This weekend is the 41st annual Dapper Dan Classic which will be held in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania starting at 5 PM CT and the action will be streamed on Flowrestling. Three wrestlers with Iowa ties will be competing in the classic, including two Iowa natives which we broke back in January.
PA vs. USA
113: No. 6 Devin Brown (Franklin Regional) vs. No. 1 Jabari Moody (Rich Central, Ill.)
120: David Pipa (Bishop McDevitt) vs. No. 7 Elijah Oliver (Washington, Ill.)
126: No. 10 (at 132) Korbin Myers (Boiling Springs) vs. No. 1 Nick Piccininni (Ward Mellville, N.Y.)
132: No. 5 A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg) vs. No. 6 Jared Prince (Palm Harbor University, Fla.)
138: No. 1 Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area) vs. No. 6 Davion Jeffries (Broken Arrow, Okla.)
145: No. 1 Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional) vs. No. 2 Max Thomsen (Union, Iowa)
152: No. 2 Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) vs. No. 2 (at 145) Fredy Stroker (Bettendorf, Iowa)
160: No. 2 Josh Shields (Franklin Regional) vs. No. 5 (at 170) Joe Smith (Stillwater, Okla.)
170: Te’Shan Campbell (Penn Hills) vs. No. 4 Fox Baldwin (Osceola, Fla.)
182: No. 13 Kellen Stout (Mt. Lebanon) vs. No. 2 Myles Martin (McDonogh, Md.)
195: No. 14 Jan Johnson (Governor Mifflin) vs. No. 1 Lance Benick (Totino Grace, Minn.)
220: No. 7 (at 285) Andrew Dunn (Bethlehem Catholic) vs. No. 3 Austin Myers (Campbell County, Ky.)
285: No. 15 Alan Beattie (Burrell) vs. No. 2 Zack Chaknois (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.)
Four-time state champion and Iowa’s all time wins leader Max Thomsen (Union) will be the starter for USA at 145 pounds and he will be going up against the #1 ranked wrestler in the nation Mike Kemerer of Franklin Regional. Kemerer is an Iowa commit and Thomsen is headed to Northern Iowa which could be the start of a nice instate rivalry for the next few years.The last time these two wrestlers met was in the Super 32 finals in a preseason tournament in North Carolina with Kemerer being the victor 9-4 (video on Flo here).
“This is an honor to represent Iowa,” Thomsen said. “This is a huge opportunity to get a potential rematch with Michael Kemerer. Kemerer has been on my mind since he beat me at Super 32.”
The other Iowan wrestling in the Dapper Dan is Bettendorf star and four-time state finalist Fredy Stroker, who will be going up against an old friend Vincenzo Joseph of Pittsburgh Central Catholic at 152 pounds. Stroker, who is originally from Pennsylvania decided to move up to rematch Joseph after the pair wrestled at Fargo this past July. “This is a great honor to be a part of The Dapper Dan Classic. I used to attend the classic as a young kid dreaming of being on Team Pennsylvania.” Stroker said. “Now that I represent Iowa I have a great opportunity to be on Team USA.”
At Fargo both wrestlers bumped from 138 to 145 for the freestyle tournament and Joseph upset Stroker 8-0 to advance to the finals. Stroker was the #1 ranked 138 pound wrestler in the country at the time. Later in the fall Stroker and Joseph would meet again in a folkstyle battle for Flowrestling’s Who’s #1 event, which Joseph came out on the winning end yet again although Stroker was able to keep it much closer.
There will also be an undercard to the USA all-stars vs the PA all-stars which will take place before those matches. The undercard matches will be five minute matches consisting of two periods of two and a half minutes in length always starting in neutral.
WPIAL vs. Illinois
113: Austin McDermitt (Burgettstown) vs. Francis Edelen (Oak Forest)
120: Brendan Howard (Jefferson-Morgan) vs. No. 15 Michael Cullen (Cary Grove)
126: Tyler Kenney (Connellsville) vs. No. 17 Kris Williams (Thornwood)
132: Josh Ridgeway (Norwin) vs. Alec McKenna (New Trier)
138: Dom Giannangelli (Franklin Regional) vs. J.J. Wolfe (Dakota)
145: No. 7 (at 152) Josh Maruca (Franklin Regional) vs. No. 15 Eric Barone (Crystal Lake South)
152: Paul Dunn (Bethel Park) vs. No. 18 Luke Fortuna (Montini Catholic)
160: Jared Walker (South Fayette) vs. No. 18 Matt Rundell (Oak Park River Forest)
170: Brooks Wilding (Upper St. Clair) vs. Carver James (Dakota)
182: Josh Bahr (West Allegheny) vs. No. 8 Xavier Montalvo (Montini Catholic)
195: Zach Smith (North Allegheny) vs. No. 3 Andrew Marsden (Crystal Lake Central)
220: Fred Mantsch (Hempfield Area) vs. Tyler Johnson (Lockport)
285: Tyler Mears (Greater Latrobe) vs. D’Andre Johnson (Glenbard East)