Below, we will take a weight class by weight class look at some of the top middle school wrestlers registered for this year’s event.

The 70-pound weight class will be led by Jett Strickenberger from Colorado. He’ll be joined by Brandon O’Brien and Drake Ayala of Iowa, and Samuel Hayes of Illinois. Others to keep an eye on include Benjamin Aranda of Illinois, Damion Elliott of California and Jager Eisch of Wisconsin. 

Cater Young of Oklahoma is expected to make a deep run in this year’s 77-pound weight class. However, if he wants to stand atop the podium he’ll have to get past the likes of Nicholas Novak of Minnesota, Cade Meier of Indiana, and Brock Harris of Colorado. Others to keep an eye on are Benjamin Kroeger of Nebraska, Austin Kegley of Iowa, and Nate Rubino of Nebraska.

The 84-pound weight class will be one of the toughest in the whole event. Leading the way will be National Triple Crown winner Cullan Scheriever. He’ll be the favorite to win this bracket but will have to bring his “A” game as he’ll have to get past Flo Tulsa National Champion Kellyn March, and Ohio State Champion Cole Skinner. Others who are expected to make deep runs are Nebraska State Champion Emilio Haynes, Braxton Brown of Texas, Riley Wertz of Missouri, and Brendan Schaaf of Wisconsin.

The 91-pound weight class will be led by Iowa Triple Crown winner Adam Allard. Allard will be the favorite to win the bracket but others who are expected to compete for the title include Wisconsin State Champion Jalen Spuhler, Nebraska State Champion Maxx Mayfield, and Illinois State Champion Vincent Zerban.

One of the top youth wrestlers in the country will lead the 98-pound weight class this weekend as Carson Manville from Virginia will look to capture his first major title of the season. In order to do so Manville will have to get past Brenden Johnson of California, Illinois State Champion Kendall Norfleet, and Trey Crawford from Missouri.

Flo Tulsa National Champion, Jimmy Pierandozzi of Illinois, will look to win his first major championship of the season. He’ll be a favorite in the 105-pound weight class that will also feature Daniel Valeria of Illinois, Sincere Baily of Illinois, and Cody Niemiec of Nebraska. Others to keep an eye on are Aiden Grimes of Iowa, Jared Spohn of Minnesota and Brice Coleman of Indiana.

Elijah Blake, a California State Champion, will look to win the 112-pound title this weekend. Others in the weight class who are looking to win include Colby Schriever of Iowa, Benjamin Stevenson of Wisconsin, and Jarrett Bischoff of Ohio.

Youth standout, Beau Bartlett, is the odds on favorite to win the 120-pound championship. Bartlett, who is one of the top youth wrestlers in the country will look to get past Braden Maertz of Wisconsin, JT Stinson of California, and Noah Villarreal of Illinois.

Albert Ferrari of Texas will look to win his first national championship of the season as he’ll compete in the 128-pound weight class. Ferrari will battle with Austin Boone of Michigan, Frankie Talshahar of Florida, Greyden Penner of Missouri and Noah Ross of Illinois.

Leading the 136-pound weight class will be Cael Meyer from Iowa, Colton Hawks from Missouri and Miles Beam from Colorado. Others to keep an eye on include Zachary Moore of Wisconsin and Quinn Sell of Minnesota.

Looking to take home the 144-pound title will be Gage Hockett from Oklahoma, Nathan Simmonds from Minnesota and Wyatt Strain from Indian. Others to watch are Ben Stemmet of Illinois and Gage Coppock of Wisconsin.

Wrestlers competing for a title in the 152-pound weight class include Avery Northquest of Minnesota, Dangelo Allen of Wisconsin, Koly Harrington of Iowa, Nick Stemmet of Illinois and Sam Molski of Wisconsin.

Leading the 160-pound weight class will be Illinois State Champion Brandon Hoselton. He’ll look for his first gold medal of the season as he’ll have to battle past Anthony Glauser of Illinois, Isaac Diaz from Wisconsin, and Logan Johnson of Minnesota.

Gavin Carter, Joseph Cioe, and Logan Wilson will battle it out with Bodie Minder and Eddie Martinez of Nebraska for a shot at the 175-pound USA Wrestling Preseason National Championship.

Illinois State Champion Jaco Kaminski will look to win the 190-pound title. He’ll have to get past Nathaniel Deasey of Arizona and Ryacn Cochran of Oklahoma.

Austin Kelso of Iowa and Craig Montgomery of Ohio will battle it out to take home the 210-pound championship.

A trio of wrestlers will try and win the 265-pound title as Braxton Murphy of Iowa, Jerrod Osterkamp of Wisconsin and Tyler Delooff of Michigan will compete in teh 265-pound weight class.

We’ll have complete coverage throughout the week and early next week as we’ll have a recap and list of top performers!