Junior Duals Preview

Now that 14U and 16U Duals are over, we turn our heads to Milwaukee where Junior Duals is going down. And now New York is bringing a team, which is loaded with some of the Empire State's best wrestlers. This New York squad will only be competing in the Freestyle portion of the event, so tune in on Friday and Saturday and watch them compete against 40 other teams, which is live on FloWrestling.

This team is anchored by New York superstars and top 100 national recruits in Cooper Merli, Finnegan O'Brien, Griffin LaPlante, and Tavio Hoose. Returning Fargo All-American Zach Caldwell is also in the lineup. Merli (120) has been a buzzsaw over the course of his career and is one of the most hard-nosed and battle tested wrestlers we have. He just recently beat Oumar Tounkara who placed 8th in the Junior Freestyle division at Fargo. Griffin LaPlante (157) competes in just about every national event including GFC, Super 32, Escape the Rock, Ironman, etc. You name the event, LaPlante is probably there. He has wrestled the best kids (and continues to beat them). O'Brien is such a phenomenal freestyle competitor, and he has a 4th place finish at the 15U US Open to prove it. Tavio Hoose continues to be in and out of the national rankings, and has solidified himself as a top 100 recruit by multiple national ranking outlets. And you can surely never count out Zach Caldwell - the former Fargo All-American is always a tough out and is one of New York's best upperweight wrestlers.

Super high on Philly Provenzano (144) and Jacob McVige (150) this weekend. Provenzano has turned the corner in the last 12 months and has tremendous upside as he heads into college while McVige has performed well in all three styles against the best competition over the last year.

Both Brayden Kellison (126) and Louden Elliott (138) have "flown under the radar", but both have continued to be some of the best freestyle and greco wrestlers in New York over the last few years. Similarly, Will Clanton finally broke through this year and landed on the podium at the state tournament - he has also placed 3x at Northeast Regionals, and is wrestling in a division with limited lightweights. Fully expect Clanton to have a solid weekend.

Intrigued to see Tanner Catrabone (113) up a few weight classes (and up a division). This could also very well be a coming out party for Rory White (165) on the national stage - after not making the state tournament last year he dominated most of the competition in New York, and he consistently stays in great position and capitalizes off opponents mistakes. Liam English (175) is up a weight class as well, but he was impressive at the Journeymen World Classic en route to his 4th place finish, and should have a solid performance.

Lastly, the "Murderers Row" at the 190, 215, and 285 weight classes with Hoose, Caldwell, and Belmonte should be a treat for all of us in New York to watch.

100 - Forfeit

106 - Will Clanton (Catskill)

RESUME
- HM 2027 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- 2025 D2 8th at 101
- 2025 NY GR State Champion
- 2025 NY FS State Champion
- 3x NE Regionals Placer (‘24 FS 3rd, ‘24 GR 6th, ‘25 GR 2nd)
- 2025 Journeymen World Classic 8th

113 - Tanner Catrabone (St. Francis)

RESUME
- #9 2028 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- 2025 D1 State Runner-Up
- 2024 Northeast Regionals FS 2nd

120 - Cooper Merli (New York Military Academy)

RESUME
- #3 2026 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- #100 Overall Recruit in 2026 (MatScouts)
- Ranked 17th at 120 lbs (MatScouts)
- 2x D1 State Champ, 3x D1 State Finalist (Q-1-1-2)
- 3x NHSCA All-American
- 2025 Journeymen World Classic 2nd

126 - Brayden Kellison (Williamsville NE)

RESUME
- #20 2027 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- 2024 State Placer, 2x State Qualifier (6-Q)
- 2x NY FS State Champion (‘25, ‘22)

132 - Finnegan O’Brien (Chaminade)

RESUME
- #2 2028 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- #77 Overall Recruit in 2027 (MatScouts)
- 2x State Placer (3-3)
- 2x Super 32 All-American (7th, 1st)
- 2024 US Open 15U FS 4th
- 2025 Journeymen World Classic 3rd
- 2025 NY FS State Champion
- 2025 NE Regionals FS 1st

138 - Louden Elliott (Carthage)

RESUME
- #48 2026 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- 2025 D1 State Qualifier
- 2025 NY GR State Champion
- 2025 NY FS State 5th

144 - Philly Provenzano (Fairport)

RESUME
- #17 2025 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- 2025 D1 State Runner-Up
- 2025 NY FS State Runner-Up
- 2025 NHSCA Senior Nationals R12

150 - Jacob McVige (Honeoye Falls-Lima)

RESUME
- #16 2026 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- 3x State Placer (4-Q-7-2)
- 2025 NY GR State Champion
- 2025 NY FS State Champion

157 - Griffin LaPlante (St. Francis)

RESUME
- #2 2026 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- #84 Overall Recruit in 2026 (MatScouts)
- Ranked 11th at 157 lbs (MatScouts)
- 2025 State Champion (5-X-2-1)
- 3x NHSCA All-American (8-4-1)
- Grappler Fall Classic All-American (2024)
- Super 32 All-American (2021)
- 2x PowerAde Placer, Ironman Placer, Escape the Rock Placer

165 - Rory White (St. Francis)

RESUME
- #19 2026 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- 2025 D1 State 4th

175 - Liam English (Berne Knox Westerlo)

RESUME
- #20 2026 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- 3x State Placer (7-5-X-3)
- 2025 Journeymen World Classic 4th

190 - Tavio Hoose (St. Francis)

RESUME
- #7 2026 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- #47 Overall Recruit in 2026 (FloWrestling)
- 2x NHSCA All-American (4-5)
- 2x State Finalist (Q-1-2-X)

215 - Zach Caldwell (St. Francis)

RESUME
- #14 2026 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- 2x State Medalist (2-7)
- 2024 16U Fargo FS All-American

285 - Chris Belmonte (New Hartford)

RESUME
- #8 2026 New York Recruit (NYWN Big Board)
- 2x State Medalist (Q-3-2)
- 3x NHSCA All-American (5-2-1)
- 2025 Journeymen World Classic 3rd