Which colleges "won" Super 32?

Photo of Hunter Catka by Sam Janicki.

Super 32 is one of the biggest preseason tournaments in the country. Going through the brackets is like maneuvering through a minefield of ranked wrestlers, and making the podium is no small feat. While many wrestlers upped their stock from a college recruiting standpoint, some have already solidified their post high school plans.

Listed below, in no particular order, are the colleges that had their recruits perform the best at Super 32.

Cornell

The Big Red had two commits finish as runner-up, Nico Provo at 113 pounds and Josh Saunders at 145 pounds. Provo is a junior from Connecticut and currently ranked No. 45 on Flowrestling’s junior “Big Board.” He finished as a runner-up in Junior men’s freestyle in Fargo this summer.

Saunders is a blue chip recruit and currently the No. 8 pound-for-pound wrestler in the country. He has represented Team USA at the Cadet and Junior World championships and was a Junior men’s freestyle champion at Fargo this Summer. The senior from Missouri will be training at the USOPTC as a member of the Elite Accelerator Program this season.

University of North Carolina

UNC also had two recruits make the finals, with one of them bringing home a title. Lachlan McNeil, a native of Ontario, Canada currently competing for Wyoming Seminary, brought home the title at 138 pounds. McNeil, a senior, is a two-time Cadet Pan American champion and one-time runner-up for Canada. In the USA, he finished third in Junior men’s freestyle in Fargo and was a National Preps runner-up. He is currently ranked No. 59 on the senior Big Board.

The other future Tar Heel finalist was Gavin Kane from Georgia. Kane took second at 170 pounds. The senior is currently ranked No. 38 in his class. He placed fourth in Junior men’s freestyle at Fargo this summer.

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech was the only school to score three recruits on the podium. All three wrestlers are seniors and Pennsylvania natives.

Hunter Catka took home the title at 285 pounds. The big man is ranked No. 24 in his class. Catka won the Cadet World Team Trials, and represented the U.S. at the Cadet World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria this summer where he placed 11th.

At 170 pounds, Clayton Ulrey placed third. Ulrey is ranked No. 19 in his class. He was a teammate of Catka’s on the Cadet World Team where he turned in an eighth place performance at Worlds.

Rounding out the bunch is the highest ranked of the three, No. 15 Sammy Hillegas, who finished eighth at 138 pounds. Hillegas placed fourth in Junior men’s freestyle in Fargo this summer and is a two-time Pennsylvania state champion and one-time third place finisher.

Wisconsin

The Badgers had recruits in the finals of the 220- and 285-pound matches. The No. 3 pound-for-pound wrestler in the country, Braxton Amos of West Virginia, won the 220-pound weight class and earned the tournament’s Outstanding Upperweight award. Amos is a two-time 16U Fargo champion in both men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman. This summer, he won a Junior title in men’s freestyle while making the finals in Greco-Roman before pulling out due to injury.

At 285 pounds, Hayden Copass of Illinois took second. Copass is a junior and ranked No. 9 in his class. Copass is a two-time 16U men’s freestyle Fargo champion. In 2019, Copass was also a 16U Folkstyle Nationals champion and a Fargo Greco-Roman runner-up.

Presbyterian College – Honorable Mention

Presbyterian College will begin their first season of NCAA action this year. The Blue Hose had one of their 2020 recruits make the podium, which is a big deal for a new program. Dominic Chavez of Texas, No. 111 in his class, placed sixth at 120 pounds. Chavez was a Fargo Cadet men’s freestyle All-American in 2017 and a Fargo Junior men’s freestyle All-American in 2018.

For a list of all the college-committed wrestlers that placed at Super 32, check out The Open Mat’s list here.