PIAA State Duals - 2A

[RoverNation05]

aith Christian vs. Notre Dame (GP)



107: #10 Kole Davidheiser (23-7) vs. Tanner Berkenstock (14-7) or #4 Ayden Smith (31-3)

The first decision point where this morning’s weigh ins will make a difference. Ayden Smith has been down at 107 all year and is ranked amongst the top kids in the country at the weight. However, since District Duals, Smith has been wrestling 114, with Tanner Berkenstock down at 114. If Smith weighs in at 107, he is a solid favorite to beat Davidheiser, but Davidheiser would be a solid favorite to at least beat, if not bonus Berkenstock. If ND is going to win, Smith has to get down to 107 and beat Davidheiser.



114: Owin Brunner (8-5) or #2 Gauge Botero (30-2) vs. Tanner Berkenstock (14-7) or #4 Ayden Smith (31-3)

Here is our next real decision point. PA Power has this projected as Botero wrestling at 114 instead of 121, where he’s been all year. Berkenstock would be a solid favorite to beat Brunner, but Botero would likely pin Berkenstock. I also don’t love Smith’s chances coming up from 107 wrestling Botero who is coming down from 121. Size matters. But similarly, Smith pins Brunner if he’s here.



121: Owin Brunner (8-5) or #2 Gauge Botero (30-2) vs. #14 Cooper Feltman (16-11)

Feltman has turned himself into a really nice wrestler, highlighted by his win earlier in the year over state finalist Cole Campbell (Bethlehem catholic). But Botero pinned him in the first minute of their match at Escape the Rock. Feltman will get bonus points against Brunner if Botero goes down to 114, but it’s six for FC otherwise.

127: #11 Arment Waltenbaugh (14-4) vs. Gavyn Kelton (14-11)

Waltenbaugh beat Kelton in a wild match at Escape the Rock, 18-11. Two really talented freshman, with Waltenbaugh being more seasoned at this point in their careers.

133: #7 Mason Wagner (26-7) vs. Tanner McQueen (10-12)

Should be a fall for Faith Christian.

139: #4 Chase Hontz (27-8) vs. #13 Bryson Vaugh (22-10)

Hontz is the more talented wrestler here, Vaughn has been around the block as a senior who has been practice partners with Ryan Crookham and Brandan Chletsos and has a state medal himself. Hontz is defienitely the favorite, but if ND is going to win, they need a match like this to go their way and Vaughn as a senior might be their best bet.

145: #6 Max Stein (29-7) vs. #1 Vince Bouzakis (29-7)

One of the best matches of the dual, this was 3-2 Bouzakis at Escape the Rock. Could potentially be a state final. I will say, Bouzakis, the most controversial transfer of the offseason, has not looked like the incredible worldbeater advertised when he came in from Wyoming Seminary.

152: #8 Cael Weidemoyer (22-3) vs. #9 Keegan Ramsay (15-10)

Weidemoyer has put together an incredibly impressive freshman year and looks like a future state champ. Ramsay was a state qualifier as a freshman and has taken ten losses against a really tough schedule. This is the biggest coinflip in the dual, and again, one Notre Dame needs.

160: #5 Luke Sugalski (18-6) vs. #11 Joey LaPenna (8-4)

So this is a real hinge point of the dual. Sugalski was a state qualifier as a freshman and again is one of the superstar young upper weights for Faith Christian. LaPenna has wrestled up in weight his whole career, and even this year started up at 189 while he was coming off of a football injury and coming down in weight (he was 189 last year while weighing in in the high 160s). He’s going to be very big and strong for 160, and he can push Sugalski.



172: #1 Adam Waters (31-1) vs. #2 Holden Garcia (27-6)

This is the marquee matchup. Garcia is the returning state champion, a Princeton commit, and has been nationally ranked for most of the last two years. Waters is one of the best freshman upperweights we’ve seen. Waters really put himself on the map by beating Garcia, 3-1, in the finals at Escape the Rock. I think we’ll see this today, in the SE Regional Final, and in the State Final at 172 pounds.



189: #12 Jason Singer (20-7) vs. Connor Smalley (11-15)

Smalley has been pushed into action with the ineligibility ruling on Dominic Sumpolec. Smalley has had a nice freshman year essentially wrestling up two weights (he’s probably a 160 at this point) and a bright future, but Singer is going to win this one handily.



215: #4 Mark Effendian (28-9) vs. #12 Jared Blobe (24-8)

Another great match up, Blobe has really blossomed in the back half of his career as a good 215 pounder. Crazy strong, sound fundamentals. Effendian has a higher ceiling and is a better athlete, so if he can push pace, this should be a big win for Faith Christian.



286: Ben Mertz (1-4) vs. #3 Aiden Compton (29-8)

Compton by fall.



Here’s what I’ve got – I’m predicting Berkenstock goes 107, and we get Smith-Botero at 114.

107: Faith Christian by major 4-0

114: Faith Christian by decision 7-0

121: Notre Dame by fall 7-6

127: Faith Christian by decision 10-6

133: Faith Christian by fall 16-6

139: Faith Christian by decision 19-6

145: Notre Dame by decision 19-9

152: Notre Dame by decision 19-12

160: Faith Christian by decision 22-12

172: Notre dame by decision 22-15

189: Faith Christian by fall: 28-15

215: Faith Christian by decision: 31-15

285: Notre Dame by fall: 31-21 FC



If Smith makes 107 and Botero stays at 121, I’ve got it 9-6 ND to start instead of 7-6, so that only makes up two points. They’d need LaPenna, Vaughn, and Garcia to win.

 

[RoverNation05]

Dual is going to start at 160 with LaPenna and Sugalski.

And Faith Christian bumped Weidemoyer up, so all of those match ups are moot.

 

[RoverNation05]

160: Weidemoyer dec. LaPenna, 5-1
3-0 Faith Christian

 

[RoverNation05]

Notre Dame sends out a backup against Adam Waters, so we won't get Waters-Garcia. Garcia will go up to 189, bumping Smalley out, Crusaders trying to trade pin at 172 for a nine point swing at 189 (Singer pinning Smalley to Garcia beating Singer)

 

[RoverNation05]

Works out great for Notre Dame - Holden Garcia tech falls Jason Singer, that's an 8 point swing from what I had projected at 172 and 189.

 

[RoverNation05]

Huge win for Effendian, 2-0 at 215
Faith forfeits to Compton at heavyweight
In a MONSTER effort, Berkenstock beats Davidheiser at 107, another 6 point swing
Botero did not weigh in at 114, Faith forfeits to Ayden Smith
Botero pins Feltmann in a minute
Waltenbaugh majored Kelton

Team score is Faith Christian 22 Notre Dame 20 after 9 bouts, four bouts left - Faith is favored with bonus at 133, favored at 139, and slight favorite at 152. Notre Dame favored at 145. ND is going to need to win tossups at 139 and 152.

 

[RoverNation05]

Vaughn beats Hontz at 139 - second period escape, and rides out the third period with a turn at the end to win 4-0

Faith Christian bumps Stein up to 152, Bouzakis beats Shane Wagner 8-5

Notre Dame is up 26-25 into the last match, Keegan Ramsay needs to beat Max Stein.

Stein up 3-0, late second period. Penalty point in the first, reversal in the 2nd.

 

[RoverNation05]

Ramsay goes neutral, takedown with a minute left, 3-2, cuts him with 30 left, 4-2

Stein successfully blocks off, wins 4-2

Faith Christian beats Notre Dame 28-26. Start of what is going to be a very good run for the Lions.

 

[RoverNation05]

I’m not going to deny that I take some real joy that despite all of their efforts and the “just add water” state title contenders, Notre Dame still hasn’t won state duals, and with Faith Christian coming, I’m sure they will.

 

[sammyk]

I remember the WPIAL teams from the 1980's. Char Houston, West Allegheny, Wash High, German , West Greene, Jefferson Morgan, Fairchance Georges, Buggestown, Ft. Cherry, there were a ton of quality teams back then

 

[RoverNation05]

The WPIAL is still excellent. The teams have just shifted a little bit. In 3A, its Canon Mac, Waynesburg, Connellsville, Hempfield, Trinity, Greater Latrobe. And they’re putting out the highest of high end individuals. Rocco Welsh is Intermat’s #2 pound for pound wrestler in the country, Mac Church, Vinny Kilkeary, and Rune Lawrence are all going for their third state titles and are top five-ish kids nationally.

 

[16th&Georgetown]

Rover what’s the situation at Bishop McCort? How long are they on probation. They have some studs out there. Possibly a couple state champs just wasting away.

 

[RoverNation05]

Bishop McCourt is banned from the postseason for 2022 and 2023 and Bill Bassett was banned from coaching for two years. Following the postseason ban, McCourt is on a three-year probation.

Bishop McCourt's biggest problem was their social media presence. They were announcing incoming transfers like colleges announcing recruits that just signed. They also posted all of these videos of illegal club workouts as part of their "rise and grind" series. The really strict ban from D6 got upheld by the PIAA mostly because McCourt themselves (and Bassett in particular, who managed his son's social media in addition to his own) posted all of this evidence of them breaking rules. They also got hammered because five or so years ago, McCourt got in trouble for wrestling transfers under a different coach - so they're a repeat offender under the rule set. It was a similar "just add water for state champs" formula they tried.

They've got a bunch of talented kids for sure. Bo Bassett is the best kid in the country at 114, he is the coaches son and the reason everybody wanted to train there. Jax Forrest is the best kid in the country at 121 - he relocated to central PA from North Carolina so he can train with Bassett. Ditto for Sam Herring, their 127, who moved from Tennessee to Johnstown to train with Bassett. They also have a couple other out of state relocations, in addition to kids like the Gibsons who just transferred from Forest Hills right down the road.

What I think the PIAA is trying to stop is what Graham in Ohio became. Graham is a public school, but also was run by Jeff Jordan (the congressmanns brother) who ran "Jeff Jordan's State Champ Camp" which were these huge overnight camps in the summer that elite kids from all over the country came to. Then, Graham would get kids from all over the place to move to this sleepy town in southwest Ohio and they'd bring a national team to the Ohio state tournament every year, and just crush the Division II competition. The most famous example is David Taylor coming from Wyoming to wrestle at Graham. I remember talking to Nick Brascetta when he was at Virginia Tech about Graham and asking him questions about the actual area (I lived about an hour away at the time), and he told me "I don't know man, I'm from Colorado, I was just there to wrestle during the school year." It was a great high school team, tremendously well coached, and they had super talented kids. But also, c'mon.