132 last year and comes in as our favorite at 144
There are a number of State Qualifiers in the field … but McEachren might have beaten his closest competition in last week’s midwest final with a 6-0 decision of Charles Schaefer
150 lbs.
Favorite: Rakeem Smith (West Caldwell) W 1st
Contenders:
Caleb Deaton (Lincolnton) W 2nd
JJ Johnson (West Craven) E 1st
Tristan Kirkwood (Andrews, T.W.) ME 1st
Brandon Wyatt (East Gaston) MW 1st
Darkhorse: Jacob Crump (North Pitt) E 2nd
Bracketbuster: Caleb Cox (Rutherfordton-Spindale) W 3rd
Things to know:
I think Smith won the toughest region in taking the West title over Deaton and Cox
Smith was 4th in 2023 at 145, Caleb Deton was 3rd at 132, and Caleb Cox was 2nd at 138 … now that’s a good region
John, Kirkwood, and Wyatt all won their regions and will look to continue that momentum this weekend … Johnson beat returning State Placer Crump for the East title
Crump vs. Cox is a solid 1st round matchup
157 lbs.
Favorite: Cole Prichard (Morehead) ME 1st
Contenders:
Jacob Reigel (Mt Pleasant) MW 1st
Bryant Smith (Washington) E 1st
Connor Ridgell (Wilkes Central) W 1st
Jesse Phillips (Brevard) W 2nd
Darkhorse: Cameron Dennison (South Granville) ME 2nd
Bracketbuster: Levi Huss (West Lincoln) W 3rd
Things to know:
Both Prichard and Smith are returning State Placers at 152 - Prichard was 3rd, Smith 6th in 2023
Reigel and Ridgell are both returning SQ’s and Dennison was a SQ at 160
Prichard is 34-3 and pinned Dennison in the Mideast finals - as a result he is our favorite, but this weight isn’t as clear as others
Reigel and Smith both won by fall to take their region titles and Ridgell won 6-4 over a good Jesse Phillips
165 lbs.
Favorite: Jaxon Turner (Brevard) W 1st
Contenders:
Holt Hanchey (West Wilkes) W 2nd
Jack Casey (Lincoln Charter) MW 1st
Everett Rouse (North Lenoir) E 1st
Brock Blizzard (Morehead) ME 1st
Darkhorse: Erick Lopez Rabadan (Southwestern Randolph) ME 2nd
Bracketbuster: Leviathan Haynes (Lexington) MW 4th
Things to know:
Turner is the returning 170 lb. State Champion - he is 38-1 this season with his only loss to coming to Dameion Lavell of Tennessee
Others in the field have state tournament experience, but no one is close to Turner - at least from what we’ve seen
175 lbs.
Favorite: Ian Moore (Bandys) MW 1st
Contenders:
Dominic Hittepole (Wheatmore) MW 2nd
Clark Kellar (Pasquotank) E 1st
Judge Lloyd (Seaforth) ME 1st
Max Shelton (Madison) W 1st
Darkhorse: Dashawn Folks (Ayden - Grifton) E 2nd
Bracketbuster: Garrett White (Lincoln Charter) MW 3rd
Things to know:
Ian Moore was 3rd at 160 a year ago and pinned Hittepole for the midwest final; Hittepole was 4th at 160 in 2023
Kellar, Lloyd and Shelton each won their regions, but it looks as if (if we are basing it on last year’s state tournament results) the midwest was the toughest region
Keep an eye on a potential Lloyd vs. Folks quarter and Hittepole vs. Shelton
190 lbs.
Favorite: Ray Laney (Brevard) W 1st
Contenders:
Braxton Walker (Randleman) ME 1st
Jesus Jarquin (Monroe) MW 1st
Zackory Evans (Bandys) MW 2nd
Jordin Moore (North Johnston) E 1st
Darkhorse: Harrison Compton (Seaforth) ME 2nd
Bracketbuster: Brad Luther (North Stanly) MW 3rd
Things to know:
Wow picking a favorite here is super tough … let’s go through it
Ray Laney is 36-1 and was 2nd at 195 last year (his only loss is to Kage Williams in early January)
Zackory Evans, who was 2nd in the midwest a week ago, was 3rd at 195 in 2023 - he lost to Jarquin who comes in unbeaten at 37-0
Braxton Walker won the mideast and is a returning SQ and Jordin Moore won the east and is also returning SQ
215 lbs.
Favorite: Gavin Hardister (Trinity) MW 1st
Contenders:
Ethan Kuball (Seaforth) ME 1st
Jose Flores (Southwestern Randolph) ME 2nd
Asher Eason (Heide Trask) E 1st
Camden Sain (West Lincoln) W 1st
Darkhorse: Matthew Cranfill (Bandys) MW 2nd
Bracketbuster: Jaquavion Smith (Forest Hills) MW 3rd
Things to know:
Another superb weight …
Hardister is 46-1 this season with his only loss coming to Xavier Wilson
Jose Flores is the defending State Champion at the weight, but took second to Kuball in the mideast finals (Flores has few losses, but one is to Wilson as well in overtime)
Camden Sain was 4th at 285 a year ago as well
Kuball is 46-2 with 2 of his losses coming to Mason Blue … what does all of this mean? Well the run to a title should be very competitive.
Cranfill was 6th last year at this weight and is another one to watch - in fact Cranfill vs. Kuball could be the best quarter in the bracket (or perhaps it is Hardister and Flores?)
285 lbs.
Favorite: Geviaunta Walker (Lincolnton) W 1st
Contenders:
Colt Kluttz (Mt Pleasant) MW 1st
Jaden McClary (Goldsboro) E 1st
Michael Vazquez (McMichael) ME 1st
Kane Moore (North Lenoir) E 2nd
Darkhorse: Ty Gwyn (North Surry) MW 2nd
Bracketbuster: Joseph Trahan (Trinity) MW 3rd
Things to know:
2A 285 is always a good weight and 2024 is no different
Geviaunta Walker comes in unbeaten at 53-0 and was 3rd at 220 in 2023
Colt Kluttz is 35-4 and was 2nd at 220 in 2023
Michael Vazquez is 22-0 and was a SQ at this weight
Jaden McClary is 28-5, a returning SQ and won the east in overtime over Kane Moore
Walker pinned Kluttz at the duals and that’s why he is our favorite
Moore vs. Trahan could be the best 1st round match