Written by Vince Barber

The Journeymen Classic, hosted at Niskayuna High School in Upstate New York, annually showcases some of the best high school wrestlers from around the nation, with this year’s field boasting wrestlers from 28 different states + Canada, each coming with great accolades and accomplishments. This year’s Classic is shaping up to be the best one yet, with 19 wrestlers ranked in the top 10 of their weight classes, including three ranked No. 1: Nick Suriano (NJ), Nick Piccininni (NY), Isaiah White (IL). Perennial powerhouses and nationally ranked teams #2 OPRF (IL) and #4 Wyoming Seminary (PA) plan to make a big splash at this year's Journeyman Classic too. 



The 120-pound weight class is the deepest and most competitive at this year’s Classic. Headlining the weight are Texas natives, Jack Mueller and Coltan Williams, and weight class favorite Nick Suriano from New Jersey. Mueller and Williams are both coming off strong showings at Fargo (Mueller won a Junior Freestyle title and Williams took home a Cadet Greco title). Suriano’s streak of success should also be mentioned: he’s coming off his second state title, a Beast of the East title, a 2013 Super 32 runner-up finish and a silver medal at the 2014 FILA Cadet Freestyle Championships –not too shabby!

Adding to the depth at 120 are 6th-ranked Yanni Diakomihalis (a Flonationals Champ, New York state champ and Fargo All-American) and 9th-ranked Cameron Sykora, the NHSCA Junior Champion from Minnesota. Other major contenders include Prep All-American Travis Torres out of Colorado and Alex Mackall (an Ohio state champ, Powerade champ and two-time Ironman placer).

Perhaps not as top-heavy but equally deep, the 152-pound weight class stands out at the Journeyman Classic. Two Illinois teammates, top-ranked Isaiah White and No. 4-ranked Larry Early are both entered at this weight. Both of these guys had strong showings at Fargo this year, with Early taking home Junior Greco All-American honors and White a stop sign after clinching his first ever Junior Freestyle Championship.  Here's what happened the last time the two OPRF wrestlers were set against each other:



Hopefully, things change and we get to see them actually scrap at Journeyman.  For that to happen though, they each have to get past #11 Tommy Dutton and #13 ranked Jakob (both of New York) as well as Jesse Porter out of Journeymen who is looking to build on a great weekend at Ironhorse, where he knocked off two nationally-ranked wrestlers, including previously mentioned Restrepo.

Other wrestlers looking to take home titles at this year’s Classic include top-ranked New Yorker and recent Oklahoma State commit Nick Piccininni who will be wrestling 130 this weekend. He has been on fire since beating #2 Luke Pletcher in the Flonationals finals. Fellow New Yorker Vitali Arujua is looking to add to his winnings after taking Ironhorse last month. He is the lone ranked wrestler at 125 pounds but has some tough competition at this weight with guys like Trent Olson from Wyoming and Ryan Friedman, a Flonationals All-American from Maryland.

Texas native and Wyoming Seminary wrestler Nick Reenan should also be noted. He’s currently ranked fourth in the country at 170lbs and will look to continue his successful career by taking home a Journeymen Classic over ranked wrestlers like #11 Johnny Garcia (NY). Also, prepare to see some battles up top at 235 pounds where 11th-ranked, Fargo All-American Youssif Hemida of New York, 9th-ranked Prep All-American Michael Rodgers of Wyoming Seminary, and 14th-ranked Christian Colucci from New Jersey will all battle it out for a title.

Don’t miss your chance to see some great wrestling at this year’s Journeymen Classic, the best one ever. All matches will be streamed live here on Flo!

RANKED USA	Name	Weight	State
1	Suriano, Nick	120	NJ
1	Piccininni, Nick	130	NY
1	White, Isaiah	152	IL
3	Mueller, Jack	120	TX
3	Kelly, Zach	152	PA
4	Early, Larry	152	IL
4	Reenan, Nick	170	TX
4	Dietrich, Christian	195	NY
5	Teemer, Jacori	106	NY
6	Courtney, Brian	120	PA
6	Diakomihalis, Yianni	120	NY
7	Renteria, Jay	113	IL
7	Arujau, Vitali	125	NY
8	Weiler, Chris	160	PA
9	Sykora, Cameron	120	MN
9	Rogers, Michael	235	PA
10	Madrigal, Tony	106	IL
10	Rivera, Sebastian	113	NJ
10	Madrigal, Alex	120	IL
11	Pappas, Peter	113	NY
11	Lee, Robert	135	WI
11	Clark, Will	140	NC
11	Dutton, Thomas	152	NY
11	Garcia, Johnny	170	NY
11	Hemida, Youssif	235	NY
12	Murillo, Zack	106	CT
13	De La Cruz, Craig	135	NJ
13	Restrepo, Jakob	152	NY
14	Mackall, Alex	120	OH
14	Dangelo, Mike	135	NY
14	Hong, Eric	135	PA
14	Marszal, Ryan	182	NY
14	Colucci, Christian	235	NJ
15	Mccormick, Mark	140	NJ
16	Deprez, Louie	160	NY
17	Mauriello, Chris	160	NY
17	Mulligan, Kevin	195	NY
19	Busiello, Adam	106	NY
19	Bierdumpfel, Kyle	140	NJ
19	Hidlay, Hayden	145	PA
20	Mckenna, Kelan	106	NY
20	Velez, Jeff	195	NJ
MS-8	Mchenry, Kurt	99	VA