Malvern Prep, Wyoming Seminary, and Blair Academy are locked and loaded to battle for a National Prep team title, and we'll see a bunch of amazing matchups along the way. Here's what you need to know before National Preps kicks off.

Three Team Race

We didn't have a normal team race in 2021 as COVID-19 shifted Preps to an open and limited who participated. Still, it can't be ignored that Malvern Prep walked away with 6 individual champions and were the defacto champs. This year, Malvern, Wyoming Seminary, and Blair are all bringing strong squads with a chance to win the whole thing.

The chart below shows the projected points, placement, and the number of qualifiers for the top 15 teams in the field based on their wrestlers' pre-seeds. These projections don't factor in bonus points.

The top three teams will get a lot of attention, but don't overlook the ridiculous level of talent represented but the rest of the teams in the top 15 of this tournament.

Wyoming Seminary is projected to score 203 points, punch six through to the finals, and place 13 on the top five steps of the podium. If they can do that, they'll be tough to beat. Top seeds for Sem include #1 Nic Bouzakis, #3 Meyer Shapiro, #6 Joe Sealey, and #5 Jude Correa. Bouzakis and Shapiro are massive favorites, but Sealey and Correa could be tested.

Malvern Prep is also expected to score an uncanny amount of points at 197. They have four projected champs, 12 seeded in the top five, and the entire squad is projected to finish on the podium. Their top seeds are #4 Anthony Mutarelli, #11 Nick O'Neill, #9 Caden Rogers, and #1 Nick Feldman. Like Sem, two of their top seeds are pretty impenetrable (Mutarelli and Feldman) while the others could be tested (O'Neill and Rogers).

Blair finds themselves with some ground to make up on Sem and Malvern with a projected 183 points, but don't count this squad out. #6 Leo Deluca, #1 Marc-Anthony McGowan, #13 Lorenzo Norman, and #3 Danny Wask are all top seeds and 12 of their 13 qualifiers are expected to finish on the podium. Some key matchups could open the door for them to snag this title. 

106 lbs

Seeds

106 - 1 (#4) Anthony Mutarelli, Malvern Prep

106 - 2 (HM) Davis Motyka, Wyoming Seminary

106 - 3 Brady Kaupp, Green Farms Academy

106 - 4 (HM) Jacob Bond, Baylor School

106 - 5 Cal Werden, Western Reserve

106 - 6 Sean Garretson, Archbishop Spaulding

106 - 7 Liam Davis, Lake Highland Prep

106 - 8 Dominic Marinilli, Northfield Mt. Hermon

106 - 9 Ellis Kirsch, Bullis School

106 - 10 Matt D'Arcy, St. Benedict's Prep

106 - 11 Caleb Haney, St. Christopher's School

106 - 12 Benny Simpson, Bishop Lynch High School

For much of the year, the finals of this bracket appeared like it would be a rubber-match between #4 Anthony Mutarelli and #6 Cooper Hilton, but Sem’s lineup has shifted up which makes Mutarelli a big favorite.

Davis Motyka is the second seed. A strong performance from him could prove critical for Sem’s team title hopes, but with Lake Highland Prep’s Liam Davis and Green Farms Academy’s Brady Kaupp in his potential path, he’ll need to be sharp.

113 lbs

Seeds

113 - 1 (#6) Leo DeLuca, Blair Academy

113 - 2 (#6) Cooper Hilton, Wyoming Seminary

113 - 3 (#13) Tommy Link, Malvern Prep

113 - 4 (#16) Carter Nogle, Mount Saint Joseph

113 - 5 Evan Boblits, St. Mary's Ryken

113 - 6 Lane Foard, Benedictine Prep

113 - 7 Jack Parker, St. Christopher's School

113 - 8 Vincent Paolucci, Archbishop Spaulding

113 - 9 Brody Gobbell, Father Ryan High School

113 - 10 Zeno Moore, Lake Highland Prep

113 - 11 Andrew Pimental, Belmont Hill

113 - 12 Alex Ropski, Christian Brothers

Cooper Hilton, the #6 ranked guy at 106 lbs, is up at 113 where he’s slated to see #6 Leo DeLuca in the finals. DeLuca will expect to see a tough #16 Carter Nogle in the semis Nogle’s 5th place performance at Beast of the East proved that he’s tough, but DeLuca will still be favored to make the finals.

On the bottom half, Hilton will have to get past Malvern Prep’s #13 Tommy Link, an Army commit who was 3rd at Beast of the East and Escape the Rock this year in addition to his runner-up finish at Powerade. Link will look to use his experience and mat savvy to get past the freshman Hilton and avenge his Ironman loss to DeLuca in the finals.

120 lbs

Seeds

120 - 1 (#1) Marc-Anthony McGowan, Blair Academy

120 - 2 (#4) Luke Lilledahl, Wyoming Seminary

120 - 3 (#16) Jack Consiglio, Malvern Prep

120 - 4 (HM) Billy Dekraker, McDonogh School

120 - 5 (#8) Ethan Rivera, Lake Highland Prep

120 - 6 (HM) Coleman Nogle, Mount Saint Joseph

120 - 7 (HM) Brycen Arbogast, Benedictine Prep

120 - 8 Emmitt Sherlock, Gilman School

120 - 9 Sulayman Bah, Kiski School

120 - 10 Robert Pavlek, The Hill School

120 - 11 Cameron Helton, Lakeway Christian Academy

120 - 12 Judson Jarret, Baylor School

120 - Alt Joseph Stoerzinger, Green Farms Academy

This bracket has nice depth with four guys in the top 20 and three more who are close. #1 McGowan and #4 (113) Lilledahl are favorites to make the finals, but #8 (113) Rivera, #16 Consiglio, Dekraker, Nogle, and Arbogast will look to throw a wrench in that matchup.

If we see McGowan vs Lilledahl it will be for the first time this season as Lilledahl is up from 113. This would truly be a world-class final as both McGowan and Lilledahl are Cadet World finalists, McGowan a champ and Lilledahl a silver medalist.

126 lbs

Seeds

126 - 1 (#11) Nick O'Neill, Malvern Prep

126 - 2 (#19) Matty Lopes, Blair Academy

126 - 3 (HM) Casen Roark, Father Ryan High School

126 - 4 (HM) Jackson Bond, Baylor School

126 - 5 Matt Hart, Western Reserve

126 - 6 (HM) Brady Pruett, Archbishop Spaulding

126 - 7 Joe Couch, Bullis School

126 - 8 Tyson Sherlock, Gilman School

126 - 9 Hunter Sloan, The Hill School

126 - 10 Colin Kacena, Lake Highland Prep

126 - 11 Christian Fretwell, Wyoming Seminary

126 - 12 Luke Murray, Peninsula Catholic School

126 - Alt Keegan McMahon, Paul VI

Nick O’Neill is ranked 11th in the country and has victories over second seeded #19 Matty Lopes at both Journeymen and Germantown this year. At his best, O’Neill looks unstoppable, but he has had down moments this year that could give the rest of the field some hope.

Lopes isn’t the only challenger here. Casen Roark, Jackson Bond, Matt Haret, and Brady Pruett have all had strong moments this season. Roark and Bond just met in the Tennessee state finals last week while Hart and Pruett are no strangers to the national circuit.

Matty Lopes & Nick O'Neill's match at the Journeymen Fall Classic

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132 lbs

Seeds

132 - 1 (#1) Nic Bouzakis, Wyoming Seminary

132 - 2 (#19) Spencer Barnhart, Malvern Prep

132 - 3 (HM) Ibrahim Ahmed, Blair Academy

132 - 4 Dyson Dunham, Benedictine Prep

132 - 5 Joel Brown, Landon

132 - 6 Jacob Wright, Mount Saint Joseph

132 - 7 TJ Langley, Western Reserve

132 - 8 Nate Askew, Baylor School

132 - 9 Freddy Pimental, Belmont Hill

132 - 10 Holleran, St. Benedict's Prep

132 - 11 Tallion Elliott, Bullis School

132 - 12 Enzo Bell, McDonogh School

132 - Alt Luis Bazan, Lake Highland Prep

This bracket is Bouzakis’ to lose, but he will likely have Malvern Prep workhorse #19 Spencer Barnhart in the finals. Barnhart turned in consistently solid showings this season with a 4th place finish at Ironman, 5th place finishes at Beast of the East and Ironman, and a runner-up showing at Escape the Rock. He may see HM Ibrahim Ahmed of Blair Academy in the semis. If so, this would be a rematch of the Germantown finals, a bout Barnhart won.

138 lbs

Seeds

138 - 1 (HM) Kelvin Griffin, The Hill School

138 - 2 (#14) Paul Ognissanti, Blair Academy

138 - 3 Sp O'donnell, Malvern Prep

138 - 4 Sam Cartella, Western Reserve

138 - 5 (HM) Kai Owen, Wyoming Seminary

138 - 6 (#18) Elijah Rivera, Lake Highland Prep

138 - 7 Will Levy, Landon

138 - 8 (HM) Clayton Gabrielson, St. Mary's Ryken

138 - 9 Luke Dionne, Northfield Mt. Hermon

138 - 10 Fisher Bejnerowicz, Rabun Gap - Nacoochee School

138 - 11 Judah Aybar, Loyola-Blakefield

138 - 12 Tyler Hood, St. Christopher's School

138 - Alt Adam Figler, Belmont Hill

This weight is fairly wide open which makes it important for the team race. Kelvin Griffin earned the top seed after a strong Escape the Rock performance where he finished second. He’s as tough as they come on the mat and may very well win this thing, but there’s a capable pack behind him.

#14 Paul Ognissanti is the highest-ranked 138-pounder in the mix he made the podium at Ironman, Beast of the East, and Powerade this season, and Blair may need a title from him to have a chance at snagging the team title. He has a tough path though as he’ll likely see the winner of #18 Elijah Rivera and Malvern’s SP O’Donnell in the semis.

Griffin’s potential semifinal opponent is seeded to be either Western Reserve’s Sam Cartella or Wyoming Seminary’s Kai Owen. Like Blair, Sem will look to 138 as a weight class where they can make up ground on Malvern Prep.

145 lbs

Seeds

145 - 1 (#3) Meyer Shapiro, Wyoming Seminary

145 - 2 (#18) Ethan Mojena, Lake Highland Prep

145 - 3 (HM) William Henckel, Blair Academy

145 - 4 (HM) Reed Fullmer, Malvern Prep

145 - 5 (HM) Brayden Ivy, Lakeway Christian Academy

145 - 6 Kailen Richards, Belmont Hill

145 - 7 (HM) Mekhi Neal, St. Mary's Ryken

145 - 8 Cale Roggie, St. Christopher's School

145 - 9 Ryan Money, Severn School

145 - 10 Matty Walsh, Loyola-Blakefield

145 - 11 Jedidiah Kim, St. Mark's School of Texas

145 - 12 Colin Nugent, Phillips Andover

145 - Alt Mac Russ, Montgomery Bell Academy

Wyoming Seminary’s #3 Meyer Shapiro has looked unstoppable for the last calendar year. In that time he has won titles at Powerade, Cadet World Team Trials, and, oh yeah, the Cadet World Championships. He’ll expect to see the winner of Reed Fullmer and Brayden Ivy in the semis then either #18 Ethan Mojena or William Henckel in the finals.

Mojena got the better of Henckel at Beast of the East where he was the champion, but Henckel is a Fargo champ who will look to flip that result in the National Prep semis.

Meyer Shapiro's Cadet World title

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152 lbs

Seeds

152 - 1 (#6) Joseph Sealey, Wyoming Seminary

152 - 2 (#8) Richard Fedalen, McDonogh School

152 - 3 Peter Kane, Green Farms Academy

152 - 4 (#9) Danny Nini, Lake Highland Prep

152 - 5 Joe Fisk, Archbishop Spaulding

152 - 6 (#14) Nick Kunstek, Blair Academy

152 - 7 Nathan Rickards, Malvern Prep

152 - 8 Ian McGehee, Memphis University School

152 - 9 Nicolas Barnabae, Mount Saint Joseph

152 - 10 Nolan O'Boyle, Norfolk Academy

152 - 11 Declan Casey, St. Pauls NH

152 - 12 Nick Stampoulos, St. Benedict's Prep

152 - Alt Shaymus Macintosh, Northfield Mt. Hermon

The top six in this bracket are rock-solid. Joe Sealey is one of the more entertaining wrestlers to watch in all of high school wrestling. His high octane offense wilts many opponents as evidenced by his Beast of the East and Powerade titles.

Sealey could see #9 Danny Nini in the semifinals. Nini was 3rd this year at Super 32 down at 138 and 3rd at Ironman at 144. The North Carolina commit will look to turn in a strong performance in a brutal bracket.

On the bottom half of the bracket, Columbia commit #8 Richard Fedalen will likely see the winner between Peter Kane and #14 Nick Kunstek in the semis. Kunstek is a Fargo AA and a Powerade finalist, but Fedalan would be the favorite in that one. A potential finals bout between Sealey and Fedalen would be a whole lot of fun.

160 lbs

Seeds

160 - 1 (#13) Lorenzo Norman, Blair Academy

160 - 2 (HM) Zane Cox, Benedictine Prep

160 - 3 Dom Federici, Wyoming Seminary

160 - 4 Colby Isabelle, The Hill School

160 - 5 Owen Quinn, Malvern Prep

160 - 6 Marcus Murabito, Green Farms Academy

160 - 7 Josh Boykin, Lake Highland Prep

160 - 8 Tre Wilfong, Charlotte Christian School

160 - 9 Colby Dalon, Lakeway Christian Academy

160 - 10 Mason Alley, Baylor School

160 - 11 Nathaniel Insko, Providence Day School

160 - 12 Mason Buckler, St. Mary's Ryken

160 - 13 Jeremiah Aybar, Loyola-Blakefield

Circle this bracket as critical for the team race. Blair's #13 Lorenzo Norman is the top man, and they'll need the heavy favorite to get it done. For Malvern and Sem, this is a weight where they could make or break their title hopes. Both Dom Federici and Owen Quinn have the ability to outplace their seed, and that could make all the difference.

170 lbs

Seeds

170 - 1 (#3) Danny Wask, Blair Academy

170 - 2 (#9) Jonathan Ley, Lake Highland Prep

170 - 3 (#19) Carter Schubert, Wyoming Seminary

170 - 4 Aidan Bowers, Christian Brothers

170 - 5 (HM) David Barrett, Northfield Mt. Hermon

170 - 6 Caleb Campos, Cannon School

170 - 7 Pearson Hill, Hopkins

170 - 8 Isaiah Wright, Malvern Prep

170 - 9 Zak Zindle, The Hill School

170 - 10 RJ Moore, Springside Chesnut Hill Academy

170 - 11 Riley Finck, St. Christopher's School

170 - 12 Noah Onkst, McDonogh School

170 - 13 Drew Baublitz, Spalding

#3 Danny Wask is a pretty big favorite at 170 lbs. He's been on fire for the past year with finals runs at Fargo and Powerade and a 4th place showing at Ironman. Those Powerade and Ironman brackets were two of the deepest high school brackets of the year.

Lake Highland Prep's #9 Jonathan Ley is capable of winning this bracket, but he'll have to bring his A-game if he wants to take out Wask. Wyoming Sem's #19 Carter Schubert is up from 160 lbs for the team in the absence of #5 Gabe Arnold, but he's still projected to earn third place points.

Keep an eye on Malvern Prep's Isaiah Wright who's seeded 8th. He's their lowest-seeded wrestler and has the most room to make up team points.

182 lbs

Seeds

182 - 1 (#5) Jude Correa, Wyoming Seminary

182 - 2 (#6) Jack Wehmeyer, Malvern Prep

182 - 3 (HM) Nate Taylor, Green Farms Academy

182 - 4 Gervacio Gonzalez, Christian Brothers

182 - 5 (HM) Omaury Alvarez, Baylor School

182 - 6 (HM) Bryce Phillips, Mount Saint Joseph

182 - 7 Luke Malveaux, St. Thomas

182 - 8 Roman Martinez, Blair Academy

182 - 9 Ruben Karapetyan, St. John's College

182 - 10 Andrew Lavayen, St. Stephens/St. Agnes

182 - 11 Nicholas Bell, Northfield Mt. Hermon

182 - 12 Reeves Baller, Liberty Christian School

182 - 13 Daniel Bittner, Belmont Hill

This bracket has some tough dudes like Nate Taylor, Gervacio Gonzalez, Omaury Alvarez, and Bryce Phillips, but all signs point to a finals rematch between #5 Jude Correa and #6 Jack Wehmeyer. When they two met at Ironman, Correa used a second-period rideout and third-period escape and counter takedown to notch a 3-0 victory over Wehmeyer at 190 lbs. Now Wehmeyer will look to even the score with significant team implications on the line.

Blair Academy's Roman Martinez is seeded 8th. An over-performance from him could boost Blair's shot at pulling off a surprise team title.

Jude Correa & Jack Wehmeyer's Ironman bout

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195 lbs

Seeds

195 - 1 (#13) Aiden Hanning, Northfield Mt. Hermon

195 - 2 John Dusza, St. Benedict's Prep

195 - 3 Ike Schimdt, Blair Academy

195 - 4 Wolfgang Frable, Wyoming Seminary

195 - 5 (HM) Andrew Connolly, Malvern Prep

195 - 6 Thomas Davanzo, Lake Highland Prep

195 - 7 Gerard Johnson, McDonogh School

195 - 8 Oliver Jones, Norfolk Academy

195 - 9 Riley Venos, Cannon School

195 - 10 Elijah Ellis, St. Mark's School of Texas

195 - 11 Titus Grumbles, Bay Area Christian School

195 - 12 Ezekiel Gayle, St. Mary's Ryken

195 - 13 AJANI BOND, Gonzaga College High School

Cornell commit #13 Aiden Hanning is the top dog at 195 lbs and a pretty big favorite to win the bracket. He's seeded to see John Dsuza in the finals. Ike Schmidt, Wolfgang Frable, and Andrew Connolly are the next three seeds for Blair, Sem, and Malvern respectively. Expect to see some head to head matchups with team implications on the line in this bracket.

220 lbs

Seeds

220 - 1 (#9) Caden Rogers, Malvern Prep

220 - 2 (#7) Tj Stewart, Blair Academy

220 - 3 (#10) Jack Darrah, Wyoming Seminary

220 - 4 Gabe Fisher, Montgomery Bell Academy

220 - 5 John Perdue, St. John's School

220 - 6 Evan Anderson, Western Reserve

220 - 7 KADARI MACHEN, Gonzaga College High School

220 - 8 Joshua Powell, St. Christopher's School

220 - 9 Webster Walls, Bishop Lynch High School

220 - 10 Matthew Hickey, Deerfield Academy

220 - 11 Peyton Rose, Nobles

220 - 12 James Doliscar, Northfield Mt. Hermon

220 - 13 Spencer Toth, Mount Saint Joseph

The top three seeds here represent the top three teams, so don't be surprised if the team race remains in the balance for the last couple finals of the event. All three of the top 220-pounders are ranked in the top ten in the nation, so this one should be fun.

The semi on the bottom half of the bracket is expected to be #7 TJ Stewart vs #10 Jack Darrah. Stewart has won his previous two meetings with Darrah. Their Ironman bout was pretty one-sided, but they had a much closer match in a dual later on.

#9 Caden Rogers will most likely see the winner of that semi. Rogers is a Lehigh commit who has been focused on college opens this year, but he could play a massive role for his team here.

285 lbs

Seeds

285 - 1 (#1) Nicholas Feldman, Malvern Prep

285 - 2 (#13) James Howard, McCallie School

285 - 3 (HM) Alex Semenenko, Poly Prep

285 - 4 Billy Brosko, The Haverford School

285 - 5 (HM) DJ Moehring, Wyoming Seminary

285 - 6 Dion Stutts, Memphis University School

285 - 7 Beau Edwards, Episcopal (TX)

285 - 8 (HM) Gabe Moore, Liberty Christian School

285 - 9 Samsom Okunlola, Thayer

285 - 10 Bryce Purnell, Archbishop Spaulding

285 - 11 Peyton Rose, Nobles

285 - 12 Gavin Bage, Mount Saint Joseph

285 - 13 Luke Hendricks, Mercersburg Academy

Nick Feldman is the top pound-for-pound wrestler in the country for a reason. He will most likely score bonus points all the way through this tournament, and that is no disrespect to #13 James Howard, Fargo champ Alex Semenenko, or anyone else in the field. Feldman has just been on another level. His Powerade final with #2 Jim Mullen is at the top of this article.

Wyoming Sem's DJ Moehring could help the team by improving on his #5 seed. Blair Academy's Losini Maka is unseeded, so obviously placement points from him would be massive for the team's chances at winning it all.