Vote: Who should be SBLive's Upper Weight National Wrestler of the Week (3/5/2024)?
It's time once again for you to help us decide who is SBLive Sports National High School Upper Weight Wrestler of the Week.
Below are the details on the candidates we have selected for your consideration. Share this post with your friends, family, teammates and classmates and encourage everyone to support the wrestler they find most deserving. You can vote as often as you like and the winner will be announced in next week's poll. Voting ends on Sunday, March 10th at 11:59 p.m. (Pacific).
Congratulations to last week's winner: Luke Simcox of Central Mountain (Pennsylvania).
Here are this week's nominees:
Sonny Amato (Rumson-Fair Haven, NJ) 144 – Amato, a freshman, who is ranked 17th in the country, showed the big stage at Boardwalk Hall was not too big for him as he took out No. 13 August Hibler (Leonia), 2-1, to reach the finals, where he beat No. 15 Alex Nini (Christian Brothers), 11-5.
Mason Barvitskie (Southern Columbia, PA) 145 – The unranked Barvitskie met No. 16 Reagan Milheim of Warrior Run in the AA Northeast Region finals and posted an upset win, 3-1.
Cooper Rowe (Mound-Westonka, MN) 152 – Rowe is not in our rankings and squared off with honorable mention Cash Raymond of Simley in the AA state finals where he won in overtime in the tiebreaker period, 3-2.
Nick Kunstek (Pottsville, PA) 160 – Both Kunstek (No. 14) and his AAA Northeast Region finals opponent No. 8 Gunnar Myers (Wallenpaupack) are ranked nationally at 165, as when they’ve had to choose between 157 or 165 for tournaments outside of Pennsylvania, they were at 165. Kunstek pocketed the region title with a 6-3 win over Myers.
Landen Johnson (Massillon Perry, OH) 165 – Johnson is unranked in the nation but didn’t let that phase him in the DI Hoover District finals where he beat honorable mention Evan Rizzo (Brecksville), 7-4.
Kevin Olavarria (South Dade, FL) 175 – Olavarria beat his 3A state finals opponent, No. 25 Gunner Holland (Osceola) at the state duals. Holland got him back with a pin in the Colby Singletary finals. Olavarria won the meeting with the most prestige, 4-3, for the Florida state crown.
John Murphy (St. Michael-Albertville, MN) 189 – Murphy and his finals opponent, Apple Valley’s Marcell Booth, are not nationally ranked, but each beat a nationally recognized wrestler to advance to the AAA state finals. Murphy beat honorable mention Aydan Carlson (St. Francis), 8-7, while Booth took out No. 11 Cole Han-Lindemyer of Farmington, 5-4 in the UTB. Murphy got the best of Booth, 7-5 in OT, for the state glory.
Vincent Lee (Delbarton, NJ) 215 – Until two weeks ago when the No. 24 Lee beat No. 25 Hudson Skove (Rumson-Fair Haven) in the regions, he was not ranked. Lee backed that win up with another over Skove for the state championship, 3-1, with a smooth takedown in overtime.
Dean Bechtold (Owen J. Roberts, PA) 285 – No. 22 Bechtold had a showdown with No. 18 Calvin Lachman (Quakertown) in the AAA Southeast Region finals and walked away the victor, 3-2.
Brody Kline (Berks Catholic, PA) 285 – You will not find Kline amongst our nationally ranked heavyweights, but you will find his AA Southeast Region opponent, Faith Christian Academy’s Mark Effendian, listed at No. 23. Kline needed the overtime tiebreaker to do it, but he executed the 4-2 upset.
