In these times of quarantine, as we are all stuck at home, we crave a sense of normalcy, longing for things to return to the way they were. My mind wanders to the what-ifs, the things we didn’t get to see, but will hopefully see sometime in the future.

As I was looking at our most recent high school weight class rankings, I started thinking about all the matchups I wanted to see this year that unfortunately never played out.

Here are the seven matches we all lost out on this folkstyle season.

120: #1 Greg Diakomihalis vs #2 Drake Ayala at Super 32

Injuries robbed us of this one. Greg D. ripped up his knee in the spring and wouldn't return to the mat until January, while Ayala broke his hand in his second match in Greensboro. It's a match we never got to see in high school, with Greg being a little older and them never being at the same weight during freestyle season. Ayala's pace is among the best in the country and like the Diakomihalis name implies, Greg's leg defense is fantastic. An excellent clash of styles.

126: #1 Nic Bouzakis vs Trevor Mastrogiovanni at National Preps

This one could have happened not once, not twice, but up to three times this season. They could have hit at Ironman in December, their dual in January, and to close out the season at National Preps in February. Trevor was pulled out of the rankings because he did not wrestle in the postseason, but began the year wrestling at Who's #1 in October. Bouzakis won Super 32, Preps, and Ironman to claim the #1 spot. Both are excellent on top and almost never give up takedowns. This one likely gets settled in tiebreakers, just like their Ironman semi a year ago.

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

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

138: #1 Beau Bartlett vs #6 Frankie Tal-Shahar at Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic

The grudge match. Yeah, this one lost a little bit when Tal-Shahar fell in the semis at his state tournament to Chris Rivera. But his upset of Bartlett caused highly contentious and controversial ranking decisions. We ultimately decided to give Bartlett a mulligan, but I think everyone wanted to see this rematch. Tal-Shahar kept it low-scoring in the Ironman finals and utilized his underhooks well to hand Bartlett the only defeat of his senior season. Both are heading to Big Ten schools, though, so there's hope we see this one multiple times in college.

145: #1 Lachlan McNeil, PA vs Josh Saunders, MO at Ironman

What a season for Lachlan McNeil. He was third in Fargo over the summer, then won Super 32, Ironman, Eastern States, and National Preps to finish the season #1 in the country. Of course he was slated to wrestle #2 Austin Boone at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic, which would have been an excellent way to close out the year at 145, but I think the big one we missed was Josh Saunders vs McNeil at Ironman. Saunders only wrestled a couple high school events this year while he was at the Olympic Training Center with the EAP, preparing for Senior Nationals and another run at a Junior world team. Even with the loss to Bretli Reyna in the Super 32 finals, it's hard to not lean Saunders here after re-watching their Fargo semi from July.

152: #1 Chase Saldate vs #2 Ed Scott at Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic

Had PWC not been canceled this should have been the co-main event, behind our last match here. Saldate was ranked third in the preseason right before Who's #1. But then he won Super 32, claimed the top spot when he won Doc B, and then held onto it a week later against Sonny Santiago at Five Counties. He would go on to get four pins and a dominant major at Cali states. Scott was phenomenal all year long, at one point pinning 26 in a row and making himself the clear #2. They last met in the semis of sophomore nationals at NHSCA, which you can watch below.

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

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

160: #1 Keegan O'Toole vs #3 Andrew Cerniglia at Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic

O'Toole was the clear #1 and even beat Saldate down at 152 in Fargo. The Mizzou commit dominated Paddy Gallagher at WNO and Gallagher beat Cerniglia in the Ironman finals. But after that Cerniglia was perhaps the most dominant guy at this weight right up until his controversial state final with Thayne Lawrence. I really wanted to see O'Toole in this one, who was otherwise not challenged all year, and how Cerniglia followed up the Lawrence win one week later.

220ish: #1 Braxton Amos vs #1 Hunter Catka at Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic

I'm sure you were all expecting me to say Amos vs AJ Ferrari. But Ferrari didn't wrestle all year, so it was never going to happen. But this one was, and kudos to Amos for putting his #1 pound-for-pound ranking on the line against the Cadet world teamer. Catka was coming off another AAA state title in PA and would have a clear size advantage. Both guys won Super 32 in October.

The only time in recent memory I can remember a guy taking on a challenge like this is when Richie Figs beat Jacob Decatur at Who's #1 and then bumped up to 113 at Super 32 to face Greg D, who had beaten Jakason Burks at WNO. It would have been the match that for all intents and purposes closed out the 2019-20 folkstyle season, the premier bout of PWC, and a heavyweight battle for the ages.