WIN’s 2013-14 Preseason High School Preview at 113 pounds
Editor’s Note: Between Aug. 8 and the start of the high school wrestling season, WIN’s high school columnist Rob Sherrill is taking a closer look at the top wrestlers in the country, weight by weight. What weight class a wrestler competes in is subject to change once the season officially begins.
By Rob Sherrill
Here’s how the top 113-pound preps finished in the WIN rankings last year, minus those who graduated:
Rk. Name Year Hometown / High School
1. Zahid Valencia Jr. Bellflower, CA / St. John Bosco
2. Stevan Micic Sr. Cedar Lake, IN / Hanover Central
3. Sean Russell Sr. Suwanee, GA / Collins Hill
4. Brent Fleetwood Sr. Smyrna, DE
5. Ke-Shawn Hayes Jr. Kansas City, MO / Park Hill
6. Davion Jeffries Jr. Collinsville, OK
7. Kaid Brock Jr. Stillwater, OK
9. Ethan Lizak Sr. Orefield, PA / Parkland
11. Scott Parker Sr. Perkasie, PA / Pennridge
12. Israel Saavedra So. Modesto, CA
13. Skyler Petry Sr. Janesville, MN / J.-Waldorf-Pemberton/Waterville-Elysian-Morristown
14. Nathan Boston Sr. Versailles, KY / Woodford County
15. Nick Piccinnini Jr. Setauket, NY / Ward Melville
19. Charles Tucker Jr. Blairstown Township, NJ / Blair Academy
20. Cameron Sykora Jr. Wheaton, MN / Border West
(tie) Sean DeShazer Jr. Wichita Heights, KS
(tie) A.C. Headlee Jr. Waynesburg, PA / Central
Last week, we told you about some of the incumbent 106-pounders, who likely will be at 113. Fleetwood, Lizak, Parker, Petry and Piccinnini all competed at this weight class in the off-season … albeit with a weight allowance. So did the wrestlers who squared off in the Junior National freestyle final, both of whom made appearances in the rankings at this weight last year: Elijah Oliver of Memphis (Tenn.) Christian Brothers and Brian Rossi of Lockport (Ill.).
Off-season OW (tie): Valencia, Micic, Brock
The three share the award for different reasons.
Zahid Valencia, top-ranked at 113, moved up to 120 pounds to win the USAW Folkstyle Nationals in Cedar Falls, April 6.
Valencia – Nobody at this weight class went all the way to 126 pounds, let alone experienced the success he had. Valencia was one of eight double Cadet National champions, winning his final 19 matches of the week in the FargoDome. That came on the heels of wrestling up a weight class, at 132, and up an age group, in the Junior National Duals. He went 9-2, posting a win over Iowan Fredy Stroker and losing to Michigan’s Zac Hall. Also the West Junior freestyle champion, Valencia had some losses, but had more than his share of quality wins against higher-level competition.
Stevan Micic of Indiana (blue) won the 2011 Cadet national championship.
Micic – The two-time Indiana champion lived up to the hype after being named the Asics First Team member at this weight class, breezing to the FILA Cadet National title and finishing fifth in the FILA Junior National freestyle meet. He didn’t allow a point in winning all seven FILA Cadet matches by technical fall, the last over Brock in the finals.
Kaid Brock
Brock – He shook off his FILA Cadet National finals loss to Micic by going 14-0 in the Junior National Duals, winning 10 matches by technical fall, then reaching the finals in a loaded 120-pound weight class at the Junior Nationals. He lost to Ohio State University-bound Nathan Tomasello, but won a pool which included four returning champions.
Biggest win: Piccinnini, whose 7-5 victory over Luke Pletcher of Greater Latrobe (Pa.), No. 2 at 106 last year, was emblematic of the performance the New York Kong team put on in reaching the All-Star Division finals of the AAU Scholastic Duals at Disney. Piccinnini was one of four Kong gold medalists.
Expect Pletcher to be one of the stars at this weight class a year from now.
Next week: 120 pounds.
