With the new wrestling season beginning and an upcoming meet on the 11th, Brandon Blancas, a 2024 state participant for high school wrestling and freestyle, is one of the many wrestlers to look out for this season, especially after a very successful off-season.
“He did a real good job this summer wrestling and coming in,” wrestling coach Canacari said. “He did freestyle and Greco tournaments, we went to some of those. So he’s got a lot more mat experience too.”
Canacari is expecting to see a lot of improvement from Blancas this season as he drops from weight class 157 to 150, hoping to help alleviate the competition and have a better chance with the matchups at state.
“Last year I placed eighth at regionals, which is the minimum to get into state. So I was going against the number two seed of the entire tournament, I believe, first round,” Blancas said while explaining how he was knocked out of state after an unlucky match-up.
However, this season with his experience and consistency over the summer he’s looking to qualify much higher.
Blancas’ main struggle last season was the injuries he acquired over the season, causing him to miss two tournaments from an elbow injury and ankle injury, then a knee injury a week before state leaving him at a big disadvantage.
“There’s just a lot of freak injuries. It’s just one of those years where, I mean, those things happen,” Canacari said about the injuries.
However, this season Blancas is off to a strong start, placing first in his weight class in the most recent Highland Park tournament where wrestling World Champion Melvin Douglas made a surprise appearance in support of all the wrestlers at the tournament.
Along with Blancas many other Topeka High wrestlers placed top three in their respective classes with those placing in 2nd being: Cooper Martin (12), Jordan Stiner (11), and Tayleon Flores (12). Those placing in 1st being: Jose Gomez (10), Michael Weatherly (11), Brandon Blancas (11), and Nick Davis (12).