Written by Ryan Lance
The 2015 Ohio Tournament of Champions will kickoff this weekend as well over 2,500 wrestlers from across the country will compete in the “Largest One-Day Wrestling Tournament in the World.” The event will take place at the Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio and featured up to 30 mats of action.
Wrestlers from as far away as California, Florida, Georgia, and Missouri will compete in this weekend’s event. It’ll also feature a number of state and national champions who will be looking to add another notable title to their wrestling resumes.
Below we are going to take a look at a handful of wrestlers and weight class to keep an eye on as the action heats up this weekend.
Defending Champions:
There will be a handful of wrestlers who will be looking to defend their 2014 Ohio Tournament of Champions title from a season ago.
Joe Manno from New Jersey will be competing in the 72-pound weight class and will have to battle through Pennsylvania standout Ryan Crookham in order to defend his title.
In the 84-pound weight class it’ll be defending Ohio ToC Champion Dominick Lomazzo who will be the leading candidate to win the weight class. However, he’ll be sure to get some tough competition from Ohio State Champion Bryce Hepner and Michigan State Champion Wyatt Nault.
Jaxon Smith from Georgia will look to defend his title in the 92-pound weight class but will have to battle past Greg Diakomihalis from New York, who took home second place in last year’s event.
In the 110-pound championship Joshua Edmonds from Michigan will try and defend his title that he won in the 90-pound Junior division a year ago while Rocky Elam from Colorado will look to win his second ToC Championship in a row. Elam will be competing in the 115-pound weight class this weekend.
Looking to Improve:
A handful of wrestlers are back this year and looking to improve upon their finishes from a season ago.
A wrestler who will be looking to improve upon his 6th place finish in last year’s event will be Collin Yinger who will be competing in the 88-pound weight class this year.
Anthony Rizzo from Ohio finished in 4th place a year ago and will look to improve upon that finish this year as he’ll compete in the 120-pound weight class. Another wrestler who will look to improve upon their finish in last year’s event is Noah Brown from Indiana. He took home the silver medal in the 125-pound junior weight class last year and will compete in the 126-pound schoolboy division this weekend.
The leading candidate to take home the 140-pound title is Carter Starocci from Pennsylvania. He took home a bronze medal last year and will be challenged by Noah Bailey from West Virginia who took home an 8th place finish.
Two more wrestlers who will be looking to improve upon their finishes in last year’s event will be competing in the 160-pound weight class. RK Kemper from Pennsylvania took home a 4th place while Chris Langguth from Ohio took home a 5th place finish.
Finally in the 175-pound weight class, Braxton Amos from West Virginia will look to improve upon his bronze medal from a season ago. He’ll first have to get past the likes of Jamal Brandon from Pennsylvania and Luke Miemeyer from New Jersey.
Others to Watch:
A handful of other wrestlers to watch this weekend are Stevo Poulin from New York, Cole Skinner from Ohio, Kurt Phipps from Pennsylvania and Manzona Bryant IV from Ohio.
Leading the 68-pound weight class will be Stevo Poulin from New York. Poulin went an impressive 9-1 during the VAC Holiday Duals this past December and will look to win his first Ohio Tournament of Champions title.
An Ohio State Champion will try and add another notable title to his resume as Cole Skinner will compete in the 76-pound weight class. He’ll have to get past the likes of Kurt Phipps who placed second in last year’s event and Virginia State Champion Kip Nininger.
In the 100-pound weight class defending Tulsa National Champion Manzona Bryant IV will look to win his first ToC Championship.
Where to Watch:
Can’t make it to Columbus this weekend? No worries, Flowrestling has you covered. Every mat will be live streamed on Saturday.
Be sure to check back next week as we’ll have a recap of the championships rounds.