It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Wrestling season is finally here.

Ironman tends to be the unofficial start of the high school wrestling season and it got things started with a bang, as usual. In fact, this year could’ve been the most competitive Ironman to date with a whopping 96 nationally-ranked wrestlers scattered across the 14 weight classes.

It was fireworks through nearly every single round, turning up the heat in a crowded Walsh Jesuit gym.

In a room full of high school’s biggest stars, it wasn’t a champion, but a runner-up — believe it or not — who really stole the show on Ironman weekend.

Brandon Cannon took out three previously top 10 ranked wrestlers Hunter Mason, Vince Bouzakis, and Nasir Bailey on his way to the finals before falling to Kannon Webster 5-4 in a very competitive final. Cannon is no stranger to a difficult fight, as FloWrestling’s Andy Hamilton wrote about last year, and the senior out of Ponderosa, Colorado continued to inspire in what was a thrilling and historic Ironman run.

In the concluding bout of the night, Luke Lilledahl was able to avenge a loss from October at the Journeymen Fall Classic when he took out #1 Jax Forrest in a match that had all the makings of an Ironman classic. Two of the nation’s best lightweights sharing fun, physical exchanges while a crowd of teammates and spectators were spilling onto the mat to watch. Unsurprisingly, it required extra time to decide this one, as neither wrestler could convert on a takedown in regulation. Finally, Forrest attempted a double from space, and Lilledahl brushed it by swiftly for the quick two-point takedown and win. 

A lot of eyes were on Bishop McCourt’s big three, which features Forrest, fellow freshman and Cadet World champ Bo Bassett and junior Mason Gibson. Of the three, only Bassett left the weekend with an Ironman title. He outscored his opponents by a combined 75-16 count and scored a 9-0 win in the 113-pound final against Beric Jordan. 

In one of the most thrilling upsets of the semifinal round, Ethan Birden knocked off Wyoming Seminary’s Joe Sealey, showing off crazy speed and some next-level reattacks. The future Buckeye’s performance catapulted him from unranked to #7 in the nation. He’ll be eyeing his first Ohio state title in March.

Just as you can count on thrilling wrestling at Ironman, you can also count on a small sprinkle of drama. This time, it came in the 150-pound semifinal between Stillwater’s LaDarion Lockett and Blair’s William Henckel. 

After hitting Lockett with three prior caution penalties throughout the match, the referee called a fourth and final caution to Lockett citing his “foot wasn’t on the line” to give Henckel another point and a sudden-victory win. 

FULL Ironman Results

Beast Of The East

As it does every year, Ironman was followed one week later by Beast of the East, the second of the high school wrestling season’s premier tournaments.

The most notable absence at this year’s Beast, though, was the nation’s #1 team, Blair Academy, which wasn’t in attendance for the first time in tournament history. No school owns more Beast titles than Blair but, in its absence, it was another New Jersey school putting on a show as Delbarton left with the team title on the back of two champs and four finalists.

One of those Delbarton champs was junior and #8 in the nation, Louis Cerchio who had a dominant 10-1 finals victory over Fargo All-American and in-state rival #9 Jasiah Queen, in a matchup we could see again on Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall this March.

In a second finals matchup of top 10 guys, #5 Kollin Rath used a takedown in the final seconds of the third period to knock off #4 Tyler Vazquez in a battle of Pennsylvania vs New Jersey. Vazquez had a couple tight matches in the early rounds when he needed late third-period takedowns to advance, but Rath got the better of him at the end of this one.

Meanwhile, a week after placing eighth at Ironman a week earlier at 138 pounds, recent Notre Dame transfer, Vince Bouzakis won the Beast of the East title all the way up at 150. It was an impressive performance from the neutral position where Bouzakis scored three takedowns in the final two periods of a high-flying final against Mekhi Neal of St. Mary Ryken (Maryland).

Champions representing a total of eight states was another surprisingly fun wrinkle at this year’s Beast. Aside from the usual suspects from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, there were Beast champs crowned from Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia and West Virginia, while Max Agresti was the host state of Delaware’s first champion in 10 years.

FULL Beast of the East Results

Other Movers and Shakers

Lilledahl wasn’t the only wrestler to dethrone someone from their preseason #1 ranking in this young season. Stillwater senior Cael Hughes claimed the top spot in the nation at 132 pounds when he took out previous #1 Sergio Lemley in the Ironman finals 5-2. Stillwater High School has really shown out at Ironman the past few years and this one was no different.

Still, despite, two #1s going down, it might be Aden Valencia who notched the biggest win of any high schooler in the first two weeks of the season when the junior Stanford commit beat Michigan State’s Rayvon Foley at the Reno Tournament of Champions. As Christian Pyles pointed out on FRL, at the time of the match, Foley was ranked higher in the NCAA rankings (#7) than Valencia was in the high school rankings (#10). Let that one sink in.

Coming up next is Powerade where many of the nation’s best teams will continue their early-season tournament gauntlet.

After that, the national tournament scene quiets a bit as dual meet season takes over and you can be sure we’ll have you covered all season long right here on FloWrestling! Stay tuned.