CV UPSETS AT WINTER DUALS: Cumberland Valley PA secured victory at the CV Winter Duals with a 5-0 record including two victories that would be considered upsets if you go by the national rankings; a 41-30 victory over Colonial Forge VA and a 34-31 defeat of Central Dauphin PA. Cumberland Valley also defeated Council Rock South PA, 38-24; Boyertown PA, 36-32; and Bald Eagle Area PA, 41-22. Injuries also played a key role in these dual meets. Cumberland Valley had Michael Evans (171) returning from injury, Central Dauphin was without Marshall Peppelman (140) in addition to Kenny Courts (135), and Colonial Forge was without Michael Garofalo (119) and Felton Banks (215).
The key swing match in the CV-CF dual meet was at 135 pounds, where Tom Wiechelt defeated Drew Squires 6-5 at 135 pounds. The CV-CD dual meet swung at 145 pounds, where Joey Napoli upset defending state champion Walter Peppelman 3-0. In the third round of dual meets, Colonial Forge lost to Council Rock South 37-32; CRS won two-point decisions at 140 and 171 pounds, and had a statement 13-4 victory by Mark Rappo over Shane Gentry at 119 pounds. In what was expected to be the main event final match, Central Dauphin defeated Colonial Forge 30-28. Keying the CD victory was Tyler Buchman upending Ironman and Beast of the East placer Shane Gentry, who wrestled up one weight class, 9-4 at 119 pounds.
Records for the day: CV 5-0, CD 4-1, CRS 3-2, CF 2-3, BEA 1-4, Boyertown 0-5

ICW UPSET AT GENESEO: In what seemingly is the theme of the weekend, Providence Catholic IL emerged with an unexpected tournament victory over Iowa City West at the Geneseo Bi-State. PC outlasted ICW 215-209.5 in terms of points. Both squads had six finalists but Providence Catholic had eleven placers compared to nine for Iowa City West. Champions for Providence Catholic were Ed Cooper (103), Dan Steed (152), Brian Reynolds (160), and Dave Togher (189); while Tom Ambrose (112) and Jake Wojcik (130) were runners-up. Nate (125) and Nick (140) Moore, Dylan Carew (130), Derek St John (145), and Grant Gambrall (171) won titles for Iowa City West; while Tyler Carew (135) earned a second place finish. St Rita IL also had multiple champions, as John Majka (135) and Kevin Galher (285) garnered the pair for the Mustangs.
Outstanding Wrestler in the lower-weights went to Adam Sheley (Geneseo IL), champion at 119 pounds; for the upper-weights it went to St John. The best match of the finals was at 130 pounds, where Dylan Carew defeated Wojcik 1-0.

CHEESEHEAD GOES TO WAUSAU WEST: Despite nationally ranked Montini IL coming taking home four championships – from Colton Rasche (112), Jake Gregerson (130), Carl Foreside (171), and Garrett Goebel (285) – it was Wausau West WI that earned the championship at the Cheesehead Invitational. Wausau West outpointed Montini and Kaukauna WI 669-579-528.5. Wausau West was led by champion Shawn Perry (140), along with runner-up finishes from Jim Schuster (103), Joey Marsh (112), Sam Umlauf (125), and Steven Monk (135); they also had a third-place finish and two fourth-place wresters. Montini also had three wrestlers finish in third. Kaukauna had a trio of title-winners in Dillon Bera (145) and Noah (160) and Joe (189) Budi, as well as Glen Meyerhofer (130) taking home second place and another wrestler finishing in third. Luxemburg-Casco WI also had multiple champions, as Zac Cibula (152) and Trever Spude (215) won their respective weight classes.

CHRISTIANBURG WINS VIRGINIA DUALS: After a tournament where upsets were the rule of the day, the second-seeded Christianburg VA squad came out of it with the Virginia Duals National Division title after a 34-20 victory over Eastern Regional NJ. On their way to the final, the Blue Demons defeated Phillipsburg NJ 37-18, Nazareth PA 39-18, and Chantilly VA 64-6. Devin Carter (103), Rich Eva (145), Sam Rakes (152), Derek Woody (160), Braden Carter (171), Jon Weber (215), and Trey Dillon (285) went undefeated as Christianburg went 41-15 in matches during the dual meets. In order to advance to the final, Eastern Regional had to survive close matches with St Mark’s DE, 30-26, and Great Bridge VA, 34-32. Daymien Scott (160) came up with the pivotal win in each dual, an overtime victory over his opponent from St Mark’s and a two-point defeat of his Great Bridge opponent. In the opening round, Eastern Regional upended Langley VA 38-19.
Phillipsburg took third place defeating Buchanan CA 28-23 in the final bout, which was their second defeat of Buchanan during the tournament; Phillipsburg having won a quarterfinal bout 29-27. In both dual meets, Phillpsburg won eight of the bouts. In the consolation semifinals, Buchanan defeated St Mark’s 36-20, and Phillipsburg upended Camden Catholic NJ 42-20.
Grundy VA won the American High School Division with a 34-25 victory over Canon-McMillan PA, and Kellam VA defeated Poquoson VA 42-19 for third place. The Black and Blue division was won by Western Branch VA, defeating Hampton VA 41-21 in the final.

FESTIVAL OF WRESTLING: There were multiple teams that made statements at this weekend’s NHSCA High School Wrestling Festival at Pleasant Valley PA High School. Among the teams to go undefeated were High Point NJ (4-0), Blair Academy NJ (3-0), Bergen Catholic NJ (3-0), and Northampton PA. In the head-to-head duals among ranked teams per AWN, Northampton upended Moeller OH 41-18, Blair Academy defeated Moeller 53-13, Blair Academy defeated Wyoming Seminary PA 51-15, and Moeller defeated Wyoming Seminary 34-26. Additionally, Wyoming Seminary lost to High Point NJ 33-26 to end up 0-3 on the afternoon.

INTRIGUE AT EASTERN STATES: Five teams finished within twenty points of one another in the team standings at the Eastern States Tournament this past weekend in New York State. Despite zero champions, it was Port Jervis that came home with 151 points and the team title. They were led by a pair of runners-up in Sean Floor (140) and Steven Butler (189) as well as two third-place finishers. In second place, it was Shenendehowa NY with 145.5 points led by championships from Austin (171) and Hunter (189) Meys along with runner-up Luke Popolizio (103). Rounding out the top five were Timberlane NH with 137 points, Wayne with 133.5 points, and Valley Central NY with 131.5 points. The other team with multiple champions was Monroe-Woodbury NY, who had titles from Mike Vespa (103) and Jamie Franco (125).

RANKED OUTCOMES: The following is a list of matches involving a pair of ranked wrestlers competing against one another, or those where a ranked wrestler was upended.
*Mayfield Big 8, 112 pound preliminary pools: #3 @ 119 Sam White (Massillon Perry OH) defeats #12 @ 103 Johnni DiJulius (Walsh Jesuit OH) 9-5
*Mayfield Big 8, 130 pound final: Seth Horner (Massillon Perry OH) defeats #11 Brad Squire (Wadsworth OH) 5-3
*CV Duals, 145 pounds: Joey Napoli (Cumberland Valley PA) defeats #6 Walter Peppelman (Central Dauphin PA) 3-0
*Kiffmeyer Duals, 125 pound quarterfinal: #7 @ 119 David Thorn (STMA MN) major decision over #4 Justin Solberg (Wahpeton ND) 12-4

THE WEEK TO COME: Coverage will include news and notes from the NHSCA Final Four of Wrestling, Five Counties Wrestling Championships, Mount Mat Madness, Rocky Mountain Rumble, Alliance Top Gun, and Winnetonka Invitational. In addition, the Georgia Dual Meet State Championships are this weekend.

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