Interesting concept. Wrestling411usa final high school rankings are out with fan voting for the final slot for each weight class. You can vote for the following NE wrestlers that are on the bubble for the last slot in their weight class: 112 lbs - George Billy; 125 lbs - Andy Pokorny, Alex Bridgeford; 152 lbs - DaVaughn Perkins; 160 lbs - Brock Smith

http://www.wrestling411usa.com/NewsDetail.aspx?id=4738

If that ranking does not have Pokorny in the top 12 then it loses all credibility. Double Fargo A.A. last year in a loaded weight class plus the success he had in other national tourneys in addition to the success he had in NE.

alex bridgeford should be ranked above pokorny bridegford has just won 4 nationals in a row brute,uni nationals, liberty, and kearny and plus he got out standing wrestler in brute, and kearney and pokorny didnt wrestle at ne of those tournaments

Andy will be wrestling at the CEWA Tournament in Raymond Central this weekend at 130 lbs. Possibly at the Golden Eagles Tournament next week (at 130 lbs.) and in two weeks at USA State Freestyle/Greco (probably 125 lbs. here). Alex can prove that on the mat. Each tournament is two in one (Folkstyle/Freestyle or Freestyle/Greco) that gives him six shots at beating Andy.

Sounds like you are being called out. I take Pokorny by 10 over Brigeford.

6 point tech falls in freestyle and greco, no need to score 10.

bridgeford can beat him, bridgeford always beats the people that arent expecting to get beat and theres no way that hes getin 10 points put over him nobodies schored back point on him this year and hes not going to let that happen this time either

I think admission just went up.....Can I buy my tickets earlier at the discount price?

I'll take Pokorny too, but I will give a big "at a boy" for Alex, he has done very well this off season....he's practicing and going to the big tournaments.

Andy, like many others are training for Freestyle and Greco....that's why you see them going to some of these other folkstyle tournaments....there's a time to stop one style and start the other...that time was about 6 or 7 weeks ago.

Alan, i take it Alex and Andy have never met up?

Pokorny would pin or tech Bridgeford. This should not even be a discussion.

I think they wrestled a few years ago when Alex was in 8th grade and Andy really took it to him. While I think Andy would win esp freestyle and greco since I'm not sure how good AB is here, people should not discount how talented Alex is or how much this kid has improved even since January. He's beaten some of the best in the country over the past few months and hasn't really been challenged. If anything, I would like to see Alex wrestle one more elite wrestler like Andy to get another idea of exactly how he measures up against the best.

These are the notable wins for Bridgeford in the past few months that I remember:

Derby Invite
W Maj Dec 14-4 over Trison Graham (2x SC Kansas)
-Graham also 5th Brute juniors
W Dec 8-3 over Tyler Caldwell (2x SC Kansas)
-only loss of Caldwell's career; Caldwell just won Brute sophomore nationals over nation's #1 rated sophomore at 135

State tournament
W Maj Dec over R Perkins 13-5

Liberty Nationals
W Maj Dec over R Perkins 11-1

WUSA Cadets
W Maj Dec over Dylan Carew, Iowa 13-4

Brute Sophomores
W pin over Craig Eifert, Michigan (5th in Michigan state)
W pin over Dan Frank, Colorado (Frank 2nd NHSCA sophomores)
W pin over Josh Chang, Arizona (3x Arizona SC)
-Chang's only loss this year during the season was to John Garza of Sunnyside AZ 10-8. Garza was very respectable at Reno with a 1-0 loss to the highly touted Boris Novachkov and a 7-6 loss to 3x Oklahoma SC Drew Partain.

I've also seen him whip Iowa SC Travis Taylor (Taylor also the Brute junior champion).

By the way I had to compile all this information to send in for the national ratings.

Great work HB. Let's remember Andy is a senior and Alex is a soph. Not too many soph even at a high level can beat seniors who are high level wrestlers.

They both are studs and hopefully Alex will be a Husker too.

alex ahs never wrestled freestyle or greco before so it might be good but hes a tough kid im a freshman with him and at skiool we are practicing freestyle and greco right now i way 150 and he can throgh me over his head

you can never tell who is better until they go head to head... alex has an impressive start but he has never been an through the summer scene or competed across seas like pokorney who has. pokorney is one of nebraska's toughest senoirs and still didn't mak a place at fila juniors...

Alex and Andy have wrestled multiple times with Andy never losing. Unless you want to count the UNO Summer league match that Andy was ahead 2-0 and injury defaulted early in the first period. The last two matches Andy won by pin in about 20 seconds and 16-0. I would expect a much closer match this time.

Andy did not place at FILA Juniors which is a rarity for him. It is a long time since he has not placed at a tournament. He has placed every time and every style at Fargo, FILA Cadets, in the Czech Republic, NHSCA Junior Nationals, etc. which are the toughest tournaments in the nation (and overseas).

At FILA Juniors, Andy lost to Moser from Bloomsburg University who nearly beat the champion in the semifinals. In the match with Moser, Andy was tied in the third period, but Moser scored last so he would win. Andy went for a desperation move at the end giving up three late points. Andy then beat a kid from Penn State fairly convincingly (6-0, 4-1). Andy lost his last match, which would have made him All-American, by giving up a take down with one second left in the match to tie it up. Unfortunately in a tie the last person to score wins. Andy’s last opponent was Anthony Robles from Arizona St. and last years Senior National Champion. Not bad for a high school kid competing in freestyle for the first time of the season, with eight practices, and competing with college kids. FILA Juniors may have been tougher than University Nationals because a couple of wrestlers in Andy’s bracket went further at University Nationals and one ended up as an All-American, but did not place at FILA Juniors.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Badger,

For summer wrestling, competing and doing well at the respective national duals (cadet/junior) and at Fargo are the ultimate tests. I'd say doing well at Fargo is especially important to kids from the Plains states to gain national recognition as many of the rankers are from the east/midwest.

alex has too wreslted cross seas im not exactly sure where but he was somewhere in the europe region ill have to ask him at practice today to be sure exactly where and alex has improved since the last times i've heard of him wrestling pokorny hes been askin people about how they think his match will go and hes excited to wrestle him this time and grade does not matter on the mat so senior sophmore doesnt matter

I'd disagree grade does matter, there's a pretty big jump from a 15-16 y/o to a 17-18 y/o. I just can't see how Pokorny doesn't destroy this kid especially in either FS or Greco, he's older, stronger, more experienced, and most likely has picked up alot of tricks from wrestling elite guys along the way.

Yep, age and maturity make a big difference. You don't see many freshmen or sophomores beating elite level seniors. I have no doubt that Pokorny would easily beat Bridgeford in either freestyle or greco.