10/20 - The Super 32 Challenge wrapped up yesterday in Greensboro with 2
Michiganders placing. Jacob Burge of Mason won the 171lb championship
with a 5-4 win over Edward Ruth of Pennsylvania. The other medal going back
to Michigan is going with 8th grader Taylor Massa of St Johns, who took 3rd
at 135lbs.
Burge steamrolled through the 171lb bracket, allowing only one takedown on
the day. He won his first two matches by fall and technical fall before scoring
a 5-0 decision over Maryland state runner up Tyler Mellow to advance to
quarterfinals. In the quarters he defeated fellow Michigander Nick Boan of
Davison by a score of 20-9 then followed that with a 12-6 semifinal win over
Colin Lenhardt of Virginia. The win advanced Burge to the championship
finals for a showdown with PA state placer Edward Ruth, who is currently
ranked 15th in the country at 171 by WIN Magazine.
Ruth made alot of waves in his journey to the finals as he upset the top seed Jordan Blanton of Illinois. Blanton, currently ranked 4th @ 171 by WIN, has commited to wrestle collegiately for the University of Iowa.
In the finals Burge came out firing with 2 first period takedowns to take a 4-1 lead. Then, in the closing seconds of the 1st period, Ruth scored a reversal to close the margin to 4-3. The second and third periods would be less action packed than the 1st as Burge and Ruth exchanged escapes to end the match 5-4, making Jacob Burge the second Michigan wrestler ever to claim a Super 32 Challenge championship.
The only other: Jon Reader of Davison in 2005.
8th grade phenom Taylor Massa was one of the stories of the tournament as he
advanced all the way to the semifinals before being handed his only loss of the
tournament by 2x Ohio state champ Collin Palmer of St. Eds, OH. Palmer,
currently ranked #5 at 130lbs by WIN, beat Massa 6-0.
Following his semifinal loss Massa bounced right back, rattling off two consecutive
victories to place 3rd. What is most impressive about Massa'a performance is
that he is not even in high school yet and he was in one of the toughest weights
of the tournament.
On the day Massa beat a total of 7 state placers, 2 state champions, and 2
wrestlers currently ranked nationally by WIN Magazine: Kansas state champ
CJ Napier (#12 at 135) & Virginia state champ Joe Pantaleo (#7 @ 135). Just
how tough was this tournament you ask, well how about this: Jacob Earp of NC,
currently ranked 13th @ 135 did not place and 3x New Mexico state champ Max
Ortega, ranked 11th @ 130, was 3 matches away from placing!
Falling one match shy of placing at a very tough 160lb weight class was Andrew Anderson of Traverse City SF. Anderson went 5-2, losing to Virginia state champ Sam Rakes in the round of 12 to fall just short of placing. Anderson won his first bout of the day over Florida state runner up Carter Downs before losing in double overtime to Brian Delgrosso of Virginia. He then stormed through the consolations, winning four in a row before falling to Rakes.
Other Michigan wrestlers going deep into the tournament but falling short of placing were Bryan Rickard, Zach Davis, Justin McDermiit, and Nick Boan of Davison, along with Mason's Craig Eifert. Rickard and Davis both finished 4-2 at 119 and 125lbs, respectivley, while McDermitt went 3-2 at 140lbs. Craig Eifert of Mason also won 3 matches on the day, finishing 3-2 at 135lbs. Nick Boan of Davison won his first 3 matches to make the quarterfinals, where he fell to eventual champion Burge.
Massa was not the only middle schooler wrestling this weekend as Jordan Thomas of Greenville and Jordan Wohlfert of St Johns also moved up to battle with the high schoolers. Thomas went 3-2 at 145lbs while Wohlfert went 2-2 at 125lbs. In addition freshman Roger Wildmo of Durand and Connor Youtsey of Mason went 1-2 and 2-2 at 112lbs, respectively. Hopefully these performances are a sign of things to come for Michigan wrestling in the next few years.
Two future CMU Chippewas turned in solid performances at the Super 32s as well. Most notably Eric Cubberly of Ohio, who commited to wrestle for CMU last summer. Cubberly won the 160lb belt in one of the most highly anticipated final bouts where he beat defending Super 32 and Junior Freestyle champ Scott Winston of New Jersey. Scotti Sentes of Riverdale, FL, who also recently commited to wrestle for Tom Borelli at CMU, finished 3rd at a very tough 125lb class, losing only to Junior National champ Jordan Oliver of PA.
To view tournament brackets, click here
View tournament videos (from flowrestling.com):
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