VIRGINIA PREVAILS ON THE BATTLEFIELD: The top three teams at the Battlefield Duals held this weekend in Hayfield VA this past weekend all came from the state of Virginia. The 14-team field also had teams from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York.

In the preliminary “A” pool, there was a three-way tie for first place as Upper Perkiomen PA, Colonial Forge VA, and Waynesburg PA all went 5-1. UP defeated Waynesburg 42-23 despite Reno runner-up Shane Smith going down to defeat 5-1 against Nick Garber at 130 pounds. CF defeated UP 42-22 with the keys in that one being Upper Perkiomen losing by disqualification at 215 pounds, and Smith again going down to defeat at 130 – this time by a 4-3 score in overtime against Jay Pantaleo. In the final round of the round-robin, it was Waynesburg defeating CF 32-29 as both teams split seven matches but Waynesburg had three falls compared to one for CF.

In the preliminary “B” pool, Great Bridge VA was undefeated at 6-0, Christianburg VA took second at 5-1, and Connellsville PA was third at 4-2. Great Bridge defeated Connellsville 51-10 with Scott Cust (Great Bridge) defeating Zac Benzio in that match’s headliner, 10-7 at 189 pounds. GB also defeated Christianburg 34-27, as Jared King pinned Sam Rakes in the final match of the dual to seal that deal. Despite that loss, Christianburg still went on to defeat Connellsville 47-17 in the final match of the round robin.

Moving on to the championship pool for first through fourth place were Upper Perkiomen, Colonial Forge, Great Bridge, and Connellsville. With results from the preliminary pools carrying forward, there were two remaining matches for each of the four. In the first of two rounds, it was Christianburg defeating Upper Perk 33-28; the swing result being at 152 pounds when Rakes defeated Zach Kemmerer 11-9, Kemmerer bumped up from his weigh-in at 145 pounds. Great Bridge also defeated Colonial Forge 35-23, as the headliner was Derek Gillespie (Great Bridge) defeating Pantaleo 6-4. In the second round of championship pool action, Christianburg defeated Colonial Forge 34-33 due to CF being penalized one point for misconduct during the meet. Headlining that meet was a 6-5 win at 119 pounds for Michael Garafolo (Colonial Forge) over Ian Squires. Great Bridge defeated Upper Perkiomen 46-16, as King defeated Z Kemmerer 4-3 at 152 pounds.

Finishing fifth was Connellsville, who defeated Waynesburg 43-24 in a battle of WPIAL tams.

NEW JERSEY SUPREMACY: The top two teams in the state of New Jersey, excluding Blair Academy, according to the Star-Ledger battled on Saturday night. Jackson won nine of the 14 matches, including the last four to prevail by a 36-22 score against Southern Regional. Jackson won all three matches decided by two points, and four of the five decided by three or less. For Southern Regional, their three star wrestlers dropped one weight class – two-time state champion Frank Molinaro went down to 140 pounds, Beast of the East champion Luke Lanno to 145, and Keith Dillard to 152. The next day, Jackson traveled to Cornell University to do battle with one of the top teams in the state of New York, Islip High School, and prevailed by a 39-14 score.

BUCHANAN AND UPSETS REIGN AT DOC BUCHANAN: This weekend’s Doc Buchanan Invitational at Clovis High School brought about two things – multiple upsets in the individual weight classes, and a dominant team race victory for Buchanan High School. The biggest of the upsets was in the 171-pound weight class where Justin Danz (Ponderosa CA) defeated Reno ToC champion Hunter Collins (Gilroy CA). Danz was named Tournament Outstanding Wrestler for his performance. Another pair of upsets occurred at the 125-pound weight class where Chris Ramos (Bullard CA) pinned Reno ToC runner-up Justin Durham (Ponderosa CA) in the semifinals, and then defeated returning state placer Justin Arreondo (Buchanan CA) in the final. Ramos was named Lower-weight Outstanding Wrestler for his performance. Upper-weight Oustanding Wrestler was Rudy Burtschi (Oakdale CA), champion of the 189-pound weight class.

Buchanan CA was champion with 247.5 points on the strength of two champions, two other finalists, and a total of nine placers inside the top 8. Gilroy CA was second place with 182.5 points, and Bakersfield CA third with 160 points. Other than Buchanan, the other teams with two champions were Elk Grove CA and Sultana CA.

OAK PARK FINDS IOWA NOT TOO KIND: Oak Park MO traveled to Iowa City West High School for the Lepic Duals past weekend. Oak Park lost matches to Iowa City West IA 40-31 and Waverly Shell-Rock IA 40-25. Then, in the championship final, Iowa City West defeated Waverly Shell-Rock 35-28.

Oak Park was without three key wrestlers in defending state champs Mac Bailey (119) and Brent Haynes (171), along with state runner-up Joe Green (135). Scott O’Donnell (130) – in particular – did not find the Hawkeye State too kind, as the nationally ranked wrestler lost matches to Nate Moore (Iowa City West) 9-5 and Mark Ballweg (Waverly Shell-Rock) 8-2.

The headline bout of the championship final between West and Shell-Rock was at 119 pounds, where Dylan Carew (Iowa City West) defeated Mike Miille 4-3.

MONTINI, BENEFIEL LIKE THE CHEESE: At this weekend’s Cheesehead Tournament at Kaukauna WI, Montini IL prevailed as team champions with 723 points. The next three teams were Luxemburg-Casco WI with 566, Kaukauna WI with 530, and Wausau West with 507. Mike Benefiel (Montini) became the first wrestler to win four Cheesehead titles, as the nation’s top ranked 171-pound wrestler ran through the field with five pins and one major decision. The Broncos had five champions in Colton Rasche (103), Carson Beebe (119), Benefiel, Ethan Winel (215), and Garrett Goebel (285); and four runners-up in Andrew Saunders (130), Jered Hensley (135), Isaiah Gonzalez (140), and Carl Foreside (160).

NEXT WEEK: Coverage will include the Geneseo Tournament in Illinois, Five Counties in California, Top Gun in Ohio, and more.

RANKING UPDATE: An update to the national rankings happened during the past week, before this weekend’s action. Check here.

UPSETTING NEWS: The following defeats of nationally ranked wrestlers happened during the week:

112 #6 Bo Touris (Lakota West OH) lost by fall to Dan Genetin (Massillon Perry OH)

125 #10 Tyler Caldwell (Derry KS) lost 8-3 to Alex Bridgeford (Omaha Burke NE)

130 #8 Scott O’Donnell (Oak Park MO) lost 9-5 to #2 @ 125 Nate Moore (Iowa City West IA) and 8-2 to Mark Ballweg (Waverly Shell-Rock IA)

140 #6 Zach Kemmerer (Upper Perkiomen PA) lost matches up at 152 pounds 11-9 to Sam Rakes (Christianburg VA) and 4-3 to Jared King (Great Bridge VA)

140 #7 Shawn Harris (St Edward OH) lost 3-2 to Germane Lindsey (Moeller OH)

140 #10 Walter Peppelman (Central Dauphin PA) lost to Jarred Kane (Lower Dauphin PA)

152 #8 Lance Wade (Islip NY) lost up at 160 pounds to Keith Carney (Jackson NJ) 5-2

171 #2 Hunter Collins (Gilroy CA) lost 9-4 to Justin Danz (Ponderosa CA)

AS ALWAYS: Feedback about the national high school wrestling insider is welcomed at rankings@wrestling411usa.com; also note that information about upsets involving ranked wrestlers can be sent to the same e-mail for mention in the insider.