Greensboro, North Carolina – The Super 32 tournament is not to be taken lightly by the average wrestler. Sometimes not even the elite of the elite from California survives the competition at the conclusion of the two-day event. Every match at the 32 tournament, which is held at the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina, could be compared to a state tournament match. And in most brackets, you’ll run into the toughest opponents you’ll see all season, including the state finals. Only Fargo compares with the sheer quality of depth on an annual basis. But that’s freestyle. This is folk.

While the Keystone state stole the show, claiming titles in seven out of the first eight bouts, Team California had a good showing with Nicholas Sahakian (285; St. John Bosco) winning a belt. Eight wrestlers from CA finished in the top 8 in their respective weight classes and the state finished 4th as a “team”.

As we expected, a battle between Nicholas Sahakian of St. John Bosco and former Palm Desert star Daniel Herrera was set up for the heavyweight finals. It happened and it did not disappoint. A stalling point earned by Sahakian in the second period was enough for him to win the belt as neither could secure a single takedown in the 2-1 contest. This is the second year Sahakian has placed in this event as he was seventh last year at 220 pounds. It wasn’t the deepest weight in the tournament this weekend (with only 5 ranked wrestlers entering the weekend) but Sahakian showed he’s a serious threat nationally at the new weight.

State runner-up Antonio Rodriguez (Los Gatos) picked up some nice wins to reach the round of 16 at 120lbs. Unfortunately, his Cinderella run was put to a stop by the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the country Anthony Knox of New Jersey, 15-0.

Rodriguez’s run in the tournament continued strong as he won a pair of matches, including pinning 2022 15U Freestyle National Champion Tyler Dekraker of Virginia in the third period to procure a spot on the podium. Rodriguez concluded the tournament with an eighth-place performance.

120 appears to be a tough weight in the state this season, as Team California had another wrestler place in the 120-pound weight class. That wrestler was Ronnie Ramirez of Walnut, the 2023 CIF state champion at 113 pounds. As the No. 6 seed, Ramirez advanced to the quarterfinals before dropping a match via fall to the eventual runner-up Nate Desmond of Pennsylvania. In the consolation bracket, Ramirez got past 2023 Pennsylvania AAA state champion Keanu Dillard, 3-2 in overtime, before pulling out a 5-4 match over the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the country at 113 pounds in Christian Castillo to finish 3rd.

Seeded No. 3 at 138 pounds, Poway’s Paul Kelly worked his way to the quarterfinal round before Maddox Shaw of Pennsylvania upset Kelly via a fall in the third period; Shaw went on to win the tournament by defeating the No. 4 wrestler in the country Landon Robideau of Minnesota. Kelly won three additional matches before dropping his last match in the third-place bout to finish in fourth place. Kelly becomes Poway’s highest-place winner at this prestigious event.

You might think a kid who finished outside the top 3 in his own state would be at a severe disadvantage here. But, wrestlers from California are a different breed. Ethan Parco joined Rodriguez as the second Los Gatos wrestler to earn a medal this weekend. Parco outscored his first three opponents 25-2 to qualify for the quarterfinals; in the quarterfinal round, Parco dropped a heartbreaking 5-3 match to Kody Routledge of Oklahoma, the eventual runner-up at 150 pounds. After winning in the bloodrounds, Parco dropped another match before defeating Nolan Liess of New York, 7-4 to claim the seventh-place medal.

Not to be outdone by his teammates, Dylan Pile, also of Los Gatos, would walk away with an 8th place finish. Pile found himself hanging with the No. 1 seed and eventual champion Ladarion Lockett of Oklahoma. A reversal in the second period was the wrestling move that allowed Ladarion to defeat Pile. Pile went on to win five consecutive matches to finish in eighth place, thus helping Greg Varela and Los Gatos High to have three place winners in this tournament.

You can’t write about a national tournament and not talk about Buchanan High and its grapplers. This past weekend, Leo Contino added to his already fantastic resume by placing fourth at 157 pounds. Blanking out his first four opponents, Contino was triumphant in advancing to the semifinal round. In the quarterfinal round, with seconds left in the third period, Contino escaped and earned the point to win his match over Matthew Henrich, the 2023 New Jersey state champion. His dark horse run in the tournament ended in the semifinal round after being defeated by 2022 Super 32 champion La Darion Lockett, 7-1. Contino downed three-time Michigan state champion Darius Marines 7-3 before being defeated 3-2 by Conner Harer in the third-place bout.

Joseph Antonio of St. John Bosco was the talk of the tournament. Proceeding to the quarterfinal round, Antonio put on a takedown clinic when he disposed of the No. 3 seed and Michigan State recruit Cory Thomas 20-4 with six takedowns to none. His run in the championship bracket wasn’t over yet as he also knocked out the No.2 seed and two-time Pennsylvania state champion Conner Harer 8-3. A takedown in the second and third periods was enough for Antonio to get the win and advance to the finals. Antonio was ready to add one more upset to his Super 32 run. Nevertheless, he ran into a brick wall in LaDarion Lockett, a World Champion. The match was tied at one after regulation, with an escape for Lockett and a stalling point awarded to Antonio. Lockett posted a quick takedown to secure the win and claim his second Super 32 championship belt.

Aside from the 120-weight class, the 157-pound weight class had three wrestlers placed in the tournament; Add the possibility of Collin Guffey and Brock Mantanona competing in this weight class and the 157-pound bracket in California is going to be a barnburner to compete in.

The last medalist from California was Branson John, a wrestler from Buchanan High who last year competed for Buchanan’s “B” team. His placement at this tournament is a testament to how much depth is on this Buchanan roster.

John competed at the Super 32 early entry tournament and managed to place third at 165 pounds which qualified him to the tournament in North Carolina. John started the tournament strong by earning a 17-1 win and then a 4-2 upset over the No. 3 seed and former National prep All-American for Blair Academy Nick Kunstek. After blanking out 2023 New Jersey state qualifier Logan Wiecoreck 1-0, and then two-time Illinois state place winner Bryce Griffin 10-1, John got a spot in the quarterfinal round. The quarterfinal round wasn’t a pleasant experience for John as he was defeated 18-2 by Dominic Bambinelli of Georgia, the No. 9 ranked wrestler in the country. John earned a spot on the podium by earning a takedown and near-fall points in the third period to defeat two-time Pennsylvania state qualifier Brian Heard, 6-1. Griffin, a wrestler John had defeated prior to the quarterfinal round, defeated John 7-3 in the eight-place match.

Overall, Team California had a nice showing despite the travel and cost that it takes for many of our grapplers to attend such a prestigious event. Nothing but respect for those who don’t run from the competition and embrace the grind despite knowing that they could eventually not win a championship Belt.

California is not what you think of as a “wrestling state”, but for the kids who do wrestle and the coaches behind their development, every year, events come around where some of our overlooked kids get to show just how tough it is out here. Super 32 was once again no different. And this was without the aforementioned Brock Mantanona (last year’s runner up) and Guffey, nor any Gilroy wrestlers (currently 2 ranked atop the country), and so many more that make the state season such a grind.