2019 Pop & Flo National Duals

Journeymen Pop And Flo National Duals Preview

Journeymen Pop And Flo National Duals Preview

Preview of the Journeymen Pop and Flo National Duals from Lake Placid, New York.

May 17, 2019 by Oliver Astone
null
It's time for us to head over to the legendary Herb Brooks Ice Arena in beautiful Lake Placid to watch some of the country's best clubs compete in the Pop and Flo National Duals. We’re going to break down the contenders in the running for a team title this weekend at the miracle on the mat.

Unlock this article, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

It's time for us to head over to the legendary Herb Brooks Ice Arena in beautiful Lake Placid to watch some of the country's best clubs compete in the Pop and Flo National Duals. We’re going to break down the contenders in the running for a team title this weekend at the miracle on the mat.

Watch the Pop and Flo Duals LIVE on FloWrestling

May 18-19 | 10 AM ET

Being that the Pop and Flo Duals are in New York, it is no shocker that the contingency from the Empire State is quite impressive. You can’t mention New York clubs without bringing up Journeymen. Being that this is a Journeymen event, you know the Journeymen Don, Frank Popolizio, and the Pop Mafia will be bringing out the big guns. The squad is a problem up top, led by a pair of young All-Americans in the upper weights. Freshman Ryan Stein got on the podium in Virginia Beach and sophomore Jake Null took fourth last summer in Fargo.

Superior Wrestling Academy made the finals last year and couldn’t get the job done, but this year may be the time for Superior to change that. The Superior lineup is straight loaded with state champs. Jace Schafer, Merek Bush, Alex Samson, Ross McFarland, and Hunter Shaut are all New York state champs on the Superior roster, along with state placers Bradley Cheeks and Mason Bush. Superior doesn’t have that national level star power but they are solid across the board.

Team Empire, the club formerly known as Iowa Style, will also be looking to come back to Lake Placid and win it all this year. Last year, they narrowly missed out on a title when they took a close loss in the semis to eventual champions Bitetto Trained Wrestling Club. The Empire lineup is filled with hammers, and the biggest hammer in the tool shed has to be FloNats champ AJ Kovacs. Kovacs teched his way through FloNationals, dismantling guys like Cael Valencia and John Martin Best in the process. Also in the lineup are studs like New England champ Carson Licastri and Virginia Beach All-American Chris Perry (not that Chris Perry).

Watch Kovacs win his FloNats title here:

null

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In


Here we have one of the usual suspects out of Pennsylvania club competition: The Dark Knights are back and they are deep. Almost the entire lineup is either NHSCA All-Americans or state placers in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, arguably the two toughest states to place in. The caped crusaders of District 11 will be lead by Dark Knight OGs Devon Britton and Patrick Gould. Gould will be heading to do his college wrestling at Kent State, while Britton is moving on to Rutgers, so these two seniors who will be looking to do something special in one of their last gos with the club before going on to wrestle in college.

New England has been leveling up in the wrestling game for a minute now, and Blackstone Wrestling Club is the perfect example. The squad has more than just local guys placing at regional tournaments, but has guys out of New England who are moving on to national prominence. 120 pounder Brady Gillis placed in the Junior division at Virginia Beach this year, and heavyweight Mateusz Kudra is a Super 32 placer. Blackstone also has cameo’s from Pennsylvania: The Lackman brothers out of Bethlehem Catholic are on the team, with Nate Lackman at 140 and Matt Lackman at 145.

Watch Mateusz Kudra take out the top seed in the Super 32 quarterfinals.

null

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In


Last year it was Bitetto Trained Wrestling Club that took the Pop and Flo title home to New Jersey. BTWC doesn’t seem to be in the field this year, but that doesn’t mean the Pop and Flo trophy isn’t going back across the Jersey Turnpike. 

Iron Horse is bringing a star-studded squad that is the biggest threat to win it all. They have top-tier talent book-ending their lineup with FloNats freestyle champ Marc-Anthony McGowan at 106 and at heavyweight we have Zach Delvecchio, a Jersey state champ and Rutgers commit who was ranked No. 9 in the country during the season. In the middle we've got guys like NHSCA All-Americans Shane Reitsma at 170 and Brian Soldano at 160, with Soldano making the finals in the freshmen division. Also in the middle of the lineup is the teams brightest star, JoJo Aragona. JoJo opened up the season winning the four-man bracket at Who’s Number One to earn his top spot and defended his ranking all the way until throwing Adam Busiello off the stage at Beat The Streets, where he defended it once more. Iron Horse has a lot of bonus-point potential and not a lot of holes, and that’s why they’re my pick to win it all.

Watch Aragona's performance at Beat The Streets here:

null

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In