2019-20 ALL-USA Preseason High School Wrestling Team

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By USA TODAY High School Sports | November 21, 2019 11:19 am

The ALL-USA Preseason Wrestling team for the 2019-20 season was selected by Earl Smith of OpenMat in coordination with USA TODAY High School Sports based on past performance, level of competition and strength of schedule.

Statistics are from last season, except where otherwise noted. Players are listed in alphabetical order.

Click through the gallery to meet the players:

Braxton Amos School: Parkersburg (West Virginia) South Class: Senior Weight: 220 lbs College: Wisconsin Noteworthy: Amos, a two-time state champion who missed his entire freshman season due to injury, is the centerpiece of a strong 2020 recruiting class for the Badgers. He’s also a former freestyle and Greco-Roman champion at the 16U level.Photo: Mary Jo Childers

Beau Bartlett School: Wyoming Seminary (Kingston, Pennsylvania) Class: Senior Weight: 138 lbs College: Penn State Noteworthy: This year Bartlett will be aiming for his four National Prep Championship. The two-time Super 32 runner-up confirmed his number-one national ranking by winning at the Who’s #1 dual.Photo: Tony Rotundo

Nic Bouzakis School: Wyoming Seminary (Kingston, Pennsylvania) Class: Sophomore Weight: 126 lbs College: Undecided Noteworthy: Just a high school sophomore, Nic Bouzakis has already captured three Florida state championships before transferring to Wyoming Seminary. This offseason Bouzakis has won a Cadet freestyle national title in Fargo and the Super 32.Photo: Jim Thrall/MatFocus.com

Jakason Burks School: Burke (Omaha, Nebraska) Class: Senior Weight: 120 lbs College: Oklahoma State Noteworthy: In his first year at the Junior age level, Jakason Burks finished as a runner-up at Junior Nationals in freestyle and was third in Greco-Roman. Burks has already won a pair of Nebraska state titles.Photo:

Hunter Catka School: Sun Valley (Aston, Pennsylvania) Class: Senior Weight: 285 lbs College: Virginia Tech Noteworthy: Catka, who represented the US at the 16U world championships this past summer, is finally rounding into form after a knee injury cost him much of his junior season. He’s a 2018 state champion who is favored to do so again in 2020.Photo: Sun Valley Athletics

Rocky Elam School: Staley (Kansas City, Missouri) Class: Senior Weight: 195 lbs College: Missouri Noteworthy: Elam, like older brother Zach, will stay with the in-state Tiger for college. Like Stout, he was a 2018 16U freestyle national championship, but followed that up with a 52-1 season and a state championship last year, his first.Photo: Mark Lundy

Alex Facundo School: Davison (Michigan) Class: Junior Weight: 170 lbs College: Undecided Noteworthy: Facundo is a two-time 16U World Team member, taking home a pair of bronze medals in 2018 and 2019. He’s also a two-time state champion in Michigan and one of the nation’s top prospects in 2021.Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa Press-Citizen

AJ Ferrari School: Allen (Texas) Class: Senior Weight: 220 lbs College: Oklahoma State Noteworthy: Ferrari’s walked an interesting path to his senior year, missing most of his junior year following a transfer. That being said, he’s a multiple-time Texas state champion, a Walsh Ironman champion and former 16U World Team member. Photo: Joe Warner/Courier-Post

Richie Figueroa School: Selma (California) Class: Junior Weight: 113 lbs College: Undecided Noteworthy: A state champion in each of his first two years of high school, Richie Figueroa won the Walsh Ironman and Super 32 as a sophomore. This summer he competed in the Cadet World Championships for the second time; in 2018 he came home with a silver medal. Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa Press-Citzen

Paddy Gallagher School: St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) Class: Junior Weight: 160 lbs College: Undecided Noteworthy: Gallagher, a state champion in Ohio is 2019, is one of the most highly-coveted prospected in the 2020 class. He claimed his first freestyle national championship over the summer at the Junior level and is highly favored to repeat as a state championPhoto: Pat Gallagher

Gaige Garcia School: Southern Columbia (Catawissa, Pennsylvania) Class: Senior Weight: 195 lbs College: Michigan Noteworthy: Garcia will do both football and wrestling at the next level. The one-time state champ is also a star running back for a Southern Columbia looking to win four state championships in four years. On the mat he also helped the Tigers to a state title a year ago.Photo: Southern Columbia Athletics

Robert Howard School: Bergen Catholic (Oradell, New Jersey) Class: Senior Weight: 126 lbs College: Penn State Noteworthy: This spring, Robert Howard became the first American male wrestler to make Cadet World Teams in freestyle on three occasions. Howard also was a Youth Olympic Games gold medalist in 2018.

Nash Hutmacher School: Chamberlain (South Dakota) Class: Senior Weight: 285 lbs College: Nebraska (Football) Noteworthy: Hutmatcher is elite both on the mat and the gridiron. The three-time state champion will head to Nebraska and play football for Scott Frost at the next level. Photo: Laura Hutmacher

Ryan Jack School: Danbury (Connecticut) Class: Senior Weight: 132 lbs College: NC State Noteworthy: Heading into his senior season, Ryan Jack has already won three Connecticut State Open Championships, along with two New England titles. After the high school senior, Jack went to NHSCA Junior Nationals and finished in the top spot.

Patrick Kennedy School: Kasson-Mantorville (Kasson, Minnesota) Class: Senior Weight: 170 lbs College: Iowa Noteworthy: Kennedy is a mainstay in a loaded lineup for the powerhouse Kasson-Mantorville Komets. Last year he went 46-0 on the way to his third state championship. He then went out and claimed a Junior national championship in freestyle over the summer.Photo:

Cory Land School: Moody (Alabama) Class: Sophomore Weight: 106 lbs College: Undecided Noteworthy: This spring Cory won the Cadet World Team Trials in Greco-Roman and came in second in freestyle. He was also a runner-up in the preseason Super 32. Photo: Erica Ryleigh Photography

Marcel Lopez School: New London (Iowa) Class: Sophomore Weight: 106 lbs College: Undecided Noteworthy: Marcel became an Iowa state champion in 2019 as a freshman with a 44-3 record. Lopez entered the state tournament as the fifth seed and defeated the #1, #3, and #4 ranked wrestlers to capture his title. Photo: Bryan Houlgrave/Des Moines Register

Travis Mastrogiovanni School: Blair Academy (Blairstown, New Jersey) Class: Junior Weight: 152 lbs College: Oklahoma State Noteworthy: Mastrogiovanni recently pledged his commitment to join older brother Trevor at Oklahoma State. Travis, meanwhile, is a National Prep champion and a runner-up at this summer’s 16U World Team Trials.

Keegan O’Toole School: Arrowhead (Hartland, Wisconsin) Class: Senior Weight: 160 lbs College: Missouri Noteworthy: O’Toole’s start began to rise in the summer of 2018 where he won a freestyle national championship at the 16U level. He then went on to roll to a Wisconsin state title before finishing third at the national championships this past summer at the Junior level.

Dustin Plott School: Tuttle (Oklahoma) Class: Senior Weight: 182 lbs College: Oklahoma State Noteworthy: Plott, who is staying local in college to wrestle for the Cowboys, is a two-time state champion and a two-time national finalist in freestyle. He also holds a 2018 Super 32 championship to his name. Photo: Austin Bernard/Photography Sports

Stevo Poulin School: Shenendehowa (Clifton Park, New York) Class: Junior Weight: 113 lbs College: Undecided Noteworthy: Two-time New York state champion Stevo Poulin made his first Cadet World Team in freestyle this offseason. Poulin won a title at the Super 32 prior to his sophomore year of high school.Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa Press-Citizen

Sonny Santiago School: St. John Bosco (Bellflower, California) Class: Senior Weight: 152 lbs College: Arizona State Noteworthy: Santiago had himself a breakout season as a junior. He started the season with a third-place finish at the vaunted Super 32 tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina and finished it in style with a first-career California state championship.Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa Press-Citizen

Ryan Sokol School: Simley (Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota) Class: Junior Weight: 138 lbs College: Undecided Noteworthy: After having his freshman season interrupted by injury, Sokol came back strong to win his first Minnesota state title. On his way to a title at the Cadet World Team Trials in freestyle, Sokol outscored his competition 53-6.Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa Press-Citizen

Luke Stout School: Mount Lebanon (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Class: Senior Weight: 182 lbs College: Princeton Noteworthy: Stout, the latest in a long line of talented wrestlers from his family, won his first national championship in freestyle before a state championship. He’s a 2018 16U freestyle national champion and enters the high school season this year as the favorite to claim his first state title in folkstyle.Photo: Eleanor Bailey

Shayne Van Ness School: Blair Academy (New Jersey) Class: Junior Weight: 132 lbs College: Undecided Noteworthy: Van Ness was not able to break into the starting lineup at Blair Academy as a freshman, but he ascended all the way to number one in the nation as a sophomore. He won the Super 32, the Walsh Ironman, and the Beast of the East within the last year.Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa Press-Citizen

Jesse Vasquez School: Excelsior Charter (Victorville, California) Class: Senior Weight: 145 lbs College: Undecided Noteworthy: Vasquez, the top-ranked uncommitted 2020 wrestler in the country, in the two-time champion and three-time finalist in single-class California and has placed highly in a number of national tournaments. Photo: Excelsior Charter Athletics

Victor Voinovich School: Brecksville (Ohio) Class: Junior Weight: 145 lbs College: Undecided Noteworthy: This summer Voinovich made the finals of the Junior National freestyle tournament despite just having recently finished his sophomore year of high school. Voinovich’s big summer helped him become one of the top prospects in the Class of 2021.Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa Press-Citizen

Jesse Ybarra School: Sunnyside (Arizona) Class: Senior Weight: 120 lbs College: Iowa Noteworthy: In the summer of 2018, Jesse Ybarra won a Cadet National freestyle title in Fargo and took sixth in Greco-Roman. Ybarra solidified his his top ranking nationally by earning a win at the Who’s #1 dual meet in his future home, Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Photo: Patrick Breen/Arizona Republic

LOOKBACK: 2018-19 ALL-USA Boys Wrestling Team

AJ Ferrari, Alex Facundo, ALL-USA Preseason Wrestling Team, ALL-USA Wrestling, Beau Bartlett, Braxton Amos, Cory Land, Dustin Plott, Gaige Garcia, High School Wrestling Team, Hunter Catka, Jakason Burks, Jesse Vasquez, Jesse Ybarra, Keegan O’Toole, Luke Stout, Marcel Lopez, Nash Hutmacher, Nic Bouzakis, Paddy Gallagher, Patrick Kennedy, Richie Figueroa, Robert Howard, Rocky Elam, Ryan Jack, Ryan Sokol, Shayne Van Ness, Sonny Santiago, Stevo Poulin, Travis Mastrogiovanni, Victor Voinovich, ALL-USA, Wrestling

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2019-20 ALL-USA Preseason Wrestling Team announced

2019-20 ALL-USA Preseason Wrestling Team announced

Wrestling

2019-20 ALL-USA Preseason Wrestling Team announced

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