Nothing signals the start of the high school wrestling season quite like the sight of a packed Walsh Jesuit gymnasium.  

After a long year off, the Walsh Jesuit Ironman returned in all of its glory featuring more than 80 ranked wrestlers from all over the country to kick off the high school wrestling season in style. With so many of the nation’s best teams and wrestlers in action, there’s a lot to cover. Let’s get into it.

Who’s #1?

With the high school season officially underway the question now becomes: Who is the nation’s #1 Team?

Likely to lead the ranks all season long, are prep powerhouses Blair Academy, Malvern Prep and Wyoming Seminary. All three of these squads were in action at Ironman last weekend where Blair drew first blood, claiming the team title on the backs of championship performances by Marc-Anthony McGowan and T.J. Stewart to go along with three other placers. Previously unranked Lorenzo Norman enjoyed a breakout performance by knocking off #9 Jonathan Ley on his way to the finals, where he fell to Rocco Welsh. 

As expected, Malvern and Wyoming Seminary finished just behind Blair in second and third, respectively. 2019 champion Sem’s chances at the team title took a hit early when top-ranked Gabe Arnold missed weight on Day 2. Still, we didn’t see Nic Bouzakis or Meyer Shapiro at Ironman either so, needless to say, Sem’s still got some firepower waiting in the wings.

The only other team to match Blair with two Ironman champs was Stillwater High School. A couple of underclassmen — sophomore Angelo Ferrari and freshman sensation LaDarion Lockett — won titles at 157 and 144 pounds, respectively, and could be two of the fastest climbers in the rankings this early in the season.

This weekend should present another opportunity for some of the nation’s best teams to prove they’re #1, but it’s still only December. There’s a lot of wrestling left.

Another Graham Jordan, A Dominant Performance at 150 And More Ironman Notes

You likely weren’t alone if you caught yourself watching the Ironman finals and saying to yourself, “Is this seriously another Jordan from St Paris Graham?” 

Though, he’s no relation to former head coach Jeff Jordan and his wrestling-rich family tree, Beric Jordan showed he has a pace on his feet just like the other Jordans before him. Beric used two late takedowns in the third period and overtime to claim the 106-pound title over Bethlehem Catholic’s Nate Desmond. 

The Ironman Most Outstanding Wrestler Award went to 190-pound champ, Dylan Fishback, whose last-second heroics allowed him to secure the match-winning takedown over #4 Rylan Rogers just as time expired. This was the weight everyone was talking about heading into the tournament when Ohio’s recent weight class realignment made for a bracket mixed with the top guys from what used to be the 182- and 195-pound weight classes.

The top end of the 126-pound bracket had plenty of firepower, too. 

Three Illinois wrestlers all ranked inside the national top 10 led the way at this weight. In the end, it was Vincent Robinson who took out #17 Nick O’Neil, #6 Sergio Lemley and #4 Kannon Webster on his way to a title. Robinson was impressive on his feet all weekend long and looked dominant in the final over Webster, who won two previous meetings this fall at the Super 32. 

Minutes after he won, Robinson’s longtime childhood friend and training partner Nasir Bailey took home the 132-pound title making it a successful weekend for the pair from Illinois.

Speaking of dominant, we can’t leave the weekend without mentioning Daniel Cardenas, who was the first wrestler to bonus his way through Ironman since Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso did it back in 2016. Cardenas went tech, pin, tech, major, major en route to the 150-pound title.  

Up Next: Beast of the East & A Possible #1 vs #2 Big Man Battle

Hold on tight, the fun is just getting started with one high school crown jewel already in the books and another coming up Saturday and Sunday. 

Five of the top 10 teams and six individual champs from Ironman will be at The University of Delaware for this weekend’s Beast of East. Joining the likes of Blair, Sem and Malvern are Waynesburg, Nazareth, Notre Dame (Green Pond), among others, plus it’s time for the Jersey boys to finally get in the mix. 

The Garden State’s top three private schools — Delbarton, Bergen Catholic and St Joe’s — will all be in attendance this weekend, as will national #1 Anthony Knox, who’s making his St. John Vianney debut among a gaggle of New Jersey’s top-ranked wrestlers.

The most anticipated potential matchup of the weekend, though will come at heavyweight.

The nation’s pound for pound #1, Nick Feldman of Malvern Prep continued to show why he’s the baddest man in high school wrestling with a dominant performance at Ironman, but this weekend he could face his toughest test of the season against Cadet World Team member and #2 heavyweight in the nation, big Jim Mullen. Hold onto your hats. You can count on this battle for the heavyweight belt as the highlight of an awesome weekend of wrestling.

You can watch Beast live on FloWrestling.

Schedule (ET):

Saturday

Championship Rounds 1 & 2: 8:30AM – 3:30PM

Championship Round 3: 6:00PM – 8:00PM

Sunday

Quarterfinals: 8:30AM – 10:30AM

Semifinals: 11:30AM – 1:30PM

Finals: 3:15PM