We already profiled our top five freshman in the country, now it’s time to move onto our Sophomores.

The top five guys in this class may be the most promising group of stars. They’ve won state titles, national titles and even a world title. There’s truly not much that these young monsters haven’t conquered yet.

So let’s take a look at our ASICS Future Stars of the Sophomore class.

Gable Steveson, Apple Valley (MN): I’m not sure that there is anyone out there that can knock off this young big man who also sits atop of the 220-pound weight class. Steveson burst onto the scene as a freshman when he dismantled Jordan Wood to take over the top spot after picking up his first state title a season ago. Since then he hasn’t looked back. He’s claimed a cadet world title, a Fargo title, his second Minnesota state title and also defended his #1 ranking against Wood for a second time with a clutch win at last year’s Who’s #1. Steveson is already one of the most highly coveted big men and he still has two years left of high school.



David Carr, Massillon Perry (OH): If you look up slick in the dictionary, there very well may be a picture of Carr there. This dynamic 10th-grader held the #1 spot in the country at one point this season after knocking off Cadet World Champ Jarod Verkleeren to take home the Ironman title. He followed up his title run with a second top finish at the Beast of the East tournament where he defeated Arizona’s Quentin Hovis in the finals. His season all started with a Super 32 belt where he hit a superduck that dropped jaws. The only tournament he didn’t come out on top of was probably one of the wildest matches we have ever seen (judge for yourself here). But Carr is a force and there are plenty more titles coming his way.



Gavin Teasdale, Jefferson Morgan (PA): Teasdale began his career in the spotlight and has never left. As a Freshman he had his first high school match in The Snakepit at WNO before he went on to run the table in PA where he claimed his first state title. He also won titles at plenty of tournaments. Flash forward to this year where he started out in the same place, WNO, but this time he came out on top to maintain his #1 ranking. He went through the entire season dominating one guy after another until he was standing at the top of the podium at the state tournament, where he broke a state record for most points scored (97pts), and had his second straight undefeated season. 



Shane Griffith, Bergen Catholic (NJ): Once again we’ve got another two-time state champion in Griffith who went back-to-back this year in the single class state of New Jersey. Griffith has such a clean style. He picks his shots wisely and doesn’t put himself in danger very much, if ever. Last year he also won a Super 32 title, but was sidelined for a good chunk of the season after injuring his knee at the Beast of the East tournament. However, he recovered and took his place right back at the top of New Jersey with a dominant showing at the state tournament in Atlantic City.



Sammy Sasso, Nazareth (PA): Sasso is the only guy in the top five who doesn’t have a state title yet. His two losses at the PA state tournament are to none other than Spencer Lee (2015 state finals) and Luke Pletcher (2016 quarterfinals). However, he owns a Fargo title and a FloNational title. But Sasso is one of the best scramblers in the country. There have been so many times where he has fought off a takedown where it looked like he was at risk of giving up the points only to come out on top with a takedown of his own. He’s taken on the best competition and has never backed down from anyone. Like I said, he may not have the state titles, but there’s no question that he’s one of the best in the country.