Looking Forward: The Ten Unanswered Questions of the 2008-2009 Season: Part I of a two-part series.

(above): While the competitive days of archrivals David Taylor and Jamie Clark have ended, they will be re-united as teammates at Iowa State in the years to come.

With the wrestling season just around the corner, I thought it was time to forecast what some of the biggest stories should be for the upcoming season.  Traditionally, this site has produced articles breaking down the biggest state match-ups, but I decided to take a different approach this year and preview the ten biggest stories of the upcoming season.  The order on these stories is completely random- nothing should read into it at all. What follows is the first of a two-part series:

1. Will David Taylor continue to dominate?

In a word, yes. However, many pundits have questioned whether Taylor- already one of the most decorated wrestlers in state history with five titles in Fargo, three Ironman titles, and three state titles to his credit (along with a Super 32, Beast of the East, and Junior World Team Trials Championship)- will be able to continue his almost unmatched dominance moving up four weight class from 112 to 135 lbs.  There is a school of thought that while Taylor will continue to excel, his dominance (without having any data to back me up, I highly suspect that Taylor and Logan Stieber have the largest percentage of pins and technical falls over their careers in Ohio history) will be somewhat diminished as the strength of wrestlers at 135 lbs. could have a great impact.  As one knowledgeable observer (who wished to remain anonymous) put it “will David Taylor continue to win? Sure he will.  But we won’t see all the technical falls we are used to seeing from him.  He’ll go from wrestling boys to wrestling men, and is going to have to win a lot more 5-2 and 7-3 type matches this year.  The superior strength of his opponents will slow him down.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him even take a loss or two at Super 32 or Ironman.  It will be a year of adjustment for Taylor I think.”

I must disagree, for two distinct reasons.  First, Taylor was never among the strongest wrestlers at 103 or 112 lbs., yet he dominated.  This was particularly true his freshman year, where he basically gave up ten pounds to his opponents by match time, yet he won Ironman (over no less than Boris Novachkov) and Beast of the East.  Second, an almost perfect analogy can be made between Taylor and Kyle Lang, who moved from 112 to 140 last year.  Lang, is a tall, lanky competitor who relies more on leverage and technique than strength- much like Taylor- and it cannot be seriously disputed that his performance improved dramatically after making the move.   Of course, exceeding the dominance of his 2007-2008 campaign will be no easy task- as only Jamie Clark, Cam Tessari and Cody Neff went the distance with Taylor (with Tessari and Neff losing by major and Neff getting teched in approximately 3:00 a week later in the state finals).  Nevertheless, seeing Taylor against a completely new set of opponents- possibly including outstanding Ohio state champions Brad Squire, Seth Horner, Zach Hancock, or nationally ranked competitors Chris Villalonga (of Blair) or Josh Kindig of Pennsylvania- will certainly be one of the most interesting parts of the upcoming season.

(above): Colt Sponseller brought the home crowd to intensity level approaching hysteria by lighting up Jake Kerr of Iowa here with ten straight takedowns.

2. Can Colt Sponseller regain his mojo?

It’s no secret that Colt Sponseller has been the personal favorite wrestler of this writer since this site began in 2005. So, you can imagine how great it was to see Sponseller follow up torching the nation’s best seniors at 160 lbs in 2007-2008, including Sean Nemec (3x state champ), Paul Paddock (national finalist and 2x state champ), Ryan Smith (Junior National Runner-up), and Justin Zeerip (four-time state champ who finished a staggering 252-0 in his career),  Eventually, even the most ardent Sponseller naysayers (you know who you are) ran out of excuses for his opponents and had to recognize his unique brilliance.  After missing the early part of the season due to a wrist injury, Sponseller quickly got to work on dominating the collegians with his riveting style, racing out to a 16-0 record which included wins over six wrestlers who either were or had been ranked in the top 20, usually by very lopsided margins and with about six to ten takedowns per match.  No question, Buckeye fans found something to cheer about as Sponseller brought down the house with victory after inspiring victory supplied not be lavish talent, but by old-fashioned concepts that this young man from amish country so ably personified- hard work, hustle, insane conditioning, and heart.  Watching him completely “break” good college wrestlers (who could barely even stand by the end of the match in many cases) time and time again, many- though they won’t admit it now- had Sponseller pegged for the top spot on the ultimate podium in folkstyle wrestling.

It took one of the best seniors in any weight class, Eric Tannenbaum, to derail the Colt Express.  Tannenbaum, a 5th year senior to Sponseller’s true frosh status- entered with a list of accomplishment a mile long- in high school, a two-time junior national freestyle champ who lost just once in his career, in a match in which he had a huge lead only to get pinned late in the bout).  In college, he finished as a four-time NCAA All-American.  The list of top wrestler he defeated was a long one- but suffice it to say that it includes Mark Perry, Zach Esposito, and Brent Metcalf, dynamic NCAA Champions all.  This bout was perhaps the most anticipated for Ohio fans of the year- but it did not go quite the way we had hoped. The much stronger Tannenbaum was able to capitalize on Sponseller’s aggressiveness, catching him coming in with solid doubles and high crotches that were impeccably timed.  While we all waited for Tannenbaum to run out of gas as so many others had- it never happened, and as he controlled the action Sponseller took ill-advised risks to try to push the pace, leading to more Tannenbaum takedowns and a 10-4 final which left the fans stunned and with a rather empty feeling.  At the end of the bout, there was no denying the obvious- that Ohio’s favorite son was not ready to challenge a wrestler of Tannenbaum’s caliber just yet.

After that, it seemed that the freshman from West Holmes, while still competing hard, lost his “edge” just a bit, and a number of other losses to opponents who were very good- but guys that it would seem he would have beaten earlier in the year- followed.  It seemed that Sponseller started building momentum his junior year with the epic win over Nemec, and each successive dominating performance after that gave him more “juice” than he had before.  The loss to Tannenbaum took away from his momentum (though the did have a great win versus Jarrod King of Edinboro afterward, it should be noted).  The culmination was at Big Ten’s where he finished a shocking 0-2, pretty much the last thing any of us expected.  The prior naysayers rushed in to minimize prior achievements.  Particularly agitating was watching resident idiot of Ohio Wrestling, the grammar-challenged dimwit who hails himself “Takedowns Win Big Bouts” (thank you Captain Obvious) exulting in Sponseller’s Big Ten failure with celebratory but often incomprehensible rants on themat.com.  However, looking to the Big Ten performance more carefully than simply saying “0-2” the facts are that he lost a controversial overtime match to a guy ranked in the top 15 himself (who then lost in overtime to the 2x NCAA Champion Mark Perry), and after that, he lost to a guy who finished within a single win of All-American status in Luke Manuel.  Basically, the combination of not peaking at the right time with a horrendous draw was the “perfect storm” which ended Sponseller’s freshman season. 

So the question that remains is, will Sponseller be able to re-ignite that passion which made him such a special competitor?  In my view, the answer is yes, and his disappointing season will only have motivated him to correct flaws which were exposed by Tannenbaum and others and dominate even more With the superb top duo of Perry and Tannenbaum graduating, while I will not predict a specific finish- suffice it to say that in my opinion there is nobody here that is out of Colt’s reach.  We shall see soon enough.

3. Is Felipe Martinez the second coming of Chris Phillips?

As the knowledgeable readers of this site surely know, freshman middleweights or upperweights performing at a very high level is virtually unheard of in high school wrestling (with only John McGhee and Ty Morgan winning titles above 119 lbs. their frosh season), so Chris Phillips stepping in at 171 lbs and proving he was among the nation’s best at 171 (and quite possibly THE best) from day one was simply jaw-dropping.  Phillips immediately seized the status of “most followed wrestler in the state” vacated by the graduated Sponseller from the first tournament of his career (with all apologies to David Taylor and Logan Stieber).  One year later, history could repeat itself as Graham middleweight freshman Felipe Martinez appears poised to dominate at 130 lbs.  Reports out of Jeff Jordan’s Summer Camps have the freshman looking dynamite to say the least, and nothing that I saw on the recent flowrestling videos disproved that.  It could seem that “FelipeMania” (I’m trademarking this phrase now) will be the next big sensation in Ohio wrestling.

With speed, power, and technique, Martinez is the total package, but what really seems to separate “Felipe” (as he is known to fans in this state) in my view is his uncanny balance and agility.  Look for Martinez to make a huge splash at Ironman where he will place high and possibly win.  Sure, it sounds crazy- but it would have sounded crazy to say that Phillips would do what he did last year at Ironman, or that sophomore in high school Logan Stieber would have won beat the nation’s best 19 and 20 year olds to win FILA Junior Nationals.  We are in a very unique era of talent in this state in my view- with Taylor, Stieber, Phillips, and possibly Martinez all likely to end up among the state’s all-time best (one senior, one junior, one sophomore, one freshman), at a very special level where folks like Fried, Dustin Schlatter, and Luke Fickell reside.  I realize that this is WAAAY premature, but mark the prediction now.

(above): Don't believe him if he says it's just another win- Jeff Jordan and Graham celebrate a long awaited and decisive win over St. Edward.

4. How many state champs will Graham Produce?

Even with Adam Walls transferring, the answer to this question in my view is at least six, and possibly as many as nine.  Simply put, Graham has as strong or stronger of a lineup as the did last year, and the talent level in Division II this year appears to be lower than it has been in any year that I can recall, at least as far as truly elite talent is concerned (with the exception being at 112-119 lbs. which are a minefield).  How bad is it?  Out of the top 25 seniors in the soon-to-be-released power rankings, just two hail from a Division II school other than Graham- Nick Mills and Jacob Vaughan.  At this point, I forsee Nick Brascetta (if at 103), Zach Neibert, Tucker Armstrong, David Taylor, Brian Stephens, and James Mannier all starting off ranked #1, with Felipe Martinez, Matt Stephens, Kyle Ryan and Max Thomusseit all being very strong contenders (if not favorites) themselves. 

Throw in a very tough frosh in Isaac Jordan at 112 and state placer Meyer (or possibly Felipe’s brother Joe Martinez) at 152, and weaker than normal competition, and it is difficult not to see the state points record being shattered.

(above): Nick Mills showed a great combination of talent and toughness in giving Chris Phillips his toughest bout of the year in the Brecksville Finals.

5. Will Nick Mills, Brian Stephens, and Jacob Vaughan capture that elusive state title?

My answers here are- probably, probably, and possibly.  After a sophomore year that saw Mills hampered by injury at state and slump to 6th place (despite having beaten the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers previously), Mills reached the Semifinals and appeared to be on his way to the finals with a two-point lead over Keith Witt with less than a minute to go.  However, the Oak Harbor senior would score an escape and late takedown and go on to become one of three Oak Harbor state champions.   Mills rebounded by defeating the excellent Zach Thomusseit for 3rd place.  Mills has the ability to perform brilliantly at times- such as the Thomusseit match and his very respectable showing against Chris Phillips at Brecksville- but at other times appears to wrestle unfocused.  My bet is that the move to 189 will accentuate his quickness advantage, and he will put together a banner season. 

However, there is one competitor in Division II who can seriously challenge Mills.  St. Paris Graham (imagine that) junior Max Thomusseit lost his wrestle-off with James Mannier at 160 lbs last year prior to Ironman, and with his brother Zach having 171 locked up, promptly moved all the way up to 189 where he didn’t miss a beat, finishing 3rd in the state despite being greatly outsized by his competition.  This was one year after placing at state as a freshman at 130 lbs.  While there is no denying that the younger Thomusseit competed in an exceptionally thin weight class talent-wise (compared to Division I and Division III), there is also no denying how impressive the performance was.  This year, Thomusseit has reportedly bulked up into a legitimate 189, and one would expect him to become a force at this weight.   This could be the start of a great rivalry- or more appropriately, the continuation of a great rivalry that Mills had with Thomusseit’s older brother over the past two seasons.  We should see match-ups between them at Ironman, Top Gun, possibly at state duals, and in the state finals.  As an aside, the competition at 189 will be excellent in all divisions- with Tumlin, Isley, and Lamberg in Division I, and Miller and Bowers in Division III.

(above): Brian Stephens won this Ironman battle with archrival Zack Hancock of Troy Christian.

Brian Stephens has earned the #1 ranking the past two years in the OWS rankings and in the Brakeman Report as well.  After losing an overtime barnburner to a red-hot Brian Dean (who he completely dismantled a few months later at freestyle state) his sophomore year in the state semis, Stephens rebounded for 3rd, and followed that up with another excellent season his junior year.  Heavily favored to capture his first state title, Stephens instead saw the wheels come off on his season with a devastating overtime loss to previously unheralded Jeremy Maiwurm of Orrville. Maiwurm would prove himself to be no “flash in the pan” as he beat the top three ranked wrestlers in the state on his way to a bronze medal, but the next Stephens match- a 6-2 loss to Anthony Munafo- was beyond explanation.  Coach Jordan was said to himself be completely at a loss to explain Stephens’ performance, but the most common theory seemed to be excessive weight cutting, and Stephens is reported to be moving to 140 or even 145 lbs. this year.

Frankly, I would be very surprised to not see Stephens win his first state title.  With his toughest competition likely to be state champion Harrison Hightower, Stephens has to like his chances, given that he beat Hightower 15-9 last year.  In my opinion, Stephens enjoys too great an advantage on his feet over mat wrestler Hightower and is too explosive off bottom to get ridden or turned by the University School junior- and having David Taylor in the room has to help when training for tough mat wrestlers.  Should Stephens move all the way up to 145, he could face a very stiff test in Jonathan McGookey (3rd in the state last year at 145 losing to Ben Jordan of Graham).

Jacob Vaughan’s career seems to mirror that of Stephens in many ways.  Both put together highly impressive freshman campaigns, placing at the 112 lb. weight class.  Both were legitimate title contenders their sophomore season, but it did not materialize.  And both were heavily favored their junior seasons, only to completely collapse at state.  Vaughan was hampered first by injury his sophomore year, and then perhaps by personal distractions his junior year.  While his flame-out at state his junior year was a complete shock, I think the future Buckeye gave a much better representation of his abilities at Brecksville, where he beat state champ Hancock and frankly handled 3x state finalist Ryan Fields in the semis (only to walk into a “broomstick” by Joey Lazor of Georgia and lose by fall in the finals) by his wins over state champ Tommy Pretty and Tucker Armstrong, and most of all, but his national title at NHSCA Juniors where Vaughan defeated a number of nationally ranked competitors.   Clearly, a big issue for Vaughan is consistency.

(above): Jacob Vaughan scrambles with Joey Lazor of Georgia. Vaughan would lose this match after knocking off Ryan Fields and Zack Hancock.

However, an even bigger issue for Vaughan will be the likelihood of a showdown with super-frosh Felipe Martinez (see above). With Taylor at 135, it would seem likely that Vaughan will compete at 130- and his match with Martinez could be one of the highlights of the state finals.  Adding to the drama would be the fact that while both teams wrestle very tough schedules, they will not see each other prior to state (unless their teams meet at state duals).

Stay tuned for Part II of this, counting down the rest of the top ten questions of the upcoming season.  

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- OhioWrestlingSite.com