(Very) Unofficial 6A Preseason Rankings
Nov 27, 2021 22:01:11 GMT -5
stopstalling37, TrojanMan, and 1 more like this
Post by mvmm20 on Nov 27, 2021 22:01:11 GMT -5
Okay, it was a slow work week, and in the absence of official rankings, here goes nothing.
I've tried to avoid any subjective judgements, going strictly with a methodology of: State Place (2021 6A or VAWA Junior Freestyle, or 2020 place for those who didn't wrestle last season) > Regional Place (2021 or 2020, or Cadet Freestyle place) > with offseason wins (as a proxy for offseason improvement) breaking ties where possible, and head-to-head wins vaulting wrestlers above other ranked wrestlers. (Yes, this probably underrates freshman and wrestlers whose schools sat out last season, but what can you do?)
Weight classes are based either on Fall competitions or Track's team rosters, but I take it as a given that many of these are off, so people can correct them in the comments.
106lbs
1. Korlan Tran, Lake Braddock2. Nolan Poch, Westfield
3. Khwaja Ahmad, John Champe
4. Elleahna Anderson, Potomac
5. Caden Smith, Robinson
6. Aaron Ahmad, Oakton
Honorable Mention: Zeke Keel, Chantilly (Won VAWA Cadet Freestyle states but at a sub-100 weight class, so who knows what he'll weigh while wrestling 106 this season).
MIA: Cameron Mayfield (Colonial Forge) was 3rd in Region 6B last season, and would likely be tied for 6th here, but isn’t listed on Colonial Forge’s roster for this season.
113lbs
1. Elijah Cramer, Cosby
2. Ronald Vernem, West Springfield
3. Ryu Brandt, Centreville
4. Drew Fink, Thomas Dale
5. Benjamin Levy, Marshall
6. Hayato Otero, Landstown
120lbs
1. Tyler Tanev, Woodbridge
2. Benjamin Rubin, Thomas Jefferson
3. Anthony Orlando, Forest Park
4. Calvin Wiedemer, Alexandria City
5. Will Dight, Edison
6. Nicholas Ta, Westfield
HM: Almost too many to mention, including: Stefan Hernandez, Centreville (4th at 113 in 6A), Jayden Loveranes (4th at 106 in 6A); Logan Robinson (4th at VAWA Freestyle)
MIA: Anthony Anderson, Potomac (4th at 120 in 6A, but not currently listed on Potomac Senior’s roster) In other words, this weight class could potentially have 9 wrestlers who placed 4th or higher in a state tournament last year, plus Wiedemer who didn’t wrestle last season after finishing 2nd in Region 6C in 2020, but beat Dight at VA Super 32 in September).
126lbs
1. Austin Zehring, Patriot
2. Raymond Sanchez, Kellam
3. Robert Rerras, Westfield
4. Jordan Villareal, John Champe
5. Ben Weader, Chantilly
6. Alex Shapiro, Robinson
Note: Although Rerras placed higher (2nd) than Zehring (6th) and Sanchez at States last season, he lost to both of them (twice to Sanchez) in offseason competition. This is also a sneakily tough weight class, with potentially 15 wrestlers returning who’ve placed fourth or higher in regionals, plus freshman Weader who took 3rd at the VA Super 32 and Jahleel Armstrong (Grassfield), who won VAWA Cadet Freestyle States.
132lbs
1. Tristan Robinson, Robinson
2. Jacob Brown, Grassfield
3. Ahmad Barokah, Thomas Jefferson
4. Matt Gashi-Brito, Fairfax
5. Zack Hanna, Herndon
6t. Kaden Marshall, South Lakes
6t. Sulaiman Wardak, Langley
138lbs
1. Liam Murphy, Ocean Lakes
2. Yuta Otero, Landstown
3. Jack Erbe, Colonial Forge
4. Mateo Hernandez, Hayfield
5. Justice Hazard, Robinson
6. Jackson Higgins, Cosby
HM: Ben Doucet (Freedom-South Riding) and Ben Sim (James Madison) also finished third in their regions last year, but had fewer offseason wins than Higgins.
MIA: William Fay, 3rd at 138 as a sophmore in 2020 for Western Branch
NOTE: Erbe is listed as 152 on Track (suggesting he’s cleared for 145), but I’m ranking him here because he wrestled 138 at I-64s. Could be totally wrong about this . . .
145lbs
1. Samuel Gerard, Robinson
2. Trenton Campos, Ocean Lakes
3. Dylan Beirne, Edison
4. Owen Lebkisher, Marshall
5. Christian Johnson-Hunter, Hayfield
6. Owen Cherry, Kellam
NOTE: Gerard isn’t listed as “eligible” on Track yet, so he could still be moving up a weight class or two.
152lbs
1. Jaden Campos, Ocean Lakes
2. Owen Harshbarger, Westfield
3. Isaac Hegg, Oakton
4. Aiden Lambert, Kellam
5. Christopher Johnson-Hunter, Hayfield
6. Alex Belaoula, Fairfax
NOTE: Could also include Zach Arsala (Hayfield, 3rd in 6C) here, but he lost twice in the spring to Johnson-Hunter, so I’m bumping him up a class here. Also, Harshbarger isn’t listed as eligible yet, so the top here isn’t certain either. (If Harshbarger moves up or down, Bryce Brown of Westfield would slot in behind Hegg).
HM: Liam Gil-Swiger, Yorktown, exemplifies the uncertainty regarding wrestlers who missed 2020-21 due to COVID closures. He only took 6th in Region 6D in 2020, but has a ton of wins in offseason tournaments suggesting he'd rate higher if he'd competed last season.
160lbs
1. Brian Gordon, South County
2. Sean Coughlin, West Springfield
3. John Koroma, Potomac
4. Spencer Charlesworth, Lake Braddock
5. Kellen Meymarian, Chantilly
6. Robert Kucharcz, Robinson
NOTE: Track lists Coughlin as moving up a class this year, potentially setting up a great rivalry between defending state champs at neighboring schools who could meet up to 5 times this season. I have Gordon higher here because he took 3rd at States in 2020 versus Coughlin’s 5th.
HM: Sean Kerrigan (Ocean Lakes) would be ranked at 152, but assuming he’s bumped up to 160 is “6.5” here, having one fewer offseason win than Kucharcz (by my unofficial count, Kucharcz won 3 matches at VA Super 32 versus Kerrigan’s one win at I-64 Fall Nationals).
170lbs
1. Vincenzo Corvetto, Patriot
2. Jack Bobeck, Forest Park
3. Xavier Gonzalez, Chantilly
4. Nick Visikides, West Potomac
5t. Felix Chang, Edison
5t. Eli Novario, James Madison
5t. David Schultz, Kellam
182lbs
1. John Kustra, James Madison
2. Glean Gonzalez, Edison
3. John Baker, Washington-Liberty
4. Beck Hoffman, Kellam
5. Italo Cazzol, John Lewis
6. Jordan Yousefi, Woodbridge
MIA: Neither David Frasier, Western Branch (4th at 6A states in 2020) nor Nathan Fishman, McLean (5th last season) are listed on their team rosters. Otherwise, they’d be 1 and 2. Am I missing something?
195lbs
1. Charlie Lopez, Forest Park
2. Jaden Stephens, Woodbridge
3. Brigham DeVore, McLean
4. Caspian Bell, Freedom (SR)
5. Cole Giegling, Cosby
6. Neftali Reyes, Justice
NOTE: Another weight class potentially with two returning state champs, with Lopez getting the edge due to offseason victories at VACW, VAWA Freestyle, and I-64 Fall.
220lbs
1. Abdullah Mohammed, Justice
2. Elijah Gonzalez, Colgan
3. Wyatt Singer, Freedom (SR)
4. Chur-Yong Mun, Langley
5. Thomas Luther, Robinson
6. Alex Fuentes, Herndon
HWT
1. Cooper Rudolph, Robinson
2. Josh Mancia, Woodbridge
3. Donovan Sprouse, Patriot
4. Bryan Guzman, Freedom (SR)
5. Abram Smith, Lake Braddock
6. Blake Buchert, Yorktown
Team (Based on placement points)
1. Robinson (26pts)
2t. Ocean Lakes (17)
2t. Woodbridge (17)
4. Patriot (16)
5t. Westfield (15)
5t. Forest Park (15)
7. Kellam (13)
8. Edison (12)
9. Lake Braddock (11)
10t. Freedom-South Riding (10)
10t. West Springfield (10)
With 3 returning state champions and 5 other wrestlers ranked, Robinson is clearly ahead of the field at this point, with a really tight group of teams competing for second, with any divergences from these draft rankings producing significant changes in the 2nd-6th slots.
Either way, it will be great to have a full season of competition after last year's truncated schedule.