Journeymen Fall Classic

Seven Matches We Want To See At The 2016 Journeymen Fall Classic

Seven Matches We Want To See At The 2016 Journeymen Fall Classic

The Journeymen Fall Classic wrestling tournament is set to begin Saturday, October 1st and wrap up Sunday, October 2nd.

Sep 28, 2016 by Wrestling Nomad
Seven Matches We Want To See At The 2016 Journeymen Fall Classic
Are you guys ready for folkstyle season? Because there's no easing back in this weekend, we're jumping right in the deep end straight away. We know you love fantasy matchups, but all of these might actually happen this weekend. Here are seven matches to salivate over on Sunday morning at the sixth annual Journeyman Fall Classic.

The coverage starts at 8 AM ET with the OverFlo and middle school portions of the event, and everything is LIVE on FloWrestling.

106: Dylan Ragusin vs. Anthony Clark

The reason this one intrigues me is that these two were highly regarded in middle school and are now making their transition into high school, where neither start the year ranked. Ragusin has a very good passby and is an excellent hand fighter. His ability to go upper body should scare most 106s if he can fit the weight, as he was third in Akron and won Fargo in Greco. Against a guy like Clark though, Ragusin will need to turn those upper-body ties and two-on-ones into leg attacks, as you generally have to outshoot Clark to beat him.

113: No. 6 Travis Ford-Melton vs. No. 13 Joey Melendez

Here we have a theoretical matchup of the potential Illinois 2A and 3A state champs. Ford-Melton is one of the smoothest wrestlers you'll see from neutral. He doesn't get flustered by ties, head taps, or being under guys in a front head and arm. The variety of attacks he uses makes it very difficult to design a game plan to beat him.

Melendez takes out Ryan Chauvin at Dvorak.


125: No. 3 Real Woods vs. No. 7 Joey Silva

These two both won the Dvorak last year, but Silva was at 126 while Woods was down at 113. Something's got to give between these two. They won essentially every major folkstyle tourney they were in last season. If Silva can keep the match on his feet, Woods is going to have a difficult time, as it negates his ability to wear on the Florida state champion.

Real Woods dominates in the Ironman semis.


Joey Silva scrambles his way to a Super 32 belt.


135: No. 3 Jason Renteria vs. No. 7 Brian Courtney

This one's going to be fun. Two guys who are in the top 30 on the senior big board. Courtney has uncanny scrambling ability, even for a PA kid. The question with that is, which sort of Renteria will show up in New York? One who is interested in banging on the head, pulling elbows and trying to slow down the pace? Or one who just goes slick and hopes to lull Courtney into a sense that he can out-scramble Renteria? If I were Renteria, I would go with the former and see how Courtney reacts. Man, this is going to be a fun one.  

160: No. 8 Kyle Cochran vs. No. 12 Trent Hidlay

I'll let my man Mike Mal handle this one.



182: No. 3 Louie Deprez vs. No. 8 Anthony Falbo

This will be one of the few opportunities this year for these young men to show America just how tough they are. For Falbo, his double leg tends to be more effective than his single leg, even though it appears to be his secondary shot. Deprez will be looking to stay out of whizzers, either by finishing quickly or re-directing to get Falbo on the mat, which is where Deprez shines. The two-time New York state champ is a tough leg rider and can go bottom leg turk cross body ride or side lace. As is the case in many high level folk matches, mat wrestling will likely determine this one.

285: No. 9 Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. No. 10 Kayne Hutchison

Let's show the big boys some love! Abdul-Malik is one of those classic heavyweights who gets stereotyped as an athletic freak who overwhelms kids. While his athleticism is unquestionable, Abdul-Malik is a high-level technician. He's now at Wyoming Seminary, the same school that has had a guy in the National Prep finals for eight straight years. It's pretty scary to think his smooth chain wrestling will become even more polished and fierce in that room. Hutchison has a  solid trajectory, as someone who has placed in both styles in Akron and Fargo each of the past two years. His coaches may want to keep this as close to a freestyle or Greco match as possible to negate Abdul-Malik's technical acumen.