62 Nationally Ranked Wrestlers This year’s Beast of the East field is one of the deepest we’ve seen in awhile. With 62 wrestlers currently ranked in the top-20 in the country in their respective weight classes, expect there to be a ton of high-level early-round matchups and plenty of shakeups in the rankings when the […]
62 Nationally Ranked Wrestlers
This year’s Beast of the East field is one of the deepest we’ve seen in awhile. With 62 wrestlers currently ranked in the top-20 in the country in their respective weight classes, expect there to be a ton of high-level early-round matchups and plenty of shakeups in the rankings when the dust settles.
Can Faith Christian Academy Win Another Major Tournament?
We saw Faith Christian Academy win the 2024 Ironman team title just two weeks ago with a dominant performance. The Lions closed out the tournament with 9 place-winners, 3 champions in Fred Bachmann at 113 lbs, Joe Bachmann at 120 lbs, and Adam Waters at 190 lbs, and won by an astounding 35.5 points over runner-up Bishop McCort. Following Ironman, Faith Christian Academy took over the #1 ranking in The Flo 40 High School Wrestling Team Rankings. However, just six days later the Lions were dethroned from the top ranking as Wyoming Seminary bounced back after a third-place team finish at Ironman and defeated Faith Christian 32-24 in an incredible dual meet. We will see if Faith Christian can bounce back and go back-to-back in major tournament wins to open the 2024-25 season.
Can Anthony Knox Win His 3rd Beast Title?
#1 Anthony Knox is on a farewell tour in his final high school season and his first two stops on the tour included notching his fourth Who’s Number One victory in September to become the first four-time WNO champion, and followed that up by winning his third Super 32 title in October. Knox will look to keep the ball rolling this weekend and win his third Beast of the East title. However, there is no easy road to a Beast title and with guys like U17 World Bronze medalist #6 Keanu Dillard, #9 Gauge Botero, and #11 Gabriel Ballard in the 126-pound bracket, Knox will need to bring his A-game to come out on top.
Watch Every Anthony Knox Victory At Who’s Number One
The Bachmann Bro’s
#1 Fred Bachmann has already made an incredible splash early in his high school career. The U17 World silver-medalist won a Super 32 title at 113 lbs back in October and followed that up with an Ironman title two weeks ago. We saw Fred’s older brother Joe Bachmann (#5 at 120 lbs) win just about everything last year as a freshman with a Super 32, Ironman, Beast of the East, and PIAA title and picked up his second Ironman crown two weeks ago as well. The dynamic 1-2 punch of the Bachmann brothers is a huge catalyst for Faith Christian Academy as both have very dynamic styles and can put up a ton of points. Those two will be in very deep 113 and 120-pound fields and will look to take some more hardware home this weekend to add to their trophy case.
Watch the Bachmann brothers win Ironman titles at back-to-back weights
#1 Ryan Burton vs. #2 William Henckel at 175 lbs
A #1 vs #2 matchup looms to headline the 175-pound bracket. We saw Ryan Burton and William Henckel hit this summer in the Junior 175 lb Fargo final, and it was Burton taking the 4-2 victory after taking a 4-0 lead early in the second period off of a shot-clock point, a step out, and a go behind before Henckel turned up the pace and looked to mount a comeback as he scored a takedown late in the second period but just ran out of time. These two seniors are seasoned vets as Burton is the #13 recruit on the Class of 2025 High School Big Board while Henckel is #15, both are returning Beast of the East champions, and both have competed in Who’s Number One events. Most recently, we saw Henckel mount an INSANE comeback in the Ironman finals against #4 Asher Cunningham after trailing 10-3 heading into the third period before taking the 15-12 win in sudden victory. Henckel put his ability to make adjustments on full display in that match. Can he make the necessary adjustments to find a way to get the win against Burton? Tune in this weekend to find out!
Watch Burton vs. Henckel in the 2024 Junior Fargo Final
Watch Henckel’s Insane Comeback Against Cunningham in the 2024 Ironman Final
So tune in LIVE on FloWrestling this Saturday and Sunday for the 32nd Annual Beast of the East for all of the action!
