2023 California Super 32 Preview

So, it has to be noted that there are a few absolute killers from the state that just aren’t making the trip this year. A lot of them from Gilroy. Daniel Zepeda and Cody Merrill who are both top in the country at their weights. The Cortez twins who captured big wins through the freestyle season after ending last year as state champions. Brock Mantanona. The last Mantanona at the HS level for a few years, CA wrestlers can breathe easy for awhile. But he was a runner up last year to Sergio Lemley. Lemley’s gone to Michigan, where Brock will be next year.

Aden Valencia who has had quite an interesting career to say the least. Winning a collegiate open, not making weight for the state tournament. An event like this would have definitely brought him right back to the forefront of everyone’s mind. His rivalry with Zepeda might be the best in the country – certainly up there with Forrest Lilledahl, Sinclair Mirasola, etc.

Anyway, let’s get into the group of kids who will be here this weekend. Of course some could still scratch, I believe Angelo Posada is out but that’s not been confirmed for me yet so I’m including him. And when we talk about the kids in this mix, we see a lot of opportunity for big moves nationally. We like to look for the party crashers and it ain’t no party like a West Coast party. Didn’t Pac and Dre teach you anything?

{seed; *rank; name; school; state; grade}

*Ranking = mine

106 Top Contenders: 

California as a whole usually has some absolute studs at this weight. Sometimes you’ll see a group of sophomores or juniors who are still down here, but it’s almost always the frosh dominating the field. Unfortunately for Super 32, there aren’t many making the trip. But there is one, Anthony Garza. Because he’s unseeded, I can’t give a good prediction of where he’ll end up or what the battle through the bracket will look like for him.

I can say that we have Gavin Landers (IA) ranked 23rd in the country and Garza lost to him 4-2 not too long ago. That could indicate that he has a chance against some of the top guys. 

This bracket is crazy good though, so I’ll say anything like a quarterfinals run would be impressive even if he falls short of placing.

Jack Baker is another CA kid making the trip east. Garza has a head to head over him but things could change, who knows.

113 Top Contenders:

I have to think this is an oversight or something, but there’s zero explanation for Rocklin to not be ranked in anyone’s top 20 and then not seeded. Weird. 

I understand the other two who, likewise, aren’t seeded or ranked. Lewis and Valdez are the exact sort of CA kid that skates by under the radar that absolutely can give anyone up to top seed Aaron Seidel all he wants, and it could happen in the first two rounds.

Unfortunately, as I think Rocklin is the most likely medalist, I have no idea what his quarterfinals, semifinals, or finals draws would be.

We do, however, know what Willcox will be up against. As a freshman last season, he took 7th in a weight that saw Zinkin finish 2nd, Lewis finish 4th, and Valdez finish 6th. Here, as the 15 seed, he’ll get world champ Paul Kenny in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, it’s top 10 Davis Motyka of Wyoming Seminary. That kid is a terror. Get past him and it’s Landon Sidun in the semis and then Seidel in the finals.

That’s a brutal run through a brutal weight. My guess is that he falls to Kenny and then it’s a consolation free-for-all.

Projected order of finish: Zinkin, Willcox, Lewis, Valdez

120 Top Contenders:

I remember last season thinking Ramirez was one of the most underrated kids in the country. Then he proceeded to beat Dru Ayala who was in the top 10 at the time and made a nice run though ultimately didn’t place. This season, he’s got more national recognition heading into the weekend and is seeded (top 8) to place.

After Ramirez, I disagree with the order of the seeding, in fact I have it exactly reversed. But, this isn’t egregious on anyone’s part. They’re all very close. And including Ramirez, any combo of this group could be the one to reach the podium. 

Now, the very top of this weight is absolutely ridiculous. Anthony Knox, Chris Castillo, and Seth Mendoza. But maybe one of them pulls the unthinkable?

Quarterfinals:

I like that we get a few seeded wrestlers to discuss so we can flesh out some quarterfinals and beyond.

As the 8 seed, this is the round where Ronnie will run into Anthony Knox. Now, the smart money says this is where he drops to the consolations and fights for 3 through 8. And I’m not going to be the one to call for the upset win here. I will say that if there were someone to do it, it’d be him.

The other kids are seeded higher than 8 which means the prediction from jump is they don’t reach the quarterfinals (which is presumably the top 8 seeds). So that means they’ll meet one of these top 8 prior to the quarters and will need to pull out the surprise.

Sierra would get 6 seed #19 Porter Matecki in the round of 16. Matecki is a Missouri state champ. He’s really solid but Sierra could beat him. Wouldn’t even be a big surprise. If he does pull this off, his quarters match is Seth Mendoza. This would give Mendoza possible back to back Cali battles with Romero being the round before. 

Romero on the other hand will get 3 seed and #5 Seth Mendoza. The youth of Romero could be what he needs to get past this one. Meaning you don’t know what you don’t know. And he may not even know Mendoza is supposed to beat him. If Romero got this one done, it might set up the all CA match with Sierra. It’s doubtful but we can hope.

Huerta gets another Chris. Castillo. World champ. While I would say he makes Huerta a decent sized underdog, this is the kind of round of 16 match up that only happens at Super 32. This would be a solid finals at most events these two are in. Get past Castillo and it’s Keanu Dillard. He’s a PA state champion, Bethlehem Catholic stud. Lost this Summer to another Cali boy, Moses Mendoza. Now, Mendoza is who I have currently ranked the highest in the state, but again, it’s not a big separation. If Huerta got to this point, there’s no reason he couldn’t keep it rolling.

Semifinals:

Ronnie gets by Knox.

Sierra gets by Matecki and faces Romero

Romero gets by Mendoza and faces Sierra

Huerta gets by Castillo and Dillard.

Now, they’re in the semis. For Ronnie, that’s #9 Nate Desmond. Now at Wyoming Seminary, he comes in looking to show out for his new squad. Gonna be tough. But we would say Ronnie gonna be tough for him.

Whichever between Sierra and Romero wins would now run right into CJ Huerta. At this point in the tournament, or any other should it happen, I would give Huerta the edge over the other two, but it’s definitely close.

Finals:

And here we have it folks. The possible Ronnie Ramirez CJ Huerta all Cali finals. The people in attendance wouldn’t understand. No Knox? No Castillo? What happened?

Cali happened. Haha. Don’t write this in pen. It’s a daunting field ahead of these boys. Just giving a glimpse into what it actually looks like.

Projected order of finish: Ramirez, Huerta, Romero, Sierra.

Should also mention a state runner up, Antonio Rogriguez, as someone way off the national radar who could do some damage as well.

126 Top Contenders:

Maestas made massive national news this Summer, winning a Fargo title. It’s hard for me to just automatically move him into the top 25 across the country when the wins to get that title weren’t mainstays in the top 25 themselves, that’s a freestyle tournament, and he didn’t place in the state finals.

It’s an interesting quirk that you almost always see Leo Meastas and Leo Macias together. I don’t even know how well they know each other, I just know where you see one Leo you often see the other. Looks like only Maestas is here. Anyway, I think the 14 seed is quite generous but it means in the round of 32 he’ll get Geronimo Rivera of Utah. Rivera, like Maestas, is in our next group of kids on the cusp of the rankings.

A lot of this preview, and most things I do for CA, involves finding the kids overlooked who might surprise. In the case of Nikade Zinkin, the 12 seed is slated to get the 21 seed in the round of 32. That would be Colin Martin. Martin is a Virginia state champ from Staunton River and quite possibly the most under-seeded in this tournament. I still favor Nikade. But this is very slight. So in the same way that I might look at Nikade as a kid who could sneak up on a top seed here, Martin could do that very same thing.

In that same round of 32, Townson gets New Jersey’s Patrick O’Keefe. O’Keefe finished 8th in his state last season and has performed fairly well this Summer, moving right to the cusp of our top 25, and currently in the Mat Scouts top 20.

So now we move on to the round of 16. In this round, all 3 would now be underdogs on paper. Nikade would get the 5 seed, #13 Jake Crapps. Crapps has been as high as the top 5 on occasion. He’s really good. But he showed a little vulnerability at Elite 8. However, his losses were only to our #10 and #11 nationally. Nikade could absolutely win this. Would be his best win, maybe so far in high school.

For Maestas, the 14 gets the 3, so that’s another Jake. This time Hockaday. Hockaday comes in as our 12th ranked nationally and was also at Elite 8. He also took a couple losses. But those were to #2 Jax Forrest and #11 Sebastian DeGennaro. This right here is the quintessential underdog Cali kid coming up big. I think I’m going on record for this upset.

Next up for Townson would be #9 Anthony Mutarelli. Moving from Malvern Prep to Council Rock South, Mutarelli is a beast. Hard to see the Townson win. But here at TKDWN, we’re fans of the impossible.

Quarterfinals:

And now we reach the quarterfinals. Nikade moves from Crapps to #7 Nik O’Neill. O’Neill is a mainstay atop the national prep ranks, solidly in the top 10 nationally, a real belt contender, and would be the first real, big favorite Nikade faced. We’ll get a sense leading up to this round, but if Nikade is here we can assume he’s ready for all the smoke. Ride that wave.

Maestas goes from Hockaday to #10 Eren Sement. Sement is a great example of one of those kids who levels up from super solid to fringe elite. So while Maestas is here to stake his claim to some national props, Sement is here to solidify his place in the top 10, and a medal run is in the cards for him. Whereas I think Maestas matches up well with Hockaday, and is therefore live to pull that upset, I don’t see it here.

If Townson makes it here, he’s slated for #8 JJ McComas. This actually gives me a chance to introduce everyone to Israel Borge. Some of you should already know him. If you have kids competing at the youth and middle school levels. He’s in Missouri now, making his HS debut as a freshman. I think he beats McComas in the round of 16, and ends up in the finals. That would make him the opponent for Townson here. 

Semifinals: 

Well, for our friend Nikade, should he make the deep run to the semifinals, he’ll run into none other than #2 Jax Forrest. Forrest is our #2, could easily be #1, is a big favorite to win this bracket and probably the one round we get to where it’s just incredibly hard to see the victory for the Clovis junior.

On the other side here, this is where Maestas and Townson would meet up. CA on CA. Now, there could have been other such matches prior, with the unranked or unseeded Cali wrestlers, but as far as this group goes, this would be where that takes place. If it did, I give the edge to Maestas.

Finals:

I don’t see any realistic path to the finals for any CA wrestler at this weight. It’s fun for me to speculate and to let people see what kind of quality is in front of some of these CA kids they’ve come to know in the state. 

Ultimately, I think the most likely scenario is that all 3 hit the consolations after the round of 16. Then it’s a free-for-all down there for 3-8. I am intrigued by the Maestas Hockaday battle as this would be an interesting contrast in styles. One that may shock some folks.

Projected order of finish: Nikade, Maestas, Townson

132 Top Contenders:

This is one of the rare times someone else nationally has a CA kid substantially higher than I do. I have Grajeda at #17 while Mat Scouts has him 12th. Although it looks like Flo doesn’t even have him ranked. Anyway, he’s the only ranked and seeded kid in this bracket but even being as high as the nine seed this weekend, the top of this weight is something else. Something out of nightmares. Perfect for this time of year. 

You got the top seed Ben Davino. You got the 2 seed Kyler Larkin. The 3 seed Bo Bassett. 

So, perhaps winning the whole thing is not in the cards for the Bosco freshman. A medal is still on the table.

His tournament run would include Drew Gorman in the round of 16. Ben Davino in the quarterfinals. Sergio Vega in the semis and then I think Bassett in the finals. The Gorman match is a toss up, he could win that. The Davino match. Not a toss up. I often say stranger things have happened. Grajeda beating Davino, stranger things may not in fact have happened.

So I think that’s where the championship run ends for him, and there’s no way to tell how the rest falls into place. But no one should be shocked if he finishes in the top 8.

138 Top Contenders:

If both Daniel Zepeda and Aden Valencia move up here for the season, obviously the storyline in California for the season will be who can derail the top 2 in the country from reaching the state finals. But this isn’t the season and neither Zepeda nor Valencia are in this field. 

Who are in this field are the top 2 contenders from CA to do that derailing we just spoke about. And they’re both live to come away from Greensboro with a medal, possibly the 1st place variety.

Kelly comes in with the higher seed, the higher ranking. He’s been everywhere this off-season. Unfortunately for a lot of kids, if they aren’t at the events with the most attention and acclaim, they get forgotten. On the flipside, if you do travel a lot, you get the chance to build on your resume. And Kelly did just that.

Toscano is up at 138 from last year’s 126 where he was a state runner-up as a freshman. He’s actually been wrestling as heavy as 157 in some events. I doubt he weighed that much but his success there shows just how dangerous he is. Among his most notable recent results was a win over EJ Parco at 150. Parco is the 6 seed at 150 in this same tournament. I say that to say that while Toscano doesn’t have the same wins under his belt at this weight as Kelly, he’s every bit the contender here.

As the 3 seed, we’re gonna pick up Kelly’s tournament voyage in the quarterfinals. The round of 16 match against Chase Van Hoven could be sneaky close, it would still be a fairly shocking outcome if Kelly fell in that one.

So in these quarterfinals, Kelly will get PA state champ and #7 Luke Simcox. This would be a fantastic clash of styles, one where the Poway senior finds himself in a dogfight. M2 vs Poway RTC. Some folks have Simcox ranked slightly higher. 

Should Kelly get the win here, he’d face Alex Braun. And actually, this round and the finals would be back to back MInnesota state champs more than likely.

For Toscano, he’s the “on paper” underdog from the round of 32 on. Of course as results come in, this could change, but just sticking to the seeding (he’s 17), he goes 16, 1, 8, 4, 2. That puts him up against top seed Robideau in the round of 16. And I have to say, that’s not the kind of match a 1 seed expects still relatively early in a competition. This qualifies as an upset alert for sure.

The rest of his bracket would be #12 Dalton Perry, #6 Omar Ayoub, and #4 Alex Braun. 

I’ll go ahead and say this right now, if Toscano gets by Robideau he’s winning the whole thing. 

Projected order of finish: Toscano, Kelly

There’s no ranked/seeded CA wrestler at 144 in this tournament, skipping to 150.

150 Top Contenders:

State champ Miguel Estrada was entered but suffered an injury prior to this week so he’s out. Ironically enough, the injury came against Parco. They didn’t get to finish that match.

So all that’s left for CA’s medal hopes rest on the shoulders and the shots and takedowns of Los Gatos own EJ Parco. He has the quality wins to his name that make him a title contender, however, there’s some real elite talent here that will take his A game every time out.

As the 6 seed, he’s set to face Kael Voinovich in the round of 16. Should Parco hold serve and move on, he’s into the quarterfinals against PA’s Kollin Rath. Rath is… really good. That’s about all there is to say there. Everything about him screams BECAHI, PA wrestling, superstar. His only losses have been to the truly top of the class. Parco is a sizeable dog here.

Past the quarters, he gets Claudio Torres. A prep national champ, Torres seemed to really turn it on by season’s end. And finally, top dawg Vince Bouzakis. It didn’t take long for young Vince to follow in older brother Nic’s footsteps. Tough task for Parco, but if he has his sights on being that dude, this is the competition to do it against.

157 Top Contenders:

As two in the top of the state, Contino and Barbosa have already wrestled this off-season at Elite 8 Duals. Contino got the better of Barbosa there. He picked up a couple other nice wins to settle in as our #10 nationally.

Barbosa also wrestled Poway’s best, is it safe to call Laird Root their best?, anyway one of their best and probably the 157 CA favorite at Elite 8. It wasn’t a perfect event for the Palm Desert senior by any means, but his only losses were to kids ranked ahead of him so it didn’t really do much to change what we think of him. And what we think of him is a threat to the entire field.

So, the 5 and 6 enter on opposite sides of the bracket. This means, aside from the consolation chaos, the only way they meet is in the finals. But that might actually be a taller task for the 5 seed as he gets Joe Sealey in the semifinals. Good luck Mr. Contino. To get there, he’ll get NJ state champ Matt Henrich. I favor Henrich over either CA kid if for no other reason than a separate one, Zack Ballante, beat both of them at Elite 8. Henrich is the best kid from NJ at this weight.

Barbosa goes #20 Jake Dailey, #7 Cory Thomas, and #4 Conner Harer before reaching the finals against Sealey presumably. Only against Harer of those three would I be surprised to see him win. If that’s true, then we’re looking at a top 6 finish.

Projected order of finish: Contino, Barbosa

165 Top Contenders:

I definitely expect Pile to rise up every national board from now until the season’s end. However, I’m not sure how viable of title contender he is here.

His half of the bracket has an absolute terror in Cornell commit and #4 Alession Perentin. A favorite for a PA state title this season in #5 Nick Kunstek. He actually runs into Perentin in the round of 16. That’s just difficult to see the path to victory.

What he can very realistically do is come back through the consolations, knocking em over like dominoes.

175 Top Contenders:

With Angelo Posada out, we’ll expect Rocha to move up a spot onto the 7 line. Rocha was impressive last season, finishing 6th as a freshman in the big boy weight of 182. 182 might have been the single toughest in CA last year. 

With the moves up for everyone behind Posada, Rocha will get Connor McCloskey in the round of 16. That’s as toss up as toss ups get. McCloskey himself picked up a pair of ranked wins at Elite 8, including Adrien Reyes of Clovis. Going to be a battle here. 

If Rocha gets into the quarterfinals, he’ll be looking for that guaranteed top 6 place earned by winning and advancing to the semis. To do that, he’ll have to get past 2 seed and our #11 Bryce Burkett. Pretty solid advantage for Burkett but this is where the stranger things have happened is applicable. Rocha could definitely win this.

Well, then it’s #9 Ryan Burton. I got Burton winning this bracket so that’s how I feel about his quality. But this is one of the weights, maybe the weight where a lot of upsets, shake ups, and chaos can happen. Maybe Rocha capitalizes on that.

Then the finals would be another Minnesota kid, Cole Han-Linemeyer. Very similar to the previous two. If Rocha is locked in, he could do it.

190 Top Contenders:

State placer Ryland Whitworth is the only CA wrestler seeded this weekend. We have him right at the edge of our top 25. Flo has him 17th. Doesn’t look like Mat Scouts has him ranked. I think he comes away here very much in everyone’s top 20-25. But does that mean he places or even wins?

Well, round of 16 is a bear, a very tall – literally – order in Nebraska’s Cade Ziola. Ziola is not far off the seeding here, he’s 8 to Whitworth’s 9. But he’s #11 for us. Although I always say, once you get to a certain group, it really comes down to a single result you like better for one kid or a style. But there isn’t a lot separating 11 and 25 qualitatively. And if you factor in the possibility we’re all wrong about Ryland’s ceiling, it could be even closer. But by that same token, we have to leave room for the possibility Cade is even better than 11. You just never know. That’s what makes all this so exciting. Why I love my job – is it a job if I make no money? 

Anyway, from Cade to Aeod (pronounced “aid”) as in Aeoden Sinclair. A very strong argument could be made that 1) this is the toughest top 4 of any weight and 2) Sinclair is the best wrestler pound for pound in this tournament.

After that, Tucker Hogan. For my money, possibly the most underrated kid out here. And he’s top 4. Yikes. Then there’s the finishing act with Rune Lawrence. Yeah, to say this is a gauntlet is an insult to how tough this is.

It’s weird the way these things work out. There’s some weights where I can see multiple unranked kids crashing their way to the top 8. And then there’s 190 where I have a hard time seeing the 9 seed finish higher than that. Hopefully for him he can prove me wrong. Every time I make a prediction in these things I hope they all prove me wrong.

215 Top Contenders:

I don’t know what’s going on with Whitworth here but he’s seeded in both weights. As you can see, I have him ranked slightly different in each. 

As the 10 seed here, he’s set to face #9 Oscar Williams, #6 Dreshaun Ross, #10 Mike Mocco and wrapping up with #2 Jude Correa. Correa was the S32 champ last year and is one of the biggest favorites here to repeat.

Marin took 3rd here last season but then finished 6th in the state. I think he was hurt through the tournament and ultimately lost to Whitworth in that 5th place match. This could be the event he gets back on the national radar.

As the 12 seed, he’s slated for #17 Rylan Kuhn, top seed Correa, #11 Dillon Bechtold (an absolute beast in his own right), and then #6 Ross.

I don’t know if Marin can repeat that 3rd place performance from last season, but more power to him.

Projected order of finish: Marin, Whitworth

285 Top Contenders: 

Making the move up to 285, state champ Sahakian brings a deadly combo of strength, speed, technical acumen to this weightclass. He’s the only top seed from CA in the tournament and will look to announce his presence here heading into the new season.

The most interesting CA storyline is the possible showdown with Daniel Herrera. Herrera was the CA state champion at 285 the last 2 seasons. Now, he’s in Iowa. As the 1 and 4, they’d meet in the semis.

I won’t make a prediction here, just hope we get to see it.

The finals for that winner would be Spencer Lanosga or Parker Ferrell. Ferrell is the reigning S32 champ. Lanosga just beat him at Elite 8.

This is actually a really high quality 285 final four.