We’ve reached a point where most states have completed their state tournaments and we can look back on some incredible performances around the country. 

Over the past two weeks, several top high school wrestling hotbeds held their state tournaments, including Wisconsin, California and New Jersey, among others. On top of that, National Preps took place with Wyoming Seminary flexing its muscle as the country’s top team.

With all that behind us, we’ll also take a look ahead to the state tournaments this weekend in both Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Let’s get to it. 

Wyoming Sem Dominates National Preps

After falling short to Blair Academy last season, Wyoming Seminary dominated the field this year, scoring 395.5 points to Blair’s 270. With 10 champs and 13 placers, Wyoming Sem has now won three of the past four team titles at National Preps after an unprecedented run by Blair – the Buccaneers won 38 of 39 team titles from 1981 to 2019. The only year they didn’t win in that span was 2014 when Wyoming Seminary snagged the team title. 

Second-ranked Joe Sealey (165) and #2 Jude Correa (215) each won their third National Preps title and #1 Luke Lilledahl (126) won his second. Lilledahl and Sealey will be heading to Penn State next year, while Correa will wrestle at Michigan.

Also capturing gold for Wyoming Seminary were #4 Shamus Regan at 106, #6 Davis Motyka at 113, #2 Nathan Desmond at 120 when he beat #3 Leo DeLuca 5-3 in the final, #7 Matthew Botello at 132, #16 Anthony Evanitsky at 150, #2 Vince Bouzakis at 157 and #8 Jake Dailey at 190. 

Blair had a trio of champions in #10 Billy Dekraker at 138, #4 William Henckel at 175 and #6 Carter Neves at 285. A two-time finalist, Henckel beat #9 Dominic Federici of Wyoming Seminary in the final, while Neves earned bonus points in all five of his matches (three pins, one tech, one major) to earn his first prep title.

Coming in third was Malvern Prep with 261 points, led by champion #2 Jack Consiglio at 144. After winning as a freshman and junior and making the final as a sophomore, Consiglio is now a three-time prep champion and four-time finalist. He’s heading to Stanford next season.

Lake Highland Prep finished fourth with 259 points with its 11 total placers.

Single-Class Jersey and California Crown Champs

Two of the toughest states to win a state title, New Jersey and California held their state tournaments the past two weekends. 

In California, Poway won its first team title since 2009 with a state tournament record 290.5 points. With seven finalists and three champs, Poway finished ahead of Buchanan’s 255 points. Gilroy finished third with 206 points, while St. John Bosco scored 186 to finish fourth.

Leading Poway was #6 Robert Platt at 215 pounds. It was the senior’s second state title before heading to join Columbia next season. A two-time finalist, #15 Angelo Posada won his first state title as a junior at 175 pounds, while #19 Elias Navida earned a title at 132.

Buchanan was led by #14 Rocklin Zinkin’s title at 113, while Gilroy had three individual champs. Top-ranked Daniel Zepeda won his second state title, this time at 138, #16 Moses Mirabal won at 144 and #7 Cody Merrill won his second championship at 215.

St. John Bosco had one champion in Grigor Cholakyan at 157, while Palm Desert’s #1 Brock Mantanona won his second state title, this time at 150. Mantanona beat a pair of ranked wrestlers in a row in #6 Laird Root and #11 Ethan Parco to get the crown.

In New Jersey, the team race was tight with Delbarton coming out ahead with 229.5 points, edging out St. Joseph (Montvale)’s 226.5 points. Behind two-time champ Matt Henrich at 157, Southern Regional finished third with 134.5.

Delbarton and St. Joseph had four individual champions each. Delbarton saw titles from #3 Cameron Sontz at 106, Ryan DeGeorge at 126, #6 Alessio Perentin at 165 and Vincent Lee at 215. Perentin beat #11 Jordan Chapman 12-7 in the final for his second state title. 

For St. Joseph, it was Adrian DeJesus winning his second title, this time at 132, Zach Ballante winning at 150, #2 Ryan Burton at 175 and #16 Rocco Dellagatta at 285.

The upset of the tournament came when Mt. Olive’s Tyeler Hagensen beat #3 Paul Kenny 4-3 in the semis at 113 pounds. After downing the U17 World champion Kenny, Hagensen beat St. Joseph’s Johnathon McGinty 5-2 in the final.

As for incredible career accolades, there’s Saint John Vianney’s #1 Anthony Knox, who just won his third state title as a junior. He’s the 32nd three-timer in New Jersey state history and has a chance to be just its fifth four-timer with another title next season, possibly joining an exclusive club of Mike Grey, Andrew Campolattano, Anthony Ashnault and Nick Suriano with that distinction.

Kaukauna Wins Fourth Straight in Wisconsin

In Wisconsin’s Division 1, Kaukauna crowned one champion on the way to winning the team title with 95 points. West Bend West finished second with 81.5 points. In Division 2, Luxemburg won the team title with 100.5 points, while Iowa-Grant/Highland won in D3 with 110 points.

Kaukauna’s individual champ was #13 Liam Crook at 165 pounds. The sophomore beat #14 Caleb Dennee of Marshfield 4-1 in the final. 

Leading the way for West Bend West were the Mirasola twins — Connor at 195 and Cole at 285. Both earned state titles with Connor earning his fourth and Cole his third. Another top Askren Wrestling Academy wrestler, Aeoden Sinclair finished an undefeated season by winning a state title at 220 pounds for Milton, his third. The Mirasola twins will be at Penn State next year, while Sinclair will move on to Missouri.

Notable results from DI came as both #17 Kellen Wolbert (132) and #3 Charlie Millard (157) won their second individual crowns. A sophomore, Wolbert is on track to be a four-timer, while Millard is a senior who’s signed with Minnesota.

In D2, #5 Koy Hopke of Amery finished his career with his first state title after making if to the final the three years prior. Another Minnesota signee, Hopke pinned his opponent in 49 seconds in the final. At 113, #7 Haakon Peterson of Hollandale won via 20-5 tech fall to earn his first state title.

The Best of the Rest

In Oklahoma’s Class 6A, Edmond North scored a state tournament record 260.5 points to win the team title, more than doubling up second-place Bixby’s 129.5 points. Stillwater finished third with 110.5.

Edmond North had 8 champs and 10 finalists with all 14 wrestlers finishing as placers. Most notably winning titles were #20 Devon Miller at 120, #9 Layton Schneider at 144, #18 Joseph Jeter at 150, #5 Kody Routledge at 157, #12 Oscar Williams at 215 and #12 Richard Thomas at 285. A Nebraska commit, Routledge beat Oklahoma signee #12 Landyn Sommer 4-3 in their final.

Bixby had three champs, led by #6 Jace Roller at 138, while Stillwater also had three champs. A 2023 U17 World Champion, LaDarion Lockett won his third state title for Stillwater with a 20-6 major in the final. He’s signed with Oklahoma State.

In Missouri, Liberty won its fifth consecutive Class 4 team title with 188.5 points and four individual champs, led by #12 Peyton Westpfahl winning at 175 pounds. Hannibal had three champs in winning the Class 3 team title, while Odessa scored 163.5 to win in Class 2. In Class 1, St. Pius X (Kansas City) had five individual champs, winning the team title with 234 points.

With no team scoring in Minnesota, the dual team championships were decided the day before the individual state tournament with St. Michael-Albertville winning in 3A, Simley in 2A and Chatfield in A. 

Led by #2 Landon Robideau’s title at 152, St. Michael-Albertville had three individual champs. Mounds View had two champs in AAA, led by #14 Quin Morgan at 215 pounds. Simley saw two individuals crowned champs, while Chatfield had one.

In Florida, Somerset (156.5 points) edged out Mater Lakes Academy (152) for the Class 1A team title. In 2A, Jesuit used three individual champs to take the team title with 201 points, while South Dade had six champs in earning the 3A team title with 274.5 points. 

Somerset had three individual champs in Jake Austin at 113, Jovani Solis at 132 and Kendrick Hodge at 165. Leading the way for South Dade was #1 Sawyer Bartelt who won individual gold at 215. 

Another state that doesn’t have an official team champion at its state tournament is Michigan, a single-class state. Most notable was #10 Darius Marines of Detroit Catholic Central winning his fourth state title. Also, #6 Jackson Blum of Lowell won at 132, while #13 Blake Cosby of Dundee won at 144.

In New York, Minisink Valley was led by #1 PJ Duke in winning a team title in Division I. Minisink Valley scored 88.5 points to edge out Plainedge’s 86 points. In Division II, Tioga scored 210.5 points to earn the team title, led by champion Ousmane Duncanson who won a 16-0 tech fall in the final at 160.

A junior who’s committed to Penn State, Duke won his third state title with a 27-12 tech in the final.  He’ll have a chance at a fourth next season.

Pennsylvania and Ohio This Weekend

Two of the best states in the country will take the mat for their individual state championships this weekend in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Arguably the best state as far as high school wrestling talent goes, Pennsylvania has two divisions full of DI talent ready to butt heads. Ohio brings one of its most star-studded fields ever with 24 individuals in position to repeat as state champs, the most ever in the state’s history.

In Pennsylvania’s Class 3A, Bethlehem Catholic comes in as the favorite after winning the team title a year ago. Nazareth won a title in 2022 and will certainly contend.

Bethlehem Catholic will be led by last year’s Outstanding Wrestler #3 Kollin Rath. After winning at 139 last year, Rath is up at 152 this year and comes in with a 41-1 record. The Mizzou commit will likely have to beat last year’s 145-pound champ #5 Collin Gaj of Quakertown to repeat as a junior.

Nazareth comes in led by #7 Sean Kinney at heavyweight. He’s 35-1 on the year and a three-time state finalist, winning titles each of the last two seasons. He’ll be going for his third trip to the top of the podium this weekend.

Coming into the state tournament undefeated is Daniel Boone’s #3 Tucker Hogan at 189 pounds. A state champion a year ago, Hogan is 45-0 on the year and signed to wrestle at Lock Haven.

Another intriguing weight will be 144 as returning champ #3 Luke Simcox of Central Mountain earned the 1-seed by beating #1 Pierson Manville of State College in their district final. Manville enters the bracket unseeded. 

Another intriguing weight will be 114 where the top three wrestlers have a combined record of 108-1. Santino Sloboda is 36-0, Kaedyn Williams is 34-0 and Gabriel Ballard comes in 38-1. 

In Pennsylvania’s 2A, Faith Christian Academy comes in as last year’s champion and will be led by #6 Adam Waters at 172 pounds as he goes for his second state title as a sophomore.

Faith Christian will have to hold off Bishop McCort who just crowned six regional champions, even with #2 Jax Forrest taking a 13-7 loss in his district final against Burgettstown’s Chris Vargo. Those two are on the same side of the bracket this weekend so they should meet again in the semis. Bishop McCort will be led by #2 Bo Bassett, a sophomore with a 52-0 record on the year. He pinned returning state champion Cooper Hornack in the Southwest Regional final. 

Looking to become just the 14th four-time state champion in Pennsylvania history, #3 Rune Lawrence is looking for gold at 215. The West Virginia commit already won titles at 172 twice, then at 189 last year. 

At 121, there are three returning state champions in the bracket — #6 Aaron Seidel, #7 Louie Gill and #8 Gauge Botero. Equally interesting will be 107 pounds, where the top two wrestlers in the country are on a collision course in #1 Joe Bachman of Faith Christian and #2 Dominic Deputy of Chestnut Ridge. Bachman is 34-0 on the year, while Deputy is 46-0. 

Another weight where the top two guys are undefeated is heavyweight where Carson Neely (41-0) of Port Allegany and Brenan Morgan (39-0) of Central Valley will likely meet.

To the west in Ohio, St. Edward will be looking for its ninth straight Division 1 team championship. In D2, St. Paris Graham looks like the favorite after winning the last 22 team titles. Having won the last three in D3, Legacy Christian could face an uphill battle if it wants to repeat.

St. Edward qualified 13 wrestlers for state with nine district champs and will be led by returning state champs #20 Ethan Timar at 113 and #11 Karson Brown at 120. Also in the running will be Massillon Perry, which also qualified 13 wrestlers, nine of them district champs as well. They’ll be led by #13 Aidan Fockler at heavyweight.

A runner-up the last two seasons, Perrysburg will look to #2 Marcus Blaze to win his third state title as a junior, giving him a chance to win a fourth next year. With two returning state champs in #8 Omar Ayoub (going for his third) at 138 and #5 Ethan Birden at 165, Dublin Coffman will be in it too.

Also looking for his third state title will be Wadsworth’s #4 Jaxon Joy at 150 pounds. 

In D2, two wrestlers will be looking to repeat in St. Paris Graham’s #14 Brogan Tucker at 144 pounds and Mitchell Younger of Columbus Bishop Watterson at 150. Both are going for their third titles.

In D3, defending team champ Legacy Christian only qualified five, but four of them are returning state medalists. Barnesville could be the favorite going in with seven district champs among its eight qualifiers. Delta also qualified eight wrestlers, while Milan Edison, the runner-up the last three years, qualified six with four district champs. Milan Edison is still searching for its first team title.