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.
Taking a look at the team points, Level Up Wrestling Center took home the top club honors for the Junior Boys Freestyle with 82 points. Level Up took home 2 gold medals, 4 silver, 2 bronze, and 2 sixth place finishers. I’m not sure what they have going on in that room, but whatever they are doing it seems to be working.
Gerald Carrs Storm Wrestling Center took home second place for team points this weekend with 53 total points. Storm brought home 3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze, and 1 5th place.
Roundtree Wrestling Academy came in 3rd overall with 44 total points. Roundtree had 3 gold medals, 1 silver, and 1 sixth place finisher.
Compound Wrestling just narrowly missed out on the top 3 with 42 points, just two points behind Roundtree. Compound had 1 champ, 2 silver medalists, 2 bronze, and 1 fifth place finisher.
Rounding out the top five was the South Effingham Mustang Wrestling Club. It’s no surprise that South Effingham is putting out quality kids at this level considering how good their high school program has become in recent years. South Effingham brought home 1 gold medal and 1 fifth place finisher.
Below you can find a closer look at each individual weight class.
Junior Boys 106 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 4 man round robin bracket.
Christopher Hardeman, South Effingham, finished his day in the winners circle after going 3-0 with 2 points and a tech fall.
Eli Bowman, representing GA, finished in second place with a 2-1 record. Bowman had 2 tech falls on the day.
Jaxson Estep, representing GA, finished in 3rd place overall with a 1-2 record.
Jayden Stachelczyk, representing Ga, finished his day in 4th place.
Junior Boys 113 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 5 man round robin bracket.
Zykhi Sistrunk, Storm WC, finished the day with a 4-0 record on his way to a gold medal. The only person who was able to really challenge him was his first match of the day.
Desmond Brown, Rush MMA, came home with 2nd place. After losing his first match to eventual champion Sistrunk, he rebounded and came home with 2 tech falls and a pin giving him a 3-1 record. Good enough for 2nd place.
Alexander Ledford, representing GA, came home with 3rd place and a 2-2 record on the day.
Cameron Phillips, representing GA, finished his day in 4th place with a 1-3 record.
Junior Boys 120 lb Weight Class: This weight class was an 8 man double elimination bracket.
Gabriel Burns, Roundtree WA, finished the day in 1st place going 3-0 with 3 tech falls. No one else in the field really seemed to give him many problems today.
Michael Madda, Level Up WC, finished the day in 2nd place with a 2-1 record. After receiving a forfeit in the quarters, he cruises through the semis with a 10-0 victory. He just didn’t have enough to handle Burns in the finals and lost 14-4.
Adonis Sanchez, Coahulla Creek HS, finished in 3rd place overall with a 3-1 record. After falling to Madda in the semis he rebounded and came back running through the conso semis and conso finals.
Max Meredith, representing Ga, finished up in 4th place with a 2-2 record. Losing to Burns in the semis, then receiving a forfeit in the conso semis. He didnt have enough to handle Sanchez in the conso finals.
Junior Boys 126 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 16 man double elimination bracket.
Dj Clarke, Roundtree WA, had a stellar day on his way to a gold medal going 4-0 with 4 tech falls. Only surrendering 1 point throughout the day. Clarke tech falled Herring in the finals, and Herring is a monster, and state runner up, in his own right.
Tyler Herring, Level Up WC, was challenged in the quarters but managed to come out on top. He finished the day 3-1 and ran into an absolute buzz saw in the finals. Good enough for 2nd place.
Hayes Harpenau representing GA, finished in 3rd place overall. Harpenau fell to Clarke in the semis, and then pinned his way through the conso semis and conso finals. Harpenau finished the day with a 2-2 record.
Hilkiah Haffner, Woodstock City Wrestling, finished in 4th place with a 3-2 record.
Junior Boys 132 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 16 man double elimination bracket.
Colson Hoffman, Compound Wrestling, went 3-0 and tech falled everyone who was put in front of him. He teched Cates in the quarters, Doherty in the semis, and folkstyle state runner up McCormack in the finals. There is no doubt Hoffman is the real deal.
Kieron McCormack, Roundtree WA, absolutely destroyed everyone on his way to the finals coming up with 3 pins. But, Hoffman appeared to be too much to handle in the finals. McCormack finished the day with a 3-1 record, good enough for 2nd place.
Conner Doherty, Teknique Wrestling, finished up in 3rd place. After falling to eventual champion Hoffman in the semis, he battled his way through the conso semis and barely beat Cael Kusky in the conso finals.
Cael Kusky, Lovett WC, fell to McCormack in the semis, handled business in the conso semis and then fell to Doherty in the conso finals. Giving him a 3-2 record on the day, which was good enough for 4th place.
Junior Boys 144 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 16 man double elimination bracket.
Marley Washington, Roundtree WA, went 4-0 throughout the day and finished with a gold medal without really being challenged, never giving up more than 2 points in a match. If you don’t know Marley Washington, you haven’t been paying attention to GA wrestling. This kid can flat out go.
Ian Stephens, SGAC, finished in second place after pinning his quarters match and then tech falling his semis match. Stephens ran into a hammer in the finals and just didn’t have the gas tank to get it done.
Daniel Krutules, representing GA, went 3-1 on the day which was good enough for 3rd place. After losing to Washington in the semis he wrestled back through the back half of the bracket without too much resistance.
Graysen Turley, Alpha Wrestling Club, finished this weight class in 4th place overall with a 3-2 record on the day with his only two losses coming at the hands of Krutules.
Junior Boys 150 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 16 man double elimination bracket.
Logan Paradise is one of the best wrestlers in Ga. The UNI commit was absolutely dominant this weekend, never surrendering a point on his path to a gold medal.
Nathan Nielsen, Team Alpha Wrestling, had an impressive day with 2 pins and a win on his way to the finals. He just didn’t have any answers when it came to Paradise in the finals.
Jevion Redmon, Compound Wrestling, finished in 3rd place overall with a 4-1 record. After losing to Paradise in the semis he handled business in the conso semis and conso finals to cruise to a bronze medal.
Joabe Araujo, representing GA, fell to Paradise in the quarters and then worked his way back in the consolation bracket going 4-2 on the day.
Junior Boys 157 lb Weight Class: This weight class was possibly one of the deepest weight classes in the tournament with all four placers were also folkstyle state placers in their respective divisions.
Cade Parent, Level Up WC, absolutely destroyed the field on his way to a freestyle state title this weekend. Tech Falling everyone without giving up a single point. One of the most dominant performances of the tournament.
Connor Stephens, Compound Wrestling, had a much more difficult road to the finals than his counterpart, but a solid performance nonetheless. Stephens finished the day with a 3-1 record, good enough for 2nd place.
Jace Parent, Level Up WC, fell in the semis to Stephens and then worked his way through the consolation bracket with relative ease. Finishing the day with a 4-1 record overall.
Javon Bateman, representing GA, finished the day in 4th place overall with a 3-2 record. Bateman pulled a tough draw seeing eventual champion Parent in the first round, Bateman was able to work his way all the way back through the consolation bracket. That makes for a long day.
Junior Boys 165 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 16 man double elimination bracket.
Antoine Glasgow, Glasgow WA, put on quite a performance on his way to a freestyle state title on Saturday. Going 4-0 with 3 tech falls and a pin on his path to the winners circle.
James Bowers, Storm WC, had a very good day as well, coming up just short in the finals against Glasgow. Bowers finished with a 3-1 record, good enough for 2nd place.
Robert Davis, Level Up WC, finished in 3rd place overall with a 5-1 record on the day. With an unfortunate draw of Glasgow in the first round, he wrestled all the way back through which is no easy thing to do.
Jack Mathieu, GB Wolfpack WC, after losing to eventual champion Bowers in the semis, he took care of business in the conso semis only to have to forfeit the conso finals match.
Junior Boys 175 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 16 man double elimination bracket.
The finals match for this weight class was a clash of titans. Nationally ranked Latrell Schafer, Storm WC, finished his day with a gold medal tech falling his way into the finals where he beat folkstyle state champ, Christopher Mance 8-5. Thijs finals match was one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament.
Christopher Mance, Level Up WC, is a force on the wrestling math tech falling his way all the way up to the finals match where he ran into another monster in his own right, Schafer. Even though Schafer came out on top of this match, Mance is a force and should never be taken lightly.
Aleric Marsden, representing GA, had an unfortunate draw pulling Mance in the first round. Going 4-1 for the day and being able to wrestle all the way through the consolation bracket is an impressive feat.
Ethan Kinsey, representing GA, finished his day in 4th place with a 2-2 record. After losing to eventual champ Schafer in the semis, he wrestled back through to come up just short in the conso finals.
Junior Boys 190 lb Weight Class: This weight class was an 8 man double elimination bracket with some excellent wrestlers all over this weight class.
Landon Jones, Level Up WC, finished in first place with a 3-0 record tech falling a defending state champ and state placer on his way to the winners circle. It was just another day at the office for Mr. Jones.
Connor Mccloskey, representing GA, finished up in 2nd place with a 2-1 record on the day. Comfortably taking care of business in the quarters and semis, he just couldn’t find any answers for Jones in the finals.
Jack Godbee, Storm WC, went 3-1 on the day finishing in 3rd place overall. The Vidalia product fell to eventual champion Jones in the semis then took care of business in the consolation bracket.
Matthew Phillips, Woodshed Wrestling, went 2-2 on the day. Just good enough for 4th place.
Junior Boys 215 lb Weight Class: This weight class was an 8 man double elimination bracket where all 4 Fargo qualifiers were also folkstyle state placers.
John Michael Gill, Woodland Wrestling, was the 215 freestyle champion this weekend posting a 3-0 record with 2 pins on his way to the finals.
Albert Butler, Level Up WC, cruised into the finals behind a pin and a tech fall. Butler must have gotten hurt in the semis match because he injury defaulted his finals match against Gill.
Michael Nichols, Lumpkin Co HS, finished 3rd overall after falling to Gill in the Semis. Nichols finished his day with a 3-1 record.
Kade Hawthorne, North Hall WC, finished his day with a 2-2 record and a 4th place finish.
Junior Boys 285 lb Weight Class: This weight class was a 5 man round robin bracket.
William Chappell, Rockmart TC, finished his day 3-1 with 3 pins and a gold medal.
Javonte Bowen, Raiders WA, was also 3-1 for the day but he lost the heads up match to Chappell in the second round.
William Lethco, Alpha Wrestling Club, was the only person to give Chappell a loss but he took 2 losses in the other rounds giving him a 2-2 record for the day. Good enough for 3rd place.
Brayden Patrick, representing GA, finished with a 1-3 record on the day which was good enough for a 4th place finish.
Pony Boy Wrestling 