National high school wrestling news, notes, updates (2/5/2024)
It's the post-season on the wrestling mats and champions, both team and individual, are being crowned across the nation. Here are some highlights from four major events which took place over the weekend.
Iowa State Dual Meet champs are crowned in Coralville
Iowa’s three class dual meet state tournament took place over the weekend with Don Bosco taking the 1A glory, Creston taking the top spot in 2A, and Southeast Polk becoming the kings of 3A wrestling.
Don Bosco won their title with relative ease, dropping Alburnett 45-31 in the finals, along with Wilton 45-20 and Jessup 44-18, in the earlier rounds.
Going undefeated with three pins for Don Bosco were Kyler Knaack (157) and Kyler Sallis (215/285). Others posting 3-0 records were Hayden Schwab (106/113, 2 falls and a forfeit), Dawson Youngblut (132, a fall and tech-fall), Ethan Christoffer (138/144, 2 pins), Andrew Kimball (165, 2 falls and a tech), and Landon Fernandez (190, with one pin).
Don Bosco defeated Alburnett, 45-31, to capture the 2024 Iowa Class 1A Wrestling State Dual Meet championship, over the weekend at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.
Kaiden Knack was 2-0 at 175 and Jaxon Larson went 2-0 at 126.
Southeast Polk had an even easier time securing its title with a 48-6 stomping of Bettendorf in the finals preceded by a 53-18 win over Fort Dodge and a similar one-sided beating of Waverly-Shell Rock, 54-24.
106lber Nico DeSalvo was the only Polk grappler to go 3-0 with all pins. Also going 3-0 were Matt Prine (113, 2 pins), Carter Pearson (120, 2 pins), Justis Jesuroga (132, 2 pins), and Brent Slade (190, forfeit, major decision, and fall).
Abe Bushong was 2-0 at 157 with two falls. At 150 Logan Trenary posted a fall and tech-fall. Garrett Kingery was 2-0 at 144 with one pin. Wil Oberbroeckling (138) and Cooper Martinson (285) were 2-1 with both collecting falls in their victories. Maximus Riggins was 1-1 at 126.
Creston secured the 2A crown after surviving a nailbiter with Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 36-33. To reach the final Creston beat Mount Vernon, 44-24, and Independence, 35-26.
A look at the Iowa state dual meet rankings by IA Wrestle heading into states showed the 1A and 3A finals featured the top two teams from each class, with the No. 1 team winning both.
The top-rated team in 2A, Osage, fell to the No. 10 squad Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 36-33, in the semis. Creston, who would elevate to the top spot came in ranked 8th in the 2A division. Creston downed No. 2 Mount Vernon in its semifinal.
Pearson shined for Southeast Polk taking out two nationally ranked wrestlers in Bettendorf’s Jake Knight, overtime pin 6:49, and Fort Dodge’s Dru Ayala, 5-0. All three appear in the honorable mention section at 120 with Pearson ahead of Ayala, but behind Knight.
Waverly-Shell Rock’s Caden Wetherell, who is unranked nationally, upset No. 21 Martinson, 6-3.
3A 1st Place Match
Southeast Polk defeated Bettendorf 48-16
215 - Brayden Koester (Bettendorf) over Holden Hansen (Southeast Polk) Dec 3-1
285 - Cooper Martinson (Southeast Polk) over Aiden Lee (Bettendorf) Fall 1:23
106 - Nico DeSalvo (Southeast Polk) over Hudson Fleming (Bettendorf) Fall 2:29
113 - Mat Prine (Southeast Polk) over Garrett Evans (Bettendorf) Dec 5-0
120 - Carter Pearson (Southeast Polk) over Jake Knight (Bettendorf) Fall 6:49
126 - Timothy Koester (Bettendorf) over Maximus Riggins (Southeast Polk) Maj 10-1
132 - Justis Jesuroga (Southeast Polk) over Jayce Luna (Bettendorf) Dec 5-2
138 - Cody Trevino (Bettendorf) over Wil Oberbroeckling (Southeast Polk) Dec 5-4
144 - Garrett Kingery (Southeast Polk) over Duncan Harn (Bettendorf) Dec 5-1
150 - Logan Trenary (Southeast Polk) over Javen Dean (Bettendorf) Fall 1:44
157 - Abe Bushong (Southeast Polk) over Kendell Kerr (Bettendorf) Fall 1:35
165 - Lincoln Jipp (Bettendorf) over Mazin Arafa (Southeast Polk) Fall 4:53
175 - Antonio Loving (Southeast Polk) over Cooper Agosta (Bettendorf) Dec 10-7
190 - Brent Slade (Southeast Polk) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
2A 1st Place Match
Creston defeated Sergeant Bluff-Luton 36-33
215 - Quinten Fuller (Creston) over Ayden Dather (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) Fall 2:46
285 - Max Chapman (Creston) over Mario Rangel (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) Fall 0:30
106 - Drake Howard (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) over Kylen Parsons (Creston) Fall 1:58
113 - Jayce Curry (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) over Lane Travis (Creston) Dec 8-3
120 - Christian Ahrens (Creston) over Cam Keokenchahn (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) Fall 1:32
126 - Ethan Skoglund (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) over Brodrick Phelps (Creston) Fall 1:30
132 - Lincoln Keeler (Creston) over Cassidy Craig (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) Fall 3:43
138 - Brandon Briley (Creston) over Dalton VanWyhe (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) Dec 9-6
144 - Austin Evans (Creston) over Elijah Johnson (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) Fall 3:27
150 - Ayden McRoberts (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) over Jackson Pettegrew (Creston) Dec 9-2
157 - Bo Koedam (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) over Milo Staver (Creston) Fall 0:42
165 - Zayvion Ellington (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) over William Bolinger (Creston) Dec 11-4
175 - Kaleb Pendergast (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) over Gunner Martwick (Creston) Fall 5:48
190 - Jagger Luther (Creston) over Will Ryan (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) Dec 7-1
1A 1st Place Match
Don Bosco defeated Alburnett 45-31
215 - Kyler Sallis (Don Bosco) over Sevy Redel (Alburnett) Fall 1:09
285 - Emmitt Fleshman (Alburnett) over Hudson Ortner (Don Bosco) Fall 0:55
106 - Atlee Dewitt (Alburnett) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
113 - Hayden Schwab (Don Bosco) over Clayton Strang (Alburnett) Fall 1:08
120 - Rowdy Neighbor (Alburnett) over Blake Irvine (Don Bosco) Fall 5:15
126 - Tayten Coufal (Alburnett) over Jaxon Larson (Don Bosco) Dec 3-1
132 - Dawson Youngblut (Don Bosco) over Cooper Franklin (Alburnett) Fall 2:49
138 - Preston Klostermann (Alburnett) over Aiden Hellman (Don Bosco) Fall 1:16
144 - Ethan Christoffer (Don Bosco) over Dawson Becker (Alburnett) Fall 5:31
150 - Reece Klostermann (Alburnett) over Ty Christensen (Don Bosco) Maj 12-0
157 - Kyler Knaack (Don Bosco) over Brady Hospodarsky (Alburnett) Fall 0:23
165 - Andrew Kimball (Don Bosco) over Shayden Washburn (Alburnett) Fall 2:43
175 - Kaiden Knaack (Don Bosco) over Hunter Sauer (Alburnett) Dec 10-3
190 - Landon Fernandez (Don Bosco) over Luke Schneider (Alburnett) Fall 1:37
University and Point Pleasant claim West Virginia Dual State Titles
The West Virginia State Fairgrounds in Lewisburg hosted the dual meet state competition this weekend with University, the top-ranked team in the AAA Division, beating No. 2 Parkersburg South, 40-30, in their final.
On the AA/A side, No. 2 Point Pleasant downed No. 1 Fairmont Senior, 42-35. West Virginia team rankings are from WVMat.com.
University also took out No. 6 Ripley 56-12 and Greenbrier East, 76-6. Point Plesant’s other victims were No. 3 Oak Glen 47-33 and No. 8 Roane County, 53-24.
Posting unblemished records at the duals for University were Pepper Martin (106, a pin and two 15-2 major decisions), Kaiden Newman with three falls at 113, Colton Gillespie (126, one pin), Carter Pauley (132 with three pins), and three falls each from Luca Felix (165) and Brock Kehler (285).
Suffering one defeat and going 2-1 were, Conner Graser (138), Max Vitale (144), Rider Ludrosky (150), Jay McKenzie (157), and Emerson Murphy (175).
Point Pleasant’s undefeated 3-0 grapplers were Carter Price (113, fall, tech fall, and forfeit), Nathan Wood (126, 2 pins), Bobby Minor (132, 3 falls), also with three falls was Gunner Andrick (138/144), Josh Woyan (175, 2 pins and a forfeit), and heavyweight Kolton Weaver (2 pins). Mars Coste was 2-0 at 144.
Connor Blessing (150/157) and Blake Dauch (157/165) were 2-1 with each picking up one fall.
Council Rock South and Faith Christian Academy win District 1 duals in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania state dual meet tournament commences on Monday in various locales around the state with the preliminary rounds. The winners of those matches move on to Hershey for the big show starting on Thursday and ending on Saturday.
This weekend was for District Duals action and we’re focusing on the highly competitive, on the AAA side, District 1 Duals at Upper Dublin High School.
Council Rock South came out victorious but had two close matches with Pennridge in the finals, 26-25, and Quakertown in the semis, 33-31. Owen J Roberts fell 49-15 in their opening match.
Four wrestlers went unscathed for South, Eddie Alvarez (107, tech and a major), Ajay Bhatt (139, tech and 2 majors), Gavin Cole (160/172, 2 pins), and Bekhruz Sadriddinov (172/189, one pin).
Compiling 2-1 records over the slate were Connor Lenahan (114), Luke Reitter (121/127), Christian Zimmerman (121/127), Pat Woloshyn (133), and Ben Brillhart (145). Scott Linkewich was 1-1 at 189.
Sadriddinov is an honorable mention wrestler in our 175-pound rankings as is Owen J Roberts’ Sam Gautreau. Sadriddinov came out ahead of Gautreau, 3-0, with both up at 189. At 127, Quinn McBride beat Reitter, 6-4 in overtime. A match between two ranked 106-pounders occurred at 113 with No. 11 Colby Martinelli (Pennridge) handing No. 23 Alexander Diaz (Council Rock North) a 5-4 loss.
Faith Christian Academy wrestled just one match as there are only two AA teams in the district, and they slaughtered the other, Bristol, 66-12, with Bristol’s only point coming on forfeits.
AA State Bracket:
https://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/2024_TW_2A_Brax.pdf
AAA State Bracket:
https://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/2024_TW_3A_Brax.pdf
Brownsburg claims eight golds at Mooresville Regional
The Indiana postseason is down two its final two stages after this weekend’s regionals. Semi-states are this weekend coming up, followed by the state tournament. Brownsburg and Center Grove accounted for all the championships at the Mooresville Region except one, which was won by Monrovia’s Royce Malone at 106 with a 7-0 win over Mason Goelz (Avon).
The nationally ranked champs for Brownsburg were No. 11 Revin Dickman at 113 with yet another encounter with Avon’s honorable mention, Nathan Rioux, winning this one, 1-0. No. 14 Jake Hockaday (132) 9-3 over Eddie Goss (Center Grove). Honorable mention Brady Ison (138) also won a 9-3 decision, his being over Avon’s Seth Syra, and Gunner Henry (HM at 190) won a tight bout with Kaden McConnell (Center Grove), 3-2.
Winning the other four titles for the Bulldogs were Braylon Reynolds (126), Mason Day (157), Jesse Derringer (165), and Caden Brewer (215).
The top four advance to the semi-state, which means twelve total Brownsburg wrestlers are moving on as Parker Reynolds (144) and Tommy Gibbs (150) were second, while Eli Ogle (106) and Preston Haines (120) finished third.
Center Grove’s nationally ranked No. 19 Wyatt Krejsa teched Gibbs, 18-3, at 150. Joining Krejsa on the victory podium were Charlie LaRocca (120), Reese Courtney (144), Noah Clouser (175), and Nate Johnson (285).
Blossom Valley Athletic League belongs to Gilroy
Conference and League tournament action got underway in California this past weekend. Gilroy won every weight class but one at their league tournament at Gunderson High School in San Jose.
The most notable occurrence here was Daniel Zepeda moving down another weight class to 138 where he decked William Glen’s Mark Bonenberger in the first period, 1:38. Zepeda will ascend to the No. 1 ranking in the nation as he beat the current No. 1 Bo Bassett (Bishop McCort, Pennsylvania) at FloWrestling’s Who’s No. 1 in the fall.
Zepeda spent some time at 150 to begin the season and recently dropped to 144lbs, where he held the No. 3 ranking in the country.
Other ranked wrestlers claiming gold were No. 8 Moses Mendoza (120), No. 3 Isaiah Cortez (126), No. 17 Elijah Cortez (132), and No. 1 Cody Merrill (285). Elijah Cortez used a tech-fall for his glory, pins were registered by the rest.
Three more Gilroy grapplers put pins on the bracket in the finals, Moses Mirabal (144, who will be back in the rankings now that Zepeda is at 138), Kaleo Garcia (150), and Travis Grace (157). Juan Carlos Puga (190) won by default over Logan Corona (Christopher).
Comfortable wins were achieved by Dominic Bozniac at 113 with a 9-3 decision of Alijah Guzman (Silver Creek) and Brian Haran, 12-5, at 175 over Adrian Benjamin (Evergreen Valley). Jose Guerreo’s 6-2 win over Izak Nguyen (Overfelt) at 215 was a little close, but the tightest final was endured by Gavin Pongsai at 106 with a 6-5 win against Dylan Nguyen (Silver Creek).
Leigh’s Lucas Owczarczak’s pin of Robert Rael (Live Oak) at 165 in 1:50 was the only non-Gilroy win in the finals. Gilroy’s Anthony Cazarez was fifth at this weight.
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