HS Weekend Preview

Saline Super Duals

Saline will host an 8-team dual tournament on Saturday, with each team wrestling the other three teams in their pool, and then they will have a two match crossover with the other pool.

Pool A: D1 #2 Brighton, D1 #9 Rochester Adams, Saline Hornets, Roosevelt Bears

Pool B: D1 #3 Davison, D1 #5 Clarkston, Woodhaven Warriors, Belleville Tigers

We expect the ranked teams in each pool to make it out and wrestle each other in the championship pool. After a big win over Hartland on Wednesday, Brighton can earn a guaranteed top-2 seed at the team state tournament with wins over Adams, Davison, and Clarkston. Meanwhile, Davison would secure the #2 seed if they go 4-0 on Saturday, as they already lost a dual to DCC this year.

Outlook: This is a potential finals match if both teams can get by a tough Clarkston squad. This will be a loaded dual with ranked wrestlers at almost every weight. Brighton should be the favorite at the lightest two weights, before a potential rematch of last year's 106lb D1 state championship match, won by Davison's Vaughn. Calvin Martz is back in the lineup, which gives Davison a much-needed anchor at 138lbs, and that could be the difference in this dual. Our match to watch in this one will be wherever Freshman Dominic Nauss is at. He should see someone in the top-5, whether it's Pacheco or Jelinek. The way the Frosh is currently wrestling, it will be an entertaining match no matter what. 132-157 is where Davison is toughest, and we see that being enough to lead them to a win in this one. For Brighton to win, they'll need to swing a match between 132 and 157.

Prediction: Davison +5

Outlook: Rochester Adams is having a surprisingly remarkable season, with half their lineup currently ranked, and owning big wins like their latest dual win over D1 power Oxford. They're led by the Morgan brothers, who are putting together outstanding seasons once again. Brighton, however, should have too much in this dual. Brighton is loaded up to 138, where we don't expect Jace Morgan to lose for Adams. We should have a couple of really tough ranked matches in the middle weights, before Brighton should cruise up top.

Prediction: Brighton +30

Outlook: Davison and Clarkston are in the same pool, so we are guaranteed to see this one tomorrow. Clarkston is having an outstanding season after wins over teams like Bedford and Hudson. However, Davison will be their toughest test so far. Clarkston has the potential to win 106 and 113 before picking up bonus points with Anderson and LeFevre. Neumann could also be looking for bonus points up top. The match of the dual will be Nate Carter vs McDunnah or Pacheco. That's another match Clarkston will have to win to win the dual. Like we said up top, Davison is loaded from 138 through 157, and they're extremely tough up top, so Clarkston will have to work to find a few more wins and pull off the upset.

Prediction: Davison +6

Outlook: This may be our best indicator so far for how Hartland and Clarkston could go at Regionals this year. Brighton just beat Hartland 50-24 on Wednesday, but Clarkston feels like they can steal a win here. Like the Davison dual, Clarkston will have the opportunity to pull of a few slight upsets at 106 and 113 before letting Anderson and LeFevre get to work. The match of the dual, once again, could be on Nate Carter, who the Wolves will be depending on for another ranked win. Clarkston should anticipate bonus points at 285, unless Brighton bumps O'Keefe, which we do not see happening. Overall, this could be a really tight dual, but we still like Brighton's solid lineup to pick up a close win. ‍

Prediction: Brighton +5

Todd Stern Blackhawk Invitational (Leslie)

Really tough individual tournament at Leslie on Saturday with a lot of representation in the D4 individual rankings. Our favorite weight here is at 120, where we will see two #1s in Stewart and Fogel, as well as returning state champ Logan Gilbert. There are 3-4 or more ranked wrestlers at each weight, with over 50 ranked wrestlers in total. There are also 5 of D4's #1 ranked wrestlers.

Ranked Wrestlers

106 - D4 #3 Mason Thurber (Springport)
106 - D4 #9 Ryker Kleinschmidt (Manchester)
106 - D4 #10 Jacinto Lopez (Martin)
106 - D4 #11 Reese Parkinson (Leslie)
106 - D3 #14 Izayah Scott (Napoleon)
106 - D4 #15 Brody Birchfield (Springport)
113 - D4 #5 Urijah Joostberns (Martin)
113 - D2 #16 Christien Miller (Thornapple Kellogg)
120 - D4 #1 Sammy Stewart (Manchester)
120 - D4 #1 (113) Owen Fogel (St. Louis)
120 - D4 #2 Logan Gilbert (Martin)
120 - D4 #4 Austin Garcia (Lawton)
120 - D4 #9 Reid Westfall (Reading)
120 - D4 #14 Owen Thomas (Springport)
126 - D4 #3 Alex Rodriguez (St. Louis)
126 - D4 #9 (120) Onyx Ostrom (Manchester)
126 - D4 #9 Carter Franklin (Leslie)
126 - D3 #16 Logan Hartman (Napoleon)
132 - D4 #16 Keegan Tinkey (Leslie)
138 - D3 #6 Luke Paxton (Potterville)
138 - D4 #6 Jayce Ritchie (Martin)
138 - D4 #8 Carter Foster (Leslie)
138 - D4 #16 Tanner Severns (Springport)
144 - D4 #1 Haylen Buell (Martin)
144 - D4 #4 Nathan Meyer (Manchester)
144 - D4 #9 Patrick Friese (Leslie)
150 - D4 #1 Blake Sloan (Manchester)
150 - D4 #5 (144) Aidan Turner (Perry)
150 - D3 #5 (144) Van Wirtz (Olivet)
150 - D4 #6 Kaiden Sizemore (Springport)
150 - D4 #7 Grason Weber (Leslie)
150 - D4 #10 (144) Seth Toris (Martin)
150 - D4 #11 (157) Maddox Cline (St. Louis)
157 - D4 #10 Jack Bagwell (Martin)
157 - D4 #15 (144) Adam Grebe (Manchester)
165 - D4 #2 Drew Challender (St. Louis)
165 - D3 #6 Carson Warner (Napoleon)
165 - D2 #10 Blake Bossenberger (Thornapple Kellogg)
165 - D3 #12 Kai Mishler (Lansing Catholic Central)
175 - D4 #6 Peyton Ewalt (Carson City)
175 - D4 #7 Lukas Strine (Reading)
175 - D2 #10 Jayce Curtis (Thornapple Kellogg)
175 - D4 #12 Drake Neff (Manchester)
190 - D3 #4 Ben Kelenske (Olivet)
190 - D3 #5 Brady Warner (Napoleon)
215 - D4 #2 Isaac Westfall (Reading)
215 - D4 #4 Nathan Fletcher (Manchester)
215 - D4 #6 Sam Bleeker (Martin)
215 - D3 #6 Joe LaSalle (Olivet)
215 - D3 #7 Dallas Smith (Napoleon)
215 - D4 #8 Ray Frye (St. Louis)
285 - D4 #1 Tanner Craft (Leslie)
285 - D4 #11 Dylan Gauss (Manchester)
285 - D4 #12 Tiger Russell (St. Louis)

McGinnis-Evans Memorial Invite (Battle Creek Central)

Another really tough individual tournament here, with a lot of Southwest Michigan's toughest wrestlers. One match we are anticipating could come at 106lbs, where D2 #2 Nieuwenhuis should see D1 #2 Dawson in a battle of outstanding freshmen. Another high profile match could come at 138lbs, where D1 #1 Morgan could see D1 #2 Vasquez in a rematch of the Catholic Central Invite finals, won by Morgan. 285lbs will see three of the top-6 wrestlers in D2, so we could get a good preview of the individual state tournament tomorrow.

Ranked Wrestlers

106 - D2 #2 Dylan Nieuwenhuis (Plainwell)
106 - D1 #2 Kyrin Dawson (Westland John Glenn)
106 - D2 #5 (113) Tyler Cooper (Plainwell)
106 - D4 #12 (113) Blayne Crance (Union City)
113 - D2 #7 Sawyer Stephenson (Vicksburg)
120 - D2 #3 JJ Ledford (Zeeland East)
120 - D2 #11 Camren Brock (Harper Creek)
120 - D2 #10 Kaden Russell (Union City)
120 - D1 #14 John David Quinlan (Rochester Adams)
126 - D2 #1 Devan Garcia (Harper Creek)
126 - D1 #8 Deacon Morgan (Rochester Adams)
132- D4 #8 Mason Hawthorne (Union City)
132 - D1 #16 Kingston Laurain (East Lansing)
138 - D1 #1 Jace Morgan (Rochester Adams)
138 - D1 #2 Josh Vasquez (Grandville)
138 - D4 #14 Adnrew Tundevold (Union City)
138 - D1 #16 Logan O'Connors (Westland John Glenn)
144 - D4 #2 Aidan Taylor (Union City)
144 - D1 #8 Tristen Dood (Grandville)
144- D4 #12 Brycen Fincham (Bronson)
150 - D2 #3 Gavin Drenten (Zeeland East)
150 - D4 #3 Alex Boyer (Union City)
150 - D1 #11 Franklin Hernandez (Westland John Glenn)
150 - D1 #15 Demetrious Thomas (Rochester Adams)
150 - D1 #16 Jake Grifhorst (Grandville)
150 - D1 #16 Caleb Harvey (Bronson)
157 - D4 #3 Montana Connell (Union)
157 - D2 #7 Rickey Lynch (Plainwell)
157 - D1 #11 Elia Thomas (Rochester Adams)
157 - D4 #11 Collin York (Bronson)
165 - D2 #9 Titan Parker (Parma Western)
165 - D1 #12 Dominc Beccari (Rochester Adams)
175 - D4 #1 Layne Knisely (Bronson)
190 - D4 #3 Mason Lindsey (Bronson)
190 - D1 #15 Jackson Harris (Rochester Adams)
190 - D1 #16 Ethan Newville (Grandville)
285 - D2 #2 Adin Young (Plainwell)
285 - D2 #5 Ricky Johnson (Harper Creek)
285 - D2 #6 Harland Begg (Marshall)

Fenton Invite

Like Saline, we have four ranked teams at this one. There will be four duals in each pool before a one-match crossover with the other pool. We should get a good look at a ranked dual in each pool before some combination of ranked crossovers for the finals.

Pool A: D1 #4 Hartland, D2 #9 Bay City John Glenn, De La Salle, Waterford Kettering, Caro
Pool B: D3 #2 Algonac, D4 #8 Gabriel Richard, Fenton, Howell, Anchor Bay

Outlook: Coming off a tough loss to rival Brighton on Wednesday, Hartland will be looking to rebound this weekend. They will have a good opportunity against a ranked Bay City John Glenn in their pool. If they get by that one, they will likely have a really tough Algonac team in the finals, as Algonac is coming off a big win over then #2 Yale last week. Another interesting dual we could get a look at is Gabriel Richard vs BCJG, depending on how the crossover goes. Gabriel Richard has a handful of really impressive individuals, and they've been all over this year (CCI, GGI, Hudson Super 16, to name a few). However, Fenton and Howell are both solid teams in D1 and D2, and they will be looking to spoil the day for one of the ranked teams in Pool B.

Prediction: 1) Hartland, 2) Algonac, 3) Bay City John Glenn, 4) Gabriel Richard

Corey Fuller Memorial Invite (Portage Central)

Just down the road from the McGinnis-Evans Memorial Invite will be the Corey Fuller Memorial Invite at Portage Central. There will be a handful of ranked teams in this one. 175 is going to be really tough in this one, with the potential to have 5 ranked wrestlers. 285 will also be interesting, with D1 #1 Tollison and returning D1 runner-up Barynas both slated to be at the weight.

Ranked Wrestlers:

106 - D1 #10 Alex Duprest (Grand Ledge)
106 - D3 #10 Jacob Collier (Allegan)
113 - D1 #9 Jackson Brown (Grand Ledge)
113 - D2 #14 Aiden Segovia (Holland)
120 - D1 #11 Tomas Mendez (Jenison)
126 - D2 #6 Jak Monroe (Three Rivers)
126 - D4 #15 Nolan Curtis (Lumen Christi)
132 - D4 #4 Gauge Stampfler (Delton Kellogg)
132 - D1 #6 Eben Abdo (Grand Ledge)
132 - D1 #9 Aurelio Mendez (Jenison)
138 - D2 #6 Ethan Moreland (Three Rivers)
144 - D3 #8 Treydan Vanderkool (Allegan)
144 - D2 #10 Ayden Keller (Three Rivers)
144 - D1 #15 Maddoc Taszreak (Grand Ledge)
150 - D2 #10 Landon Moreland (Three Rivers)
150 - D3 #14 Landon Fance-Coulson (Allegan)
157 - D2 #11 Evan Harper (Three Rivers)
157 - D2 #14 Aaron Castro-Gomez (Sturgis)
157 - D1 #16 Jacob Crofut (Grand Ledge)
157 - D4 #16 Mendon Phillips (Delton Kellogg)
165 - D3 #9 Ryan Sparks (Allegan)
165 - D2 #12 Braylon Faile (Three Rivers)
175 - D1 #3 Ashton Delaney (Grand Ledge)
175 - D2 #8 Louis Smith (Three Rivers)
175 - D1 #10 Xavier Stermer (Portage Central)
175 - D2 #11 Andreas Valkema (Holland)
175 - D3 #14 Rysten Williams (Allegan)
190 - D2 #9 Dylan Flores (Holland)
190 - D1 #12 Brody Schuiteman (Jenison)
215 - D2 #7 Jaxon Smith (Three Rivers)
285 - D1 #1 Logan Tollison (Grand Ledge)
285 - D4 #5 Mitchell Swift (Delton Kellogg)
285 - D1 #7 Ian Barynas (Jenison)
285 - D2 #8 Sam Reynolds (Three Rivers)