Over the past couple weeks, a lot has happened in the high school ranks.

Before the Holiday weekend, we had some of the biggest events of the season with the Hall of Fame Duals, Beast of the East, Reno Tournament of Champions and the Carnahan Memorial Tournament.

First came Beast of the East, Reno and Carnahan, featuring some of the country’s best teams and wrestlers. The following weekend, many of the top teams competed at the HOF Duals. 

Beast of the East

At tournaments like Beast of the East, the best wrestlers tend to rise to the top and this year’s installment was no different. In the team race, Blair Academy ran away with the title with 282.5 points and five individual champs. Faith Christian Academy finished second with 190.5 points, while Malvern Prep scored 189.5 for third.

Top-ranked wrestlers Faith Christian Academy’s Joe Bachman (106 pounds), Blair’s Leo DeLuca (120), St. John Vianney’s Anthony Knox (126) and St. Joseph Regional’s Ryan Burton (175) all won titles. DeLuca beat Aaron Seidel 5-2 in the final – Seidel was #1 at 113 before moving up to 120, where he’s now #6.

Other top wrestlers who added Beast of the East titles to their resumes were Ayden Smith of Notre Dame (#4 at 113), Jack Consiglio of Malvern Prep (#2 at 144), Kollin Rath of Bethlehem Catholic (#4 at 150), William Henckel of Blair (#6 at 165), Harvey Ludington of Brick Memorial (#5 at 190) and Carter Neves of Blair (#5 at 285). 

Rath used an escape just before time expired in the third period and then rode out Quakertown's Collin Gaj in a tiebreaker to win a 2-1 decision in a battle of returning Pennsylvania state champions. 

There were also a few guys making a name for themselves with titles — Matty Lopes of Blair (132) and Jayden James of Delbarton (138) both jumped into the top 10 at their weights, while James Miller of Salesianum jumped into the rankings at #17 with a title at 215. At 165, Ryan Garvick made it to the finals, jumping him to #14 in the country now. 

Reno Tournament of Champions

Meanwhile, in Nevada, St. John Bosco won the Reno Tournament of Champions team title with 268 points. Gilroy finished second with 220 points, and Sunyside finished third with 204.5. St. John Bosco and Gilroy each had three individual champs, while Sunnyside had one.

Leading the charge were a trio of Cornell commits in Isaiah and Elijah Cortez and Sergio Vega. Isaiah, ranked #6 in the country won at 126 pounds, while the #15-ranked Elijah won at 132. Ranked #2 in the country at 138, Vega won a title as well. 

All ranked #7 in the country at their weight, St. John Bosco’s three champs were Grigor Cholakyan (157), Joseph Antonio (165) and Nicholas Sahakian (285). 

Going from unranked to ranked with championships at Reno were Jason Mara and Thomas Sandoval. Now ranked #10, Mara won at 150 pounds, while Sandoval is now #12 after winning at 190. 

Carnahan Memorial Invitational

In Indiana, there was a tight team race at the Carnahan Memorial Invite between Brownsburg and Bishop McCort. Despite only having two champs to Bishop McCort’s five, Brownsburg powered its way to a team title behind a whopping 12 total placers. Brownsburg scored 201 points to win, while Bishop McCort scored 198 for second. Mt. Carmel finished third with 171.5 points.

Brownsburg’s two champs were #8 Revin Dickman at 113 pounds and #14 Jake Hockaday at 132. Brownsburg also had finalists at 215 in Caden Brewer and 285 in Max Forrester. 

Bishop McCort had individual title winners #1 Bo Bassett (138), #3 Jax Forrest (126), #5 Melvin Miller (150), Lincoln Sledzianowski (120) and Devon Magro (157). Bassett continued his assault upon the high school field with three pins and a tech fall, while Forrest beat #5 Seth Mendoza 8-5 in a much-anticipated final matchup.

For Mt. Carmel, #3 Colin Kelly was its lone champion at 175 pounds, winning his final matchup against Gunner Cramblett via 16-8 major decision. 

National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dual Classic

This past weekend, some of the best high school teams in the country met at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dual Classic in Stillwater, Oklahoma. 

Winning their pools on the first day were Wyoming Seminary, Delbarton, Edmond North and Poway, setting them up in the Gold Pool to battle it out for the team title on Day 2. In the first round, Wyoming Seminary downed Delbarton 39-21 behind three pins, a tech and a major. Edmond North beat Poway 25-24 on criteria to advance to the championship dual.

In the final, Wyoming Seminary won the first five matches, including a 21-6 tech by #2 Luke Lilledahl, to jump out to a 19-0 lead, but Edmond North responded with five straight wins of its own to grab a 25-19 lead, powered by a pin by Joseph Jeter at 150 pounds. Wyoming Sem answered with three wins, including a pin by #8 Jake Dailey at 190, to go up 31-25. After a Wyoming Sem forfeit at 285, the score was tied at 31-31. Using the criteria of matches won, Wyoming Sem won the razor-thin dual 32-31.

Poway beat Delbarton 42-23 for third place, while Buchanan High School took fifth by beating Massillon Perry High School 28-22.

Powerade Wrestling Tournament this weekend

This Friday marks the start of the 57th annual Powerade Wrestling Tournament and the field is loaded with top teams like Wyoming Seminary, Bergen Catholic, Bishop McCort, Notre Dame, Malvern Prep, Delbarton and Lake Highland Prep. With 70 teams competing, it’s sure to shake things up in the high school rankings.

The tournament seeds came out Tuesday and each weight class features some of the top guys in the country.

At 114, the bracket will include #1 Paul Kenny, #3 Davis Motyka and #4 Ayden Smith. Both seniors, Motyka and Smith could get their first crack at U17 World Champion Kenny who is up from 106. 

There will be four Top-10 wrestlers at 121 — #3 Nathan Desmond, #8 Karson Brown, #9 Dan Jones and #10 Ethan Rivera. At 138, top-ranked Bassett could see #4 Maddox Shaw in the semis before a potential showdown with #6 Luke Simcox or #10 Jayden James in the final.

There’s a potential 1 vs. 2 matchup at 145 where #1 Pierson Manville and #2 Jack Consiglio could meet in the final. At 152, #3 Vince Bouzakis and #6 (at 157) Matthew Henrich could meet in one semifinal while #5 Melvin Miller and #7 Jaxon Joy could meet in the other.

Another weight where we could see a 1 vs. 2 matchup is at 172 where #1 Ryan Burton and #2 Gage Wright are the top two seeds. Burton defeated Wright 5-4 in the Beast of the East semifinals. #7 Dominic Federici and #8 Louie Cerchio will also be in the field.

At 215, #3 Jude Correa is the top seed and could meet #4 Rune Lawrence in the final. 

With 58 total ranked wrestlers in the tournament, there’s a lot to look forward to this weekend in Cannonsburg, Penn.