Vote: Who should be SBLive's Lower Weight National Wrestler of the Week (1/2/2024)?
The 2023-24 high school wrestling season has crossed into 2024 with the completion of a number of high profile holiday events. Now, we invite you to help us decide who is the SBLive Sports National High School Lower Weight Wrestler of the Week.
Below are the details on the candidates we have selected for your consideration. Share this post with your friends, family, teammates and classmates and encourage everyone to support the wrestler they find most deserving. You can vote as often as you like and the winner will be announced in next week's poll. Voting ends on Sunday, January 7th at 11:59 p.m. (Pacific).
Congratulations to last week's winner: Ayden Smith of Notre Dame Prep (Pennsylvania).
Here are this week's nominees:
Ayden Dodd (Perrysburg, OH) 106 – Dodd (honorable mention) captured the crown at the Brecksville Holiday Tournament with a 1-0 upset of No. 21 Jarrett Smith (Lowell, MI) in the finals.
Noah Fenner (Easton, PA) 107 – Fenner, who is unranked, won the Bethlehem Holiday Classic in dominate fashion, 9-2, over No. 23 Emilio Albanese (Emmaus, PA).
Landon Sidun (Norwin, PA) 114 – Norwin, a freshman, captured a title at the prestigious PowerAde Tournament. In the finals, No. 5 Sidun downed No. 6 Ayden Smith (Notre Dame-Green Pond, PA), 6-1. To reach the finals, Sidun upset No. 2 Davis Motyka (Wyoming Seminary, PA), 3-1.
Isaiah Quintero (El Dorado, CA) 120 – Quintero, who we have ranked No. 9 at 126, was down at 120 for the Sierra Nevada Classic and claimed the gold with a 5-1 win over Talen Eck (Thunder Ridge, ID).
Talen Eck (Thunder Ridge, ID) 120 – Eck sits in the honorable mention section of our rankings, but that will be changing after Eck shocked No. 10 Bryson Valdez (Aztec, NM) 14-5 in the Sierra Nevada semifinals. Valdez has wins over Chris Kiser (Ponca City, OK) and Hunter Taylor (Liberty, MO) in the last calendar year.
David Perez (Ponaganset, RI) 132 – Perez used two upsets at Sam Cali to secure the gold. In the semis, Perez got by Honorable Mention Pat O’Keefe (St. John Vianney, NJ), 6-2. But Perez’s biggest win came in the finals when he took out No. 18 Carson Walsh (Pope John XXIII, NJ), 3-1.
Clinton Shephard (Crown Point, IN) 138 – The unranked Shephard defeated honorable mention Kyrell Leavell (Warren Central, IN) in the finals of the Al Smith Classic.
Blasé Mele (Princeton, NJ) 138 – Mele is unranked but didn’t let that stop him from taking out No. 13 Billy DeKraker, 3-1 in overtime, to claim the 138lb title at the Sam Cali Classic.
Camden Baum (Bishop McDevitt, PA) 139 – While Baum (No. 22) was only third at PowerAde he did so by authoring two upsets. The freshman took out No. 14 Jayce Paridon (Lake Highland Prep, FL) in the quarters, 5-4, then upset No. 10 Mason Gibson (Bishop McCort, PA) in the third-place match, 3-1.
