National top 25 high school wrestling rankings for every weight class (2/2/2024)
We were putting the finishing touches on the rankings update when we paused to watch the big dual meet in New Jersey with No. 9 Delbarton visiting No. 2 Blair Academy (team rankings by Mat Scouts). Blair won the dual 30-25 when Carter Neves registered a teach-fall at heavyweight over Connor Martin, 19-4.
Going into the final bout, it was tied at 25 all. The largest lead of the night was enjoyed by Blair, twice, the first after Paul Ognissanti posted a major decision over C. J. Betz at 157 to put his squad out front by six, 19-13.
Alessio Perentin decked Barry Norman at 165 to draw the score even at 19. Blair would win two in a row by William Henckel (175) and Peter Snyder (190) for another six-point lead, which was erased by another Delbarton fall, this one from Vincent Lee over Cale Mielnik at 215.
There were no upsets in the dual, the only real surprise was the undersized PJ Terranova giving Blair’s Mikey Batista all he could handle at 113 before falling 6-5. The announcers were heard saying Henckel weighed in at 174, which would push him to 175 for the National Prep Tournament, because his descension plan will not allow that big of a drop by February 17th (the day of Blair’s NP qualifier).
That brings us to this point; we are keeping an eye on wrestlers who have been wrestling up a weight class from earlier in the season. Once they enter the state tournament series and are locked into a weight, we will move them as needed.
As the regular season winds down, we are tightening up the rankings. We removed more inactive wrestlers and moved some guys to the weights they have been at the most. Anyone removed for inactivity will be added back in if/when they resurface.
Because of weight class movement we have a new No. 1 at 165 in Joe Sealey (Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania). Angelo Ferrari (Melissa, Texas) takes over the top spot at 175, where he has been competing since Ironman.
Henckel’s likely move to 175 pushes National Prep Champ Peter Snyder to 190, where he slots in ahead of Robert Kucharczk (Lake Highland Prep, Florida). Snyder owns two wins over Kucharczk from the Journeymen Fall Classic and the North East Regional in the Junior Freestyle division.
The guess work about weights is coming to an end for some states this week and has already happened in Indiana where they are at the regional portion of their postseason series. The Semi-States are next week, followed by the state tournament for all the marbles as Indiana is a single class state, which means they crown one state champion per weight.
Georgia and Illinois begin their state series, which consists of three levels for both, this weekend. Georgia has seven divisions and Illinois is a three-class state.
Iowa and Tennessee are having their state dual meet tournament this weekend. Ohio is having regional dual meets, while Pennsylvania is in the district stage.
Before we get to the rankings, we’d be remiss if we didn’t include the box score from the Blair/Delbarton match.
Blair Academy 30, Delbarton 25
106-Cameron Sontz (D) dec Vincenzo Anello, 1-0
113-Michael Batista (BA) dec PJ Terranova, 6-5
120-Leo DeLuca (BA) pinned Andrew Matter, :54
126-Ryan DeGeorge (D) maj-dec Ryan Meier, 13-2
132-Matty Lopes (BA) dec Chase Quenault, 3-0
138-Jayden James (D) dec Billy DeKraker, 5-2
144-Logan Rozynski (BA) dec Trevor Jones, 1-0
150-Gabe Logan (D) dec Joseph Schinder, 6-5
157-Paul Ognissanti (BA) maj-dec C.J. Betz, 10-1
165-Alessio Perentin (D) pinned Barry Norman, 3:13
175-William Henckel (BA) dec Louis Cerchio, 3-2
190-Peter Snyder (BA) dec Elbrus Majagah, 3-2
215-Vincent Lee (D) pinned Cael Mielnik, :37
285-Carter Neves (BA) tech-fall Connor Martin, 19-4
SBLive Sports National High School Wrestling Rankings
