The Deepest Weight At The Journeymen Fall Classic
The Deepest Weight At The Journeymen Fall Classic
We dig through the entries to discuss the deepest weight at the Journeymen Fall Classic, the kickoff to the high school folkstyle season.
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The Journeymen Fall Classic is here, and that means the return of the folkstyle is upon us. The Fall Classic acts as a great warm-up tournament for Super 32 and the nation’s best wrestlers treat it as such, hailing from all over the country to compete. The field here at the Classic is as deep as ever with one weight class that is especially deep.
Watch the Journeymen Fall Classic LIVE
Sunday, September 29 | 9:00 AM ET
If you saw the Ranked Wrestlers article, you know all about the guys who are already on the radar, but there is one name that isn’t on that list… yet. Enzo Morlacci, out of Kiski Area High School in PA, is a very talented young wrestler who made a Schoolboy Pan Am National Team in 2018 and won a Freshman national title at Virginia Beach at the end of last season. Morlacci doesn’t have the wins over nationally ranked opponents to earn a spot on the rankings, but that can certainly change here at the classic with 5 nationally ranked wrestlers in the field at 152.
Coming in on the rankings at number 20 is Cooper Kropman out of Penfield High School in New York. Cropman is a multiple time state placer out of a strong program at Penfield. Penfield has been producing a lot of hammers coming out of New York including Frankie Gissendenner and Cooper’s older brother, Parker, who now wrestles for Drexel.
Another New York stud at 152 is Empire Wrestling Club member, AJ Kovacs, who is ranked number nine in the nation. Empire Wrestling Club is one of the best clubs in the state, with guys like Jakob Camacho and the Jack brothers (Kevin and Ryan) coming through the club. Kovacs had been a known name on the state level for some time, but burst on to the national scene when he won himself a FloNational title, teching nationally ranked guys like John Martin Best and Cael Valencia.
Watch AJ Kovacs win a FloNational Title over Cael Valencia.
One of the best things about the Journeymen Fall Classic is you don’t just get the best wrestlers out of New York, but from across the entire country. One example of that is Northern Durham’s Donald Cates, out of North Carolina. The South hasn’t traditionally been known as wrestling hot bed, but the region has been on the rise for quite some time now and guys like Donald Cates is why. Cates is a multiple time NC state champ who is also very well versed in Freestyle, taking third at Fargo and sixth in Akron. Cates will have a shot at revenge if he sees AJ Kovacs, who beat Cates in the match for 5th in Akron.
If number ten ranked, Matt Lee, out of Mater Dei High School sounds familiar that can be for a couple of reasons. One reason is that Matt Lee is the younger brother of former Mater Dei and now Penn State wrestlers, Nick and Joe Lee. Another reason Matt Lee might sound familiar is that he has been killing it in his own right. Matt, like his brothers did before him, took home an Indiana state title last season and also showed he has the freestyle skills as well when he took 2nd at the first ever Freestyle FloNationals.
Last but certainly not least is the highest ranked wrestler in the weight class, Peyton Hall. The West Virginia native out of Oak Glen High School is ranked number 3 at 145 but is wrestling up at 152 for the Classic. Hall won a Junior national championship in Virginia Beach and is going to be looking for his 4th West Virginia state title this year. With all of these top ranked hammers in the weight class, it’ll be interesting to see if Peyton Hall can leave the capitol region of New York still the top ranked wrestler in the weight. Hall looks to be one of the top contenders to win Super 32 next month, where he was able to place 5th last year, but there’s plenty of guys here at the Journeymen World Classic who are willing and able to knock him off tomorrow.
Watch Peyton Hall win his Junior national title in Virginia Beach.
This is not the only weight class filled with some of the countries best wrestlers, so tune in live on Flo, Sunday at 9 AM ET for all the live action coming to you from the Journeymen Fall Classic.