Mid Season Dapper Dan Report

Mid Season Dapper Dan Report

Mid Season Dapper Dan ReportThe Dapper Dan is undergoing a name change. It will now be known as the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic. What won't be changing is

Dec 27, 2015 by Willie Saylor
Mid Season Dapper Dan Report
Mid Season Dapper Dan Report

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Mid Season Dapper Dan Report


The Dapper Dan is undergoing a name change. It will now be known as the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic. What won't be changing is the amazing collection of talent that pits U.S.A. senior all stars against senior all stars from Pennsylvania.

The 42nd edition of the Classic will take place on Saturday, March 26th after an undercard of Indiana vs. Western Pa. More details can be found here.

In anticipation of the event, we'll take a look at the landscape of the nation to project what match-ups we might see.


113:
Team USA - Multiple-time Fargo Champ Danny Vega, out of Arizona, looks about locked in. Ranked 3rd in the country, he just won Reno at 113. The other SR. the Dapper Dan Committee might explore is FloNationals’ Runner-Up #9-Sidney Oliver (MO) who just won the KC Stampede.

nullPhoto: John Sachs


Team PA - It will almost certainly be Gage Curry for the home team. He’s the highest ranked PA senior at #17 and has both state- and national-level credentials including a Super 32 finals.


120:
Team USA - Jack Mueller (TX) would be a no-brainer selection for the Dapper Dan Committee. He’s currently ranked #1 and is looking to become just the 10th 4-time National Prep Champion. The Virginia Cavalier recruit also has Fargo and Ironman titles. If Mueller couldn’t go for some reason, other considerations may be: #5-Sebastian Rivera (NJ), #9-Tyler Warner (OH), or #14-Devin Schroder (MI).

Team PA - Ranked #3 following his Beast of the East title, Tyshawn White is the front-runner for the Dapper nod. He has high placings both in-state and at Super 32 and is trending upward. Spencer Lee is expected back for the state tournament, but unless another PA senior drops and outplaces White, this spot should be his.


126:
Team USA - No brainer here. Undefeated in his entire in-season high school career and looking for a 4th state title in a single-class state, Nick Suriano will assuredly get the invite. If Suriano couldn’t go for some reason, we would be looking at #3-Rudy Yates (IL)

Team PA - We saw it at Super 32 and Beast of the East, but Luke Karam is the clear choice. Three-time state finalist, two-time champ, two-time beast finalist, two-time Super 32 finalist and a Fargo title. But it’s not a foregone conclusion as there is another nationally-ranked Senior in AAA in #18-Ethan McCoy.


132:
Team USA - Like 126, 132 has a wrestler in single-class state looking to go undefeated for his career with four state titles. Chad Red (IN) has also won Fargo, FloNationals, Super 32, and a four-man Who’s #1 bracket. The next man up would be #4-Taylor LaMont (UT).

nullPhoto: Josh Conklin


Team PA - Currently, the highest-ranked PA senior at 132 is Wade Cummings, who checks in at #13. But expect Luke Pletcher, who’s currently #1 at 138, to be here at the end of the year. An incredible career in PA and at FloNationals and Super 32, Pletcher is a favorite to make his fourth state final. And a Red-Pletcher match for the #1 spot might be the marquee match of the event this year.


138:
Team USA - With a national resume from here to eternity, Mitchell McKee (MN) is the highest ranked U.S. senior at #5. Other candidates would be #7-Hunter Ladnier (OH), #8-Hunter Marko (WI), #9-Kanen Storr (MI), and #10-Brent Moore (OH).

Team PA - Luke Pletcher is currently ranked #1 in the country. But he’s likely to drop to 132 at the end of the year, making fellow PA stud Mickey Phillippi the likely selection for the Dapper Dan main card. Phillippi is a tw0-time state champ, placing 3rd as a soph. The other PA ranked Sr. is #13-Evan Fidelibus who was 3rd last year in Hershey and just won Reno.


145:
Team USA - It’s an odd year for 145’s nationally. Most of the Top 10 are underclassmen. The highest ranked senior is California’s #4-Zander Wick, a state runner-up who was 5th at Fargo and 3rd at Ironman. The next highest-ranked Senior is #10-Matt Park (ID).

Team PA - A year after an embarrassment of riches at 145, PA finds itself without a highly ranked senior. The likely choice, should he repeat as state champion, would be #11-Mike Carr. The only other apparent option at this point would be if a 152lber dropped for the post season: perhaps #16-Jimmy Saylor or HM-Nick Monico.


152:
Team USA -
On one hand, this choice is easy. On the other, you never quite know what the Dapper Dan Committee will do with Wyoming Seminary athletes. Sometimes they take them on PA, sometimes on USA. Mason Manville, the current #1 who has won every major national event, is an obvious choice. The next man up would be #3-Isaiah White (IL) who has been inactive for much of the year.

nullPhoto: John Sachs


Team PA - Also a clear choice here as Hayden Hidlay has established himself as one of America’s elite talents. And we’d all like to see Manville-Hidlay Chapter 5. PA has another ranked Sr. in #16-Jimmy Saylor who just won Reno. But an x-factor is Jake Wentzel, a returning AA state champ that’s ranked 6th at 160.


160:
Team USA -
Clear choice here with #1-Alex Marinelli (OH), a four-time Ironman finalist and three-time state champ. Other quality nominees would be #3-Griffin Parriott (MN), #5-Thomas Bullard (GA), and #7-Kyle Bierdumpfel (NJ).

Team PA - This is a tricky situation. Every year there are a couple nebulous weights in PA - ones that you have to take a wait-and-see approach, and ones that often don’t get decided until Saturday night in Hershey. Here’s the deal - Super 32 Champ #4-Kaleb Young would create a sensational match-up with Marinelli as both are headed to the Iowa Hawkeyes next year. And they ARE the top-ranked options for both Team USA and Team PA. But Wentzel already has a state title. Adding a second might make him too hard to pass up. Adding to complications - 1) does Wentzel go to 152 and 2) because Wentzel isn’t AA, he won’t see Young in Hershey.


170:
Team USA
- see: Hall, Mark.

Team PA - PA has some pretty darn good 170’s. Amazingly, seven PA guys were ranked at this weight. But with former #2-Chris Weiler out for the year, the only elite SR left is Ironman champ Austin Bell. A fine pick at #4 in the country if he can stave off #20-Noah Stewart.


182:
Team USA -
Nick Reenan is the pound-for-pound #3 guy in the country for a reason - he’s won just about everything this year at a variety of weights. He’s clearly the choice for USA. In other years, he might be considered for PA, but...

Team PA - Dakota Geer went from a #1 that, in the minds of many was just the top ranked guy after last year’s seniors were taken out, to ‘that kid’s legit’. He won FloNationals, beat Breske at WNO, and gave Reenan everything he could handle in Super 32 finals. Beast champ, #9-Kyle Gentile, is also a contender.


195:
Team USA -
The selection here is a little in flux. I have Sammy Colbray #1 and he owns a resume that the Committee will love - chock full of state titles and Fargo finals appearance. But there are several other strong nominees: #2-Eric Schultz (IL), #3-Keegan Moore (MN) and #4-Ben Darmstadt (OH).

Team PA - The top-ranked PA Sr. is Lehigh commit John Jakobsen at #9. He was a state-runner-up last year to Dapper Dan participant Kellan Stout.
PA has a couple other HM types that will be in the mix in Greg Harvey and Trey Hartsock. But if Jakobsen doesn’t win the state title, the committee might also opt for #8-Christian Dietrich of Wyoming Seminary.


220:
Team USA -
At this time, 220 for the U.S. look like a two-horse race between #2-Matt Correnti (NJ) who just beat Jordan Wood in Beast finals, and #4-Matt Stencel, who Wood beat in Super 32 finals. A tough call because Stencel’s resume edges Correnti’s on paper.

Team PA - It’s ultra rare to make four state finals in PA. Rarer yet to do it in the big school division in the upper weights. Jordan Wood, a Cadet World Silver medalist, will attempt to do that this year.


285:
Team USA -
You’re likely looking at #1-Osa Odighizuwa (OR), a two-time Fargo Champ committed to UCLA as a defensive end, or #3-Shawn Streck from Indiana. Either would be well-deserving. However, because Indiana is in the undercard, I think they go with Odighizuwa and keep Streck on his state team.

nullPhoto: John Sachs


Team PA - Although there is a group of solid seniors at this weight for PA, none have emerged as elite, and the picture is ultra muddy. March will certainly decide this. Look for #20-Andrew Gunning, Tommy Killoran, Jake Beistel, and others to emerge as ‘the guy’.