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Michigan's elite headed to FloNationals this weekend

2010 FloNationals

Cuyuhoga Falls, OH

March 27-28

3/25 - This weekend FloWrestling will be hosting the first ever

FloNationals and regardless of how things shake out this will be a

big deal for the state of Michigan.

Not only is it significant that a good crop of the nation’s best high

school wrestlers will be competing in Ohio, just a couple hours

from Michigan, but it also marks the first time that Michigan

wrestlers will get a shot to try their luck in a prominent Spring

Folkstyle National Event.

Almost every weight features a handful of wrestlers currently ranked

nationally, and the most well represented state coming in is

Michigan. All of those Michigan underclassmen who have not been

allowed to wrestle at the NHSCA Nationals due to eligibility

restrictions will now have the opportunity to compete on the

national stage.

What makes FloNationals unique?

It will be interesting to see how things go in the first year of this

event that is being heavily hyped and promoted by the wrestling

media mecca that is FloWrestling. The tournament is in direct

competition with the NHSCA Nationals that will be going on simultaneously a few states southeast in Virginia. In addition, Flo is adding a few unique quirks into this rules of the tournament, in attempt to create a college-type atmosphere.

The most significant change to be aware of is the addition of riding time. Riding time, which is utilized in College wrestling, awards a wrestler who can stay on top for a minute more than their opponent. If that one minute advantage is achieved then that wrestler earns a 1 point riding time bonus.

If you follow college wrestling heavily you will notice that a good number of matches are heavily affected or even determined by this riding time (Metcalf won his NCAA title on a RT point), so it will be interesting to see how much of an impact it will have here at the high school level.

The other big change to keep in mind is the stretching of the out of bounds circle. In high school rules, a wrestler must have two supporting points in bounds to remain in and score. For this weekend, however, they will utilize the college rule that was adopted a couple years in which only one supporting point of either wrestler needs to be in bounds to score. This rule expands the in-bounds area and requires wrestlers to continue wrestling at the edge of the mat.

Originially, Flo had announced that they would seed the Top 24 wrestlers and the all the unseeded wrestlers who wrestle in a “Big Mini” on Friday to advance to the 2-day tournament on Sat-Sun. However, they recently announced that the Big Mini is cancelled and all wrestlers will be plugged into the Saturday morning brackets for what should be a big 2-day tournament.

Michigan Outlook

As previously stated, Michigan is going to be the most represented state

this weekend. This very deep field of around 100 Michiganders featured

not only state champs and big name guys, but also a slew of talented, well

renowned, state placers and quality kids who would normally take the

spring off and go mostly un-noticed.

It seems inevitable that the state of Michigan will make a huge splash this

weekend at Flo, the question is how many Michigan guys will break out

with big wins and strong performances and how much will this event

impact the amount of exposure and accreditation that Michigan wrestlers

get?

Big Guns in attendance

According to my preliminary scanning of the Michigan entries, we will have

9 state champions represented this weekend, including 5 wrestlers

ranked #1 in their weight class in our Postseason Power 15 Rankings.

The headlining big names in attendance include Fargo King Taylor Massa, ranked #3 in the country, as well 2x state champ Roger Wildmo, ranked 15th in the land, and fellow 2x champs and Fargo All-Americans Freddie Rodriguez and Devin Pommerenke.

Here is a list at the Top Ten big guns to watch this weekend at Flo:

1. Taylor Massa (St Johns), 152 – No brainer here, Massa is probably the most well known Michigan prep wrestler in the country, largely due to his Fargo dominance the past two summers. While the Senior Nationals pull a lot of the top 152lbers to Virginia Beach this weekend, Massa should be lined up for a Mega Matchup with fellow super sophomore Jason Luster of Virginia. Massa is currently ranked #3 at 152lbs, Luster is #6 – should be a great matchup of quite possibly the nation’s top 2 sophomores!

2. Freddie Rodriguez (Holt), 103 – Rodriguez is a 2x state champ and dominated the 112lb weight class this year, however, he is dropping to 103 this weekend as Flo is allowing wrestlers to compete at the weight they certified. Rodriguez was 2nd at the Super 32s this fall at 103 losing only to Joey Dance, who is up at 112 this weekend. Among the four ranked 103lbers at Flo this weekend is the current #1 ranked guy, Cody Phillips of Indiana. Expect to see Rodriguez right in the hunt with some of the best little guys in the land.

3. Roger Wildmo (Durand), 135lbs – Wildmo cruised to his 2nd state title earlier this month at 140lbs. Like Rodriguez he will be dropping a weight this weekend, and will compete at 135lbs where he placed at the Super 32s last fall. Wildmo is a great folkstyle wrestler and this is good opportunity for him to show his stuff as the riding time rule definitely favors his style and he is not an avid freestyler, so this weekend may be his best chance to showcase his talent prior to his senior recruiting process.

4. Devin Pommerenke (Rogers City), 285lbs – D Pomm is the main man in Michigan in terms of heavyweights as he has not been seriously challenged in the state since his sophomore year. He had a

good summer last year in freestyle and Greco, earning all-american honors in Fargo,

so he should be confident in his ability to compete with the nation’s best heavyweights.

To my knowledge there are no nationally ranked guys in his weight so Pommerenke

might by the guy to beat in this weight class.

5. Conor Youtsey (Mason), 119lbs – Youtsey won his 2nd state title at 119 and

finished the season undefeated. He is the 5th #1 Power 15 guy wrestling this

weekend and like D-Pomm and Wildmo this weekend is big for him in terms of

recruiting heading into his senior season next year. Youtsey was a runner up at the

Western Regional in Vegas last year, knocking off a couple ranked guys, and he

has been to most of the big events like Super 32 and Fargo, so he should be no

stranger to the competition level this weekend. With none of Intermat’s Top 20

featured in this weight, expect him, along with Nick Smith, to be right in the mix.

6. Nick Smith (Ida), 119lbs – Smith may be the most under the radar 3x state champ in

recent years as many people fail to appreciate how good he has been throughout

his career. He got his first taste of national competition last summer and fall at Disney and Super 32s and while he did now wow anyone with his performances, he was competitive and that experience should help him this weekend.

7. Dakota Cooley (Chelsea), 140lbs – Cooley has not had a whole lot of opportunities to prove himself nationally, so this weekend could be his time to shine. He scored a big win over then nationally ranked Matt Boggess of Illinois at the Junior Duals last year and there is no doubt he has the tools to contend this weekend. He signed to CMU in the fall and won a state title earlier this month, so Cooley should feel very little pressure to prove himself and may be primed for a good showing.

8. Jordan Wohlfert (St Johns), 145lbs – Wohlfert is as expierenced and proven as anyone nationally and even though he is yet to win a state title, he should be considered a top contender this weekend. He won a Cadet National Title last summer in Fargo and has been competitive at Super 32s and the Cadet Duals, so Wohlfert knows how to compete and win against top tier competition.

9. Andrew Morse (Lowell), 145lbs – Morse suffered a setback in the state

finals, however, he showed that he can wrestle at the highest level with a

couple big time national wins during the regular season this year, thanks

to Lowell’s tough out of state schedule, and he was a runner up at the

Western Regional in Vegas last year. Therefore, you cannot deny his

ability to beat the best – expect to see him go deep into this bracket and

contend.

10. Ryan Olep (Lowell), 171lbs – As a senior, this may be Olep’s last

chance to impress college coaches and he appears to be in position to

contend for the title in this weight class. To my knowledge, there are no

nationally ranked guys in his weight and even if there were, Olep has the

tools to compete with just about anyone, which is why he was ranked

nationally at 189lbs in InterMat’s mid-season national rankings.

Others to Watch:

--Mitch Rogaliner (Bedford), 103 – This kid is a tough freshman who is good on top, so RT might be a plus or him. He show some guts and grit knocking off Ken Bade en route to the D1 state title this year.

--Alex Calandrino (Howell), 112 – Calandrino is one of those really talented, but never won a state title kids. He has wrestled a ton nationally, especially in freestyle and Greco (Fargo Greco All American), so he should be capable of throwing down with everyone in his weight.

--Brandon Fifield (Leslie), 112 – Fifield broke out this year with his first state title and he looked good doing it. He also proved that he is more than just a D4 stud as he took Freddie Rodgriguez to overtime at the Williamston Classic in January. Fifield has not gotten out much the past couple years, so this could be his coming out party if he can knock off one of the many studs at 112lbs, which featured 4 nationally ranked wrestlers.

--Brant Schafer (St Johns), 112 – After a breakout regular season this year that included a big win over Rodriguez, Schafer suffered a couple close losses at states and finished 5th at a tough weight. He has a long track record of national expierence in the youth ranks, as well as Cadet Duals and Fargo last year, so don’t be surprised if he surprises you this weekend.

--Nick Trimble (Sparta), 125 – If you have ever watched Trimble, you have to like what you see. He is slick on his feet and is always on the attack. He only lost one match prior to the state tournament and he has an opportunity to put himself on the map this weekend.

--Leon Shannon (Wyandotte Roosevelt), 125 – Shannon has finished 3rd in Division 1 back to back times at very tough weight classes behind some stiff competition. He is a guy on the bubble of being in the mix as a top tier recruit and this is his final shot to boost his stock.

--Tony Burge (Mason), 145 – Burge finished 2nd Massa at states and scored a couple big wins during the regular season including a win over MSU recruit Nick Humes. He is tough to wrestle, especially on the mat and riding time is a major advantage for him that could make him capable of knocking off some studs.

--Rafael Rodriguez (Adrian), 160lbs – RafRod is a monster in terms of strength and athleticism and after finishing runner up to only nationally ranked Jordan Thomas there is no reason to believe he cant do well this weekend.

--Gabe Dean (Lowell), 189lbs – Dean really came on this year as he emerged as one of the best young upperweights in the state. While he was likely not happy with his state finals loss to Rivera, who he had beaten previously, finishing 2nd in the state at 189lbs in Division 1 as a sophomore is pretty rare. He should get a shot to try his luck against some of the big dogs in the country with a few big names entered to compete, including #3 Morgan McIntosh of California.

Skimming through the long, long list of Michigan guys entered, here are few others who stood out:

103 - Ryan Gauthier (IM) – State Runner Up, 2x placer

103 - Joey Golani (Dearborn Crestwood) – 2x State Placer

103 - Mason Cleaver (Holly) – State Placer

119 - Buddy Poyner (Lake Fenton) – 3x State Placer

119 - Austin Deacons (Manchester) – State Runner Up

119 - Josh Pennell (St Johns) – State Runner Up

125 - James Cusin (AP) – 2x Placer, 09 Runner Up

130 - Justin Russo (RIchmonD) – State Placer

130 - Camden McCaskey (Hudson) – 2x state placer

135 - Adam Fahs (Portage Central) – State Placer

135 - Gabe Morse (Lowell) – State Placer