Michigan preps California-bound this weekend for America's Cup
5/31 - A group of top notch Michigan preps
will be traveling to California this weekend
to take on the best that California, New
Jersey, and Nevada have to offer at the
America's Cup Duals.
The event will run Friday and Saturday,
wrestling at Cal-State Fullerton on Friday
and Clovis West High School on Saturday.
Proceeds of the event will go towards helping save college wrestling in California.
The Michigan team, which features an all-state wrestler at every single weight class and six 2010 Individual State Champions, will wrestle three California squads packed with state champs, all-state wrestlers, and nationally ranked grapplers as well as a star-studded team from New Jersey and a Nevada squad.
Michigan Grappler will provide updates, results, and video throughout the weekend, but before Michigan departs this Thursday, lets take a look at the team and individual matchups for this weekend's action.
Who will be representing the Great Lakes State
The Michigan squad for the America's Cup features a great blend of wrestlers in
terms of age, state location, and national exposure. The headliners for Michigan are
obviously trio of 2x state champs Freddie Rodriguez, Alec Mooradian, and Devin
Pommernke. Rodriguez is one of the most nationally known Michigan prep wrestlers
right now after dominating the FloNationals and FILA Cadet Nationals this spring.
Pommerenke has been equally dominant as of late, pinning through the FloNationals
and knocking off two nationally ranked wrestlers at the USAW Northeast Regionals.
Mooradian, a 2x Division 1 State Champ, has excelled nationally earning All-
American honors in Fargo and the FILA Cadet Nationals.
While those three are the big names, the rest of the lineup is nothing to scoff at.
3 other state champs, Chris Rau, Jaylyn Bohl, and John Rizgallah bring more
firepower to the lineup. Rizgallah has had success nationally, including a USAW Preseason National title, and Rau has been in the mix nationally as well, falling just short of placing at the Super 32s last fall.
Bohl and Rizgallah, who are EMU and MSU bound next fall, are two of 4
Division-1 bound seniors making the trip this weekend. 2x State Runner-Up
Ryan Olep (Northern Ill) and State Runner Up Ryan Watts (MSU) have signed
to wrestle for big time programs as well.
Three big name juniors from Lowell will make the trip along with Olep as the
Morse brothers Andrew and Gabe will anchor the middle of the lineup at 140/145
and Gabe Dean will wrestle 215 for Michigan. Andrew Morse and Dean were
both Division 1 State Runners-Up this year and both placed top 4 at the
FloNationals this spring. Dean also scored a big time win, knocking off Senior
National champ Nick McDiarmid at the Midwest Grand Challenge last weekend.
The youngsters of the Michigan team will be Ken Bade at 112 and Mark Hall
at 119. Bade is one of the top freshman in the state after finishing 3rd in the state this year and winning the Ohio Tournament of Champions. He also recently lost a close match to nationally ranked Dean Heil of St Eds, Ohio at the Midwest Grand Challenge. Hall will be one of the most highly anticipated incoming freshman in recent years when he steps into the Davison lineup in two years. This year as a 7th grader he competed for Ryle High School in Kentucky and finished 2nd in the state at 119lbs.
Scouting the California Teams
All three of the California teams are absolutely packed with a total of 37 California
All-State Wrestlers and 8 of their 14 state champions slated to compete. When
looking at the Golden State lineups keep in mind that while they are the largest
state in the country in terms of overall competitors, they all compete in one division
and crown only one state champion & 8 all-staters in each weight class.
The Central Valley team appears to be the strongest of the three teams, with 16
total state placers in their lineup. The big name guys for CV is nationally ranked
Alex Cisneros at 119, Isiaah Martinez at 130, Nick Pena at 135, Bryce Hammond
at 160, and Tommy Burriel at 215.
The Southern California team appears to be a little less intimidating, but still power-
packed. They feature 12 All-Staters and three state champions, headlined by
nationally ranked big men Morgan McIntosh and Tank Knowles of Calvary Chapel
at 189/215.
Team San Diego is led by 9 All-State wrestlers including State Champ and nationally ranked Bryan Grubbs of La Costa Canyon.
There are a handful of very interesting matchups with Michigan and the California teams, here a few to look for:
- 119 - Mark Hall vs Alex Cisneros - HUGE test for Hall as he gets to test himself against one of the best high school wrestlers in the country. Cisneros is as proven as they come - 2x state champ, Super 32 Champ, he is the real deal and this will be a good shot for Hall to see where he is at. Hall was 2nd in the state as a 7th grader and he could be the next big thing in Michigan when he steps foot on the mat for Davison in a year and half.
- 125 - Alec Mooradian vs Grubbs/Zimmer - Mooradian could be the next 4xer in Michigan and has already proven himself on the freestyle circuit placing in Fargo last year and Fila Cadets this year. This weekend will be a good chance for him to prove himself in folkstyle, wrestling two big name guys in Grubbs and Zimmer. Zimmer is one of the top lightweight recruits in the country and was knocked off by Grubbs in the state finals this year.
- 130 - Chris Rau vs Isiah Martinez/Chris Mecate - Rau is well known in Michigan but yet to really break out nationally. This weekend could be his chance as he wrestles two very good nationallly proven guys from California
- 189 - John Rizgallah vs Morgan McIntosh/Zach Nevills - Big weekend for Rizgallah, who won the Division 2 State Title and made the MI Grappler Dream Team this year. McIntosh is widely considered as one of if not the top recruit in the country heading into his senior season next year. Nevills was a state runner up in California this year and will also be a big match for Rizgallah.
- 215 - Gabe Dean vs Tank Knowles/Tommy Burriel - After knocking off McDiarmid at the Midwest Grand Challenge a couple weeks ago, Dean has a chance to really push himself into the national spotlight with two matches against nationally ranked wrestlers. Knowles is ranked top 10 at 215 and Burriel finished the year ranked at 189lbs after losing to McIntosh in the state finals. If Dean can knock off either or both of these guys it should push him into the preseason national rankings next fall.
Scouting the New Jersey Team
The Garden State will be well represented this weekend with 12 All-State wrestlers, 3 state champs, and 3 wrestlers currently ranked nationally. When looking at the NJ lineup, just like California, keep in mind that they wrestle only one division so being an all-stater or state champ carries a little extra value for these guys.
When Michigan squares off with NJ the dual will definitely start out with a bang as the most anticipated matchup will the first one between nationally ranked Freddie Rodriguez and Anthony Ashnault. Rodriguez is ranked #18 at 112 and Ashnault is #3 at 103. These two met at Super 32s when Rodriguez edged Ashnault in a close match on his way to the finals.
Along with Ashnault, Jersey also features nationally ranked senior and 2x state champ Nick Visicario at 160lbs, along with nationally ranked Cannan Bethea at 171. State Champ Scotty Festejo at 135lbs provides the NJ lineup with even more punch and the Michigan-NJ dual should be a good one.
Key Matchups:
- 103 - Freddie Rodriguez vs Anthony Ashnault - Ashnault is ranked #3 at 103lbs and while Rodriguez is ranked 18th at 112lbs, he is widely considered by most as the best 103lber in the country. He wrestled 112 for states, but dominated current #1 at 103 Cody Phillips at the FloNationals. Ashnault has proven he can hang with Rodriguez, keeping it close at the Super 32s, however, Rodriguez will have full length periods now to work with as he looks to widen his lead this time around.
- 119 - Mark Hall vs Kyle Casaletto - Battle of state finalsts here - Casaletto was 2nd in NJ and Hall was 2nd in Kentucky. Hall's weekend will be a tough throughout and even though Casaletto may not be in the league of Cisneros, he is a very proven lightweight.
- 160 - Rafael Rodriguez vs Nick Visicario - This should be a good test for Rodriguez, who showed his ability to compete nationally at the FloNationals. Visicario is one of the best 165lb college recruits coming out this year and has proven himself multiple times nationally, winning the NHSCA Jr Nationals last year, placing in Fargo and placing at Senior Nationals.
- 171 - Ryan Olep vs Cannan Bethea - Bethea is a NJ State Runner-Up and ranked 12th nationally, however, Olep has shown his ability to compete with big name guys and is fully capable of scoring an upset here.
The Michigan team departs for California on Thursday morning and they will be wrestling on Friday and Saturday in Cal-State Fullerton and Clovis West High School. You can watch the action live on PPV by clicking the link below with all proceeds going to help save Califronia college wrestling.
In addition, we will have interviews, results, and updates throughout the weekend right here on Michigan Grappler.
AMERICAS CUP LINEUPS
Team California Central Valley
103 - Ian Nickell (Bakersfield), State Placer-7th
112 - Dillen Rocha (Leemore), State Placer-5th
112 - Vincent Gomez (Frontier), State Placer-6th
119 - Alex Cisneros (Selma), State Champ, ranked #3 Nationally
119 - Daniel Gaytan (Clovis), State Placer-3rd
125 - Zach Zimmer (Clovis West), State Runner-Up
125 - Natrelle Demison (Bakersfield), State Placer-5th
130 - Isiah Martinez (Lemoore), State Placer-3rd, Ranked #19 Nationally
135 - Nick Pena (Selma), State Champ, Ranked #11 Nationally
140 - Nathan Zarate (Selma), State Runner-Up
145 -
152 - Nick Sierra (Lemoore), State Champ
160 - Bryce Hammond (Bakersfield), State Champ, Ranked #14 Nationally
160 - Nikko Reyes (Clovis West), State Placer-3rd
171 - Justin Lozanzo (Selma), State Placer-5th
189 - Zach Nevills (Clovis), State Runner-Up
215 - Tommy Burriel (Clovis), State Runner-Up, Ranked #16 Nationally
285 - Luis Conteras (Madera)
285 - Josh Davis (Frontier)
285 - Steven Woods (Lemoore)
Team California SoCal
103 - Zahid Valencia (Monster Garage WC), 5th at FloNationals
112 - Ray Delgado (Oak Hills), Ali Naser (El Camino Real)
119 - Matt Welch (Sultana), State Placer-4th
119 - Matt Correa (Righetti), State Placer-7th
125 - Richard Rios (Santa Fe)
125 - Vincent Herrera (South Hills)
130 - Chris Mecate (Redlands East Valley), State Placer-5th, Super 32 Champ
135 - David Meza (Buena Park)
135 - Chris Swayze (Victor Valley)
140 - Joey Davis (Santa Fe), State Runner-Up
145 - Frank Martinez (Northview), State Champ
145 - Charles Chavez (El Dorado), State Placer-5th
152 - Juan Alvarado (Bloomington)
152 - Ryan McWatters (Sultana)
160 - Robert Marchese (Oak Hills), State Placer-8th
171 - Chaste Harrell (Elsinore), State Placer-6th
189 - Morgan McIntosh (Calvary Chapel), State Champ, Ranked #3 Nationally
215 - Tank Knowles (Calvary Chapel), State Champ, Ranked #11 Nationally
285 - Mike Manningham (Calvary Chapel), State Placer-6th
285 - Manny Mazieragos (Sultana), State Placer-7th
Team California San Diego
103 - Victor Lopez (Poway), State Runner-Up
112 - Micah Perez (Central Union), State Placer-3rd
119 - Josh Miranda (Poway)
125 - Bryan Grubbs (La Costa Canyon), State Champ, Ranked #20 Nationally
125 - Oscar Lizarraga (Brawley), State Placer-7th
130 - Gabe Brown (Poway), State Placer-3rd
135 - Spaso Illich (Ramona)
140 - Kyle Switzler (La Costa Canyon), State Placer-4th
145 - Rio Gallegos (Poway)
152 - Shervin Iraniha (Monte Vista)
160 - Ian Roy (Poway), State Placer-7th
171 - Jonathan Beck (Rancho Bernardo), State Placer-8th
189 - Chace Eskam (Carlsbad)
215 - Endhyr Meza (West Hills), State Placer-5th
285 - Alex Kelley (Vista)
Team New Jersey
103 - Anthony Ashnault (South Plainfield), State Champ, Ranked #3 Nationally
112 - Troy Heilmann (South Plainfield), State Placer-6th
112 - Brandon Keller (Timber Creek), State Placer-7th
112 - Xaviel Ramos (Mcdonough, MD), 6th National Preps
119 - Kyle Casaletto (Southern Reg), State Runner-Up
125 - Christian Trainer (Vineland)
130 - Andrew Cornell (Long Branch)
135 - Scott Festejo (Long Branch), State Champ
140 - BJ Young (Jackson Memorial)
145 - Mike Bacuckas (Hammonton), State Placer-4th
152 - Doug Cornell (Long Branch), State Runner-Up
152 - Shane Robinson (Absegami), State Placer-5th
160 - Nick Visicaro (Long Branch), 2x State Champ, Fargo AA, Ranked #7 Nationally
171 - Canaan Bethea (Trenton Central), State Runner-Up, Ranked #12 Nationally
189 - Omark Akel (Long Branch), 2009 State Placer-6th
215 - AJ Mott (Depaul), State Placer-6th
285 - Joe Nolan (Jackson Memorial)
Team Michigan
103 – Freddie Rodriguez (Holt), 2x State Champ, ranked #18 Nationally
112 – Ken Bade (Detroit Catholic Central), State Placer-3rd
119 – Mark Hall (Davison), KY State Runner-Up
125 – Alec Mooradian (Detroit Catholic Central), 2x State Champ, Fargo AA
130 – Chris Rau (Dundee), State Champ
135 – Jaylyn Bohl (Allegan), State Champ
140 – Gabe Morse (Lowell), State Placer-7th
145 – Andrew Morse (Lowell), State Runner-Up
152 – Ryan Watts (Ferndale), State Runner-Up
160 – Rafael Rodriguez (Adrian), State Runner-Up
171 – Ryan Olep (Lowell), State Runner-Up
189 – John Rizgallah (Allegan), State Champ
215 – Gabe Dean (Lowell), State Runer-Up
285 – Devin Pommerenke (Rogers City), 2x State Champ, FloNational Champ, Fargo AA
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Rodriguez
Bade (left) and Dean (right)
Cisneros
