NHSCA National Duals Preview

Willie Saylor, Editor

Last year I was asked to host the webcast of the NHSCA National Duals in Virginia Beach. I labored on the decision.

I had reservations about just what level of wrestling I’d be witness to. The idea of watching and working a massive tournament of average talent wasn’t too appealing. But ultimately, I went ahead and took the gig, figuring a weekend at the beach over Memorial Day wasn’t such a bad assignment.

What I got was a welcomed surprise.

The level of wrestling was through the roof. And the atmosphere couldn’t have been better.

For those hardcore wrestling fans not privy to the way this works (as I wasn’t last year), it can best be explained like this: it is its own culture.

Some off-season wrestling clubs run out line-ups composed entirely of kids that train at their facilities. But for many Club and Tournament Team General Managers, it goes a little further. They jockey for talent in effort to put the best team on the mat they can. Coaches lobby athletes all year long to secure their best squad. Loyalties and connections are called on. Warm ups and singlets, all of which are unique and creative, are produced specifically for this event. It’s a big deal!

And in the end, all the trophies and awards don’t much matter. This is for bragging rights.

Perhaps the neatest thing though, and what doesn’t get seen on the bout sheets and results board, is the camaraderie of the kids, who are glad to be competing with other great wrestlers on All-Star teams. They are genuinely jovial.

Let’s face it, many studs are strapped to less than stellar high school squads and never get to experience the atmosphere of team confidence when these mega-powers collide.

Whether it’s the winning, or the confidence, or the beach, or the friendships made along the way, this competition is one to behold. As the tournament rolls on and the cream rises to the top, national names and state studs face off bout after bout. Talk about quality: fifteen wrestlers in last year’s 1st place dual are now on Division I wrestling rosters. Thirteen more DI wrestlers appeared in the 3rd place bout. That’s exactly half (28 of 56) of the athletes going on to wrestle at the highest level, not to mention numerous underclassmen who inevitably will.

Wrestling begins Saturday and finishes up Monday. TheOpenMat will be calling the action free of charge on live audio all weekend long, with frequent on-air visits from some of the top high school wrestlers in the country. Check back on Saturday morning for that coverage.

As we prepare for the 12th edition of this tournament, we’ll look at the top contending teams and list the individuals on our national ranking radar.

Diesel: This is the de facto club team for PA AAA power, Central Dauphin, near Harrisburg. This squad features many CD Rams, a team that won the PA State Duals, as well as other state All-Stars. Diesel placed 3rd here a year ago.

Chock full of PA medal winners. Their line-up is started off by Freddy Stroker, widely regarded as the Keystone State’s top 8th grader. Zain Retherford, a Super32 finalist, is Diesel’s 119lber. From Montoursville and headed to Penn State this fall, Luke Frey, an NHSCA Jr. National Champion will wrestle 140. Lehigh commit and former NHSCA finalist, Nate Brown, a Lehigh commitment, is slated for 171, followed by Wyoming Seminary big men, AJ Vizcarrando and Terrence Jean-Jacques, both National Prep Runners-Up.

Griffin Black: Team Griffin, a true All-Star collaboration effort directed by Pittsburgh’s Tyler Nauman, is the former “Premium Select” squad that won this event last year. Their line-up leads off with talented youngsters Zach Ulerick and Micah Hight, a Fargo AA from NJ, now wrestling for Caesar Rodney, DE. A dangerous middle features Dan Neff, a Super32 finalist, and Travis Shaffer, a Dapper Dan winner. Chance Marsteller, a Fargo Champ, and Nick Carr, a two-time state finalist, will flip-flop at 52 and 60. Griffin Black grabbed Beast Champ, Kyle Snyder of Good Counsel, MD for 215. Dawson Peck, a state and NHSCA JR Runner-up, will go at HWT.

Renegade Elite: Most of the major players from Bethlehem Catholic’s banner year (6th at Ironman, small school State Dual Champs) are rostered here. Darian Cruz, who was a finalist at Fargo, Ironman, Super32, and the Beast, is listed at 112 along with 2x West Virginia State Champion, Ryan Diehl. Randy Cruz, a 2x State Finalist, an NHSCA Soph. National Champ, and 3rd this year at JR’s, will wrestle 125. FR National Champion, Austin Mathews will go at 140 with 4x PA state placer Jayshon Wilson at 152. PA State Runner-Up Zack Nye, and State Champion Averee Robinson anchor the top.

SEPA Blue: Based, as their name would suggest, in southeastern PA, the SEPA contingent is a strong combo of Council Rock-South and La Salle high schools, both of which had fantastic seasons this year. State Champ, Billy Rappo will go at 112. Fargo AA, Matt Cimato, goes at 145 with La Salle teammate and former state runner-up Shane Springer wrestling 160. JM Staudenmayer, who won Beast of the East and a state title, will wrestle 171.

Shore Thing White: Gettin’ their GTL on, these guys hail from the Jersey Shore, and have a really nice, balanced line-up. The lower and middle weights are particularly impressive. Most of these guys are state placers in the tough, single-class NJ tourney at Atlantic City. At 112, Kevin Corrigan was a 3rd place finisher at NHSCA Soph’s. Billy Ward (119) was 3rd in the state. Teammates from the tough Camden Catholic squad appear here. Chad Walsh (125) is a 2x state placer, while TJ Miller won a title this year. At 135, BJ Clagon is 2-for-2 at VA Beach, winning NHSCA titles as both a FR and SO. Up top, Jackson’s Dallas Winston, a state runner-up, will go at 189.

SIR: A Jersey-based tournament team, SIR features 6 state finalists. Leading off, Jan Rosenberg won NHSCA JR’s last month. He’s followed by state runner-up, Luis Gonzales at 112. Blair Academy’s Austin Ormsbee (135), ranked #2 in the country, will anchor the middle with High Point State Champion, Drew Wagonhoffer (145). There are three more state champs in the back half of the line-up: Ryan Harrington and NYS import, Mitchell Wightman (Warwick Valley) will wrestle 160 and/or 171, with #5-Billy Smith as the hammer at HWT.

South Florida Lightning: This squad had a great showing here last year, and although some of the names on the roster aren’t of the nationally-known variety, they are certainly credentialed within their own state, with 11 of the 14 members winning state titles. SFL picked up 3x GA state finalist, Austin Trott, who’s also medaled at Fargo, for 145, and nationally ranked Josh Dasilveira, the NHSCA JR Champ bolsters the top at 215.

ST: The newly minted “ST” squad picks up where “Virginia Thunder”, a National Duals placing squad last year, left off. ST has a wrestler at every weight that’s placed Top 4 or better at their state tournament. VA Beach’s own Cox HS will be represented by state champions Cody Stageberg (112) and gigantic HWT Ross Burbank. One of my personal favorites among freshman nationally, Jack Bass, will be at 140 followed by NHSCA JR National Champion, Jack Crawford. These two contribute to a deadly middle of the line-up with state champs Brooks Martino and Greg Flournoy followed by the lone out-of-stater, Oliver Pierce, a Fargo double national finalist from Texas.

Young Guns Black: A former NCAA Runner-Up for the University of Iowa, Jody Strittmatter, runs one of PA’s most productive clubs. His squad finished 4th last year and they’re looking to improve on that with a line-up featuring seven state finalists, six of them champs. Jason Nolf, at 112, is one of those, As is #1 ranked Jimmy Gulibon at 119. YG went back into Iowa to pluck 3x state champ Topher Carton. Dapper Dan winner, and CMU recruit, Mike Ottinger will wrestle 160, before two more out of state, ranked wrestlers, compete. Brandon Griffin, a Super32 Champ from Oregon is slated for 189. Kasson-Mantorville’s Broc Berg is a MN state champ and will go at 215.

Ranked Competitors:

*All rankings current other than Sr.’s, for which we use 2011 final ranking. () indicate weight entered other than that which they are ranked.

#1-103 Darian Cruz, Renegade Elite (112)
#8-103 Billy Rappo, SEPA Blue (112)
#12-103 Jason Nolf, Young Guns Black (112)
#16-103 Jan Rosenberg, SIR
HM-103 Freddy Stroker, Diesel
HM-103 AC Headlee, Senior Terps
#16-112 Ryan Diehl, Renegade Elite
HM-112 Micah Hight, Griffin Black
HM-112 Austin Miller, Griffin Black (119)
#1-119 Jimmy Gulibon, Young Guns Black
#9-119 Zain Retherford, Diesel
HM-119 Chad Walsh (125)
#15-125 Randy Cruz, Renegade Elite
HM-125 Tyson Dippery, Diesel
HM-125 Dennis Gustafson, Prince William WC
HM-125 Troy Heilman, Triumph Blue
HM-125 Jack Bass, ST (140)
#15-130 BJ Clagon, Shore Thing White (135)
#16-130 (in 2010) Alex Shaffer, Team Cole
#18-130 Kyle Casalletto, Triumph Blue
#2-135 Austin Ormsbee, SIR
#5-135 Dan Neff, Griffin Black
#11-135 TJ Miller, Shore Thing White (140)
#18-135 Lenny Richardson, Ragin’ Raisins Pink (140)
#7-140 Luke Frey, Diesel
#7-140 Matt Cimato, SEPA Blue (145)
#9-140 Austin Mathews, Renegade Elite (135)
#16-140 Travis Shaffer, Griffin Black
#19-140 Will Switzer, Flint Tropics
HM-140 Topher Carton, Young Guns Black
HM-140 Drew Wagonhoffer, SIR (145)
#2-145 James Green, Team Cole
#3-145 Jake Crawford, ST
HM-145 Austin Trott, South Florida Lightning
#1-152 Chance Marsteller, Griffin Black
#3-152 Oliver Pierce, ST
HM-152 Jayshon Wilson, Renegade Elite
HM-152 Nick Carr, Griffin Black
HM-152 Christian Barber, Triumph Blue
#9-160 Ryan Harrington, SIR
#11-160 Mike Ottinger, Young Guns Black
HM-160 Doug Hamann, Shore Thing Blue (171)
#3-171 Brandon Griffin, Young guns black (189)
#8-171 Nate Brown, Diesel
#10-171 John Staudenmayer, SEPA Blue
#15-171 Anthony Pafumi, Ragin’ Raisins Pink
#17-171 Elliot Riddick, Renegade Elite (160)
HM-171 Nick Bonnacorsi, Griffin Black
HM-171 Dakota DesLauriers, Young Guns Black
#11-189, Broc Berg, Young Guns Black (215)
HM-189 Josh Popple, D2 Mighty Ducks
HM-189 Dallas Winston, Shore Thing White
#6-215 Kyle Snyder, Griffin Black
#9-215 AJ Vizcarrando, Diesel
#10-215 Thomas Haines, Renegade Elite
#17-215 Josh DaSilveira, South Florida Lightning
#17-215 Dylan Devine, Flint Tropics
#20-215 Joe Stolfi, SEPA Blue
HM-215 Zack Nye, Renegade Elite
#5-HWT Billy Smith, SIR
#10-HWT Averee Robinson, Renegade Elite
#12-HWT Dawson Peck, Griffin Black
#18-HWT Terrence Jean Jacques, Diesel
HM-HWT Ross Burbank, ST