Most Anticipated Ironman Semifinal Matchups
Most Anticipated Ironman Semifinal Matchups
The semifinal matchups we're most looking forward to at the 2021 Walsh Jesuit Ironman wrestling tournament.
Day one of Ironman is in the books! There were plenty of great matches, especially in the quarterfinals. Now, we’re on to the semifinals. With almost 40 nationally ranked wrestlers, the semifinals are guaranteed not to disappoint!
Here are the 8 semifinals I’m looking forward to the most. You can find the full list of semifinals HERE.
106: #7 Nate Desmond (Bethlehem Catholic) vs #9 Cooper Hilton (Wyoming Seminary)
Things are going to get kicked off with a bang. These two just missed at Super 32 with Desmond finishing 5th and Hilton finishing 7th. Can the PA boy outfight the Boom Ranch kid?
113: #5 Leo DeLuca (Blair Academy) vs #8 Marcus Blaze (Perrysburg)
A battle between two tough freshmen. Leo DeLuca is already a Fargo champ, but Blaze is in his home state and riding the high of a sudden victory win over Lake Highland Prep’s Ethan Rivera.
120: #8 Ben Davino (St. Charles East) vs #5 Zan Fugitt (Nixa)
Fugitt will be the favorite going into this, but Davino looked great on day one. He avenged a loss from this preseason to #6 Dillion Campbell in the quarters. Can he knock off #5 in the semis?
126: #6 Sergio Lemley (Mt. Carmel) vs #5 Vincent Robinson (Homewood-Flossmoor)
A top-ten rematch from Super 32? Yes, please.
165: #3 (170) Rocco Welsh (Waynesburg Central) vs #10 (160) Tyer Lillard (Aurora)
Rocco Welsh down from 170 and Tyler Lillard up from 160, these two are meeting in the middle from where they normally compete. After teching his way to the quarters, Welsh was pushed by Carter Schubert in the quarters to a 1 point match.
175: #5 (170) James Rowley (Crescent Valley) vs Daniel Wask (Blair Academy)
Danny Wask had an exciting OT win in the quarterfinals over #7 Luke Geog, but can he keep it rolling against Cadet World silver medalist James Rowley?
190: #3 (195) Seth Shumate (Dublin Coffman) vs #4 (195) Rylan Rogers (Coeur D`Alene)
The Michigan - Ohio State rivalry is getting a head start this year in Cuyahoga Falls. Michigan commit Rylan Rogers is going to try and stop Ohio State commit Seth Shumate from winning his second Ironman title.
215: #2 (195) TJ Stewart (Blair Academy) vs #10 (220) Jack Darrah (Wyoming Seminary)
Up a weight at 215, #1 seed TJ Stewart has had no issue with the field so far, bonus pointing his way to the semis. A Stanford commit and ranked #10 in the country however, Jack Darrah will be his biggest test yet.