This past Saturday, May 11th, Life University held the Freestyle and Greco Individual State tournament. Wrestlers from all over the state, ranging from 8U to high school seniors, were in attendance. Top 4 placers in each weight class automatically qualified for Fargo this summer. Let’s take a deeper look at how the kids fared this weekend.
Level Up continued their dominance in the 16U boys freestyle state as far as club team points. Earning 73 points with 8 wrestlers placing in the top 6 for various weight classes. Level Up had 2 champions, 4 second place, 1 fourth place, and 2 sixth place finishers. In a close second was Roundtree Wrestling Academy, which had 4 champions of their own along with 1 second place, 1 third, and 1 sixth place finisher. Coming in 3rd place for team points in this age group was Teknique Wrestling. Teknique had 2 champs, 1 second, 1 third, and 1 sixth. Rounding out the top 4 clubs teams for 16U was Pedraza Wrestling with 33 total team points. Pedraza had 2 wrestlers earn 3rd place finishes, 2 fifth, and 1 sixth place finish. As always we exclude the non affiliated kids who are representing GA in these team point rankings.
Below you can find a recap of the individual brackets.
16U Boys 88 lb Weight Class: This was a 2 man best of 3 bracket. Samuel Edgeworth, Dendy Trained Wrestling, beat Jude Goss of Team Alpha Wrestling in 2 straight matches. The second match ended in a tech fall for Edgeworth.
16U Boys 94 lb Weight Class: In the best of 3 series for this weight class, Cody Clarke, Roundtree WA, defeated Derik Keifer, Teknique Wrestling, in 2 straight matches. The first match ended in a pin, with the second ending in a tech fall.
16U Boys 100 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 4 man round robin bracket.
Christopher Metz, Teknique Wrestling, earned his way to a freestyle state championship with three straight wins going 3-0 on the day. Metz had 2 tech falls and a pin on his way to gold.
Luke Mealer, Guerilla WA, finished in 2nd place with a 2-1 record with 2 tech falls.
Wyatt Womack, Minion TC, finished in 3rd place overall with a 1-2 record.
Chase Mort, Five Star Savannah Wrestling, finished his day in 4th place.
16U Boys 106 lb Weight Class: This weight class was an 8 man bracket style format.
Joseph Austin, representing GA, won this bracket going 3-0, tech falling his way through the quarters and semis, and then winning his finals match by 5 points.
Bryson Drennen, Minion TC, finished in 2nd place also tech falling his way all the way into the finals, coming up just short to finish the day at 2-1.
Alessandro Torres, Pedraza Wrestling, won his quarters match but fell in the semis. Rebounding nicely in the consolation rounds he tech falled his opponents in both the conso semis and the conso finals.
Noah Scott, South GA Athletic Club, finished his day in 4th place losing to the eventual champ in the first round and then wrestling his way all the way back to the conso finals. Scott finished with a 2-2 record for the day.
16U Boys 113 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 16 man bracket with 9 registered wrestlers .
Tyler Prinzo, Teknique Wrestling, was the champ for this weight class going 4-0 for the day and tech falling every single opponent. In dominating fashion Prinzo did not surrender a single point on his way to gold.
Owen Cash, Brookwood WC, was on his way to a good day with a pin and a tech fall to make the finals, but came up just short against Prinzo. Cash finished in 2nd place with a 2-1 record.
Eli Flowers, Roundtree WA, finished the day in 3rd place with a 3-1 record.
Abraham Hurd, representing GA, finished in 4th place going 2-2 on the day with both losses coming from Flowers.
16U Boys 120 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 16 man bracket with 13 registered wrestlers.
Tyler Hunt, Roundtree WA, was the champ at this weight going 4-0. His closest match was his semi finals match where he won by 3 points 6-9.
Aiden West, Five Star Savannah Wrestling, finished in 2nd place this weekend behind a 3-1 record.
Ty Valenzuela, Morris Fitness WC, finished in 3rd place with a 3-1 record overall with his closest match being a 9-8 victory in the quarters.
Major Chambers, Rockmart WC, lost to Valenzuela in the quarters, then wrestled back on the back side to eventually have to forfeit his conso finals match. He went 4-2 on the day.
16U Boys 126 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 16 man bracket with 12 participants.
Christopher Phillips, Woodshed Wrestling, handled the field with relative ease going 4-0 on the day with 3 tech falls. He found some stiff competition in the finals narrowly winning 6-5.
Cash Prado, Level Up WC, finished the day in 2nd place with a 3-1 record with 2 tech falls.
Dylan Couey, Woodland Wrestling, finished in 3rd place overall. Going 4-1 on the day.
James Duke, North Paulding TC, going 3-2 on the day Duke finished in 4th place.
16U Boys 132 lb Weight Class: One of the biggest brackets of the day, this weight class was a 32 man bracket.
Coming out on top was Wiliam Hamilton, Grindhouse Wrestling, going 4-0 on the day, Hamiltons closest match was his quarterfinals match where he won by 1 point.
In 2nd place was Walker Share, Level Up WC. Share handled business all the way up into the semis where he barley beat Eckert who ended up in 5th overall.
Joseph Cox from Glasgow WA, finished 3rd losing in the quarters to eventual champ Hamilton by 1 point. Once in the consolation side of the bracket, no one seemed to give him much trouble at all.
Wrapping up the top 4 is Braelyn Nelson from Gilmer Bobcat Wrestling. Nelson lost to Hamilton in the semi finals, where he rebounded with a conso semis tech fall.
16U Boys 138 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 16 man bracket with some very talented wrestlers in it.
James Sievers, Social Circle USA Takedown, is one of the best pound for pound young wrestlers that we have in the state today. Saturday was just another example of that. Sievers went 4-0 with 4 tech falls and did not give up a single point on his way to the winners circle. Just another day in the office for this young man.
Lucian Brock, Glasgow WA, went 3-1 on the day but had a much more contested road than his finals counterpart. After warming up with a couple of tech falls he ran into Jariell Rivera from Icon in the semis and won on criteria.
Jin Davis, Teknique Wrestling, finished 3rd overall with a 4-1 record. Falling to Sievers in the semis, he rebounded nicely with a tech fall in the conso semis and conso finals.
Jackson Lane, Level Up WC, cam in 4th place this weekend. Falling to Sievers early in the quarters he was able to fight his way all the way back and finish in the top 4.
16U Boys 144 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 16 man bracket with 9 participants.
Cruz Hezel, Roundtree WA, had an excellent tournament going 4-0 on the day and never really seemed like he was challenged. Giving up only 4 points all day Hezel handled business on his way to a gold medal.
Mihai Necula, Level Up WC, went 2-1 on the day after a bye in the first round. After starting with 2 consecutive tech falls, he ran into a hammer in the finals. Good enough for 2nd place.
Xander Nielsen, Team Alpha Wrestling, finished in 3rd place, falling to Necula in the semis, he rattled off 2 more wins in the conso semis and finals to finish with a 3-1 record for the day.
Clayton Christopher, representing GA, went 2-2 on the day. After losing to eventual champion Hezel in the semis he rebounded back in the conso semis but just didn’t have enough to get it done in the conso finals.
16U Boys 150 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 16 man double elimination bracket.
Paxon Legatt, Roundtree WA, had a good tournament going 3-0 for the day winning each of his matches fairly handily. Legatt finished the tournament in 1st place overall for this weight class.
Arrie Martin, Storm WC, came in 2nd with a 2-1 record after a first round bye. Falling to Legatt in the finals by 4 points.
Graham Dawkins, Walnut Grove WC, was good enough for 3rd place overall in this weight class. Coming up with a 3-1 record with a first round bye. After losing to Legatt in the semis, no one seemed to really push him in the consolation side of the bracket.
Logan Johnson, Bremen TC, finished in 4th place with a 3-2 record. Losing to Martin the semis he rebounded and took care of business in the conso semis. Just seemed to run out of gas for Dawkins in the conso finals.
16U Boys 157 lb Weight Class: This weight class was an 8 man double elimination bracket.
Miles Lesley, representing GA, finished the day as the overall champion for this weight class. After a pin in the first match of the day, he had his work cut out for him in the semis and finals barely squeaking by to snag the gold medal.
Callum Mccormack, Roundtree WA, was good enough for 2nd place today goin 2-1, losing on criteria in the finals to Lesley.
Ronan O’Keeffe, Pedraza Wrestling, battled his way back for a trip to Fargo after losing in the quarters to Mccormack going 3-1 for the day.
Adam Cox, Glasgow WA, finished his day in 4th place. Cox lost to McCullough in the quarters and was able to rebound and fight back into Fargo going 2-2 for the day.
16U Boys 165 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 4 man round robin bracket
Ethan Secoy, Storm WC, continued his championship ways in freestyle this weekend by securing a freestyle state championship to go along with his folkstyle championship he just won in February. Secoy went 3-0 on the day with 3 tech falls on his way to the gold medal.
Timothy Brown III, Level Up WC, went 2-1 on the day with his only loss coming to Secoy. Good enough for 2nd place.
Finn Shawyer, representing GA, finished in 3rd place today after a 1-2 record.
Roman Phillips, North Paulding TC, finished in 4th place.
16U Boys 175 lb Weight Class: This bracket was a 5 man round robin bracket.
Jake Rheaume, Level Up WC, was this weight classes champion today going 3-0 with 1 no contest. No one really seemed to challenge him as he ended up with 3 tech falls on his way to the winners circle.
Kole Smith, East Jackson TC, finished in 2nd place goin 2-1 with 1 no contest falling only to eventual champion Rheaume.
Costen Wright, Grizzly TC, finished in 3rd place going 2-2 on the day.
Luke Jones, Dendy Trained Wrestling, finished in 4th place.
16U Boys 190 lb Weight Class: This weight class was an 8 man double elimination bracket with 7 registered wrestlers.
Ronan An, Level Up WC, had a stellar day breezing through the quarters and semis and then taking down a folkstyle state champ in the finals. An went 3-0 on the day with 2 tech falls.
Dylan Reel, Woodward Academy, went 2-1 on the day which was good enough for 2nd place. Reel is an absolute monster on the mat, but it seems like he couldn’t figure out An in neutral.
Robert McCoy, Temple HS Wrestling, went 3-1 on the day which was good enough for 3rd place.
Carson Vaillant came in 4th today with an overall record of 2-2.
16U Boys 215 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 6 man round robin bracket.
Zane Taliaferro, Troup Wrestling, went 5-0 on his way to a gold medal. The only person who really challenged him was the eventual second place finisher Richardson.
Grey RIchardson, Cavalier WC, finished in 2nd place today behind a 4-1 record.
Codey Dean, Guerrilla WA, finished his day with a 3-2 record, good enough for 3rd place.
Jacob Rodgers, Rush MMA, finished in 4th place with a 2-3 record.
16U Boys 285 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 3 man round robin bracket.
Henry Jones, Morris Fitness WC, finished his day undefeated with a 2-0 record on his way to a freestyle state championship.
William Thomas, Woodland Wrestling, finished in 2nd place with a 1-1 record.
Jose Martinez, representing GA, finished this weight class in 3rd place.
You can find brackets here.
Pony Boy Wrestling 