Note: This story has been updated to reflect correct results from the Pennsylvania’s Independent Schools State Championships.

Last weekend was packed with state tournaments all around the country. With more than 20 states holding their meets, there was a lot to unpack, but we’ve put together some of the most notable nuggets from the last weekend.

On top of this weekend’s results, this coming weekend we’ll see 20 more states hosting their state championships as well as the National Prep Wrestling Championships in Pennsylvania.

There were a number of teams and individuals that made history and capped impressive careers before taking their talents to the NCAA this next fall. Many others are laying the foundation for historic runs.

Historic State Tournament in Iowa

Of all the state tournaments this past week, Iowa’s may have been the most chaotic and exciting.

In Class 3A, Southeast Polk won its sixth state team title with 221.5 points, the second most points in tournament history. Southeast Polk outpaced second-place team Bettendorf (160 points) by more than 60 points.

On the individual level in 3A, a pair of three-time state champs fell short of their bid for a fourth. Max Magayna of Waterloo East fell in the semis at 175 pounds to Carlisle’s Asa Hemsted – after leading 5-0 in the third, Magayna gave a takedown and two turns to fall 7-5. The other four-time bid dashed was when Carter Freeman of Waukee Northwest fell to Koy Davidson 6-1 in overtime in the finals at 138 pounds. 

In the first 99 years of the Iowa state tournament, only one time did a three-timer lose going for their fourth state title. Since 2020, it’s happened four times – Magayna, Freeman, Adam Allard and Robert Avila. The wild thing is that Briar Reisz, a four-time finalist, lost to three of those four before they all lost their bid to be four-timers.

In 2A, Osage High School won the team title with 128.5 points with Mount Vernon finishing second with 110. The individual story here was that another bid to be a four-time champ was dashed when Carson Doolittle of Webster City beat two-time champ Jace Hedeman, a junior, in overtime. After scoring a last-second escape in a 1-0 match, things went to sudden-victory where Doolittle scrambled for a takedown and the win. 

The team champ in 1A was Don Bosco, winning its sixth straight – becoming the first Iowa high school to win six traditional state championships in a row. 

As far as an individual standout, there was Dreshaun Ross of Fort Dodge who pinned his way through the 3A tournament at 215 in just 6:39. In the finals, he spent just 11 seconds on his feet while racking up three takedowns before scoring a first-period pin. 

Pair of Four-Timers in Illinois

In Illinois, where they don’t keep a team score, a pair of wrestlers stood out above the rest as they finished off impressive high school careers.

Ranked #1 at 132 pounds, Ben Davino of St. Charles won his fourth state title with a perfect 50-0 record on the year. A champ at Fargo, Who’s Number One, Super 32 and Ironman, Davino will be at Ohio State next year.

Also winning his fourth was #1 Dillan Johnson of Joliet Catholic at heavyweight. With a 143-1 record on his career, Johnson has signed to play football for Wisconsin.

At 106, #7 Caleb Noble beat #6 Rocco Cassioppi 6-5 in the state final, while #5 Dominic Munaretto fell to Nicholas Garcia 4-2 in the 113-pound final. 

One wrestler who will now have a chance at a fourth state title next year will be Mt. Carmel’s Seth Mendoza, ranked #5 at 126. He finished the year 42-2 and won his third state title as a junior. Also for Mt. Carmel, #3 Colin Kelly won a title at 175. 

The Best of the Rest

In Pennsylvania’s Independent Schools State Championships, Wyoming Seminary (355.5 points) beat Malvern Prep (303.5) for the team title. 

Wyoming Seminary had 14 finalists and 10 champions, including #2 Luke Lilledahl at 126, #3 Joe Sealey at 165, and #2 Jude Correa at 215.

Malvern Prep was led by #7 Nick O’Neill who won at 132 as well Jack Consiglio at 144. 

In Arizona, Sunnyside won a seventh-straight D1 team title with 312 points – 13 total placers and eight champs. Led by #6 Sergio Vega’s title at 144 pounds, Sunnyside also had Carlos Stanton win a title at 150.

Out of Tuscon, top-ranked pound-for-pound girl’s wrestler Audrey Jimenez won a state title in the boys division at 106 pounds. A 2023 Final X participant, Jimenez really made a statement here and deserves a shout-out.

In Indiana’s single-class state tournament, Brownsburg won narrowly with 124.5 points, beating Center Grove’s 121.5. Crown Point was also right there with 121 points, finishing third. Brownsburg was led by #11 Revin Dickman, a sophomore who just won his second state title at 113 pounds, and #18 Jake Hockaday, a junior who won his third title at 132. Both are on track to be four-timers.

In Colorado’s Class 5A, its biggest class, Pomona High School won its sixth-straight team title with 250 points. Ponderosa finished second with 215.5 points. Despite having just one individual champ (Ignacio Villasenor at 113) to Ponderosa’s four, Pomona’s depth won out as they had five runner-ups. Ponderosa was led by #4 Tyler Eise at 175 pounds who won his second title as a junior.

In Nebraska, Millard South won another title in Class A, the biggest class in the state. In Class B, Waverly won its first team title in school history.  

Individually, Tyson Terry and Kyler Lauridsen won their third state titles as juniors, giving them the chance to be four-timers next year. A Nebraska football commit, Terry is undefeated in his career for Omaha North at heavyweight, while Lauridsen (55-0 this year at 150) is the younger brother of future Husker Kael Lauridsen, a four-time state champ for Bennington. 

Two sophomores won their second titles in Nebraska and are on track for four in Omaha Skutt’s Tyler Harrill and Wilber-Clatonia’s Zaiyahn Ornelas, a Fargo All-American who’s undefeated in his high school career. Perhaps the most dominant Nebraska wrestler was Skutt’s #6 Cade Ziola who went 45-0 and became the first Nebraska wrestler to ever win an Ironman title – the Nebraska commit won his second state title at 190 pounds.

In Georgia’s Class 7A, it’s biggest, Camden County won a team title with 279 points, while Buford finished second with 240.5.

Camden County was led by Fargo finalist Ryder Wilder who beat #15 Landon Jones 1-0 in the 190-pound final. Also, Konlin Weaver won a state title for Camden County at 157 pounds, outscoring his three opponents 40-1. Buford was led by #6 Drew Gorman, a Virginia Tech commit who won at 138 pounds. 

In Texas’ Class 6A, Arlington Martin beat Allen and stopped their streak of team titles at 14, outscoring them 190.5 to 185. Individually, top-ranked recruit Angelo Ferrari won his second Texas state title in 5A at 175 points, going 44-0 and winning via 27-12 tech in the final.

In Utah’s Class 6A, Layton High School won a state title with 260 points to runner-up Westlake’s 219.5. Layton had 16 placers and two champs, while Westlake had 12 placers and four champs, led by #11 Brayden Robison’s individual title at 157. 

Exemplary Careers Come to an End

As mentioned above, there are a couple wrestlers who secured four state titles in Davino and Johnson in Illinois as well as a number of them who are on track to duplicate that feat in other states.

In addition to those four-timers and the slew of three-timers around the country, these two wrestlers ended things with some very rare and impressive accolades.

Out of Washington, Cody Miller finished his career with a fourth state title. Winning at 157 pounds, Miller finished his high school career undefeated with a 143-0 record. He is just the second wrestler ever to go undefeated in a career in the state of Washington.

In North Dakota, future Husker LJ Araujo won his fifth state title at 172 pounds. After winning at 106 in 8th grade, Araujo then won at 126, 145, 160 and 172. Throughout that span, Araujo holds a 140-3 career record and won a Super 32 title this past fall. 

More State Tournaments This Weekend

There’s much more to come this weekend if that wasn’t enough for you as a number of states hold their individual state tournaments this weekend.

The big ones are Wisconsin, single-class California, Missouri and Oklahoma. There’s also going to be some great matchups in Wyoming, Kansas, Oregon, New York and Michigan. 

Wisconsin has its heavy hitters in Aeoden Sinclair (ranked #1 nationally at 190 but wrestling at 215) and the Mirasola brothers (#2 Connor at 190 and #3 Cole at 285), while single-class California is stacked with talent and may be the hardest state to win an individual title in. Missouri and Oklahoma generally have a deep tournament as well.

In addition to those, there will be the National Prep Wrestling Championships at the Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh in Pennsylvania, live here on Flo. At National Preps, many of the best high school wrestlers in the country from prep schools converge every year for national glory.