Lake County Predictions

[Adam_glass]

These are mostly finals predictions but I will also include a top 4. Of note, I do not know how the seeds will play out so some of these predictions may end up being impossible due to seeds on Saturday.

 

106: I may have a Lake Central bias, but I can’t see anyone other than Mason winning it this weekend. He has been dominant on the year and is looking to double up on both his last years title and his most pins least time award. Apart from him, I’ll have to trust the rankings and say Bishop Noll’s Rodriguez will make the finals. While he hasn’t had a huge public match slate on the year, he did outplace Crown Point’s Newell at the Carnahan and is a returning SS qualifier. That being said, give me Mason by fall. 

1. Mason Jones (LC)

2. Francisco Rodriguez (BN)

3. Nash Burke (Munster)

4. Joy Cantu (Mvill)

 

113: Again, I’m going to have to go with my former teammate and returning County champion Mario here. Coming off a placement at the prestigious Al Smith featuring some quality wins, I can only see him doubling his county 1st medals. In terms of finals opponents I’d say the slate is wide open here. Highland’s Ramirez is a returning SS qualifier with a mixed bag of results on the season, but has some experience. Crown Point backup Griffin Webber is registered for both team state and County, but I would say he is my most likely favorite for second place here. He has an IHPO win over SS qualifier MaKenzie Smith and has the advantage of Crown Points deep room for training. Ultimately, I’ll take Mario over Webber in finals by major or fall.

1. Mario Orueta (LC)

2. Griffin Webber (CP)

3. Angel Ramirez (High)

4. Aiden Schiedt (RF)

 

120: The highest ranked kid at this weight is Lowell’s Hunter Mallory, however I am not confident in calling him a favorite. Rather, I think this is a wide open weight class with a variety of challengers. With my LC bias in tact, I think the favorite at this weight is actually LC’s Ryan Bos. Bos picked up two huge wins at the Al Smith before finishing in the blood round, with one of these wins being over FWSS #2 Faurote (Belmont) 2-0. Bos is also a senior with a lot of experience under his belt, and will likely be siginficantly under seeded coming into this weekend. Apart from these two, Munster’s Petrashevich and Hanover Central’s Buikema are also looking to stake claims at the title. Buikema holds a close win over Bos earlier this year and Petrashevich has plenty of matches under his belt this season. With this tough weight class, I feel it’s hard to predict how seeds will play out, but I’m going to say Bos will take it over Mallory in a close decision in the finals.

1. Ryan Bos (Lake Central)

2. Hunter Mallory (Lowell)

3. Isaiah Buikema (Hanover)

4. Christian Petrashevich (Munster)

 

126: This is a weight class with a much more clear cut favorite, as I don’t see Matthew Maldonado being challenged too much on his way to a career first county title. Outside of Maldonado, I think this weight class has a bit of depth led by SS qualifiers Zach Kenney (Griffith), Alex Vega (LS), and Andrew Williams (Cal). Kenney holds a 1-0 win over Vega this year and from what I have seen is pretty impressive on top.  Of note however, I’d like to highlight Lake Central’s Derian Perez. While he doesn’t have a great record coming in, he does have some close matches with Hobart’s #20 Mara in which he notched quite a few takedowns. He has a great gas tank and when he fires on all cylinders, he can compete with some high level wrestlers. I’ll take Maldonado by fall or tech over Kenney in the finals. 

1. Matthew Maldonado (Mvill)

2. Zach Kenney (Griffith)

3. Alex Vega (LS)

4. Derian Perez (LC) OR Andrew Williams (Cal)

 

132: At 132, I feel Guillermo will be unchallenged on his route to a second county title. Guillermo has qualified for state twice and has looked phenomenal this season with many ranked wins, highlighted by his win in the Al Smith third place match over state medalist Fielden (Garrett). He will look to notch a few bonus point wins for LC as he takes the title. As for his opponent, I find it most likely he will face SS qualifier Robson (Lowell), however I will still take Guillermo here by tech or fall. 

1. Guillermo Rivera (LC)

2. Dalton Robson (Lowell)

3. Devane Strong (Cal)

4. Michael Turner (RF)

 

138: Another open weight class, 138 features a few contenders here. First is returning runner up and Semi state ticket rounder Robert Frazier (Calumet), who last year head-locked David Maldonado to his back in the finals before eventually losing. He has had good results in the past and is likely the safest bet here. Apart from Frazier, Griffith’s Westenfeld is another SS qualifier who has looked solid on the year. Of note, Highland’s Vanek is listed in the seeding matrix as being a SS qualifier, however he did only make it on technicality due to an injury within his regional bracket. For this reason, I don’t think I would consider him a finals threat. LC’s Aiden Gutierrez here has a decent record along with a close match against Westenfeld at the Harvest. Aiden is a guy who definitely wrestles the whole six minutes and I think has the potential for a finals run as well. 

1. Frazier (Cal)

2. Westenfeld (Griffith)

3. Gutierrez (LC)

4. Vanek (Highland)

 

144: Merrillville’s Kirksy is definitely the favorite here, being a returning ticket rounder and looking to improve off his runner up finish a year ago. He’s an impressive wrestler with a strong neutral offense and tough top wrestling. For his finals opponent, while no one else in this field holds a SS qualification, I would say LC’s CJ Briner is the most likely to make the finals. While his record is worse than a few of the other contenders he is the only other ranked wrestler here and has a lot of tough matches on the year, and I think his experience and skill separates him from the rest of the field here. In the finals I’ll take Kirsky by decision but CJ can’t be ruled out for the upset here.

1. Marlone Kirksy (Mvill)

2. CJ Briner (LC)

3. Edwin Galan (RF)

4. Tyler Tuesberg (KV)

 

150: With 2022 State qualifier Chris Bohn’s cut back down to 150, I would say he’s the on paper favorite here at 150. That being said, I think Chase Kasprzak (LC) is the guy at this weight. Despite having to injury forfeit out of the Al Smith 5th place match, he took Penn’s Harper to the edge (and probably should’ve won if not for a few poor stall calls). Chase has a top class neutral game and has unreal strength for his weight. Apart from these two, I think Illiana’s Ulrich is a tough guy with a lot of potential, however I can’t see him catching the two titans here in Chase and Bohn. In the finals I’ll take Chase by decision.

1. Chase Kasprzak (LC)

2. Chris Bohn (Munster)

3. Carson Ulrich (Illiana Christian)

4. Daniel Carrillo (Highland)

 

157: I think Merrillville’s Pellot definitely owns this weight here as he hunts for his third county title. Coming off a fiery Al Smith performance where he upset former #1 ranked Betz (Western), I can’t see him taking a loss here at County. He’s a highly technical wrestler with clean takedowns and a bottomless gas tank. Apart from Pellot, I would say SS ticket rounder Sessions (KV) is likely to be his finals opponent here. Sessions is a tough wrestler who I think is above the rest of the field here, but Pellot is just at that next level. I’ll take Pellot here by fall. 

1. Adrian Pellot (Mvill)

2. Noah Sessions (KV)

3. Tino Garcia (LC)

4. Joseph Bartusiak (Munster)

 

165: Another fun weight class, 165 features two Al Smith placers and a 2022 SS qualifier as the front runners for a title. Lowell’s Mavros is coming off a sixth place finish at the Al Smith, and is definitely looking impressive tjis year. He has a handful of high quality wins and losses to his name, and has clearly jumped levels (as well as adding some serious bulk) from last year. LC’s Emilio Tirado placed 8th at the Al Smith and notched three ranked wins on day one to take that honor, two of those coming over ticket rounders. His record doesn’t reflect his skill, as Emilio combines incredible physical ability with a savvy and aggressive style. This being said, Highland’s Sopkowski does hold an 8-6 win over Emilio earlier this year. Sopkowski is a guy who was a SS qualifier in 2022, but then disappeared after the Harvest Classic last year. However, this year he returned and has looked solid all season. He has great reattacks and has the muscle to compete with Mavros and Tirado as well. That being said, I think Tirado gets the rematch win over Sopkowski and battles it out with Mavros in the finals. Previous results are going to have me pick Mavros by decision here, but both Emilio and Sopkowski can’t be ruled out. 

1. Michael Mavros (Lowell)

2. Emilio Tirado (LC)

3. Hunter Sopkowski (Highland)

4. Gage Bambic (Illiana Christian)

 

175: 175 is a tough one for me here as the favorite is the guy who knocked me out at semi state last year. However, Merrillville’s Cameron Crisp is absolutely the guy at this weight. He’s incredibly powerful and fast, and has a deep bag of tricks to go along with it. He’s an all around great wrestler and a guy who I think is a medal threat at state this year. For his finals opponent, only one name really stands out to me. The guy is my former teammate Matthew Degrado (LC). Matthew is a guy who put in a lot of off season work, and after we was knocked out at regionals last year (already bumping up two weights) placed at frosh soph and ISWA. He has only wrestled at the Al Smith this year where he made the blood round, but he’s a guy who keeps going and pushing the pace so I’d pencil him in as the other finalist. That being said, I’m sorry and I hope you prove me wrong Matthew but I have to take Crisp by major here.

1. Cameron Crisp (Mvill)

2. Matthew DeGrado (LC)

3. Owen Evener (CP)

4. Joshua Rozendal (Illiana)

 

190: Yet another weight class with a guy who beat me in the state series last year, but here Kenneth Bisping is the real deal. He’s a very stingy wrestlers with good attacks and phenomenal top wrestling, and has crazy strength to back it up. I think he’s the favorite, but he could see a range of different opponents in the finals. The first one I would like to highlight is Stefan Jokic (LC). Stefan is a SS qualifier and Mishawaka blood rounder who has a very long build, but is still ridiculously strong. He has great cradles and has a variety of feet to back moves in his back pocket, so I don’t think he can be ruled out for the finals. The other SS qualifier here is Joshua Hubbard (Highland), however Stefan has pinned him earlier this year. Merrillville’s Josiah Edmonds is ranked in the SS but had a weak showing at the Al Smith, and I would feel more confident if I saw stronger results. In the finals, I’ll predict Bisping over Stefan by decision.

1. Kenneth Bisping (Lowell)

2. Stefan Jokic (LC)

3. Josiah Edmonds (Merrillville)

4. Joshua Hubbard (Highland)

 

215: 
Jayden Bartozek of Hanover Central highlights this weight as a returning state qualifier and looks to capture a title at home. Bartozek is a very bulky wrestler who can win close matches. However here, I think he runs away with the title. Interestingly, there appears to be yet another Clark brother from CP here. Zach Clark has very strong middle school results and seems to have been doing very good on Crown Point’s second string schedule. I will be very interested to see how he ends up performing this weekend. Apart from Clark, I believe the other finalist will end up being Aiden Abad from Lowell, a guy who placed at the Al Smith. He seems to be a tested and savvy wrestler and I think he gets the finals nod here. Calumet’s Reichen Reeder is also a SS qualifier at the weight. In the finals, I’ll take Bartozek over Abad with a controlled decision. 
1. Jayden Bartozek (HC)

2. Aiden Abad (Lowell)

3. Zachary Clark (CP)

4. Reichen Reeder (Calumet)

 

285: Heavyweight will be a fun one here at county with a variety of challengers. I would say headlining this weight would be Hanovers Collin Foy. Foy is a guy who actually put Paul Clark on his back last year with a cradle in the sectionals finals but was unable to continue the next week at regionals. However, he’s a very solid heavyweight who qualified for SS in 2022. Other challengers here include Wheeler ticket rounder Mitchell Krolikowski, who it seems can put any heavyweight to their back. Lowell’s Seth Rindfuss is another title contender here who has very good results at the Al Smith with quality wins and close losses to ranked opponents. In the finals at heavyweight, it’s hard for me to pick between Foy and Rindfuss, but since it’s at Hanover I’ll stick with Foy here by decision.

1. Collin Foy (HC)

2. Seth Rindfuss (Lowell)

3. Mitchell Krolikowski (Wheeler)

4. Avery Villarreal (Morton)

 

Top 3 Team Scores:

1. Lake Central

2. Lowell 

3. Merrillville
 

 

[Paycheck141]

Missing a quality guy Highland HWT Aramis Mcnutt #2 ranked 

[Adam_glass]

I did this mostly based off of track registration and highland has another heavyweight listed at this time; but if he was in he’d absolutely be the favorite

[Regionrat1]

4 hours ago, Paycheck141 said:

Missing a quality guy Highland HWT Aramis Mcnutt #2 ranked 

He has been MIA da last 3 weeks ? Hopefully not injured - ds rat want to see him brawl with the CP and HC kid. 

 

 

[Regionrat1]

Of da top my noggin you did Purdy good. Match oF da day Vanek Highland and Westerfield Griffith/ Vanek down buy 4 with time running out / hits a reversal and 3 nerafall for da wind. 

 

Intersting #1 and #1. girl battling / Mason jones is a hammer 

 

Jimmy Watkins alway has some tuff nuts. Deem boys from Cal Township are sure scrappers.

 

Lake Central has a solid team. Triveline has does boy lOOKing might strong - lots of time at his gym

 

Hanover 2 big boys are Purdy good. 

EC semi state is Purdy darn deep at HVY. 6-7 deep wit quality. A couple of boys are going to being eating cheese wiz and crackers on da couch fEB 16.

 

Region ladies be getting ready to home some scrap iron next week. We got some hammers up here !

 

We in da region is da hammer - da rest is da nail / get ready ladies 

 

 

[DawgPoundRed]

Looks like they used the old record for seeding like all schedules are the same- lots of final level matches in the quarters