Written by Ryan Lance at Youth1

The quest for a 2014-2015 Trinity Award will begin this weekend as thousands of wrestlers from across the country will head to the Expo Square Pavilion in Tulsa, Oklahoma to compete in the 2014 Flo Kickoff Classic. One of the largest preseason wrestling tournaments in the country, the Kickoff Classic is the first of three major events that lead to a prestigious Trinity Award.

Each year, this event brings together some of the top youth wrestling talent in the country. Below, we’ll take a weight class by weight class look at some of the top wrestlers in the 15U division.

*Note – this is NOT prediction piece, but rather a look at some of the top wrestlers in each weight class who will be competing this weekend.

75-pounds
Leading the 75-pound weight class is defending Tulsa Kickoff Classic Champion Kellyn March. March will try and win his first 15U title this year as he took home the 70-pound 12U title last season. He’ll be joined by 2014 Southwest Kickoff Classic Champion Beau Ohlson and Colorado State Champion Wyatt Yapoujian.
Other to keep an eye on include Ryan Miller from Pennsylvania, Mason Dye from Iowa, and Raymond Rioux from Indiana.

82-pounds
The 82-pound weight class will be led by USA Wrestling Preseason National Champion and Super 32 Champion Mosha Schwartz. He’ll try to earn his third major national championship of the season this weekend but in order to do so he’ll have to battle through Iowa Triple Crown winner Adam Allard, New Jersey State Champion Brandon LaRue, and Colorado State Champion Patrick Allis.

Others who may contend over the weekend include Georgia State Champion Logan Ashton, Illinois State Champion Justin Cardani, Michigan State Champion Derek Gilcher, and Liam Logue from Pennsylvania.

89-pounds
Cade DeVos will try and defend his 2013 Tulsa National Championship as he’ll compete in this year’s 89-pound bracket. DeVos already has a notable championship under his belt as he took home the 2014 USA Wrestling Preseason National Championship. In order for him to defend his title he’ll have to get through the likes of Antonio Lorenzo who is a California State Champion and Jurnior MidCal Champion and Ohio State Champion Gabriel Tagg.

Others who we can expect to put on a strong showing include Iowa State Champion Eric Faught, Nebraksa State Champion Nolan Niemiec, and Caiden Jones from Iowa.

95-pounds
Colton Yapoujian is looking to win his first national tournament of the season and he’ll look to do that this weekend in the 95-pound weight class. The Colorado State Champion and National Triple Crown winner will have to get past Tulsa National Champion Manzona Bryant from Ohio, and Oklahoma State Champion Colt Newton.

There is also a trio of Iowa State Champions, in Kyle Biscoglia, Lance Runyon, and Drew Bennett, that have the potential to put on a strong showing as well.

101-pounds
Headlining the 101-pound bracket is one of the top youth wrestlers in the country, Beau Bartlett. Bartlett, who won a Tulsa National Championship earlier this year, recently took home a silver medal at the Super 32. He’ll look to win his first notable championship of the new season but he’ll have to battle through some stiff competition.

In order for Bartlett to reach the top of the podium he’ll have to get past Aden Reeves of Iowa who took home a Preseason National Championship, Donnell Washington an Illinois State Champion who took home a Preseason National silver medal and Kansas State Champion Hunter Williams.

Others to keep an eye on include Isaac Beltran from New Mexico, Austin Boone from Michigan, Corbyn Edwards from Oklahoma and JT Stinson from California.

108-pounds
The 108-pound weight class is the one that may be the toughest in the whole event. This weight class will feature three defending Trinity Award winners. Leading the way is Rodrick Mosley who won the 15U 89-pound Trinity Award last season. Joining him will be a pair of 12U Trinity Award winners as Juan Bazaldua from Illinois won the 96-pound weight class and Albert Ferrari of Texas won the 100-pound Trinity Award.

They will be joined by Kansas State Champion Trevor Dopps, Missouri State Champion Jackson Henson, and Kansas State Champion Gunnar Murray.

115-pounds
Leading the way in the 115-pound weight class is defending Tulsa Kickoff Classic Champion and Trinty Award winner Dustin Plott from Oklahoma. In order to defend his title he’ll have to get past the lkes of Missouri State Champion Andrew Gamble and USA Wrestling Preseason National Champion Devin Schwartzkopf.

Others to keep an eye on include Jerzie Estrada from Colorado, Elijah Barnett from Oklahoma, Eric Two Lance from Texas.

125-pounds
Jacob Beeson, a 2014 Tulsa National Champion, will try and capture his first Kickoff Classic Championship. The Kansas State Champion will have a tough road as he’ll have to get past Cadet National Champion Coltan Williams, Eli Hodge from Tennessee and Hunter Jump from Oklahoma.

Others to keep an eye on include Dakota Galt from South Dakota, Blake Muse of Oklahoma, and Bobby Hebel of Pennsylvania.

135-pounds
Looking to capture his second big preseason title of the season is Zane Coleman from Oklahoma. Coleman, who already won a USA Wrestling Preseason National Championship, will compete in the 135-pound weight class. The other top wrestler in the weight class is Troy Mantanona from California who is a California State Champion. Mantanona took home the silver in last year’s Kickoff Classic and 3rd place at Reno Worlds.

They can expect tough competition from James Burks of Nebraska, Michael Doggett from Pennsylvania, Austin Gutknecht from Iowa, Logan Wilson from Illinois and Grayson Wren from Missouri.

145-pounds
The 145-pound weight class will be led by two defending Tulsa Kickoff Classic Champions in Jaryn Curry and Troy Fisher. Curry is a defending Trinity Award Winner who also claimed an Oklahoma State Championship this past season while Fisher is a defending Kansas State Champion.

Others who have the potential to make a run at the title are Illinois State Champion Cory Peterson and Texas State Champion Braeden Redlin.

157-pounds
Wrestlers to keep an eye on in the 157-pound weight class include Austin Andres from Kansas, Michael Baker from Ohio, Joey Bingham from Oklahoma, and Kellen Sarver from Illinois.

175-pounds
Dante Garcia of Colorado will look to win his second major national title of the season as he took home a Southwest Kickoff Classic Championship two weeks ago. The Colorado State Champion will have to get through California State Champion Tino Lopez, Tucker Klump of Pennsylvania, and Tulsa Nationals bronze medal winner Jerome Townsell.

200-pounds
Looking to defend his 2013 Tulsa Kickoff Classic Championship will be Cohlton Schultz from Colorado. Also a Tulsa National Champion and Colorado State Champion, Schultz will be the frontrunner to win the weight class. However, he will have to get past the likes of Jacob Brownlee and Slade Sifuentes of Iowa and Hunter Christensen of Kansas.

285-pounds
Ronald Tucker from Illinois will be the favorite to win the 285-pound two man bracket. He took home a silver medal during last year’s event and should win the gold medal this season if he can get past Tyler Shannon from Kansas.

We’d like to wish the best of luck to all the wrestlers competing in this weekend’s event. Be sure to check back next week for a complete recap of this weekend’s biggest events as well as a list of Top Performers!