2015 Journeymen Classic

Journeymen Classic Preview: Who's Taking Home The Hammer?

Journeymen Classic Preview: Who's Taking Home The Hammer?

Oct 1, 2015 by Ryan Holmes
Journeymen Classic Preview: Who's Taking Home The Hammer?
In order to earn a hammer at the Journeymen Classic tournament, you have to be a hammer. Just looking through the list of wrestlers who have signed up for this year’s tournament is astounding. Some of the best in the country are making the trip to Albany hoping to take home the title. Year after year this tournament attracts top of the line competition.   This year the field is stacked once again and will be headlined by guys such at Vito Arujau, Nick Suriano, Hayden Hidlay and Mason Manville just to name a few. The list goes on and on. But which one of these nationally ranked powerhouses will come out on top?   As you read in our breakdown of the anticipated match-up between Manville and Hidlay, the most highly credentialed guys will be pair together in a round robin bracket with the top two wrestling in the final for the hammer.   So now that we know how things work, let’s take a look at the field.

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In order to earn a hammer at the Journeymen Classic tournament, you have to be a hammer. Just looking through the list of wrestlers who have signed up for this year’s tournament is astounding. Some of the best in the country are making the trip to Albany hoping to take home the title. Year after year this tournament attracts top of the line competition.
 
This year the field is stacked once again and will be headlined by guys such at Vito Arujau, Nick Suriano, Hayden Hidlay and Mason Manville just to name a few. The list goes on and on. But which one of these nationally ranked powerhouses will come out on top?
 
As you read in our breakdown of the anticipated match-up between Manville and Hidlay, the most highly credentialed guys will be pair together in a round robin bracket with the top two wrestling in the final for the hammer.
 
So now that we know how things work, let’s take a look at the field.
 

 
106
Contenders
Patrick Gould
 
Commentary
When checking out the field here two names stick out like sore thumbs and that’s Jaret Lane and Peter Ogunsanya. Lane, who is currently ranked 12th and was the 106-pound Greco Champ and Freestyle runner-up in Fargo should meet Ogunsanya, the 100-pound Greco champ and #15-ranked wrestler in the country. Between these two Greco champs, Lane has the edge but not by much. Ogunsanya is a very slick wrestler that will be able to put Lane. These guys are pretty evenly matched, but Lane’s strength will be the deciding factor here.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Lane  2. Ogunsanya  3. Burkhart  4. Gould

 
113
Contenders
Tyson Klump
 
Commentary
Pretty tough set of competitors here with tons of high-level experience. Glory, Timmins and Gomez are the frontrunners, but don’t be surprised if Cox shakes some things up in the process. Klump had a surprise ending to his season year as he claimed a PA state title at 106 so it will be interesting to see if he can compete up a weight class this year. Though he didn’t make the list of competitors, another guy to watch will be 8th grader Josh Saunders. Saunders, a Middle School Super 32 Champ, is well beyond his years when it comes to competing, so it will be interesting to see what he does this weekend. In the end it should be between Glory and Timmins. And I’m going with Timmins.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Timmins  2. Glory  3. Gomez  4. Cox
 
 

 
120
Contenders
#7 at 113-Sebastian Rivera
#6 at 113-Gianni Ghione
 
Commentary
Another pretty stacked bracket here. Maybe I’m still in amazement of Raimo’s Fargo performance, but I feel like he has the chance to take the hammer at this weight. This will certainly be a pretty big proving ground for him with guys like Warner and Silva in the way. Although Raimo is tough and has a chance, the nod still goes to Warner. Also in that mix will definitely be Silva. Chlebove has put on some weight since competing at 106 at FloNationals so it will be interesting to see what he does here at 120. Another guy up a weight is Ghione, who recently commit to Princeton. He owns some nice wins so seeing what he does against this crop is something to pay attention to.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Warner  2. Raimo  3. Campbell  4. Silva
 
 

 
125
Contenders
#2-Nick Suriano
#4-Vito Arujau
River Curtis
KJ Fenstermacher
 
Commentary
Let’s be honest, the match we all want to see here is Arujau vs. Suriano. Arujau was dominant at Cadet/University Nationals until meeting Yianni D in the finals and put on an incredible show at Fargo as he took home the stop sign. We haven’t seen Suriano in a long time. His hiatus can only make us speculate as to what he’s been up to, but let’s not be dumb enough to think he’s just playing video games. When these two meet it’s going to be incredible.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Suriano  2. Arujau  3. Madrigal  4. Fenstermacher
 


 
130
Contenders
#16 at 126-Tim Kane
#8 at 132-Luke Karam
Wyatt Long
 
Commentary
Tim Kane is the favorite here, but if Karam performs the way he did at the Beast of the East last year, he will be hard to beat. Kane beat a long list of good guys in Fargo including Jason Renteria. But these two guys should be the last men standing and if Kane gets his offense going early against Karam, which won’t be easy since Karam has great defense, he can take home the hammer.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Kane  2. Karam  3. Long  4. Drill



 
135
Contenders
#17 at 138-Grant Aranoff
#11 at 132-Kellen Devlin
#7 at 138-Kanen Storr
#9 at 132-Sammy Sasso
Corey Shie
 
Commentary
Wow. What a mix of ranked contenders from 132 and 138-pounds. Cadet World Champ Yianni D is leading the pack and will look to claim the title after missing out on his chance last year. Storr will be Yianni’s toughest competition here, but Sasso, Devlin and Arnoff won’t be too far behind. Sasso has made a pretty successful climb up in weights with a Fargo title coming this summer over Brock Hardy although he did give up a loss to Aranoff in the finals at NHSCA’s. It will be interesting to see how this weight plays out with this impressive list of guys hunting for the hammer.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Diakomihalis  2. Storr  3. Sasso  4. Arnoff
 
 
140
Contenders
TK Megonigal
Nick Santos
Charlie Kane
 
Commentary
Not much depth here but still great competition. Hernandez has the edge here in my opinion. The Fargo runner-up is very tough and should match up well with Megonigal, who was a runner-up a season ago at the Beast of the East tournament to AC Headlee. When everything shakes out it should be these two guys in the finals. Santos and Kane will round out the top four here.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Hernandez  2. Megonigal  3. Santos  4. Kane

 
145
Contenders
#18 at 152-Kevin Buddock
#19 at 152-Ryan Peters
Johnny Busiello
Joseph Koontz
Sam Martino
 
Commentary
Don’t let the low ranking fool you. Budock is one tough dude. The National Prep runner-up has what it takes to win it all. Peters should be the guy in the end to take on Budock, but I’m not sure he has what it takes to steal the title from Budock. Koontz and Busiello should also have favorable finishes, but don’t be surprised to see Martino in the mix at the end.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Budock  2. Peters  3. Koontz  4. Martino


 
152
Contenders
#1- Hayden Hidlay
#2-Mason Manville
#7 at 145-Eric Hong
#17 at 145-Foster Karmon
 
Commentary
Now this is a deep weight. Obviously, we are expecting Hidlay and Manville to meet again with the tension being at level 10. We’ve already broken this one down so there’s not much else to say about this match that hasn’t already been said. It’s going to be another great match-up between these two when they meet. However, don’t overlook any single of the other ranked guys here. The competition level at this weight might be higher than any other at the tournament this weekend. The battles for placement are all going to be worth watching.
 
Holmes’ pick: 1. Hidlay  2. Manville  3. Lawson  4. Hong
 

 
160
Contenders
Kyle Cochran
Bryan Mclaughlin
 
Commentary
This is a three horse race between Labriola, Cleary and Pedro with the edge going to Labriola. Cleary and Pedro will be a pretty competitive match, but I still see Pedro taking it in a close one. Labriola will be the one at the top in the end though. He has taken on some of the toughest competition, is battle tested and prime to claim the title. Cochran and Mclaughlin will be in a dogfight to round out the top four with Hidlay not far behind in the running.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Labriola  2. Cleary  3. Pedro  4. Mclaughlin
 
 
170
Contenders
Anthony Falbo
Brandon Kui
Jason Hoffman
 
Commentary
Slim pickens here. Darwish and Kui should be the guys to come out and make the finals in the end. I’m expecting a close one between these two with Kui taking it by a point or two.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Kui  2. Darwish  3. Falbo  4. Hoffman
 
 
182
Contender
Blake Barrick
Garrett Hoffman
#9 at 170-Kevin Parker
 
Commentary
Antonio Agee should do some damage here. Kevin Parker is stepping up big to take on the guys at 182 as he sports a #9-ranking at 170. Hopefully the weight difference isn’t too much for him because he can really compete. Nonetheless, Agee will be the guy on top.
 
Holmes’ pick: 1. Agee  2. Barrick  3. Parker  4. Hoffman
 

 
195
Contender
Jack Buell
Gavin Hoffman
 
Commentary
Blake Rypel is the guy to beat here. The FloNational runner-up shouldn’t have too much of an issue with claiming the title. Zane Black, Jack Buell and Noah Adams will be an interesting mix. Adams may hold the ranking, but I think that Black might be the guy to come out and make the final against Rypel.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Rypel  2. Black  3. Adams  4. Buell

 

 
225
Contenders
#10 at 195-Christian Araneo
 
Commentary
Mike Rogers competed primarily at 285 last season and won a Prep National title and was a bit undersized the entire time so he should have a pretty good advantage over the competition being down a weight. Despite having the advantage, Roger will get a good run from Araneo and Nye.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Rogers  2. Araneo  3. Nye  4. McFarland
 
 
285
Contenders
Calvin Hayford
Tommy Killoran
Anthony Porcaro
Bryce Town
 
Commentary
Things are pretty wide open here. I expect Tommy Killoran to come out with the hammer. Anthony Porcaro will be his biggest competition in the finals.
 
Holmes’ picks: 1. Killoran  2. Porcaro  3. Hayford  4. Town