Henckel-Stewart-Cunningham, Who Wins Ironman at 175 lbs?
Henckel-Stewart-Cunningham, Who Wins Ironman at 175 lbs?
The Ironman bracket at 175 lbs includes 8 nationally ranked wrestlers and a loaded trio at the top of William Henckel, Aaron Stewart, and Asher Cunningham.
The Ironman bracket at 175 lbs is one of the best we have seen in years. At the top we have three guys ranked in the top four in the country looking to win their first Ironman title. Wrestling fans will also be treated to five other nationally ranked wrestlers along with a boatload of credentialed guys currently outside of the top-20 looking to make a run and stamp their presence on the national scene. Here's what you need to know about the loaded 175-pound bracket at Ironman.
2024 Ironman
The Favorites
#2 (175) William Henckel, Blair Academy, NJ (Penn State)
#2 (165) Aaron Stewart, Warren Township, IL (uncommitted)
#4 (165) Asher Cunningham, State College, PA (Penn State)
The 175-pound Ironman field is up there for one of the deepest brackets we have seen in high school this year. In a bracket lined with Fargo champions and All-Americans, Super 32 champions and All-Americans, and guys who have had great success at Ironman in the past, this will be an awesome bracket to watch play out this weekend in Akron.
Penn State commit William Henckel is the #1 seed and probably the top favorite to win this insane bracket. Henckel is a past Fargo champion and has been second in Fargo the last two years, was a Beast of the East and National Prep champion last season, and also has been second and fifth at Ironman the last two years, including a controversial win over #1 (at 165) LaDarion Lockett in the semifinals in 2022.
Watch Henckel defeat Lockett in the 2022 Ironman semifinals
The #15 recruit on the Class of 2025 Big Board will not have an easy road as he will likely see the winner of #18 Maximus Norman and #19 Ethan Teague in the quarterfinals. Norman is a multiple time Fargo All-American while Teague was 8th at Super 32 this fall. After that, Henckel would likely see the winner of #6 Tyrel Miller and #8 Emmitt Sherlock. Both Miller and Sherlock were 7th at this tournament a year ago. Sherlock was 7th down in a loaded 165-pound bracket where he fell to Henckel in the consolation quarterfinals 5-1, while Miller finished 7th at 175 pounds.
The #2 seed at this weight is Aaron Stewart. Stewart has won four 16U Fargo titles between freestyle and Greco in the last two years and was also a triple-crown winner last season. Stewart is currently uncommitted as a junior but is the #7 ranked prospect on the Class of 2026 Big Board. Stewart will not have an easy road to the finals either, as he will likely see the winner between Nick Singer and Anthony Rinehart in the quarterfinals. Those two met in the blood round at Ironman a year ago and it was Singer who came away with the 3-1 win before finishing 7th as a freshman. Stewart would then likely set up a rematch from last years 157-pound Ironman semis with #4 (at 165) Asher Cunningham in the semifinals. Stewart came away with the 4-3 victory in an awesome match before going on to finish second while Cunningham came back for third.
Watch Stewart defeat Cunningham in the 2023 Ironman semifinals
That brings us to the last favorite in this insane trio, Asher Cunningham. Cunningham has made huge leaps in improvement year-to-year throughout his entire career and is now a must-watch guy in high school. Following the loss to Stewart in the semifinals a year ago, Cunningham has been on an absolute tear. Last season he finished 37-1 with a Powerade, Escape The Rock, and his first PIAA title along the way. Just to emphasize the improvements Cunningham has made year over year throughout his high school career his PIAA state finishes are 8th as a freshman, 4th as a sophomore, and dominated his way to the title last year as a junior. The Penn State commit also dominated his way to the Super 32 finals this fall before coming away with the belt with a wild 12-11 win over #5 Dominic Bambinelli in the finals.
Watch Cunningham win a WILD Super 32 final over Bambinelli
The #18 recruit on the Class of 2025 Big Board will likely see #14 Waylon Cressell in the quarterfinals. Cressell was 6th at Super 32 this fall and is a past Fargo All-American. A win there would then likely set up the much-anticipated aforementioned semifinal rematch with Stewart. With the jumps Cunningham has proven to have made throughout his career, do not be surprised if he's able to navigate this road and get his revenge over Stewart to make the finals.
The Contenders
#6 (175) Tyrel Miller, St. Edward, OH (Iowa)
#8 (175) Emmitt Sherlock, Gilman School, MD (Virginia)
Iowa commit #6 Tyrel Miller tops the list of the contenders here. Miller was 7th at this tournament a season ago and followed that up with a fifth-place finish at Powerade and was a runner-up in the D1 Ohio state tournament. The #71 recruit on the Class of 2025 Big Board would have to get through #8 Emmitt Sherlock in order to have a deep run in this bracket.
Sherlock was on both the freestyle and Greco U17 World Teams this summer and came away with a 5th-place finish in freestyle. Sherlock was also 7th at Ironman a year ago as well as a fourth-place finish at Beast of the East. The Virginia commit is currently #49 on the Class of 2025 Big Board.
The winner of the potential quarterfinal between these two could certainly put the country on notice and make a deep run.
Sleepers & Darkhorses
#14 (175) Waylon Cressell, Warren Central, IN (uncommitted)
Nick Singer, Faith Christian Academy, PA (uncommitted)
#19 (175) Ethan Teague, Stillwater, OK (Oklahoma State)
#18 (175) Maximus Norman, Baylor School, TN (Brown)
Anthony Rinehart, Crown Point, IN (Northwestern)
175 lbs Pre-Seeds
Complete Ironman pre-seeds for every weight are available here.
1. William Henckel - Blair Academy, NJ
2. Aaron Stewart - Warren Township, IL
3. Asher Cunningham - State College, PA
4. Emmitt Sherlock - Gilman School, MD
5. Tyrel Miller - St. Edward, OH
6. Waylon Cressell - Warren Central, IN
7. Nick Singer - Faith Christian Academy, PA
8. Ethan Teague - Stillwater, OK
9. Maximus Norman - Baylor School, TN
10. Anthony Rinehart - Crown Point, IN
11. Carson Mize - Marysville, OH
12. Colin Wooldridge - La Salle, OH
13. Dominic Sumpolec - Notre Dame-Green Pond, PA
14. Brian Chamberlain - Wyoming Seminary, PA
15. Jack Hoffman - Springboro, OH
16. Andrew Barford - St. Francis DeSales, OH
Prediction
This bracket is going to be absolutely bananas. While I think the top three seeds will stay at the top, the last five spots on the 175-pound podium could go a lot of different ways. I believe Cunningham has proven time and time again that he has the ability to learn from past losses and jump levels and will get his revenge over Stewart to set up the final and potential future room battle between him and Henckel. Henckel wrestles a very baseline style and always stays in position, while Cunningham is going to want to create as many exchanges as possible and have more points on the scoreboard when the dust settles. I think size and positioning will play a factor here as Cunningham is coming up from 165 lbs where he competed at at Super 32, while Henckel is a very good sized 175-pounder. I have Henckel coming away with his first Ironman title out of this bracket, but don't be surprised if Cunningham is able to create chaos and get the win.
1) William Henckel 2) Asher Cunningham 3) Aaron Stewart 4) Tyrel Miller 5) Emmitt Sherlock 6) Waylon Cressell 7) Maximus Norman 8) Nick Singer