Breaking down Ironman wrestling brackets: A look at favorites, next in line, dark horses
You hear it every season, but here we are again and the 28th annual Walsh Ironman might have its best field to date.
Eight returning champs and four of the top five teams in the nation – Blair Academy (N.J.), Wyoming Seminary (Pa.), Stillwater (Okla.) and St. Edward – and 25 of the top 50 will be there.
From a Greater Akron/Canton perspective, No. 15 Brecksville, No. 27 Wadsworth and No. 43 Perry are represented.
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The seedings came out earlier this week.
Here’s a look at the favorite, who’s in the way and who’s a dark horse in all 14 weight classes.
If there’s a seeded wrestler from an area school, you’ll find it below as well.
A complete list of the seeds can be found by clicking this link.
Ironman 106-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 5.
Favorite: No. 1 Tyler Dekraker (Blair Academy, NJ). He’s coming off a fourth-place finish at the Super 32 and is the third-ranked wrestler in the nation.
Who’s in the way: No. 2 Dominic Munaretto (St. Charles East, Ill.). He’s a Cadet freestyle World champ and comes in ranked fourth nationally.
Dark horse: No. 5 Javaan Yarbrough (Copley). It’s kind of hard to call a two-time national champion and four-time national finalist a dark horse, but we’ll put Yarbrough here.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: No. 5 Javaan Yarbrough (Copley), No. 9 Emeric McBurney (Perry), No. 11 Rylan Seacrest (Brecksville).
Great Programs:20 years, 100 champs: Aurora, Brecksville, CVCA, Perry, STVM, Wadsworth, Walsh own wrestling
Ironman 113-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 8.
Favorite: No. 1 Bo Bassett (Bishop McCort, Pa.). Not a surprise here for the Cadet freestyle World champion.
Who’s in the way: No. 2 Beric Jordan (Stillwater, Okla.). This one isn’t a surprise. Jordan, who wrestled for St. Paris Graham last season, won Ironman in 2021.
Dark horse: No. 8 Jayden Raney (Union County, Ky). The easy pick here would be triple crown winner Mack Mauger (Blackfoot, Ida.), but how much of a dark horse is a folkstyle, freestyle and Greco national champion? Rayney comes in as a U16 national champion.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: None.
Ironman 120-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 8.
Favorite: No. 1 Jax Forrest (Bishop McCort, Pa.). Forrest comes in ranked No. 1 in the nation and is a U17 World silver medalist.
Who’s in the way: No. 2 Luke Lilledahl (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.). Lilledahl is ranked second nationally and is a World freestyle national champion.
Dark horse: No. 6 Leo DeLuca (Blair Academy). Marcus Blaze (Perrysburg) is the defending champion here, but DeLuca wrestled Blaze in last year’s Ironman semifinal and the match was 1-1 in the third period.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: None.
Ironman 126-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 9.
Favorite: No. 1 Ben Davino (St. Charles East, Ill.). Davino is a freestyle national champ, Super 32 champ and is ranked second in the nation.
Who’s in the way: No. 2 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Blair Academy). He’s ranked fourth in the nation and has already won Ironman twice.
Dark horse: Dillon Campbell (Legacy Christian). Campbell is a two-time Junior National freestyle All-American and a two-time Ohio state champion and calling Junior National freestyle champion Mason Gibson (Bishop McCort, Pa.) a dark horse wouldn't be right.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: None.
Ironman 132-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 7.
Favorite: No. 1 Sergio Lemley (Mt. Carmel, Ill.). Lemley is the top-ranked national wrestler nationally and is a three-time state champion.
Who’s in the way: Cale Hughes (Stillwater, Okla.). Hayes hasn’t lost an in-season high school match and is committed to Oklahoma state.
Dark horse: No. 6 Jaxon Joy (Wadsworth). We could have picked returning Ironman champ Vincent Robertson (Homewood-Flossmoor, Ill.) here, but again that’s not much of an underdog. Joy lost in the blood round at Ironman last year, but the Cornell commit is a Fargo All-American.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: No. 6 Jaxon Joy (Wadsworth), No. 8 Matt Hart (Western Reserve Academy).
Ironman 138-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 9.
Favorite: No. 1 Nasir Bailey (Rich Township, Ill.). When all else fails go with the returning Ironman champ, who is also the top-ranked national wrestler.
Who’s in the way: No. 2 Kannon Webster (Washington Community, Ill.). Webster split his national finals in Fargo this summer and won another one in 2021.
Dark horse: No. 6 Omar Ayoub (Dublin Coffman). Ayoub is a two-time state finalist and won the Division I crown in March. He’s ranked ninth nationally.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: None.
Ironman 144-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 8.
Favorite: No. 1 Mac Church (Waynesburg Central, Pa.). The nod here goes to the two-time state champ, who comes in ranked sixth in the state.
Who’s in the way: No. 2 Brock Herman (Brecksville). Herman didn’t wrestle for the Bees last season, but the 2021 state runner-up and Ohio State commit placed in college opens as a junior.
Dark horse: Ty Wilson (Dublin Scioto). With a nod to former Brecksville wrestler and Ironman placer Kael Voinovich (Stillwater), we’ll go with the two-time Division I state champion Wilson.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: No. 2 Brock Herman (Brecksville), No. 3 Sam Cartella (Western Reserve Academy), No. 11 Dy’Vaire VanDyke (Walsh Jesuit).
Ironman 150-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 6.
Favorite: No. 1 Ladarian Lockett (Stillwater). Well, he is a returning Ironman champ and a freestyle national champ. It’s hard to pick against him.
Who’s in the way: No. 2 P.J. Duke (Minisink Valley, NY). If there’s someone who can give Lockett a run it’s the two-time Super 32 champ, two-time state champion and freestyle national champion.
Dark horse: No. 5 Wynton Denkins (Perrysburg). Denkins is a Super 32 placer and Division I state runner-up.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: None.
Ironman 157-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 3.
Favorite: No. 1 Joe Sealey (Wyoming Seminary). Sealey is a U17 World champ and Penn State commit. Enough said.
Who’s in the way: Ethan Stiles (Conant, Ill.). The two-time state champ has signed with Nebraska and is ranked sixth nationally.
Dark horse: No. 4 Chris Earnest (Wadsworth). Earnest is a returning Ironman placer and has signed with Campbell.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: No. 4 Chris Earnest (Wadsworth).
Ironman 165-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 4.
Favorite: Angelo Ferrari (Melissa, Texas). Ferrari comes in as an Ironman champion already and is ranked No. 1 nationally.
Who’s in the way: Lorenzo Norman (Blair Academy). Norman is ranked third nationally and is committed to Stanford.
Dark horse: No. 6 Colin Kelly (Mt. Carmel, Ill.). Kelly is coming off a state championship season and is ready to build on an already impressive resume.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: No. 15 Brandon Batson (GlenOak).
Ironman 175-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 6.
Favorite: No. 1 Rocco Welsh (Waynesburg Central, Pa.). Welsh is a three-time state finalist, a state champion and Ohio State signee. He’s also the reigning Ironman champ.
Who’s in the way: No. 2 Gage Wright (Parkersburg South, WV). Wright is a two-time state champion and folkstyle All-American.
Dark horse: No. 6 Jarrel Miller (St. Edward). Miller turned it on after a state runner-up finish as a freestyle national champion and Greco-Roman runner-up.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: No. 3 Luke Vanadia (Brecksville), No. 11 Eddie Neitenbach (Buckeye).
Ironman 190-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 9.
Favorite: No. 1 Brayden Thompson (Lockport Township, Ill.). Thompson, a Junior World Team member, is the top-ranked wrestler in the nation and is headed to Oklahoma State.
Who’s in the way: No. 2 Jude Correa (Wyoming Seminary). Correa is a folkstyle national champ and is ranked fifth in the nation.
Dark horse: Orlando Cruz (Crown Point, Ind.). Cruz returns as a state runner-up and is committed to Purdue. He’s ranked 11th nationally.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: No. 12 Coen Grimm (Wadsworth).
Ironman 215-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 6.
Favorite: No. 1 Jersey Robb (Bixby, Okla.). Robb is a two-time state champion and is committed to Oklahoma State. He was the starting running back/linebacker for the state champion football team. Robb is ranked 19th nationally but should move up after this weekend. He’s a state champion and is committed to Oklahoma State.
Who’s in the way: Max Shulaw (Columbus DeSales). Shulaw comes in as a two-time state placer and 2022 state runner-up and is ranked sixth in the nation.
Dark horse: No. 4 Kyle Snider (CVCA). Snider just edges out Brecksville’s Max Vanadia here. Snider is a returning Ironman placer. The 2021 state champ will wrestle at Kent State next season.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: No. 4 Kyle Snider (CVCA), No. 8 Max Vanadia (Brecksville), No. 15 Bryson Getz (St. Vincent-St. Mary).
Ironman 285-pound contenders
Top 20 nationally ranked wrestlers in weight class: 5.
Favorite: No. 1 Dillan Johnson (Joliet Catholic, Ill.). Johnson is a two-time state champion, national finalist and three-star recruit in football.
Who’s in the way: No. 2 Parker Ferrell (Christiansburg, Va.). Ferrell is a state champion and Super 32 champion. He is committed to Virginia Tech and is ranked fourth nationally.
Dark horse: No. 5 Leighton Jones (Brownsburg, Ind.). Jones is a two-time state placer and an Iowa commit in football.
Seeded Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers: No. 7 Aaron Ries (Wadsworth), No. 9 Todd Allen (Buckeye).
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Walsh Ironman Wrestling Tournament weight-class favorites
