Favorites Hold Firm Entering Semis at Walsh Jesuit Ironman

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio – A snowy Ohio morning could not mask the heated intensity found inside the famed dome arena at Walsh Jesuit High School as the 25^th Annual Walsh Jesuit Ironman pared itself down from 520 total participants to 28 semifinalists on Friday evening.

The Ironman owns a tradition as one of the toughest high school tournaments nationwide for the past 25 years, and Friday’s results did nothing but reiterate that point.

Nine competitors entered the tournament holding the No. 1 ranking in their respective weight classes, as ranked by FloWrestling. All nine advanced to the semifinals with relative comfort.

It was a battle between top seeds Cohlton Schultz of Ponderosa and Braxton Amos of Parkersburg South for the most impressive pinner on day one. Schultz, a 2017 Cadet World champion in Greco-Roman, secured three pins in a total time of 1:37. Similarly, the four-time Cadet Nationals champion Amos scored three falls in 4:07.

Every No. 1 seed safely navigated to Saturday morning’s semi-final round. This includes reigning Cadet World silver medalist Richard Figueroa of Selma, in addition to fellow Cadet World Team members Jordan Decatur of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, A.J. Ferrari of Blair Academy and Joshua Saunders of Christian Brothers College.

Reigning USA Wrestling Junior Freestyle Nationals champions Michael Colaiocco of Blair Academy, Bryce Andonian of St. Edward, Carson Karchla of Olentangy Liberty and Decatur maintained their hopes of a gold medal with impressive performances.

One of the more memorable moments from day one came at 120 pounds with Lake Highland Prep School’s Nic Bouzakis pinning Cadet World champion Matthew Ramos of Lockport Township in 5:32. Bouzakis stepped over a Ramos shot attempt on the edge of the mat, with short time remaining, to get the pin.

Cinderella semifinalists Alejandro Herrera-Rondon of Seneca Valley and Jackson Dean of Caesar Rodney earned the biggest wins of the day, both upending a No. 2 seed. Herrera-Rondon downed No. 2 Jacob Decatur of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, 3-0, at 113 pounds. Dean was slightly more dominant in an 11-5 victory over No. 2 Luke Baughman of Wadsworth at 138 pounds.

St. John Bosco’s Sonny Santiago was the only other No. 2 seed not advancing to the semifinals. His first-round bout at 152 pounds resulted in an injury default and a withdrawal from the tournament.

No. 3 seed’s Diego Sotelo of Marmion Academy, Beau Bartlett of Wyoming Seminary and Chase Saldate of Gilroy all fell short of the semifinals in tough defeats.

The wackiest weight without question is 138 pounds. Saunders held steady at the No. 1 spot, but the remaining top-four seeds all fell to lower seeded opponents. No. 6 Chris Rivera of Lake Highland Prep School and No. 12 Matt Lackman of Bethlehem Catholic join Saunders and No. 7 Dean in the final four at this weight.

Blair Academy has all but secured the team title after day one, boasting a whopping 162.5 team points with nine wrestlers qualifying for the semifinals. Wyoming Seminary has a strong hold on second place with 101.5 team points and four semifinalists.

The Ironman will resume at 10 a.m. (ET) on Saturday with the semifinals tentatively scheduled for 11:15 a.m. (ET). The placement matches are set for 3:45 p.m. (ET).

Complete brackets and match-by-match results can be found at Trackwrestling.com. The competition is streaming live on FloWrestling.com.

25TH ANNUAL WASLH JESUIT IRONMAN

Walsh Jesuit High School, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Dec. 7-8

Team Standings

1. Blair Academy, N.J. 162.5

2. Wyoming Seminary, Pa. 101.5

3. Lake Highland Prep School, Fla. 68.5

4. St. Edward, Ohio 67.0

5. La Salle, Ohio 64.5

6. Bethlehem Catholic, Pa. 62.0

7. Montini Catholic, Ill. 57.0

8. Mt. Carmel, Ill. 53.0

9. Parkersburg South, W. Va. 52.0

10. Elyria, Ohio 50.0

Semifinal Matchups

106 pounds

No. 1 Braxton Brown (Allen) vs. Evan Holloway (New Kent)

No. 6 Gary Steen (Reynolds) vs. No. 2 Kyle Rowan (Perry)

113 pounds

No. 1 Richard Figueroa (Selma) vs. No. 5 Troy Spratley (Wyoming Seminary)

No. 3 Ryan Miller (Blair Academy) vs. No. 10 Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (Seneca Valley)

120 pounds

No. 1 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Blair Academy) vs. No. 5 Nic Bouzakis (Lake Highland Prep School)

No. 3 Ryan Crookham (Notre Dame) vs. No. 2 Lucas Byrd (La Salle)

126 pounds

No. 1 Michael Colaiocco (Blair Academy) vs. No. 4 Kai Orine (Seckman)

No. 3 Travis Ford-Melton (Marian Catholic) vs. No. 2 Reece Witcraft (Broken Arrow)

132 pounds

No. 1 Jordan Decatur (Cuyahoga Valley CA) vs. No. 4 Shane VanNess (Blair Academy)

No. 11 Frankie Talshahar (American Heritage) vs. No. 2 Dylan D`Emilio (Genoa Area)

138 pounds

No. 1 Joshua Saunders (Christian Brothers College) vs. No. 12 Matt Lackman (Bethlehem Catholic)

No. 6 Chris Rivera (Lake Highland Prep School) vs. No. 7 Jackson Dean (Caesar Rodney)

145 pounds

No. 1 Ryan Anderson (Bethlehem Catholic) vs. No. 5 Travis Mastrogiovanni (Blair Academy)

No. 3 Jaden Abas (Rancho Bernardo) vs. No. 2 Bryce Andonian (St. Edward)

152 pounds

No. 1 Brevin Balmeceda (South Dade) vs. No. 5 Aaron Gandara (Poway)

No. 3 Sam Dover (St. Edward) vs. No. 10 Benny Baker (Wyoming Seminary)

160 pounds

No. 1 Connor Brady (Olentangy Liberty) vs. No. 5 Kyle Mosher (South Side)

No. 3 Jace Luchau (Selma) vs. No. 2 Domonic Mata (Blair Academy)

170 pounds

No. 1 Carson Karchla (Olentangy Liberty) vs. No. 5 Christian Rodriguez (Selma)

No. 3 Nevan Snodgrass (Kettering Fairmont) vs. No. 2 Julian Ramirez (Blair Academy)

182 pounds

No. 1 Devin Winston (Park Hill) vs. No. 4 Jackson Turley (St. Christopher’s)

No. 3 Sam Fisher (Fauquier) vs. No. 2 Darrien Roberts (Wyoming Seminary)

195 pounds

No. 1 Albert Ferrari (Blair Academy) vs. No. 5 Nathan Dugan (Lake Norman)

No. 3 Pete Christensen (Montini Catholic) vs. No. 2 Ryan Reyes (Gilroy)

220 pounds

No. 1 Braxton Amos (Parkersburg South) vs. No. 4 Andy Smith (Christiansburg)

No. 3 Jake Kaminski (Wyoming Seminary) vs. No. 2 Owen Trephan (Blair Academy)

285 pounds

No. 1 Cohlton Schultz (Ponderosa) vs. No. 5 Louden Haga (Parkersburg South)

No. 3 Nicholas Villarreal (Gilroy) vs. No. 2 Jonathan Birchmeier (Broad Run)

Quarterfinal Results

106 pounds

Braxton Brown (Allen) maj. dec. Sean Seefeldt (St. Edward), 10-1

Evan Holloway (New Kent) fall Dylan Chappell (Seneca Valley), 5:48

Gary Steen (Reynolds) fall Diego Sotelo (Marmion Academy), 0:20

Kyle Rowan (Perry) dec. Daniel Wask (Blair Academy), 12-6

113 pounds

Richard Figueroa (Selma) fall Colton Drousias (Mt. Carmel), 3:10

Troy Spratley (Wyoming Seminary) dec. Timmy Levine (St John Bosco), 2-1

Ryan Miller (Blair Academy) dec. Cooper Flynn (McDonogh School), 3-1 SV1

Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (Seneca Valley) dec. Jacob Decatur (Cuyahoga Valley CA), 3-0

120 pounds

Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Blair Academy) maj. dec. Beau Bayless (Reynolds), 13-5

Nic Bouzakis (Lake Highland Prep School) fall Matt Ramos (Lockport Township), 5:32

Ryan Crookham (Notre Dame) maj. dec. Chris Barnabae (Mount Saint Joseph), 12-1

Lucas Byrd (La Salle) dec. Dominic Chavez (Arlington Martin), 8-5

126 pounds

Michael Colaiocco (Blair Academy) maj. dec. Devin Murphy (Clovis North), 12-2

Kai Orine (Seckman) tech. fall Jason Miranda (Poway), 15-0

Travis Ford-Melton (Marian Catholic) dec. Dylan Shawver (Elyria), 5-2

Reece Witcraft (Broken Arrow) dec. Dylan Ragusin (Montini Catholic), 16-9

132 pounds

Jordan Decatur (Cuyahoga Valley CA) dec. Kenny Herrmann (Bethlehem Catholic), 10-4

Shane VanNess (Blair Academy) dec. Justin Rivera (Lake Highland Prep School), 5-2

Frankie Talshahar (American Heritage) dec. Nick Moore (Graham), 7-2

Dylan D`Emilio (Genoa Area) maj. dec. Cleveland Belton (St John Bosco), 18-4

138 pounds

Joshua Saunders (Christian Brothers College) dec. Michael Madara (Blair Academy), 8-4

Matt Lackman (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Peyton Hall (Oak Glen), 7-0

Chris Rivera (Lake Highland Prep School) dec. Chase Saldate (Gilroy) 3-2 UTB

Jackson Dean (Caesar Rodney) dec. Luke Baughman (Wadsworth), 11-5

145 pounds

Ryan Anderson (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Trevor Chumbley (Marmion Academy), 4-2

Travis Mastrogiovanni (Blair Academy) dec. Cael Valencia (St John Bosco), 4-3

Jaden Abas (Rancho Bernardo) dec. Christopher Donathan (Mason), 4-1

Bryce Andonian (St. Edward) dec. Fidel Mayora (Montini Catholic), 8-1

152 pounds

Brevin Balmeceda (South Dade) dec. Cole Handlovic (Bethlehem Catholic), 4-2

Aaron Gandara (Poway) maj. dec. Enrique Munguia (Elyria), 9-1

Sam Dover (St. Edward) maj. dec. Reece Heller (Marian Catholic) 12-4

Benny Baker (Wyoming Seminary) dec. Kevin Contos (Genoa Area), 4-3

160 pounds

Connor Brady (Olentangy Liberty) dec. Todd Perry (South Dade), 6-2

Kyle Mosher (South Side) dec. Thayne Lawrence (Frazier), 10-9

Jace Luchau (Selma) dec. Kai Bele (Lake Highland Prep School), 4-2

Domonic Mata (Blair Academy) tech. fall Tyler Stoltzfus (Saint Joseph`s Catholic Academy), 15-0

170 pounds

Carson Karchla (Olentangy Liberty) tech. fall David Cumberledge (St. John), 17-2

Christian Rodriguez (Selma) dec. Jake Stefanowicz (Wyoming Seminary), 5-3

Nevan Snodgrass (Kettering Fairmont) dec. Ashton Habeil (Lake Gibson), 10-5

Julian Ramirez (Blair Academy) maj. dec. Jake Evans (Elyria), 14-3

182 pounds

Devin Winston (Park Hill) dec. Anthony D`Alesio (Canfield), 10-3

Jackson Turley (St. Christopher’s) dec. Peyton Craft (Blair Academy), 7-3

Sam Fisher (Fauquier) maj. dec. Nathan Haas (St John Bosco), 13-5

Darrien Roberts (Wyoming Seminary) dec. Ronald (Trey) Sizemore (La Salle), 10-4

195 pounds

Albert Ferrari (Blair Academy) fall Ethan Hatcher (Brecksville-Broadview Heights), 4:41

Nathan Dugan (Lake Norman) dec. Micahel Baker (La Salle), 7-2

Pete Christensen (Montini Catholic) fall Jack Wimmer (McDonogh School), 0:46

Ryan Reyes (Gilroy) dec. Mike Doggett (Wyoming Seminary), 3-1

220 pounds

Braxton Amos (Parkersburg South) fall Wyatt Owen (Reynolds), 2:33

Andy Smith (Christiansburg) dec. Tyler Stein (Canfield), 8-1

Jake Kaminski (Wyoming Seminary) fall Jarin Curtis (Perry), 3:29

Owen Trephan (Blair Academy) dec. Matthias Ervin (Union County), 5-1

285 pounds

Cohlton Schultz (Ponderosa) fall Max Millin (Perry), 0:41

Louden Haga (Parkersburg South) maj. dec. Elijah Anthony (Blair Academy), 9-1

Nicholas Villarreal (Gilroy) dec. Johnny Shafer (Graham) 3-2 TB1

Jonathan Birchmeier (Broad Run) dec. Andrew Johnson (Poway), 12-5