Maryland National Rankings (Lower Weights)

The 2024/2025 rankings period concluded when the final whistle was blown at Fargo in July. It took a few weeks to digest all the fallout, but on July 31st, High School on SI released its final update for this time frame and ten who competed for Maryland High Schools finished ranked in the nation with another two joining them on the list while participating for teams in other states.

This article is dedicated to the lightweights that appear in the rankings, as well as St. Mary’s Ryken’s Evan Boblits at 150 pounds. The 126-pound weight class is the third in which at least two Marylanders are ranked, Boonsboro’s Tanner Halling and Stephen Decatur’s Elijah Collick.

Corey Brown (Mt. St. Joseph) No. 29 at 120 pounds

Brown excelled at the U.S. Open and Fargo in 2024 ahead of his freshman season, which put him on the high school map and led to Brown holding a national ranking at 106 pounds throughout his freshman year until he lost a battle with the scales ahead of the private school state tournament.

Brown competed at the Elite 8 Folkstyle Duals in the fall at 100 pounds where he lost to U17 World Champion Ariah Mills of Georgia, 3-1, and Pennsylvania’s Chase Karenbauer (No. 11 at 113). Mills is the top rated 106-pounder. At Elite 8, Brown picked up wins over Nebraska’s Cruzer Dominguez (No. 25 at 113 pounds) and Tennessee’s Ace Chittum (No. 25 at 106).

Flash forward to the Beast of the East and a third place showing by Brown at 106 pounds where he won a nailbiter with Honorable Mention JoJo Burke of New Jersey, who was top ten in the country at 106 pounds at the time. The East Coast Catholic Classic provided a matchup with another ranked Garden State Grappler, Sean Kenny (now No. 10 at 113) of Christian Brothers Academy, who Brown downed 4-2 in the finals.

After dominating Loyola-Blakefield’s Tyler Verceles with a 15-0 tech fall in the MIAA Finals, Brown could not finish the season and finally resurfaced on the national scene at 51 and 55 kilograms for the U.S. Open.

At 55 kilos in Freestyle, Brown beat Honorable Mention Derion Williams of Ohio and fell to No. 17 Tommy Wurster, also from Ohio. Brown dropped down to 51 kilograms for Greco Roman and placed fifth in the U17 brackets, pinning Verceles in the placement match, 1:03. Brown also took out Indiana’s Traevon Ducking, who went back down to 106 pounds for Fargo where he is ranked 15th.

Brown was Maryland’s only double placer at Fargo, gaining All-American status in Freestyle (5th) and Greco Roman (3rd). Texas’ Izayiah Chavez was Brown’s biggest victim in Freestyle. It was quite a turnaround after Chavez was second in Brown’s U.S. Open Freestyle bracket. At Fargo, they both lost to No. 19 Jovanni Tovar (Florida) with Brown’s other loss coming to Pennsylvania’s No. 28 Mateo Gallegos. Brown’s Freestyle antics gained him the No. 29 ranking at 120 pounds.

Brown was cruising through the Greco field when he was unexpectedly tripped up by Nebraska’s Dominic Olson. Olson lost his next match to New York’s Anthony Valls, who Brown would defeat in the consolation semis, and ended up not reaching the podium. Brown teched Iowa’s Weston Porter in 29 seconds (8-0) in his Greco consolation final.

Tyler Verceles (Loyola-Blakefield) HM at 113 pounds

To see that Verceles belongs in the rankings takes a look back to his spring and summer before high school when he won an U15 Greco Roman Gold at the U.S. Open by taking down Illinois’ MJ Rundell (No. 11 at 106 pounds). Rundell just captured an U17 World Bronze in Greco in Athens, Greece.

Last summer’s Fargo allowed Verceles to make a Freestyle finals appearance at 94 pounds before falling to 2025 U17 Freestyle World Champ Keegan Bassett of Pennsylvania. Verceles was third in Greco, sticking California’s Thiago Silva (No. 7 at 106 pounds) in 1:28 after suffering a 6-2 loss to Mills.

Verceles, who was a honorable mention entry at 106 and now 113 pounds, was robbed of a shot at replicating that magic at Fargo this year as he was injured in his first Freestyle match and was hobbled enough from it to necessitate skipping the Greco competition.

The preseason introduced Verceles to a wrestler that would torment him throughout the year, Pennsylvania’s Wyatt Stauffer (Wyoming Seminary). Stauffer handled Verceles at the Journeymen Fall Classic and Super 32. A 15th place showing at the Journeymen also included a loss to New York’s honorable mention Ethan Andreula. Verceles’ second loss at Super 32 came to Ohio’s No. 14 Loc Webber.

Verceles won the Ray Oliver Tournament over Benedictine’s Royce Wetzler, 5-4, then placed fifth at Beast of the East with a win over Burke. After dropping the MIAA Final to Brown, Verceles rolled to the state crown in the absence of Brown, taking out Archbishop Spalding’s Charlie Mutschler in the finals.

A fifth place run at National Preps included a placement match win over Wetzler, 4-1, and another loss to Stauffer as well as one to Tennessee’s Tanner Tran (Father Ryan), who was ranked at 106 pounds, but has not had the same success as he moved up in weight and is no longer ranked.

There would be no U.S. Open gold this year for the Don as he would place sixth behind Brown in Greco with a loss to No. 13 Kaleb Pratt of Illinois. Verceles’ two Freestyle losses were to No. 6 Justin Farnsworth (Pennsylvania) and Dominguez.

Verceles may have been able to shine in Greco at 113 pounds at Fargo considering he beat Pratt, 5-0, in their most recent encounter at the Junior National Greco Duals and Pratt won the Junior Greco Title at Fargo.

Tanner Halling (Boonsboro)/Elijah Collick (Stephen Decatur) HM at 126 pounds

Given the schedules that Halling and Collick wrestle during the season, except for Collick and War on the Shore, both had to wait until the postseason to make their moves into the national rankings where they ended as Honorable Mention wrestlers at 126 pounds.

Halling’s case for inclusion comes down to his run to the finals at the NHSCA Senior Nationals where he easily took out three-time California state placer, Paulo Valdez, with an 11-0 major decision. Halling, who is headed to Frostburg State, settled for second to No. 30 Musa Tamaradze (New York Military Academy), 9-3.

Collick was also second at the NHSCA Nationals but did so in the Junior Brackets at 120 pounds, falling to No. 6 JoJo Uhorchuk (Tennessee). To reach the finals, Collick authored the first of his big wins this offseason with a 10-4 decision of Utah’s Lander Bosh (No. 24 at 126 pounds). Bosh would end up placing eighth at Fargo in Freestyle at the same weight Collick did not place in.

A trip to the U.S. Open came up two wins shy of the podium in U17 Freestyle at 55 kilograms. Collick lost to Wisconsin’s Honorable Mention Maximus Hay and California’s Nathan Reynolds. Brown beat Reynolds in his fifth-place match in Freestyle at Fargo. At the Open, Collick picked up his second quality win of the spring, 8-1, over Iowa’s No. 15 Nico DeSalvo.

Collick needed three more wins to place in Freestyle at Fargo, with both of his setbacks came to nationally ranked rivals from Oklahoma, No. 4 Ignacio Villasenor and Honorable Mention Eric Casula.

Evan Boblits (St. Mary’s Ryken) HM at 150 pounds

Boblits finished his junior year sitting in the Honorable Mention section of the national rankings at 144 pounds and after a few weeks amongst the numbered grapplers, settled into the HM section at 150 pounds as a senior.

Boblits’ first real test came at the Trojan Wars Tournament where he equaled last year’s third-place finish. The same nemesis that stood in his way last year was back for more this year, Honorable Mention Tyler Hood (St. Christopher’s, VA). Last year they split with Boblits winning the consolation final. This year, Hood sent Boblits packing to the consolation rounds with a 1-0 score.

Following an East Coast Catholic Classic crown over Malvern Prep’s Raymond Fitzgerald, the future Midshipmen traveled back into Pennsylvania for one of the five toughest tournaments in the country, Escape the Rock. Boblits broke through and reached the podium in the sixth spot, dropping his placement match and an earlier bout to No. 23 Evan Petrovich (Connellsville, PA) and the other to No. 22 Max Stein (Faith Christian Academy, PA). Boblits beat two nationally ranked guys en route to placing at 150 pounds, Honorable Mention Holden Huhn (La Salle, OH) and New York’s Griff LaPlante (St. Francis, currently No. 29 at 157 pounds).

The Knight won a second state crown then went on to place third at National Preps, which was his highest finish there. Boblits only blemish came to Lake Highland Prep’s Zeno Moore, who was a top ten guy at 150 pounds, but is now rated No. 12 at 157. Moore won the Prep Championship at 150 pounds.

Boblits did not find the podium at the NHSCA Nationals as a sophomore or junior but reached the finals on his last shot and was poised to bring the title home as his finals opponent was none other than Ohio’s Huhn. Some questionable officiating derailed that and allowed Huhn to avenge his Escape the Rock loss.

Boblits’ final Fargo also afforded him his first Fargo medals ceremony as he placed seventh at 150 pounds in Greco Roman, blanking Texas’ Bryce Palmer, with a 9-0 tech, in the seventh-place match. Boblits also reversed a loss to Nebraska’s Honorable Mention Mason Petersen from the previous year and kept Missouri’s Chance Ruble off the podium, a year after Ruble was a 16U Double All-American. Boblits beat Ruble in both disciplines.

All of Boblits’ Fargo failures came against wrestlers that sit in the national rankings. In Greco, it was No. 4 Matthew Martino (Idaho) and No. 17 Jacob Morris of Alaska. The Freestyle sadness came from two top ten guys, No. 3 Dallas Russell (Georgia) and Arizona’s No. 8 Gus Cardinal.

Brooklyn Pickett (Mt. St. Joseph) 144 pounds (not ranked)

While Pickett was not included in the final rankings report, he did add some big wins to his resume this year. What did him in was the challenging schedule that didn’t afford him the usual buffer space enjoyed by a freshman, especially coming in at a middle weight, instead of being down low with most of the acclaimed freshmen. A look at the national rankings will reveal there are not many freshmen ranked after the first few weight classes.

Pickett came into Mt. St. Joseph with high expectations alongside Corey Brown, as Pickett was a 16U Fargo All-American in the Summer of 2024. A seventh-place effort at the Journeymen Fall Classic suggested good things were coming for Pickett as he beat Massachusetts’s Colby Houle. Pickett dropped a match there to 138-pound National Prep Champ, Jayce Paridon of Lake Highland Prep (No. 15 at 144 now).

The Penn Manor Tournament saw Pickett reach the finals before he was upended by Kane Lengel (Kennett, PA), 5-4. Pickett got the best of Lengel at the Beast of the East, 4-3, but lost to multi-time National Prep placer Walker Turley (St. Christopher’s) and No. 6 Eren Sement (Council Rock North, PA) and did not place.

A runner-up finish at the East Coast Catholic Classic to Malvern Prep’s Declan O’Byrne preceded the youngster’s biggest win of the campaign when he shocked Boblits at St. Joe’s Demolition Duals. Pickett added his first state crown with a win over two-time National Prep placer Nicky Melfi of Severn.

The National Prep Tournament did Pickett no favors as he fell to Houle and Andrew McCarthy (New York Military Academy). In a notable twist, Boblits beat O’Byrne twice at National Preps, even pinning him once.

Pickett laid low for most of the offseason but showed up for Fargo where he beat then No. 30, Austin Collins of Colorado, 14-3 at 144 pounds. No. 12 Jesse Grajeda (California) and South Dakota’s Aidan Callahan kept Pickett off the podium as he came up three wins shy of placing.

Link to Full Rankings:

https://www.si.com/high-school/wrestling/2024-25-national-high-school-wrestling-rankings-final-post-season-update-seniors-set-to-exit-stars-rise-01k1g4m2fdrr

113

1-Freddy Bachmann (Faith Christian Academy, PA) FR

2-Samuel Sanchez (Esperanza, CA) FR

3-Bradley Patterson (Camden County, GA) SR

4-Hayden Schwab (Don Bosco, IA) SO

5-Rylan Seacrist (Brecksville, OH) JR

6-Justin Farnsworth (Malvern Prep, PA) SO

7-Jarrett Smith (Lowell, MI) JR

8-Liam Davis (Lake Highland Prep, FL) JR

9-Julian Rios (Phillips Academy, MA) JR

10-Sean Kenny (Christian Brothers Academy, NJ) FR

11-Chase Karenbauer (Grove City, PA) FR

12-Braiden Lotier (Bishop McDevitt, PA) SO

13-Kaleb Pratt (Barrington, IL) SO

14-Loc Webber (Dublin Coffman, OH) FR

15-Oumar Tounkara (New York Military Academy, NY) SR

16-Willmont Kai (Whitehall, PA) JR

17-Cooper Foster (Avery County, NC) SR

18-Jackson Wells (Harrison County, KY) SO

19-Christopher Swann (Baylor School, TN) JR

20-Layne Martin (Rockford, MI) SO

21-Camden Rugg (Union Grove, WI) SO

22-Cole Welte (Omaha Skutt, NE) SR

23-Michael Batista (Blair Academy, NJ)

24-Cody Clarke (GA)

25-Cruzer Dominguez (Creighton Prep, NE) FR

26-Jackson Shipley (Dripping Spring, TX) JR

27-Analu Woode (Nanakuli, HI) FR

28-Carter Shin (Chantilly, VA) JR

29-Charles Esposito (St. Joseph Regional, NJ) JR

30-Drake VomBaur (Severance, CO) SO

HM:

Lincoln Rohr (Massillon Perry, OH) SO

Wyatt Stauffer (Wyoming Seminary, PA) FR

Tyler Verceles (Loyola-Blakefield, MD) FR

Oscar Gauna (Goddard, KS) SO

Max Murillo (Canyon Springs, CA) SO

120

1-Leo DeLuca (Blair Academy, NJ) SR

2-Grey Burnett (Perrysburg, OH) SO

3-Rocklin Zinkin (Buchanan, CA) JR

4-Caleb Noble (Warren Township, IL) SO

5-Cam Sontz (Delbarton, NJ) SO

6-JoJo Uhorchuk (Signal Mountain, TN) SO

7-Brock Rothermel (Line Mountain, PA) SO

8-Ethan Timar (St. Edward, OH) SR

9-Evin Gursoy (Midwood, NY) SR

10-Mason Jakob (Dobyns Bennett, TN) JR

11-Santino Sloboda (Butler, PA) JR

12-Alex Rozas (Teurlings Catholic, LA) JR

13-Johnathon McGinty (St. Joe Regional, NJ) JR

14-Nicholas Salamone (Easton, PA) JR

15-Nico DeSalvo (Southeast Polk, IA) SO

16-Case Bell (Brownsburg, IN) FR

17-Tommy Wurster (Dublin, OH) FR

18-Ayden Dodd (Perrysburg, OH) JR

19-Jovanni Tovar (Miami Southridge, FL) FR

20-Emilio Albanese (Emmaus, PA) SO

21-Dominick Morrison (Hatboro Horsham, PA) SO

22-Curtis Nelson (Ridley, PA) SR

23-Sam Wolford (North Lebanon, PA) JR

24-Cale Vandermark (Ankeny Centennial, IA) JR

25-Titan Friederichs (Watertown, MN) JR

26-Dunia Sibomana (Long Beach, NY) JR

27-Cooper Merli (Newburgh, NY) JR

28-Mateo Gallegos (DuBois) FR

29-Corey Brown (Mt. St. Joseph, MD) FR

30-CJ Caines (Hanover, PA) FR

HM:

Izayiah Chavez (Allen, TX) FR

JoJo Burke (St. Joseph Regional, NJ) FR

Isaiah Harrison (Mountain View, CO) SR

Isaiah Jones (Bixby, OK) JR

Eli Herring (Bishop McCort, PA) FR

Zaiyahn Ornelas (Wilber-Clatonia, NE) JR

Nicolas Enzminger (Bismarck Legacy, ND) JR

Alexander Pierce (Iowa City, West) JR

Brayden Wenrich (Northampton, PA) FR

Van Smith (Mustang, OK) SO

Zack Samano (Chino, CA) SO

Aaron Meza (St. John Bosco, CA) FR

Abdirahman Unle (Omaha Bryan, NE) SR

Carter Chunko (Saucon Valley, PA) SO

Derion Williams (Trinity, OH) SO

126

1-Anthony Knox (Saint John Vianney, NJ) SR

2-Antonio Mills (Mill Creek, GA) JR

3-Paul Kenny (Christian Brothers Academy, NJ) SO

4-Ignacio Villasenor (Stillwater, OK) SO

5-Ronnie Ramirez (Walnut, CA) SR

6-Nathan Desmond (Wyoming Seminary, PA) SR

7-Christian Castillo (Ames, IA) SR

8-Keanu Dillard (Bethlehem Catholic, PA) JR

9-Jayden Raney (Union County, KY) JR

10-Revin Dickman (Brownsburg, IN) JR

11-Dominic Munaretto (St. Charles East, IL) JR

12-Karson Brown (St. Edward, OH) JR

13-Nathan Carillo (St. John Bosco, CA) JR

14-Nicholas Garcia (Marmion Academy, IL) JR

15-Edwin Sierra (Poway, CA) SR

16-Carson Dupill (Brookings, SD) SR

17-Aydan Thomas (Stillwater, OK) SR

18-Vincenzo Anello (Blair Academy, NJ) SO

19-Mikey Ruiz (Canyon Randall, TX) JR

20-Miklo Hernandez (Pipestone Area, MN) FR

21-Tommy Marchetti (Delbarton, NJ) FR

22-Siraj Sidhu (Del Oro, CA) JR

23-Brady Collins (East Troy, WI) JR

24-Lander Bosh (Layton, UT) JR

25-Kavin Muyleart (Cedar Cliff, PA) SO

26-Jake Knight (Bettendorf, IA) JR

27-Henry Aslikyan (Birmingham, CA) JR

28-Dominic Deputy (Chestnut Ridge, PA) JR

29-Gauge Botero (Faith Christian Academy, PA) JR

30-Musa Tamaradze (New York Military Academy, NY) SR

HM:

Colin Martin (Staunton River, VA) SR

Sebastian Degennaro (Jensen Beach, FL) SR

Gavin Jendreas (Crown Point, IN) SR

Isaac Novod (Belmont Hill, MA)

Evan Sanati (Brentsville District, VA) JR

Paul Ruiz (Buchanan, CA) FR

Lukas Littleton-Mascaro (Malvern Prep, PA) JR

Maximus Hay (Brown Deer, WI) JR

Tanner Halling (Boonsboro, MD) SR

Eric Casula (Westmoore, OK) JR

Elijah Collick (Stephen Decatur, MD) JR

Czar Quintanilla (University, WA) JR

Jaxon Lane (McCallie School, TN) FR

Liam Hickey (Cardinal Gibbons, NC) SR

Antonio Boni (Central Valley, PA) JR

144

1-Bo Bassett (Bishop McCort, PA) JR

2-Noah Nininger (Staunton River, VA) SR

3-Daniel Zepeda (Gilroy, CA) SR

4-Sergio Vega (Sunnyside, AZ) SR

5-Dorian Alvarez (Spring, TX) SR

6-Eren Sement (Council Rock North, PA) SR

7-Nikade Zinkin (Clovis, CA) SR

8-Drew Gorman (Buford, GA) SR

9-Clinton Shepherd (Crown Point, IN) SO

10-Jake Miller (Broken Arrow, OK) JR

11-Haakon Peterson (Dodgeville, WI) JR

12-Jesse Grajeda (St. John Bosco, CA) SO

13-Dalton Perry (Central Mountain, PA) SR

14-Ryan Kennedy (Spire Academy, OH) SR

15-Jayce Paridon (Lake Highland Prep, FL) SR

16-Arseni Kikiniou (Poway, CA) SO

17-Michael Romero (St. John Bosco, CA) SO

18-Jet Brown (Odessa, MO) SO

19-Camden Baum (Bishop McDevitt, PA) JR

20-Robert Duffy (Christian Brothers Academy, NJ) JR

21-Derek Barrows (Pomona, CO) JR

22-Ryan Espiritu (Vacaville, CA) SR

23-Mitchell Younger (Watterson, OH) SR

24-Elvis Solis (South Dade, FL) SR

25-Nate Askew (Lawrenceville, GA)

26-Joseph Joyce (Ponaganset, RI) JR

27-Victor-Alexander Gutierrez (Central Catholic, CA)

28-Noah Bull (Layton, UT) JR

29-Tyler Traves (Mountain View, VA) JR

30-George Dennis (Harrison County, KY) JR

HM:

TJ Meyer (Walton Verona, KY) SR

Rocco Cassioppi (Hononegah, IL) SO

Hunter Stevens (Iowa-Grant/Highland, WI) JR

Logan Crowther (Layton, UT) SR

Grayson Fuchs (Detroit Catholic Central, MI) SO

Charles Vanier (Eden Prairie, MN) SR

Gabe Ballard (Northampton, PA) SO

Mac Crosson (Indianola, IA) SO

Evan Gosz (Fremd, IL) SR

Collin McDowell (Arrowhead, WI) SR

Thomas Johnson (James Island Charter School, SC) SR

Tyler Hood (St. Christopher’s, VA) SR

Roman Stewart (Liberty, MO) SO

Peyton Hornsby (Center Grove, IN) SO

Braylon Reynolds (Brownsburg, IN) SO

Lincoln Robideau (St. Michael Albertville, MN) FR

150

1-Maddox Shaw (Thomas Jefferson, PA) SR

2-Logan Paradice (Colquitt County, GA) SR

3-Dallas Russell (Jefferson, GA) JR

4-Matthew Martino (Bishop Kelly, ID) SR

5-Blake Cosby (Dundee, MI) JR

6-Beau Hickman (Tuttle, OK) SR

7-Brandon Dean (Sand Creek, CO) SR

8-Gus Cardinal (Valiant Prep, AZ)

9-Davis Parrow (Farmington, MN) JR

10-Charlie DeSena (Lake Highland Prep, FL) JR

11-Maksim Mukhamedaliyev (Hersey, IL) SR

12-Tommy Gibbs (Brownsburg, IN) JR

13-Conlan Carlson (Willmar, MN) SR

14-Blasé Mele (Princeton, NJ) SR

15-Sonny Amato (Fair Haven, NJ) SO

16-Justis Jesuroga (Southeast Polk, IA) JR

17-Jacob Morris (South Anchorage, AK) SO

18-Jason Worthley (Westfield, UT) SR

19-Michael Turi (West Scranton, PA) JR

20-Lorenzo Alston (Uwharrie Charter Academy, NC) JR

21-Ryan Lawler (Bishop McDevitt, PA) SR

22-Max Stein (Faith Christian Academy, PA) SR

23-Evan Petrovich (Connellsville, PA) SR

24-Carlos Stanton (Sunnyside, AZ) SR

25-Bentley Sly (Stuart Cramer, NC) JR

26-Grayson Eggum (Stillwater, MN) FR

27-Austin Paris (Grand County, UT) JR

28-Anthony Evanitsky (Wyoming Seminary, PA) SR

29-Ivan Arias (Buchanan, CA) JR

30-Carson Weber (Joliet West, IL) SR

HM:

Justin Wardlow (Lockport Township, IL) JR

Parker Reynolds (Brownsburg, IN) JR

Corbin Reisz (Logan-Magnolia, IA) SR

Joseph Sanderfer (Massillon Perry, OH) SR

Colton Weiler (Auburndale, WI) SR

James Tildsley (Shawsheen, MA) JR

Michael Ortega (Portage, IN) SR

Easton Doster (New Haven, IN) SR

Seth Syra (Avon, IN) SR

Holden Huhn (La Salle, OH) SR

Evan Boblits (St. Mary’s Ryken, MD) SR

Mason Petersen (Columbus, NE) JR

Jackson Butler (Bishop McCort, PA) JR

Nicholas Zamora (Arlington Martin, TX) SR

Harrison Murdock (Christian Heritage, GA) FR

Jimmie Bailes (Woodrow Wilson, WV) SR