The Nation’s best battle in The Snake Pit
On a brisk evening in the Lehigh Valley, some of the best grapplers across America came to do battle and determine who is the best wrestler in the nation. This event, powered by Flowrestling, is known as “Who’s Number One?,” and it was held on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Flowrestling invited the top two wrestlers in the nation at each weight class to square off in what is also known as The Snake Pit to decide who the real top dog is.
The event was highlighted by ending with two former collegiate national finalists in Chris Perry and Lehigh’s own Robert Hamlin wrestling at 190 pounds.
The battle between the two former NCAA finalists ended with Hamlin prevailing as a 4-1 winner over two-time NCAA Champion Chris Perry. A little side-note is that Robert Hamlin has never lost at Lehigh University.
The co-main event was between two of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in the nation. They weighed in at 170 pounds and both wrestlers were hungry for the title of best 170 pound wrestler in the nation. Mark Hall from Apple Valley in Michigan is a Cadet World Champion, and his opponent Anthony Valencia is Jr. World Team Member and Freak Show Champion.
Prior to the match, when asked about how he felt about the current rankings, Mark Hall uttered, “At the end of the day someone thinks that I’m number two, and that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”
Hall proceeded to shock the entire nation by beating Anthony Valencia by a major decision of 10-2. Hall absolutely dominated Valencia and left no doubt about who the top ranked wrestler should be at 170 pounds.
Although Anthony Valencia was wallowing in defeat, he was not the only Valencia wrestling in this event. His brother Zahid Valencia was doing battle at 182 pounds with one of the most offensive wrestlers in the nation in Myles Martin.
Zahid is one of the most decorated wrestlers in this event, and he has beaten an astounding eight wrestlers who were competing in the Who’s Number One event to go along with his three Fargo titles. Myles Martin boasts a single Fargo championship.
This match was a very low scoring affair and ended up with Zahid getting the better of Martin. Zahid beat Martin by a score of 3-1 in overtime in what was a very exciting and heart-stopping bout.
The record for the longest recorded match was also broken this night when Daton Fix and Nick Suriano fought for over thirty minutes for the title of number one wrestler at 120 pounds! Both wrestlers are very decorated having a Super 32 title and two Fargo titles between them. Suriano bested Fix though with a take down deep into the unlimited overtime, which made the final score 3-1.
A couple of Pennsylvania’s own also wrestled in the event. They included World Team Member Gavin Teasdale, Flonationals place winner A.C. Headlee, and PIAA State Champ Vicenzo Joseph. Team Pennsylvania finished the night 2-1 with two grapplers coming away with the title of number one wrestler in their respective weight classes.
Vicenzo Joseph defeated Minnesota recruit and Iowa State Champion Freddy Stroker by decision 3-2. Headlee ousted four time Fargo finalist Mitch McKee by decision as well, 5-3. Teasdale, however, suffered a tough loss to two time World Team Member Cade Olivas by virtue of a 3-1 decision.
Two other weight classes also crowned newly top ranked wrestlers at 152 pounds and 138 pounds. At 152 pounds, 2014 Fargo Champion Isaiah White scrapped with underdog wrestler David McFadden. McFadden recorded the upset via a key takedown in overtime to knock off the former top ranked wrestler at 152 pounds by a score of 3-1.
At 138 pounds, top ranked wrestler and Ironman Champion Ke-Shawn Hayes looked to defend his title against Blair Academy’s Matthew Kolodzik. Kolodzik had other plans, however, as he soundly beat Ke-Shawn Hayes, shutting him out by a score of 4-0.
Flonationals Champion Nick Piccininni took on Kaid Brock at 126 pounds to decide the top grappler. Brock pulled off the upset over number one ranked wrestler Piccininni, using a late two point move to take the match 3-2.
This concluded the second annual “Who’s Number One?” event powered by Flowrestling. It was a great success as Flo continues to do their best to pioneer and grow the sport of wrestling.
Visit this link for this year’s highlight video:
When Paul isn't practicing for wrestling or hanging out with friends, some of his favorite activites are staying active and eating. Paul Dunn is a Junior...