We're thankful for turkey, gravy, and wrestling season. Also, our preseason rankings live!
The 2024-2025 High School Wrestling season will kick into high gear after the Thanksgiving Holiday break. The first weekend of December will feature some tournaments that have become staples of the Maryland Wrestling Scene: The Andy Perez Memorial hosted by Cambridge-South Dorchester, The Knightmare Invitational at Parkville, and Mad Mats at Magruder. Two relatively newer dual meet tournaments also take place this weekend, Winters Mill’s Grindstone Duals and Patterson Mill’s Husky Duals.
As we begin the journey towards crowning new state champs, this is what the landscape is currently looking like. We have gotten a lot of information, but there is also still a good bit of educated guesswork involved here. Below, I will explain some of the ranking decisions that may come across as questionable, and that still doesn’t make me 100% correct, but this is how we currently see things.
The great news is that if we get it wrong now, we will always have the season's scoreboard to set us straight as the season progresses!
This will be the first year I have placed incoming freshman higher than returning grapplers at 106 to start the season. Typically, I’ve taken a “prove it in high school approach”, but the top two guys at this weight leave no doubt they are the best the state has to offer.
Mt. St. Joe’s Corey Brown sits at No. 8 in the National Rankings with placements at the US Open (3rd in 17U Greco-Roman) and Fargo (2nd in 16U Freestyle). Loyola’s Tyler Verceles won a 15U Greco-Roman crown at the US Open and was a runner-up in FS at 94lbs at Fargo and placed third in Greco-Roman. Those accolades make them easy choices to man the number one and two positions at 106. We are looking forward to their first head-to-head.
At 113, Gilman’s nationally ranked Liam McGettigan and Calvert’s Ethan Valdisera are the top two. The order of the three and four guys may raise eyebrows but there is a head-to-head match on their high school resumes with Spalding’s Eli Chesla beating South Carroll’s Grayson Barnhill at the Iron Horse Duals when they were both freshmen.
Eli Gabrielson, now of South Carroll, over Loyola’s Jayden Jackson at 120lbs came down to Gabrielson having numerous wins over national ranked foes or grapplers who are right on the cusp of said rankings, while Jackson has basically beat the people he was supposed to and lost the matches he was expected to lose. They were both state runners-up last year and Jackson was third as a freshman. Jackson is a two-time National Prep placer and Gabrielson placed there last year as a freshman where he beat Justin Farnsworth then of Germantown but now at Malvern Prep. Farnsworth is ranked No. 6 in the country at 106. This should solve itself at Stephen Decatur’s War on the Shore in January.
Spalding’s Sean Garretson over Decatur’s Elijah Collick came down to national matches as well with Garretson owning a win over nationally ranked Evan Sanati (Brentsville, VA – No. 22 at 126), while Collick’s biggest national win came over Roman Lutrell (Cleveland, NM) a Fargo placer, who is not nationally ranked. Like the previous decision, this one too, will play out at the War on the Shore. Again, we can't wait!
With all that being said, you may wonder why Spalding’s Taina Fernandez sits behind Tanner Halling of Boonsboro in the 132lb rankings. After all, Fernandez is about as decorated as one can be with national and world titles. Halling has proven to be one of Maryland’s best, placing at the NHSCA Nationals amongst his many accomplishments. As of now, the two are not expected to meet during the season but a common opponent could pop up on their journeys that will give us more clarity.
Zane Leitzel (Spalding) would be nationally ranked if he were at 144lbs. The junior has wins over Fargo placer Hudson Hohman (PA) and Texas’ Dominic Wilson, who is ranked No. 16 in the nation at 144. 138 is one of the deepest weights nationally, so Leitzel sits just outside of that picture but holds the top spot in Maryland over South Carroll’s Evan Owen who lacks the signature wins outside of the state. They will both be at WOS.
What has taken place on the national level is why there is a freshman at 144lbs ranked ahead of a senior two-time state champion. South Carroll’s two-time state champ, JoJo Gigliotti sits at No. 30 in the country and mans the top spot in Maryland. Mt. St. Joe’s Brooklyn Pickett is No. 2 in Maryland and sits in an honorable mention spot nationally.
Pickett is a former Super 32 Middle School champ, placed fourth in FS in the 16U division at Fargo and placed seventh at the Journeymen Fall Classic. In addition, Pickett beat Fargo FS national champ Justis Jesuroga (IA) at the US Open in FS. Pickett also owns a win over New Jersey state champion Ryan DeGeorge at the Northeast Regional in 16U FS. No. 3 Drew Montgomery (Northern High - Calvert) does not have the national resume of Pickett, so he comes in behind the Gael.
The National Rankings also give us St. Mary’s Ryken’s Evan Boblits being ranked ahead of Centennial’s Calvin Kraisser, even though Kraisser is going for a fourth state title this year. But it’s more than just national rankings at play here, Boblits owns multiple wins over Gilman’s now graduated Tyson Sherlock, who beat Kraisser last year at Gilman’s Adam Janet Tournament. In addition, Boblits has wins over two nationally recognized wrestlers from St. Christopher’s in Virginia, Walker Turley, who was at 144 and cut to 138, and Tyler Hood. Boblits, who is HM at 150, also beat the No. 29 guy in the country at 144, New Jersey’s Blasé Mele. Kraisser, like Jackson, has not accumulated any big wins nationally.
Gilman’s John Jurkovic (157) has come on strong since the end of last season. After defeating Mt. St. Joe’s Cameron Cannaday for the first time at the MIAA Tournament, Jurkovic was a state runner-up and placed fifth at National Preps, while Cannday was third at states and did not place at preps. Jurkovic comes in ahead of Huntingtown’s Will Buckler based on three big national wins over two honorable mention wrestlers, Ohio’s Holden Huhn and Nebraska’s Logan Glynn, as well as Fargo FS placer Brandon Dean of Colorado. Cannaday is our No. 2 guy based on his two wins versus Jurkovic.
Buckler, a senior who is now at Huntingtown, placed at National Preps as a sophomore for St. Mary’s Ryken. Buckler has greater accomplishments than Bullis’ Noah Tucker, so he sits in the No. 3 spot. Tucker is the No. 4 man at 157. Tucker has done well on the national level over the offseason, including a win over New Jersey state runner-up Gavin Hawk.
Sparrows Point’s Russell Fary comes in at No. 5 and finds himself behind three wrestlers he was ranked ahead of in last year's final rankings. It is not because Fary has done anything wrong, it’s because Jurkovic and Tucker emerged onto the national scene with big time wins over the summer and fall. Fary does not have any major national wins on his resume. All but Jurkovic will be at the War on the Shore, so this will get sorted out on the mat.
All three will be at the WOS, so this triangle will be decided on the mat. Jurkovic and Cannaday will likely meet at least three times (dual meet, and the MIAA and MIS Tournaments), but there could also be meetings at the WOS and National Preps, as well as Beast of the East.
At 190, Bullis’ Sepanta Ahanj-Elias comes in at No. 1 as he is ranked No. 23 in the country with a win over No. 24 Robert Kucharczk (Lake Highland Prep, FL), who was second at National Preps last year. Kucharczk beat Gilman’s Gabriel Smith at preps last year. In addition, Ahanj-Elias also beat New York’s HM Greyson Meak, who beat Perry Hall’s Victor Marks-Jenkins.
With Spalding’s nationally ranked Delmar White succumbing to an ACL injury during the football season, Loyola’s Luke Randazzo ascends to the top spot at 285. White had beaten the Don in all three of their encounters last season.
Check out the rankings here:
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