Van Ness runs mini-bracket gauntlet, Voinovich wins by fall at Flowrestling's Who's #1

Shayne Van Ness picking up a takedown against Jesse Mendez. Photo by Mark Lundy.

Iowa City, Iowa – The seventh annual Who’s #1 took place inside of Carver Hawkeye arena this evening. Created by Flowrestling, this high school all-star exhibition pits the No. 1 and the No. 2 wrestlers in the country against each other. Upholding tradition, the event featured one four-man mini bracket. This year, it was at 132 pounds. New to the 2019 event, the higher ranked wrestler was able to pick whether they wanted to wrestle the match in folkstyle or freestyle.

The first freestyle match of the night kicked off the 132 pound mini bracket. No. 1 Jesse Mendez rushed out to a 6-0 lead, before No. 4 Ryan Jack put eight-straight points on the board. Mendez claimed the victory with a last second takedown and a failed challenge, 9-6.

The second mini bracket match featured No. 3 Shayne Van Ness taking on No. 2 Dom Serrano, also in freestyle. After being deadlocked at 6-6, Van Ness broke the match open late to take earn a 16-6 technical fall.

The final match of the mini-bracket was the last match of the night, with Van Ness and Mendez putting it all on the line. It was a high-scoring affair, with numerous lead changes throughout the match. When the dust settled, Van Ness pulled his second upset of the night, 10-9, to claim the mantle of the No. 1 wrestler in the country.

The first folkstyle match of the evening took place at 120 pounds where Jesse Ybarra squared off with Jakason Burks. After a scoreless first period, the pair exchanged escapes to make the match 1-1. With ten seconds left in the third period, Ybarra scored a clutch takedown to take the match, 3-1.

The next folkstyle match came at 113 pounds, where Richard Figuero took on Stevo Poulin. Figueroa looked dominant, earning an 8-1 victory. After a quick takedown, Figueroa immediately turned Poulin for two nearfall points to take a 4-0 and continued to cruise from there.

The 145 pound match was wrestled in folkstyle. Victor Voinovich picked up a fall over Jesse Vasquez. Leading 4-1 going into the second period, Vasquez selected down, Voinovich turned him twice with a power half while riding legs. The second time he cranked Vasquez over, he picked up the fall.

Anthony Echemendia looked dominant at 65 kg, securing a 10-0 technical fall over Josh Saunders. Echemendia led 8-0 at the break. He picked up his final two points off a wild scramble from a Saunders shot to lock up the win.

At 152 pounds, Sonny Santiago defeated Travis Mastrogiovanni in folkstyle, 5-3. Santiago scored the only two takedowns of the match along with an escape point while Mastrogiovanni scored three escapes.

Keegan O’Toole was the first No. 2 to take out a No. 1 when he defeated Paddy Gallagher, 12-2, in freestyle at 160 pounds. O’Toole utilized his par terre offense and scored six points from a gut wrench.

The next freestyle match to take place was Robbie Howard taking on Trevor Mastrogiovanni at 126 pounds. Howard scored quickly with a takedown and a gut wrench. Mastrogiovanni managed a step out point in the first period and another step out point in the second period. It wasn’t enough to overcome Howard’s lead and the match concluded 4-2.

Beau Bartlett maintained his No.1 ranking at 138 pounds with a 6-3 folkstyle victory over Ryan Sokol. In a highly entertaining bout, Bartlett was able to earn the opening takedown when Sokol tried to backflip out of his single leg attempt. Bartlett kept the pressure on to earn the win.

The next match was the “super match” between 2019 Men’s Freestyle World Team member Pat Downey and 2019 ADCC grappling silver medalist Nicky Rodriguez. The match rules were strictly based in neutral, with a step out being worth a point, a takedown worth two points and a feet-to-back takedown being worth four points.

Downey dominated from the beginning, earning a quick step out and following it up with a feet-to-back takedown for four points. He added three more step outs before hitting a four-point feet-to-back suplex for the 12-0 victory.

The penultimate match of the night, featured another No. 2 taking out a No. 1 when Patrick Kennedy defeated Alex Facundo in folkstyle at 170 pounds. Kennedy scored two takedowns and an escape, while Facundo’s points came from escapes.3

2019 Flowrestling's Who’s #1
at Carver Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, IA.

132: #1 Jesse Mendez, IN dec  #4 Ryan Jack, CT, 9-6
132: # #3 Shayne Van Ness, NJ, tech 2 Dom Serrano, CO, 16-6
120: #1 Jesse Ybarra, AZ dec #2 Jakason Burks, NE, 3-1
113: #1 Richard Figueroa, CA dec #2 Stevo Poulin, NY, 8-1
145: #1 Victor Voinovich, OH def #2 Jesse Vasquez, CA, FALL
65 kg: Anthony Echemendia, AZ tech Josh Saunders, MO, 10-0
152: #1 Sonny Santiago, CA dec #2 Travis Mastrogiovanni, NJ, 5-3
160: #2 Keegan O'Toole, WI, dec, #1 Paddy Gallagher, OH, 12-2
126: #1 Robbie Howard, NJ dec #2 Trevor Mastrogiovanni, NJ, 4-2
138: #1 Beau Bartlett, PA dec #2 Ryan Sokol, MN, 6-3
Supermatch: Pat Downey tech Nicky Rodriguez, 12-0
170: #2 Patrick Kennedy MN dec #1 Alex Facundo, MI, 5-2
132: #3 Shayne Van Ness dec #1 Jesse Mendez, 10-9