By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
If there was any doubt that Blair Academy of New Jersey was the No. 1 wrestling team in the country, that notion was quickly and thoroughly dispelled at the Walsh Ironman Tournament over the weekend.
Blair Academy, ranked No. 1 by USA Wrestling, scored an astounding 283 points to outdistance second-place St. Paris Graham (234) by nearly 50 points. No other team in the tournament had over 145. The Buccaneers had 12 placewinners and three champions, including Chris Villalonga at 130 pounds, Ed Ruth at 171 pounds and Max Huntley at 189.
Villalonga, the second seed in the tournament, defeated Cam Tessari of Monroeville 13-4 in the semifinals and then topped Felipe Martinez of St. Paris Graham 6-1 in the finals. Martinez pulled off an upset in his semifinal match, knocking off the nation’s top-ranked 130-pounder, Tony Ramos of Glenbard North, 9-4. Ramos also fell to Cody Kelly of Reynolds and finished fifth in the tournament.
Ruth pulled off an upset of his own in the quarterfinals. Seeded seventh in the tournament, Ruth edged No. 2 seed Chris Phillips of Monroeville, 3-2. He then knocked off St. Paris Graham senior James Mannier 8-4 in the semifinals and Ethen Lofthouse of Mountain Crest, Utah, 10-5 in the final.
Huntley entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed at 189 pounds and he did nothing to hurt that ranking. He pinned his first three opponents, won by major decision in the semifinals and edged Max Thomusseitt of St. Parish Graham 4-3 in the final.
Upsets were not uncommon in the tournament, starting at 112 pounds where No. 1 seed Hunter Stieber of Monroeville lost to Devin Carter of Christianburg 8-4.
At 160 pounds, top-seeded Kyle Lang of Brecksville fell to No. 2 seed Zach Toal of Troy Christian, 5-3.
In one of the best finals of the night, Andrew Alton of Central Mountain edged No. 1 seed Collin Palmer of St. Edward 5-3 at 140 pounds. A three-time Ohio state champion, Palmer was the No. 1 140-pounder in the country entering the tournament.
Alton’s brother Dylan also won gold at 145 pounds, defeating St. Paris Graham senior Brian Stephens 5-3 in the finals.
Complete results of the Walsh Ironman Tournament can be found here.
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Poway began the season in dominating fashion in California by edging Calvary Chapel for first place at the El Dorado Tournament in Placentia. Poway had 10 placewinners and scored 203.5 points while Calvary Chapel had seven placewinners and scored 186.5.
The Titans had just one champion, with Gabe Brown winning the 103-pound weight class with a 7-2 win over Dean O’Bourke of Calvary Chapel.
Calvary Chapel, meanwhile, had four champions, led by heavyweight MVP Morgan McIntosh at 171 pounds. McIntosh had five pins in the tournament and none of his matches reached the third round.
Other Calvary Chapel champions included Taylor Warden at 189 pounds, Tank Knowles at 215 and Tigran Adzhemyan at 152 pounds.
Also in California, Selma had seven champions to score 276.5 points and easily win the Newbury Park tournament. Alex Cisneros (103), Jose Mendoza (135), Diego Quintana (112), AJ Valles (125), Nick Escalera (152), Nick Pena (130) and Justin Lozano all won gold for Selma.
Defending state champion Clovis went 5-0 at the McClane Duals despite fielding a mostly second string group of wrestlers. The Cougars participate in the Clovis West Shootout this weekend.
Vacaville won the Larry Nelson dual tournament with a spotless 9-0 record. The Bulldogs also placed four wrestlers on the all-tournament team, including Garrett Walton (145), Taylor Hodel (152), Adam Delagarza (189) and Ben Holmes (215). Clovis West finished second and had three all-tourney picks in Zach Zimmer (119), Chris Martinez (125) and Brian Lujan (140).
At the Newark Memorial Duals, Bakersfield proved triumphant in the Gold Division with a 40-35 win over St. Francis in the finals. Ponderosa edged Will C. Wood 38-28 for third place.
The Drillers had five champions, including Natrelle Demison (120), Tim Box (131), Jonah Cruz (153), Bryce Hammond (161), and Brian Schoene (216).
Host Orland won the Doc Petersen Tournament with 199 points. The Trojans had three champions in Hermilo Esquivel (103), Nathan Monck (112) and Craig Simons (152). Kevin Maelfeyt of Trinity was one of the MVPs along with Nick Morelli of Paradise.