Top Uncommitted Juniors: Postseason Update #1
Top Uncommitted Juniors: Postseason Update #1
An update on how some of the nation's top uncommitted juniors did in their final tournament of the folkstyle season.
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With the high school postseason in full swing, we wanted to provide an update on how some of the nation's best uncommitted juniors are doing.
This first update focuses on National Preps as well as the Iowa, Indiana, and Texas state tournaments.
Shayne Van Ness is our second-ranked prospect on the 2021 Big Board. He finished his season in dominant fashion, with a 21-6 tech fall over Ironman champ Drew Munch in the Prep finals. Van Ness will finish the season #1 at 132 pounds.
Based on an Instagram post from January 1, the Blair junior's top five schools are Princeton, Michigan, Cornell, Penn State, and Rutgers. However, he's also received home visits from Nebraska and Iowa State, and there appears to be mutual interest on both sides about him looking at Ohio State.
Also winning a National Prep title on Saturday was McDonogh's Cooper Flynn, ranked fifth at 120lbs. Flynn, who is originally from Seymour, TN, won his first Prep title by beating Ryan Miller for the second time this season. Miller had previously defeated Flynn in the 2018 finals and 2019 semis at Preps. Flynn is #26 on the Junior Big Board.
The final wrestler we're looking at who won a Prep crown at Stabler Arena was Cole Deery of Malvern Prep. Deery, a transfer from Garnet Valley, will start next year as a top-three-ranked heavyweight and is currently 46th on the Big Board.
Moving to the Midwest, Drake Ayala won his second straight 3A title in Iowa. Ayala is ranked #2 at 120 for Fort Dodge and will likely end the folkstyle season there. The two-time Fargo champ is ninth on the Big Board. He has visited Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, and Iowa State.
Finishing off this inaugural update of top uncommitted juniors is Braxton Brown. He captured a 6A state title for Allen High School just outside of Dallas. Brown is ranked #7 at 113lbs.
Evan Bates continued a string of Chesterton upperweight success with a 220lb state title in Indiana. Were it not a loss due to injury time, he would've gone undefeated this season and ended up #10 in the country.
Coming up next week we'll be focusing on the state tournaments for California, New York, and Wisconsin. Out west, Cael Valencia and Andre Gonzales look for their first state titles. Up in New York, we'll be following lightweight hammers Stevo Poulin and Jordan Titus. Lastly Trett Joles is a heavy favorite in Wisconsin's Division 3 at 182.