Get to the Reynolds gym this Saturday to see great wrestling!
Three tough teams and many ranked wrestlers visit the Raider gym on Saturday to resume the annual classic after being cancelled last year due to mass school covid outbreaks. Before we get to the team reviews, the schedule of matches are:
10:00 am Reynolds vs McDowell
Seneca Valley vs Akron St Vincent-St Mary (SVSM)
12:00 noon Reynolds vs SVSM
Seneca Valley vs McDowell
2:00 pm Reynolds vs Seneca Valley
McDowell vs SVSM
Individual Rankings
Let's begin with the 21 individually ranked competitors that are scheduled to be on the mats. We can anticipate that coaches might jockey the lineups around to best serve the team's goals but it is possible that the 114 pound weight class will have all four teams sporting a state ranked wrestler, with our own Louie Gill being the most heralded with a high national ranking. Perhaps his biggest challenger will be Conner Smith of Seneca Valley who is ranked 3rd in the AAA division. And SVSM's Christian Osborne (8th, OH div. 2) and McDowell's Logan Sallot (11th, AAA) are in the top 12 in their respective state rankings! If these four stay in the same weight class all day, those matches may be the features of the entire event.
114 isn't the only weight class with multiple ranked wrestlers. 160 lbs has three wrestlers in the top 20 of their state divisions. 127 (includes 2 time AAA state place winner, Tyler Chappel, of Seneca Valley), 133, 172 and either 215 or 285 weight classes each have two ranked competitors. The either/or for the big boys is due to Ohio's different weight classes. SVSM's Bryson Getz is ranked 6th in Ohio's 220 lb class so without knowing his actual size, he may drop to 215 or move up to 285. SVSM has a very good 285 lb wrestler so we are guessing Getz will be at 215.
Here is a list of all the ranked wrestlers:
Erie McDowell
114 Logan Sallot 11th State-AAA; 1st NW-AAA Region
152 Artis Simmons 13th State-AAA; 4th NW-AAA Region
160 Caleb Butterfield 17th State-AAA; 2nd NW-AAA Region
215 Troy Peterson 11th State-AAA; 2nd NW-AAA Region
285 Jack Sroka 20th State-AAA; 3rd NW-AAA Region
Akron St Vincent-St Mary OH
- Ohio division 2 state rankings / OH weight classes
113 Christian Osborne ranked 8th
126 Bryce Skinner ranked 1st
157 Mason Grucic ranked 8th
170 Ryan Price ranked 10th
220 Bryson Getz ranked 6th
Seneca Valley
114 Conner Smith 3rd State-AAA; 2nd SW-AAA Region
127 Tyler Chappel 6th State-AAA; 3rd SW-AAA Region
133 Zach Hill 7th SW-AAA Region
Reynolds
107 Angelo Lomonte 5th NW-AA Region
114 Louie Gill 2nd State; 1st NW-AA Region; 4th US(FlowWrestling)
127 Greyden Gustas HM NW-AA Region
133 Chase Bell 13th State; 2nd NW-AA Region
145 Tino Gentile HM NW-AA Region
160 Vito Gentile 13th State; 3rd NW-AA Region
172 Jalen Wagner 11th State; 5th NW-AA Region
189 Brayden McCloskey 20th State; 7th NW-AA Region
Team Reviews
Since all four teams sport several top level guys, it comes down to team depth and matchups that will determine the winners of each match. Here is a synopsis of each of the four teams.
ERIE MCDOWELL
RHS and McDowell started competing in 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons but didn't resume contests until the 2009-10 campaign and have met seven times since then. This is the 10th meeting between the schools with Reynolds holding 6-3 advantage in the series.
McDowell has jumped off to a good start this season coming to Reynolds with a 4-3 record with all losses coming to very good teams including St Edwards, a perenial nationally ranked team and Cathedral Prep, a rival we meet next week. In addition to the ranked wrestlers listed above, others to watch for are Ronnie Delgado-107, freshman Antonio Vega-172 (all pins) as well as a pair of 145 pounders, Javarie Blue & Lucas Kurelowech, both whom placed in Districts last year. It's important to note that ranked 215 pounder Troy Petterson has pinned everyone that he has wrestled!
A quick summary...
Head Coach: Josh Knapp 4-3 (1-1 league)
W Erie McDowell 50 St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, NY 18
L South Fayette 36 Erie McDowell 33
W Erie McDowell 46 Bradford 27
L St. Edwards, OH 38 Erie McDowell 30
W Erie McDowell 41 Edgewood, OH 31
W Erie McDowell 66 Erie 0
L Cathedral Prep 43 Erie McDowell 24
Wght Yr Name Record(pins) Notes
107 So Ronnie Delgado 4- 3 (0)
114 Sr Logan Sallot 6- 0 (4) Career 59-21. Three times 2nd
districts.
2nd Region in 2021
114,121 So James Ortiz 2- 5 (0)
121 Jr Jayden Snyder 1- 0 (0)
127 So Conner Dvorak 1- 5 (1)
133 So Jaxon Gealy 1- 1 (0)
145 So Javarie Blue 2- 3 (1) Career 16-14 with 7 pins.
2nd districts @132
145 So Lucas Kurelowech 1- 2 (1) 3rd districts @138
152 Sr Artis Simmons 4- 0 (1) Career 45-19 with 17 pins.
Twice 2nd districts
152 Jr Dominic Berarducci 2- 1 (1)
160 Sr Caleb Butterfield 6- 1 (4) District champ 2020, 2022;
3rd 2021. 3rd in region;
State Qualifier;
Career 64-27 with 24 pins.
172 Fr Antonio Vega 5- 2 (5) All wins & losses by falls!
172 So Matthew Eggleston 3- 3 (2)
189 So Daymar Dickerson 0- 1 (0)
215 Sr Troy Petterson 7- 0 (5) 1st yr starter. All pins or forfeits
285 Sr Jack Sroka 7- 0 (2) Career 42-29 (20).
Twice 2nd districts; 4th region
TEAM TOTALS
Records 52-27
Decisions 6- 6
Majors 1- 2
Tech Falls 2- 1
Pins 26-18
Forfeits 17- 0
St Vincent-St Mary
We don't have much on SVSM's team since we are not well versed on the Ohio wrestling scene or it's media sources for wrestling news. However we did find a few things that gives us a glimps of their team makeup.
First, this is the 4th meeting between our schools, all in this annual event. Reynolds leads series 3-0
(2017) Reynolds 55 - SVSM 9
(2019) Reynolds 52 - SVSM 15
(2020) Reynolds 61 - SVSM 6
Coached by Dan Rooney (not THAT Dan Rooney), SVSM had competitors in the Knockout Christmas Classic where they took 18th place with Bryce Skinner (126) earning 5th place and Bryson Getz (220) grabbing a 2nd place trophy. They placed 114th at Ironman but we Raider fans know that doesn't mean anything good or bad since that competion is incredibly difficult and not a good gage for the normally good teams to be judged by.
We don't have their team record but one source shows they dropped a 63-3 match with Wadsworth. Like Ironman, Wadsworth is an Ohio power and this is not a good metric for us to base any judgement. The website for the Knockout Christmas Classic did list last year's records for wrestlers in their publicity efforts. I have not verified this data with other sources but hopefully it is correct and will give us something to evaluate. It does seem consistent with the ranked wrestler list above.
Weight 2020-21
Class Name Grade Record
113 Osborne, Christian 11 23-16
126 Skinner, Bryce 12 20-4
132 Dunlap, Braden 10 24-21
145 Hurley, Rylan 9
152 Clayton, Duke 9
170 Gwinn, Calvin 12 17-17
170 Price, Ryan 12 25-18
220 Getz, Bryson 12 31-7
285 Vanscoy, Andy 11 21-12
Seneca Valley
We are a bit more familiar with this WPIAL powerhouse. Historically, this is the 4th meeting with Reynolds holding a 2-1 edge. SV took the last meeting here at this event in 2021, giving our Raiders their only loss of the season as they went on to win their 5th straight state team title.
2019 Reynolds 39 Seneca Valley 25
2020 Reynolds 32 Seneca Valley 20
2021 Seneca Valley 36 Reynolds 19
So far, they have a 4-2 record (0-1 league) for teh 2022-23 season.
W Seneca Valley 57 Altoona 18
W Seneca Valley 66 Ligonier Valley 12
W Seneca Valley 57 Hampton 16
W Seneca Valley 36 Plum 25
L Malvern Prep 47 Seneca Valley 21
L Butler 39 Seneca Valley 21
W Seneca Valley 66 Mars 0
Also, SV finished 27th in the King of the Mountain Tournament at Central Mountain HS with Connor Smith (114) earning 2nd place and Tyler Chappell (127) grabbing 4th. They followed that up with 24th place at the tough Powerade tournament with the same two guys getting medals, Smith(114) - 7th and Chappell (127) - 6th.
Here is a summary of their full team. To accompany their three ranked wrestlers, keep an eye on Jack Tofanelli (121), freshman Zack Hill (133), Teagan Leighty (145), Jacob Eubanks(152) and their big boys, Thomas Wuycheck and Roman Royal at 215 and 284, respectively. This is a solid team where even those with current losing records can be dangerous since as we know, early season records skewed by multiple losses due to extremely difficult tournaments are deceiving.
Wght Yr Name Record (pins) Notes
107 Fr Hunter Tillotson 0- 1 (0)
107 Sr Madison Cardinal 0- 1 (0)
107,114 Fr Vincent Garrastazu 3- 1 (0) All three wins were forfeits
114,121 Jr Connor Smith 14- 4 (6) 5th in regions. 70-17 (26) career.
121 Jr Jack Tofanelli 6- 6 (2) 15-11 career.
127 Sr Tyler Chappell 14- 5 (7) Career 112-27 (32);
Only losses were Powerade(3)
and King Of Mountain(2).
Region Champ 2021, 2022.
State 3rd & 7th place
133 Fr Zach Hill 10- 4 (5) A good pinner.
Has beaten some tough guys.
139 So Brody Pirt 5- 5 (2)
139,145 Jr Angel Kristo 1- 2 (1)
145 Sr Teagan Leighty 6- 5 (3) Wrestled 40+ matches in career.
Seems to pin or get pinned a lot
152 Sr Jacob Eubanks 8- 6 (2) 3 yr starter
160 Fr Corey Wolfe 5- 6 (2)
172 Jr John Mallery 5- 8 (3)
189 Sr Rylan Wagner 1-10 (0)
189 Fr Max Eisenhut 0- 2 (0)
215 Fr Thomas Wuycheck 7- 7 (5) 5 pins - can be dangerous
285 Jr Roman Royal 7- 3 (2) Has beaten a few good people.
TEAM TOTALS
Records 91-76
Decisions 28-20
Majors 0-12
Tech Falls 3- 5
Pins 40-39
Forfeits 20- 0
Reynolds
I noticed that I always list information on the other teams thinking we want to know all about our competition. But now is the time to let our little secret out: we have a pretty good team this year that seems to be getting better with each outing! It is a good mixture of a core of experienced stars with a bunch of hungry newcomers. Personally, I have enjoyed watching them becuase they overcome inexperience with good old Reynolds perserverance - not quiting just because something goes wrong. Technique will always improve. The fighting will has to be there.
To date, Reynolds is 3-0
Reynolds 72 Mercer 0
Reynolds 70 Slippery Rock 6
Reynolds 56 Grove City 11
The Raiders finished 45th at the Ironman (out of 119) and 22nd at Powerade (out of 70) with Louie Gill earning 4th and 2nd place finishes in fields with the nation's best wrestlers. Several others had strong tournament performances including Angelo Lomonte, Chase Bell, Tino Gentile, Vito Gentile, Jalen Wagner and Brayden McCloskey.
In addition to Angelo, newcomers Greyden Gustas and Wyatt Sternthal have recorded big wins against quality opponents. Both Greyden and Waylon Waite are freshmen wrestling above their natural weight classes to make the team better.
Here is our roster.
Wght Class Name Record Pins
107 So Angelo Lomonte 6- 4 4
107 Jr Dillion Anderson 1- 0 0
114,121 Jr Louie Gill 11- 3 2 Has 4 tech Falls.
Career 83-10 (30 pins)**
114,121 Fr Waylon Waite 3- 2 2
121,127 Fr Greyden Gustas 3- 4 1
127 So Connor Geiger 0- 2 0
133 Jr Chase Bell 5- 4 2 Career 53-30 (27 pins)
139 Sr Logan Zagorski 1- 2 1
139 Sr Wyatt Sternthal 1- 1 0
145 Sr Tino Gentile 3- 5 3 Career 22-20 (12 pins)
152 So Louie DeJulia 3- 4 2
160 So Vito Gentile 4- 5 2 Career 33-22 (17 pins)
172 Sr Jalen Wagner 5- 2 1 Career 79-39 (38 pins)
172 Fr Rocky Floch 2- 3 0
189 Sr Brayden McCloskey 7- 4 4 Career 35-18 (20 pins)
215 Jr Kolton Wilkinson 3- 4 1
285 Fr Casey Resek 2- 4 1
TEAM TOTALS
Record 60-53
Decisions 14-15
Major 4-10
Tech Fall 5- 5
Pins 26-21
Forfeits 11- 2 (both for injury)
** Only this year's record for Louie Gill is for Reynolds. We never are sure how to handle reporting this but we don't want to discount his career accomplishments either.
Print this off for your guide to Saturday's wrestling. And save me a seat!