Maryland is rarely a state deep with top end talent on a national level, but the state has produced some of our most prominent amateur wrestlers in recent memory. Kyle Snyder. Aaron Brooks. Meyer Shapiro. And there are some in this mix that should finish the weekend with a winning record, possibly placing and maybe more.
Leading the way is St Mary’s Ryken senior Mekhi Neal. He’s spent the last month running into a PA state champ and top 15 kid, and beating him multiple times. He’s always tough and I think the best pound for pound in the state. His biggest issue here is that his weight has two world medalists and #1 in the country Joe Sealey. Sealey has been upset at big events before, including last year’s Super 32, but when he’s on, he’s really impossible to beat at this level.
After Neal, I’d probably go with Garvin as the next biggest challenger in his weight. Coming out of the Stellar Trained room, the Rising Sun senior was a strong competitor last year making a quarterfinals run before falling to Seth Mendoza and ultimately not placing. It could be a similar run this year, perhaps it’s even better. He will be vying for another state title next March before heading down to College Park and the Terps, but before then I’m sure he’d love to show out in Greensboro.
Next on our radar are Gaels teammates from Mount St Joseph, Carter Nogle at 132 and Bryce Phillips at 215. Long shots to place, I think 3-2 or 4-2 tournament performances would be more than respectable.
In terms of possible darkhorses and athletes who could pull an upset or two, Judah Aybar is the one left to mention.
I’d say everyone else is fighting a real steep uphill battle but crazier things have happened and my forecasting is certainly not cemented. Hope everyone on this list does what they set out to do and considers it a worthy weekend of tough competition.
As someone covering the sport, and writing up event previews, Super 32 does a good job of providing entries at each weight. However, it’s not perfect. I think different entities submit kids from each state and you often get repeat names in the data. I do appreciate the information though, compared to other events you don’t get anything until the day before or something.
From VA, the first kid to mention is obviously Parker Ferrell. The heavyweight from Christiansburg is a returning Super 32 champ. It doesn’t get any better than that.
After Ferrell, I think we look at Noah Nininger and Tyler Dekraker as possible medalists. They finished 7th and 4th respectively and are very tough in any competition.
Dekraker is from Virginia but wrestles for Blair Academy. He was a mainstay in the national top 10 last season and a strong showing here would get him right back up there.
Nininger is a junior from Staunton River, going 2 for 2 in Virginia state titles so far. He’s a massive favorite to pick up #3. Before that journey begins, he’ll look to improve upon last year’s 7th place finish.
Some other names to watch for, Colin Martin (Nininger’s teammate at Staunton River) Drew Roggie, Brycen Arbogast, and Chase Van Hoven. I have Martin and Van Hoven among the top 25 and the other two not too far away either. They are all VA state champions and the sort of talent that adds to the depth of the field here.
Based in Western PA. Right in the heart of WPIAL country, Todd brings an insider’s view from the country’s epicenter of wrestling. He’s excited to build on the TKDWN tradition of starting with the story first. The athletes, the coaches, their families and supporters, there is no shortage of stories to tell. And Todd will bring his unique perspective to help us continue to deliver top notch content for the world’s greatest sport!
