NC Made Noise at the Journeymen Fall Classic — Five placers, an Overflow title and wins over state champions from four states.

NC United Wrestling

Schenectady, N.Y. | October 2–4, 2026 | By NC United Wrestling

The Journeymen Fall Classic has become one of the toughest fall tournaments in the country, and this weekend North Carolina made noise in it. Eighteen NC wrestlers took on a main-event field packed with the best of the Northeast — New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut — and came home with five main-event placers led by a runner-up finish, an Overflow title, wins over state champions from Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Arizona, and eight wins over All-Americans.

A field built to test you

Journeymen draws from the deepest wrestling states in the country, and it showed. Among the roughly 390 high school wrestlers in the main event were at least 135 state placers from 24 states — 36 from New York and 19 from Pennsylvania alone — along with 44 state champions, more than 50 All-Americans and nearly 20 nationally ranked wrestlers. Wyoming Seminary, Blair Academy and the top clubs of the Northeast filled the brackets, and the Women's World Classic held alongside it brought national teams from Germany, Italy, Japan and Poland.

That is exactly why North Carolina keeps coming. With Super 32 only weeks away, Journeymen is the closest thing to a dress rehearsal: the same caliber of opponent, the same pressure, and an honest read on where every wrestler stands before the biggest event of the fall.

Lopez reaches the final at 215

Green Hope senior Gavin Lopez was North Carolina's best finisher, placing 2nd at 215. He swept his pool 3–0 — two pins and a 7–1 decision over Wyoming Seminary — to reach the final, where he fell 8–2 to unbeaten NHSCA All-American and Pennsylvania state placer Sawyer Ermigiotti.

Padgett places 5th at 215

Croatan senior Luke Padgett joined Lopez on the podium at 215, placing 5thout of the same pool-play bracket. He pinned Greens Farms Academy's Lincoln Snell and beat Wyoming Seminary's Konrad Kutt 4–1, then closed his weekend with a 13–4 major decision in the 5th-place match over New York's Landon Lee, a two-time NHSCA All-American. His only losses were a 4–2 decision to Blair Academy's Thomas Kellas and a 6–1 decision to the unbeaten champion, Sawyer Ermigiotti.

Raper takes down two state champions

South Rowan sophomore Carson Raper placed 5th at 113 pounds with a 3–1 weekend. He opened with an 11–0 major decision over Virginia 5A state champion Cayden Clark, then beat Massachusetts state champion and NHSCA All-American Sam Winship 11–4, and won the 5th-place match 10–4. His only loss came against Nelson Villafane, who went on to win the bracket.

Amiott battles through the deepest bracket in the building

Topsail junior Jake Amiott placed 6th at 152. He opened with a 6–4 win over 2026 NHSCA All-American Micah Engelman, edged New Jersey state placer Nate Keller 2–1 in tiebreaker, and on the backside beat Arizona Division I state champion Nick Meza 4–3. Both of his losses came against nationally ranked wrestlers, the last a 6–5 decision in the 5th-place match against #25 Matthew McDermott, a two-time NHSCA All-American and New York state runner-up.

McNair beats a nationally ranked wrestler and a state champ

Wakefield senior Tobin McNair placed 6th at 170. He tech-falled Connecticut state champion Vincent Rivera 19–4, then beat Devon Weber of Greece, N.Y., ranked No. 16 nationally by MatScouts and No. 20 by Sports Illustrated, 4–1. Weber placed third in New York Division I last season. McNair's 5th-place match was a one-point loss to an NHSCA All-American.

From the Overflow to the main event

Cardinal Gibbons junior Luke Richards earned his way in. In Friday's Overflow he won the 130-pound bracket, going 4–0 against a 22-man field and outscoring his opponents 51–4. That run included two tech falls and a 12–3 major decision over New Hampshire state champion and NHSCA All-American Francisco Juvera, and he won the final 7–1 over Pennsylvania's Zaine Campbell. Luke kept rolling in the main event, going 2–1 in his pool with a 17–2 tech fall over a Blair Academy wrestler. NC United's Stephen Cross also beat Juvera in the Overflow, 8–2.

Around the brackets

• Davie senior Carson Worrick major-decisioned Rhode Island state runner-up Anthony Lombardi 13–2.
• Hough junior Adrian Feliciano beat 2025 NHSCA All-American Jake Schiavone 4–3.
• Piedmont senior Jaxon Thomas beat Georgia 6A state placer Brighton Prine 8–6.
• New Bern teammates Jacob Perry and Xavier Bernthal each went 3–2 with wins over New York state placers.
• Topsail sophomore Braylen Yates went 2–2, falling 1–0 to Virginia 6A state champion Dustin Kohn.

Also competing for North Carolina: Aiden Campbell (Havelock), Vincent Valentino (Laney), Aidan Szewczyk (Davie), Holt Quincy (North East Carolina Prep), Coy Deel (West Craven) and 2026 NCISA state champion Max McNeer (Charlotte Christian).

Every match from the weekend, with opponent accolades, is on each wrestler's RecruitNC profile. Next stop: Super 32.