A Glance At Region VIII

[Nainten]

Not meant to be comprehensive by any means.  Just putting out some names of those that I think will be in the hunt for a trip to Franklin.   Hopefully they are in the right weights to provide a somewhat accurate preview.  Please feel free to chime in, correct, or add to. 

 

106:        Sutton, Bartlett

                Cotton,  Kingsbury

                Shultz, Munford

Champion – Sutton

The freshman will easily take this weight. 

 

113:        Gabe O’Callahan, Bartlett

Champion:  O’Callahan.

I don’t know anyone else at this weight.  Can't see  a serious challenge to O’Callahan, however.    

 

120         Canon, Arlington

                Artiles, Collierville

                Koss, Bartlett

                Spiecha, Houston

Champion:  Canon. 

Artiles should make finals but Canon is another safe bet to repeat.  Koss and Spiecha have inside track to qualify for state.  Good competitive bracket.  

 

126         Morgan, Arlington

                Bozarth, Bartlett

                 Briant, Collierville

                 Kinnear, Houston

Champion:  Morgan.  

This may be the deepest weight at the tournament.  Bozarth or Briant can take it if Morgan is off his feed.

 

132         Jake Manuel, Houston

                Luke, Kerns, Arlington

                Franklin, Bartlett

Champion: Manuel.  

This Manuel and Kerns meet in the finals in the possible match of the night.   

 

138         Donahue, Arlington

                Vankirk, Bartlett

                Spiecha, Houston

Champion:  Donahue

Donahue has been the most consistent at this weight.  I don’t know if Vankirk and Vatter will flip flop weights.  I think Vankirk makes the finals if he wrestles here. 

 

145         Phillips, Arlington

                Fisher, Houston

                Vatter, Bartlett

Champion: Phillips

Not much drama at this weight.  No one here who can really mount a challenge to Phillips.

 

152         Cockman, Arlington

                Jones, Bartlett

                Dawson, Houston

Champion: Cockman

Same as 145.  Cockman should dominate this weight. 

 

160         John, Kingsbury

                Braswell, Germantown

                Worley, Arlington

Champion:  John

Competitive weight but John is the clear favorite here.  Braswell and Worley will be a good semi if it happens. 

               

170         Antcliffe, Arlington

                Johnson, Kingsbury

Champion:  Antcliffe

This another match of the night candidate between Dontae Johnson and Austin Antcliffe.  Edge goes to Antcliffe. 

 

182         Young, Houston

                Longo, Bartlett

                Anderson, Bol

Champion: Young

Young made a huge jump from 152 last year to this weight.  I don’t see anyone here to challenge him, however. 

195         Lewis, Arlington

Another weight without serious contenders to #1.   He is as prohibitive a favorite here as O’Callahan is at 113. 

 

220         Phillips, Bartlett

                Allen, Kingsbury

                Milton, Arlington

                Jackson, Bolton

                Dawson, Collierville

Champion: Phillips

Freshman Milton may surprise and make the finals but look for Phillips to come out of the region as the champ. 

285         Oliver, Bartlett

                Worley, Arlington

                Frankland, Houston

                Coleman, Bolton

                Bedford, Cordova

Champion:  Oliver

Oliver has been ranked all season long, but Frankland has a hardnosed style and is capable of the upset.  Worley is a dark horse to make finals.     

[MemphisTiger14]

Nainten,

We have a lot of the same results, so I will spare you a redundant quote post and only give you my differing opinions and a few complementary thoughts. 

113) 1) O'Callaghan, Bartlett 2) Artiles, C'ville 

Not sure if there's any truth to this, but I've heard that Artiles will actually be at 113. Still think O'Callaghan wins it, but that will be a close one and best match candidate. It should be chippy too.

126: 1) Morgan, Arlington 2) Briant, C'ville 3) Bozarth, Bartlett 4) Kinnear, Houston 

Bozarth won a tight one over Briant in the region duals, but Briant was battling back at the end. He will use his gas tank to push Bozarth to the breaking point in the semis.

132: 1) Kerns, Arlington 2) Manuel, Houston 3) Franklin

Another best match candidate. Both wrestlers had good state tournaments, with Manuel majoring the #6 ranked wrestler from Heritage and Kerns only losing by 2 to #1 ranked Milsauskas from Brentwood. For the sake of debate, I'll say that Kerns pushes Manuel early and wins a tight one in the 3rd period.

170: 1) Antcliffe, Arlington 2) Johnson, Kingsbury

I love this match up. Strong and technical vs slick and funky. This should be a great juxtaposition of styles. 

*I've heard conflicting accounts regarding where John and Johnson from Kingsbury will be wrestling for individuals. I heard early on that John would be at 152 and Johnson would be at 160, but I think they might've had weight management issues. *

Here are my award picks:

Tourney OW: Gabe O'Callaghan, after pinning through the tourney and then surviving a battle against Artiles. 

Freshman OW: Mason Sutton, Bartlett

Season OW: This is another tough one. I assume O'Callaghan only has a few losses this season if any, but based off of each team's strength of schedule I think there are multiple Arlington wrestlers that should win this over him.

I believe Cannon only has two losses this year, a major decision to #1 ranked Palmer in the Wilson Central finals and one minor decision loss to an out-of-state wrestler in LA. Cannon has a head-to-head win over O'Callaghan. He also beat a senior x3 Blackhorse Champ from Brother Martin in the finals of said tournament this year.

Phillips also has an impressive resume this year. Wins over previously ranked returning state medalist Andy Robinson from Bradley Central, split matches with Jalen Brown from Blackman as well as one of the Atchley brothers from Baylor. He's pinned the majority of the kids that he's wrestled. Heck, I believe his worst loss of the season is to a kid from McCallie. 

Lewis at 195 has wins over multiple ranked kids from D2, as well as a close win over #1 ranked Gibson from Bradley Central. However, he lost a major decision to Montana Doty, and he was wrestling up to 195 at the time. He was pinned by #5 ranked Buckman from Halls in the Wilson Central finals.

John and Johnson from Kingsbury have had a great season, but I don't think they have the strength of schedule or signature wins to establish a resume worthy of OW.

Tourney Champs: Arlington

Coach of the year: Simpson, Arlington

Best Match: Either O'Callaghan/Artiles, Morgan/Briant, Kerns/Manuel, or Antcliffe/Johnson

 

[Nainten]

Nice post!  Yeah, I wasn't sure where to put John and Johnson so I figured I just put 'em where they have been wrestling since the 23rd of January.  I like the idea of Artiles at 113 (115).  I too think O'Callahan would still be favored there.  I didn't really give any thought to the awards but your ideas seem more a than reasonable. 

Aside from several of the Arlington guys, I think O'Callahan has one of the better chances to place at state.  He's a fighter.  

[MemphisTiger14]

16 hours ago, Nainten said:

Nice post!  Yeah, I wasn't sure where to put John and Johnson so I figured I just put 'em where they have been wrestling since the 23rd of January.  I like the idea of Artiles at 113 (115).  I too think O'Callahan would still be favored there.  I didn't really give any thought to the awards but your ideas seem more a than reasonable. 

Aside from several of the Arlington guys, I think O'Callahan has one of the better chances to place at state.  He's a fighter.  

Agreed. I have enjoyed watching Gabe improve through the years and I respect his aggressive attitude. His 1st year as a starter he probably only weighed 85 lbs, and now he's throwing kids around at 113.

[HoustonWrestling901]

Top 5 Seeds for Region 8 Tournament

106:

1. Dream Cotton, 12th (Kingsbury)
2. Mason Sutton, 9th (Bartlett)
3. Gage King, 9th (Collierville)
4. Keegan Schulz, 10th (Munford)
5. Kalen Reed, 9th (Germantown)

113:

1. #5 Gabe O'Callaghan, 12th (Bartlett)
2. Andrew Artiles, 10th (Collierville)
3. Maurice Terry, 12th (Bolton)
4. Chase Millican 9th (Munford)
5. Tucker Cecil, 10th (Kingsbury)

120:

1. #3 Michael Cannon, 11th (Arlington)
2. Matt Bozarth, 12th (Bartlett)
3. Cameron Mitchell, 12th (Bolton)
4. Tucker Spiecha, 9th (Houston)
5. Manuel Campos, 9th (Kingsbury)

126:

1. Caleb Morgan, 12th (Arlington)
2. Jared Briant, 12th (Collierville)
3. Nathan Kinnear, 10th (Houston)
4. Kolin Koss, 10th (Bartlett)
5. Andrew Adams, 11th (Munford)

132:

1. Jacob Manuel, 12th (Houston)
2. Luke Kerns, 11th (Arlington)
3. Cody Longo, 11th (Bartlett)
4. Gabriel Geiser, 10th (White Station)
5. Alberto Ortiz, 12th (Kingsbury)

138:

1. Justin Donahue, 11th (Arlington)
2. Collins Fisher, 11th (Houston)
3. Zach Walsh, 10th (Collierville)
4. Jacob Van Kirk, 10th (Bartlett)
5. Joshua Love, 11th (Brighton)

145:

1. Harrison Phillips, 12th (Arlington)
2. Tanner Spiecha, 11th (Houston)
3. Devon Lane, 11th (Kingsbury)
4. Antonio Washington, 10th (Bolton)
5. Ian Thompson, 12th (Collierville)

152:

1. Dalton Cockman, 11th (Arlington)
2. Ndayambaje John, 12th (Kingsbury)
3. Caleb Poston, 10th (Houston)
4. Logan Sprague, 10th (Collierville)
5. Tre Pasteur, 10th (Bartlett)

160:

1. #3 Dontae Johnson, 12th (Kingsbury)
2. #6 Untwaun Braswell, 12th (Germantown)
3. Josh Worley, 12th (Arlington)
4. Joseph Dawson, 12th (Houston)
5. Brian McCoy, 11th (Cordova)

170:

1. Austin Antcliffe, 11th (Arlington)
2. Jashawn Adell, 11th (Munford)
3. Trenton Jones, 10th (Houston)
4. Samuel Jenkins, 11th (Cordova)
5. Cole Thompson, 10th (Bartlett)

182:

1. Cade Young, 10th (Houston)
2. Tyler Longo, 11th (Bartlett)
3. Adam Milton, 9th (Arlington)
4. Spencer Scardino, 12th (Collierville)
5. Malcolm Johnson, 12th (Cordova)

195:

1. Jack Lewis, 12th (Arlington)
2. Luc Lennassi, 11th (Southwind)
3. Solomon Chambers, 12th (Bolton)
4. Demear Darling, 12th (Germantown)
5. Deion Harris, 10th (Houston)

220:

1. Zach Phillips, 11th (Bartlett)
2. Jared Dawson, 10th (Collierville)
3. Terio Allen, 11th (Kingsbury)
4. William Orsborn, 10th (Brighton)
5. Tyler Adams, 9th (Munford)

285:

1. #6 Cameron Oliver, 12th (Bartlett)
2. Kerry Frankland, 11th (Houston)
3. John Worley, 10th (Arlington)
4. Matthew Bedford, 11th (Cordova)
5. Sean Brown, 10th (Southwind)

[Nainten]

Thanks for posting these, Coach.  I am a fan of the work you have done at KHS in a time where Memphis programs pop in and out of existence like quantum particles.  Hoping your kids do well at state.  

Edited February 9, 2018 by Nainten

[Nainten]

So based on seeding this would appear to be the projected order of finish (again...if the seeds run pretty close to true):

Arlington	219
Houston	159
Bartlett	154
Collierville	100
Kingsbury	91
Bolton	52

The race will be close between Bartlett and Houston for second and Collierville and Kingsbury for 4th.