Iowa City's undefeated Ben Kueter, is No. 1 at 215
With this update, we bring the 2022-2023 SBLive National High School Wrestling Rankings to a close.
Fargo was the last event for outgoing seniors in the Class of 2023. Our next set of rankings will come out in September after Flo’s Who’s #1 showdown. That version will see incoming freshmen added in and last year’s seniors removed.
Quite a few wrestlers ended up in weights different than the ones in which they competed during the high school season. The final rankings reflect the weight in which these wrestlers most recently competed. Wrestlers who did not participate in the spring and summer may have moved up or down based on the results (win or lose) individuals around them.
If you have watched a Freestyle or Greco-Roman match you realize that the Olympic Styles lend themselves to fluky results and matches shift quickly. Numerous times watching these matches, we saw a wrestler on the verge of being “teched,” not only staving that reality off but registering their own tech-fall.
Given the nature of these matches and the fact that 80% of our rankings are based on Folkstyle, we will use the Olympic Style results to inform the rankings more than reshape them. In some cases, they are reliable but there are a few instances where wrestler A has multiple Folkstyle wins over wrestler B, but B defeated A in the Olympic Styles.
There are also guys who specialize in these styles, and therefore, do not excel in Folkstyle. There are wrestlers that placed at Fargo who were fifth or sixth in their state tournament and in some cases, not even placing at states.
Ben Kueter (Iowa City, IA) was No. 1 coming into the season and he completed what only six Iowans have done before him, finishing his high school career unbeaten, tallying a 111-0 record. The 2022 Junior World Champion didn’t encounter many ranked foes this year as he cruised to his fourth state crown with a 19-4 tech fall of Joseph Lewis (Dubuque Hempstead). Kueter entered the Senior Division of the US Open in FS, reached the quarters then forfeited out of the field.
Ben Kueter made history by becoming only the sixth undefeated wrestler, over his high school career. He also finished as the top-ranked wrestler at 215-pounds in the final SBLive Sports National High School Wrestling Rankings.
Photo courtesy of Ben Kueter Instagram
Cody Merrill (Gilroy, CA) missed most of the high school season and wrestled two of his three tournaments at 285. He won all three competitions with first-period pins, then did not wrestle in the postseason. At the Fargo Junior Freestyle affair, Merrill teched Cole Mirasola (West Bend West, WI), 11-0, in the finals for his second straight Fargo title.
Jude Correa (Wyoming Seminary, PA) was No. 1 at 195, winning the Beast of the East with a 7-5 decision over Camden McDanel (Teays Valley, OH) in the finals. The PowerAde final ended with Correa posting an 8-0 major decision against Mikey Dellagatta (St. Joe Regional, NJ). Correa was the Super 32 195lb champ with a forfeit win in the finals by Aeodein Sinclair (Milton, WI). Correa was at 220 for the AAU Duals and pinned Caleb Beaty (Corinth-Holders, NC) and beat Calvin Lachman (Quakertown, PA), 3-1.
McDanel was fourth at Super 32 at 195. The outgoing senior was second at Ironman and Beast. McDanel fell 3-2 to Brayden Thompson when he was still at Lockport Township, IL. At Ironman, McDanel defeated Rune Lawrence (Frazier, PA) and Orlando Cruz (Crown Point, IN). He captured a DI 190lb state title then moved up to 97 KG (roughly 214lbs) for the U20 FS US Open capturing that crown with an 11-0 tech of Joey Braunagel (IL) and beating Sawyer Bartelt (South Dade, FL), 8-2. McDanel beat Green Farms Academy’s Post-Grad student Steven Burrell 11-6 and 8-2 in the World Team Trials FS Finals. At the World Championships, McDanel brought a bronze home.
Cole Mirasola was second at Fargo in Junior FS with wins over Jay Henderson (Wood Cross, UT), Coby Merrill (Gilroy, CA), and Lachman. At the U20 FS US Open, Mirasola was fifth with a loss to Gavin Nelson (Simley, MN). Mirasola placed third at the U20 FS WTTs, avenging the loss to Nelson, 10-0.
Max Shulaw (St. France DeSales, OH) won the Ironman crown at 215, using a 10-0 major decision of Henderson in the finals and put up another major against Dylan Russo (Olentangy Liberty, OH). Shulaw met Russo again in the Brecksville finals with the same result, but a closer score, 5-3. Shulaw was an undefeated DII state champion with a 51-0 record. He fell to Nick Nosler (Tolono (Unity), IL) at the Junior FS Duals, 12-11, and Mirasola 14-4. We are weighing Shulaw’s Folkstyle accolades more than a one-point FS loss.
Hayden Walters (Crater, OR) beat Russo, 5-1, for the Super 32 Belt at 215. Walter was second at the Reno Tournament of Champions, getting pinned by Nicholas Sahakian (St. John Bosco, CA), who has since moved to 285. After snagging a 5A state title, Waters took fourth at the U20 FS WTTs, beating Bartelt and losing to Burrell. He forfeited the consolation final to Bartelt.
Bartelt was the Florida 3A state champ with a 49-0 record. At the Elite 8 FS Duals, he beat Jackson DeWald (Westwood, IA) and Jared Thiry (Don Bosco, IA), while splitting matches with Joey Novak (New Prague, MN). Bartelt won the U20 GR US Open Championship with a pin of Braunagel, 1:33. He added a Fargo JR GR title to his resume, beating Oscar Williams (Edmond North, OK) 3-1 in the finals. Other Fargo victims were Nosler and Thiry.
Coby Merrill was a freshman state runner-up at 195, so his Double All-American performance at Fargo showed what he is capable of on the big stage. Merrill was third in FS with a 5-4 win over Henderson in the consolation finals. He also pinned losses on Adam Schlett (St. Joe Regional, NJ), Thiry, and Williams. His GR third-place run included a pin of Thiry in the bronze bout plus a decking of Nosler.
Henderson’s second-place turn at Ironman came with victories over Josh Anthony (Blair Academy, NJ), Jersey Robb (Bixby, OK), and Kyle Snider (CVCA, OH). Henderson was down at 92 KG (203 lbs) at the U17 FS US Open, placing fourth with losses to Dreshaun Ross (Fort Dodge, IA) and Karson Tompkins (Midlothian, TX). He beat Aiden Cooley (Allen, TX) and Vincenzo LaValle (Hanover Park, NJ) there. Henderson was back at a more normal weight for him at Fargo where he was fourth in JR FS, posting wins over Nosler and Hudson Skove (Rumson-Fair Haven, NJ).
Max Agresti was an undefeated state champion for Salesianum in Delaware, who won the Beast of the East with a 3-2 UTB outcome with Skove. Agresti beat Bryce Phillips (Mt. St. Joseph, MD), 4-3 TB1 at the Penn Manor Holiday Tournament.
Sam Sorensen (Homer, NY) posted a 50-0 season along the way to a DII state gold. At the Eastern States, he took out the DI state titlist, Ethan Gallo (Minisink Valley, NY), 4-2. Sorensen blanked Phillips 6-0 at the NHSCA Spring Duals. Gallo suffered three losses on the year with the other two coming at Ironman to Robb and Russo.
Adame Haselius (Northwest, MI) was at 190 for part of the year before settling in at 215 and rolling to a 50-0 record with a D2 state championship. At the Elite 8 FS Duals, Haselius beat DeWald two times, 10-0 and pinning him with 11 seconds left, 5:49, and lost to Novak.
Will Clark (Crown Point, IN) was eighth at Ironman with a 1-0 loss to Snider in the seventh-place match. Clark did beat Williams 9-4 at Ironman. At Carnahan, Clark pinned Zachary Delsanter (St. Edward, OH), who was sixth at Ironman with a win over Snider.
Beaty beat Lachman 4-2 at the AAU Duals. Nosler was fifth in both FS and GR at Fargo. In FS, he beat Schlett for fifth and downed Lachman, Skove, and Williams. What’s keeping him from being higher in the rankings are losses to Thiry and Williams at the Junior FS Duals, plus a loss to James Bechter (Carroll, OH) by fall at the AAU Duals.
Williams was a state runner-up with a 6-4 loss to Robb in the finals. At the Union Fargo Qualifier, Williams beat Robb, 4-3. Williams’ seventh-place finish in FS at Fargo included a 10-0 tech of Lachman in the seventh-place bout. Williams was second in GR pinning Coby Merrill and Noah Wenzel (Dakota, IL).
Skove was a Beast runner-up with a win over Phillips and won the NJ state title with a 3-2 UTB win over Riley O’Boyle (Southern Regional), plus a 5-3 TB win over Schlett. Skove lost to Lachman in the finals of the Northeast FS Region.
Schlett was fourth at Super 32 but has shown a tendency to allow random upsets to befall him. One of those occurred at the Hall of Fame Duals to Cameron Johnson (Stillwater, OK), 5-3. Schlett was sixth at the NJ states with losses to Jarrett Pantuso (Warren Hills), Brendan Raley (North Hunterdon), and Skove.
His up-and-down nature continued at the Northeast Regionals with a third-place finish and a loss to James Miller (Salesianum, DE). The good Schlett appeared at Fargo with a sixth-place spot on the podium in JR FS.
Michael Mocco (Cardinal Gibbons, FL) makes his debut in our rankings after a Double Championship run at Fargo in the 16U Division. Mocco was a 1A state gold medalist and his only loss during the season was to Brian Burburija (Countryside, FL).
John Pardo (Kennett, PA) put up a major decision over Phillips at the NHSCA Duals. Pardo was third in the AAA states beating Eli Makel (Waynesburg) twice by identical 3-1 scores.
Final 2022-23 SBLive Sports National High School Rankings at 215 pounds
1-Ben Kueter (Iowa City, IA) SR
2-Cody Merrill (Gilroy, CA) JR
3-Jude Correa (Wyoming Seminary, PA) SO
4-Camden McDanel (Teays Valley, OH) SR
5-Cole Mirasola (West Bend West, WI) JR
6-Gavin Nelson (Simley, MN) SR
7-Max Shulaw (St. Francis Desales, OH) JR
8-Hayden Walters (Crater, OR) SR
9-Sawyer Bartelt (South Dade, FL) JR
10-Coby Merrill (Gilroy, CA) FR
11-Jay Henderson (Wood Cross, UT) JR
12-Max Agresti (Salesianum, DE) SR
13-Dylan Russo (Olentangy Liberty, OH) SR
14-Sam Sorenson (Homer, NY) SR
15-Ethan Gallo (Minisink Valley, NY) SR
16-Austin Johnson (Muncy, PA) SO
17-Adam Haselius (Northwest, MI) SR
18-Jackson Dewald (Westwood, IA) SR
19-Will Clark (Crown Point, IN) JR
20-Nick Reinicke (Dike-New Hartford, IA) SR
21-Caleb Beaty (Corinth-Holders, NC) SR
22-Nick Nosler (Tolono (Unity), IL) SR
23-Oscar Williams (Edmond North, IL) JR
24-Calvin Lachman (Quakertown, PA) JR
25-Hudson Skove (Rumson-Fair Haven, NJ) JR
HM:
Michael Mocco (Cardinal Gibbons, FL) FR
Aidan Schlett (St. Joe Regional, NJ) JR
John Pardo (Kennett, PA) JR
Bryce Phillips (Mt. St. Joe, MD) JR
Mason Knipp (Columbus Catholic, IA) JR
Jared Thiry (Don Bosco, IA) SR
Noah Wenzel (Dakota, IL) JR
Cy Kruse (Totino-Grace, MN) JR
Max Vanadia (Brecksville, OH) SR
Brady Colbert (Paul VI, VA) SR
Gabe Fisher (Montgomery Bell Academy, TN) SR
