Midwest's best set to collide in East Lansing this weekend
Midwest Grand Challenge
Jenison Fieldhouse -- East Lansing, MI
May 17th, 2009
Tournament Outlook/Preview:
The Midwest Grand Challenge will go down this
weekend in East Lansing at Jenison Fieldhouse on
the campus of Michigan State University and a star-
studded field is expected to be in attendance.
Tournament director Rob Stehley has attracted a field
of 20 high school teams and 9 middle school squads
to compete in the first year of the Midwest Grand
Challenge.
The High School division is packed with all-state
wrestlers, state champions, and nationally ranked
grapplers from Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
Many of Michigan's top high school programs have put together teams, including 2009 Division 2 State Champions Lowell, who will be competing as the Flat River WC. Division 1 powers Detroit Catholic Central (Team Shamrock) and Hartland will be represented as well after advancing to the D1 state dual finals in Battle Creek this year.
In addition, there a handful of Michigan squads featuring a blend of standout wrestlers from different schools, including the MYWA All-Stars, who pack a punch with 6 all-staters from southwest Michigan. Team Grizzly is packed with state placers as well, led by 4 Michigan state champions and 11 total state placers.
The Michigan teams will have their hands full with a solid group of out-of-state squads, including the Ohio Samsons, who won the Disney Duals last summer, defeating a strong Michigan team in the finals. New Jersey's team triumph should field a loaded squad as well with 2 NHSCA Junior National Champions and 4 Junior National All-Americans. Another loaded team to keep an eye on should be the Young Guns, who have a total of 7 all-staters from Iowa and Illinois. In addition, don't forget about Rob Waller's always tough All-American squad out of Pennsylvania and Indiana juggernaut Mishawaka, who won the Indiana Dual Championship in 2008.
Here is a look at some of the top individuals to watch this weekend. Keep in mind that these wrestlers were submitted in the teams' expected lineups, however, they are subject to change and the weights that everyone is wrestling this weekend is not confirmed.
- Jackson Morse (Lowell, MI/Flat River) - Morse is a 2x Michigan state champ and Super 32 Champ. He is currently ranked 5th in the country at 152lbs by InterMat. Morse should be competing at 160lb this weekend.
- Nick Viscario (NJ/Triumph) - Viscario won the always tough New Jersey state tournament this year at 160lbs and followed that up with a NHSCA Junior National Championship in Virginia Beach. He will be wrestling 167lbs this weekend.
- Harrison Hightower (University, OH/Samsons) - Hightower is the most accomplished wrestler on Samsons' squad after winning Ohio Div 2 state titles the past two years. He is slated to wrestle 152 this weekend.
- Billy George (NJ/Triumph) - George was 3rd at the New Jersey state tournament at 189lbs this year and he won the NHSCA Junior National Championships at 189lbs. He will likely be one of most highly sought after upperweight recruits in the country next fall and look for him to be at 215 this weekend.
- Nick McDiarmid (Fowlerville, MI/Grizzly) - McDiarmid was an undefeated 215lb state champion this year and one of the best big men in the state. He was a greco all-american in Fargo last year as well.
- Devin Pommerenke (Rogers City, MI/Grizzly) - D-Pomm won the 285lb D4 state title this year as a sophomore and did not lose a match all year. When it comes to sophomore heavyweights he is as good as they come.
- Topher Carton (Rock Island, IL/Young Guns) - Carton was 33-0 this year en route to his 2nd straight IL-2A 103lb state championship. We are unsure what weight he will be competing at this weekend.
- Alec Mooradian (Detroit CC, MI/Shamrock) - Mooradian is one of the top freshman in the country at 112lbs after going undefeated this year en route to the Division 1 state championship. He also earned FILA Cadet Freestyle All-American honors a couple weeks ago. Mooradian wrestled 119 at Fila Cadets, so he will likely be at 119 or 125 this weekend
- Dillon Kern (Fowerville, MI/Grizzly) - Kern is a 2x state finalist, including his 189lb D2 state title this year. He will be wrestling at Central Michigan next fall.
- Adam Perrin (North Scott, IA/Young Guns) - Perrin was an Iowa 3A state champ in 2008 and finished 3rd this year at 112lbs behind two nationally ranked wrestlers.
- Tyler Daniel (Lakeshore, MI/MYWA) - Daniel was a part of the stellar freshman class to hit Michigan this year as he won the Division 2 103lb state title in convincing fashion. He was a big 103lber so look for Daniel to be at least up at 112 this weekend.
- Sean Turner (Monroe, MI/Grizzly) - Turner won the D1 130lb state championship this year and is one of 4 state champs on the Grizzly roster.
- Ameer Washington (NJ/Triumph) - After finishing 3rd in the NJ state tournament at 285lbs, Washington was a NHSCA Junior National All-American in Virginia Beach as well. You will not find many better junior heavyweights in the country.
- Alex Utley (OH/Samsons) - Utley is a 2x Ohio state placer, finishing 3rd and 2nd the past two years. He will be wrestling 185 this weekend.
- Christian Lentz (Mishawaka, IN) - Lentz is a talented big man, finishing runner-up at the 215 in this year's Indiana state finals, which only have one division.
- John Rizgallah (Allegan, MI/MYWA) - Rizgallah lost a heartbreaker in the 171lb D3 state finals this year. He is a 3x state placer in Michigan and he also recently placed in both styles at the Western Junior FS/GR regional in Las Vegas.
- Connor Ryan (IA/Young Guns) - Ryan finished runner up this year at 103lbs in Iowa's 3A state tournament.
- Lance Evans (IL/Lifestyle) - Evans was a 2008 103lb state champion and then he missed this year's state tournament with season-ending injury. He will be back in actio this weekend, but we do not know what weight he will be competing at (likely not 103).
The duals will begin at 10:00am on Sunday with pool competetion and each team is slated to wrestle 4 duals in their pool before moving on to bracket competetion and placement matches.
There are 4 pools with 5 teams in each pool. Within each pool, every team will square off with each other before moving on in the tournament. Here is a breakdown of each pool:
Breakdown of each pool:
Red Pool:
Team Shamrock (MI)
All-American WC (PA)
MI Elite Seniors (MI)
Team Grizzly (MI)
Mishawaka White (IN)
All-American WC is the likely favorite to win the Red pool. Mishawaka White is their B team, so we would assume that they will not have the firepower to contend with All-American. Shamrock has some studs with 4 all-state wrestlers, including state champ and FILA Cadet All-american Mooradian. The question with Team Shamrock will be how well they fill in their entire lineup, being that they are a school-based team of DCC guys and All-American is a mixture of wrestlers from all over Pennsyvania. Depending on how strong of a team All-American brings this weekend, this could be a very competetive pool. MI Elite fills most of their team with all-staters, including state finalists Jeff Sabin and Chris Lucas, as well as MSU recruit Zach Crim, so they may be capable of winning this pool as well. We received the projected Grizzly lineup and they should be featuring 4 state champions and 11 state placers. The Grizzly upperweights are intimidating with state champs Kern (189), McDiarmid (215), and Pommerenke (285) anchoring their linuep. The competetion between All-American, Grizzy, MI Elite, and Shamrock should be intense in this pool and could make for some very interesting early duals.
MI Grappler's pick: Team Grizzly
Green Pool:
Team Samsons (OH)
MYWA All-Stars (MI)
Lifestyle WC (IL)
MI Elite WC (MI)
Team Kzoo (MI)
On paper this looks like the deepest and toughest of all the pools led by tournament favorite and reigning Disney champs Team Samsons. Samsons will have their hands full with possibly the toughest Michigans squad, the MYWA All-Stars. Michigan Elite and Lifestyle WC also have a handful of state placers and make this a very tough pool that should provide interesting matchups in every round. With 103lb state champs Lance Evans (IL/Lifestyle) & Tyler Daniel (MI/MYWA), as well as Ohio state placer Kyle Warner (Samsons) all in this pool, expect to see some good little guys going at it.
MI Grappler's pick: Samsons
White Pool:
Young Guns (IA)
Flat River WC (MI)
Davison WC (MI)
Ironhorse WC (OH)
Captains WC (MI)
Young Guns and Flat River look to be the top teams in this pool. While Flat River has some studs from Lowell leading the way, it will be interesting to see how they can match up with Young Guns, made up of standouts from Illinois and Iowa, from top to bottom. We are unsure what Davison, Ironhorse, and Captains are bringing to the table in this pool, but look for some good potential matchups with Flat River and Young Guns when they wrestle at 4:00 in the pool finale.
MI Grappler's pick: Young Guns
Blue Pool:
Jersey Triumph (NJ)
Mishawaka Maroon (IN)
Hartland WC (MI)
Trojan WC (IL)
Salem WC (MI)
NJ Triumph is one of our favorites to win this tournament, but Mishawaka should be able to compete with them. We have not received lineups from Hartland, Trojan, or Salem, but one you have to expect a powerhouse program like Hartland to bring some horses this weekend, so they could contend with Triumph as well. Look for a big time matchup at 215 with NJ state champ Billy George and IN state runner-up Christian Lentz when Mishawaka and Triumph meet up at 1:00.
MI Grappler's pick: Triumph
Check MichiganGrappler.com all day Sunday for live updates and coverage from the Midwest Grand Challenge!
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