Unlike the Medina Invitational Tournament, the team race in this tournament is very wide open and somewhat undefined at the moment. It would appear that the last two champions of this event would lead the field, Lakota West and Eastwood; along with Columbus DeSales, Marion Pleasant, Troy Christian, and University School.

The tournament is scheduled for Friday (12/29) and Saturday (12/30) with action starting at 9AM and 6PM each day. Quarterfinals are part of the Friday evening session, semifinals projected to start between 11:30AM and Noon on Saturday, with placement matches scheduled for Saturday evening.

Weight by weight …

NOTE: Weights of wrestlers may change as the week goes on, wrestlers may be “out” of the tournament that are not known at this point, and without official seeding/brackets it’s hard to accurately predict things (not that it is much easier with the seeds).

103#: The prohibitive favorite in this weight is the freshman sensation Logan Steiber (Monroeville). The three-time Junior High State Champ was a Cadet National Freestyle champion this past summer, and is a very likely candidate to win four state titles. Double Junior All-American Jacob Farber (St Xavier) is also in this field, but is light years behind Steiber. Walsh Ironman placer James Ingraham (University School) is also in this weight, and he had a shutout technical fall victory over returning state qualifier Kent Li (Reynoldsburg) this past weekend. Two wrestlers that have state tournament appearances are also slated to appear in this weight, Li and Jimmy Millar (Hilliard Davidson).

112#: This is clearly the featured weight of the tournament. Eight wrestlers have placed in the state tournament, with six of them placing in the top four. The top seed in this weight is state champion Steve Mitcheff (Elyria); however, he was runner-up here at Brecksville last year to Bo Touris (Lakota West). The other top four place-finishers are Junior National Freestyle champion Ben Sergent (Troy Christian), Junior Greco All-American Touris, Ironman and Beast placer Kyle Lang (Brecksville), Johnny Papesh (Aurora), and Nate Westfall (Lake Catholic). Greg Marmaros (Beachwood) and Zach Pope (Marion Pleasant) have also placed in the state tournament.

Lang and Papesh are a likely quarterfinal bout, but Lang should prevail, and set up a rematch of a district semifinal that Mitcheff won. The other semifinal is likely to be a rematch of last year’s Brecksville semifinal that went to overtime, between Touris and Sergent.

119#: Two-time state runner-up, and defending Brecksville champion, Ryan Fields (Lakota West) would appear to headline this field. However, he has struggled so far this year failing to place in the Walsh Ironman and taking second in the SWOWCA Classic to Tommy Pretty (Elder). Three other returning state place-winners appear in this weight; Matt Reynolds (Marion Pleasant), Ironman place-finisher Pat Zamaria (Brecksville), and Ricky King (Benedictine). Two other state qualifiers are in this bracket as well, Pretty and Justin Flores (Eastwood). Another name to watch in this weight is freshman Brad Wukie (University School), who won the North Canton Tournament this past weekend and defeated Flores 10-4 two weekends ago.

125#: Though there is not a truly elite name – and no true favorite - in this weight, there are seven returning state placers here – and an eighth that was on the podium in 2005 but not 2006. Those being Brian Dean (Akron SVSM), Jacob Vaughan (Col DeSales), Zac Hancock (Troy Christian), Jan Ullinski (Eastwood), Paul Rose (Cambridge), Justin McCoy (Elder), Andrew Schafer (Chanel), and Scott Meyer (Ravenna). Mike Mitchell (Padua) and Chris Lester (Reynoldsburg) also have state tournament appearances as well.

130#: Assuming he is back to make is season debut from injury, the favorite in this weight would be returning state runner-up Dante Rini (Massillon Jackson). If not, this is a relatively open battle led by returning fifth-place finishers Darrin Boing (Chanel) and Josh Palivoda (Marysville). Two other placers also appear in this bracket; Andrew Dinda (Garfield Hts) and Jordan Thome (Troy Christian). State qualifier Tyler Green (Lakota West) is also here.

135#: Two-time state champion Tony Jameson (Austintown Fitch) would have to be considered the favorite in this weight class. However, two returning state runners-up will be gunning for the right to knock Jameson off; Jeff Pelton (Bellevue), a two-time runner-up, and Casey Thome (Troy Christian) are likely to meet in a semifinal bout. Five other wrestlers with state tournament appearances to their credit also are here; Derek Dooley (Lakota West), Adam Haas (Massillon Jackson), Anthony Melillo (Padua), Chris Canty (Col DeSales), and Vinny Lopez (Toledo Waite).

140#: On the surface this appears to be a wide-open weight with four returning state placers and two other former state placers. However, the favorites would appear to be returning runner-up Michael Lybarger (Mt Vernon) and state fifth-placer Adam Vaccari (Hilliard Davidson). The others with placement finishes would be Zach Toal (Troy Christian), Kyle Gardella (Chanel), Matt McGovern (Col DeSales), and John Kidd (Bellevue). Four others returning state qualifiers are also in this weight class; Robert Pajestka (Cuyahoga Hts), Kyle Taylor (Eastwood), Jesse Stevens (Lakota West), and Scott Lowe (Mentor). Returning Cadet Greco-Roman All-American Alex Herrick (Toledo Waite) is also here.

145#: This would appear to be a very thin weight class. Assuming Matt Reedy (Ravenna) is at this weight, he would have to be considered the favorite as a two-time Brecksville runner-up. The second best in this weight would be three-time state qualifier, and returning placer, Trever Davis (Marion Pleasant). Cadet Freestyle AA JT Rice (Hilliard Davidson), a returning state qualifier, and returning placer Justin Gooden (Toledo Waite) also appear in this bracket.

152#: The final in this weight is likely to feature two juniors that were Cadet National Freestyle runners-up this past summer, Jedd Moore (Mt Vernon) and Eric Cubberly (Eastwood). Three other wrestlers in this bracket also have placed at the state tournament; Robel Campbell (Troy Christian), Tyler Mickley (Hilliard Davidson), and Travis Erdman (University School). Additional state qualifiers are Sean Mahley (Cambridge) and Alex Croasmun (Col DeSales).

160#: This weight has wrestlers that have placed third, fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively; Mazin Shalash (Reynoldsburg), Steve Wilson (Marion Pleasant), Phil Dukes (Ravenna), and David Fisher (Col DeSales). Two other names to watch are freshman sensation Riley Kilroy (Padua), who placed at the Walsh Ironman, and sophomore Nick Mills (University School), who controlled two bouts at North Canton against returning state qualifiers before losing a 5-4 decision in the final to Shalash. A Shalash vs. Mills final could be in the cards again this tournament.

171#: Four returning state qualifiers appear in this bracket. Leading the way would be Jeremy Foster (Eastwood), who finished fourth in the state as a freshman and was projected to finish second last year before going 1-2 at state. The others would be JJ Pankewicz (Austintown Fitch), Spencer Adams (Marion Pleasant), and Nick Sasfy (Reynoldsburg).

189#: Defending Brecksville champion Mike Pushpak (Brecksville) is arguably the favorite at this weight class despite not making the state tournament. Already this year, he made the round of 12 at the Walsh Ironman and was runner-up at the Beast of the East. Right on his tail will be returning state place-finishers Morgan Snyder (North Royalton). Two additional returning state qualifiers would be Kirk Wetherell (Cambridge) and Matt Kuti (Austintown Fitch).

215#: This is clearly the field’s worst weight with just Jamey Srock (Akron SVSM), a returning state runner-up, having a state tournament appearance. However, that does not mean he is a lock to win this weight, as Jim Nemunaitis (Brecksville) has a head-to-head win over Srock already this year at the Ironman. In addition, Cadet double AA Orlando Scales (Elder) is also in the field.