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| 125 |
2nd in the Regional & 8th in the D3 nation back in 2024, after taking '24-'25 off, Mac Cafurello is back with a vengeance. 15-0 on the year & a gold medal at the Pete Willson Invitational.
With that said, former Ferrum standout Adrian Samano is having himself a pretty respectable '25-'26. Champion of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), he took Cafurello into sudden victory before dropping a 4-1 match. He's been one match shy of qualification in the past.
The other guy to watch for here is Kurt Mokros, a tough freshman for the Polar Bears who has already claimed 29 wins this season & a 5th place showing at Pete Willson.
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| 133 |
Another Maroon who took last year off, Jude Robson is having an outstanding '25-'26. 4th at the Regional in 2024, this year he is 18-2 & a Pete Willson Champion. Owns an 8-2 decision over Vince Ziccardi.
Ziccardi although currently unranked, was 3rd in the Regional a year ago & one match shy of D3 All-American honors. An ODAC champion, he was 2nd at Messiah.
Ironically enough, as was 125, the other guy to look for here is Chase Vanderhorst, 10-2 on the year, 6th at the 2025 Regionals.
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| 141 |
3rd in the D3 Nation in 2024 & a D3 National champion in 2025, those credentials say enough, but to add to the resume, Mark Samuel is also 6th-3rd-3rd with the Regional. Currently 13-0 on the year.
Although he is 0-6 overall Vs Samuel, Skyler Hickman has given the 2025 National champion a couple of close scares. Once took him to a 2-0 decision & even took him into the tiebreakers once before dropping a 7-6 decision. 4th in the Regional a year ago, Hickman currently stands 15-3 on the year with a runner-up showing at the New Standard.
In my estimation the battle for bronze here will be between Keegan McMahon & Casper Caizzo. McMahon also with a 15-3 record, won John Summa earlier this year. Caizzo 28-7 on the year, was 5th at Pete Willson.
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| 149 |
A transfer of Washington & Jefferson, Taylor Smith enters Regional Four looking to become a three-time champion this weekend. 19 wins on the season, he owns two decisive wins over Evan Lindner & two decisive wins over Tony Orlandini. He was also this year's Pete Willson champion.
Lindner not being ranked is a bit surprising to me, but then again not. Despite being a two-time NCAA D3 qualifier & very likely to become a three-time NCAA D3 qualifier, he also heads into Regionals with some puzzling losses. None the less he was 2nd & 3rd the past two Regionals & this year he's won both Messiah & the New Standard.
Orlandini, who finished last season with a losing record doesn't even look like the same wrestler this year. He shed the glasses, ripped open the shirt, said, "goodbye Clark Kent", "Hello Superman!" and is currently 27-3 on the year.
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| 157 |
24-0 on the year, Liam Flanagan is having an outstanding season for the Generals, winning the Messiah Open. Here to challenge him for a Regional title will be Casey Smith, another former Washington & Jefferson President, now Roanoke Maroon. 20-6 on the year, he was 3rd at last year's Regional & 3rd this this year's Pete Willson. Flanagan & Smith have met twice, Flanagan winning a 4-1 s.v. & Smith winning a 2-1 decision. Let's not kid ourselves, Thane McCoy is in the mixup for a title here at 157 as well. 27-1 on the year, his only blemish is when he moved up to 165 to challenge Andrew Supers. Other than that, his record is clean.
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| 165 |
31-2 on the year, Andrw Supers is closing in on what has thus far been a pardon the pun, "Super" career. 3rd & 1st thus far in the Regional & 5th last year in the D3 nation, Supers is looking to earn more Regional gold this weekend. A three-time Baldwin Wallace champ, he's also a two-time North Central runner-up.
On paper his finals opponent looks to be Cade Parent, a tough freshman for the Maroons, 6th at Pete Willson with a 22-8 record.
To be honest, I'm not sure exactly what is up with Mark Troni. The General is a three time Regional place-winner, 7th-5th-3rd. A four-time ODAC finalist/two-time champion & a two-time Messiah runner-up. It's very surprising that he's only batting .500 as we had into Regionals this weekend. I still think he's the 3rd best wrestler in this bracket & honestly he might even be the 2nd best. I don't see him beating Supers, but he gave Parent a very close 6-5 match only a few weeks ago. The old saying, "it ain't how you start, it's how you end" applies heavily here.
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| 174 |
Taking '24-'25 off, two-time NCAA D3 qualifier Tommy West returns looking to make a third trip to the national tournament. 25-3 on the year, he won the Baldwin Wallace Open. He'll face some good competition in both Xavier Preston & Jessie Orbin. Preston has posted back-to-back 3rd place finishes that past two Regionals. Is the 1 in the 26-1 record of Orbin, defeating the Waynesburg Yellow Jacket (ironically enough, Baldwin Wallace is also the Yellow Jackets) 9-6 in sudden victory.
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| 184 |
Ironically enough, both Vitali Daniels & Blaine Chrisman are former Edinboro Fighting Scots. I mean what are the chances of that happening? On paper this looks to be Daniels' bracket to lose, but that might not be the case on the mat. The President is currently 22-2 on the season, but Chrisman gave him a very competitive 6-3 match. Remington Bauer was 2nd here a year ago, riding a 23-9 record. Chrisman owns a 6-1 decision over Bauer.
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| 197 |
This is certainly one of the more competitive weight classes here in Regional Four. It should be noted that before I say too much about our likely *1 seed Lorenzo Pellot, that in his 14-1 record his only loss is to teammate Hunter Moore. Moore himself was 5th at the Regional last season & carries an 18-5 record. Nevertheless, having won the Pete Willson Invitational, I feel confident that the Maroons give the nod to Pellot.
Joey Petrella, last year's Regional champion looks to be our *2 seed. 4th in the D3 nation a year ago, he is currently 16-1 on the season.
Myles Johnson & John Stantowksi to duke it out for the bronze that will send them to nationals? Maybe. I wouldn't count Johnson out from pulling off an upset & making the finals. 26-4 on the year, he's already upset Petrella once in a 4-2 decision. He was also 5th at Pete Willson. Santowski is 10-2 on the year.
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| HWT |
5th at last year's Regional, Carter Stack currently stands at 23-0 on the season. The one thing you can say about him is that with four majors & a pin, he certainly has Nick Cook's #. What's weird about it though, is that Cook owns a 10-8 victory over Andrew Vanscoy & Vanscoy took Stack into the tiebreakers. We talk about parity & styles clashing a lot in this sport, and there you have an excellent example.
4th in last year's Regional & a two-time Pete Willson place-winner with finishes of 6th & 4th, Steve Marra is happy to add to the parity. He owns a 4-3 win over Cook & he's actually stuck Stack in the first period before. Cook for the record was 6th last year in the Regional & 5th at this year's Pete Willson. Vanscoy was 7th in the Regional last year.
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