Logan Macri Turns Heads at Super 32 Challenge

GREENSBORO, N.C. – If Logan Macri wasn’t on the National radar before Saturday, he certainly is now.

Wearing an old Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic singlet, the Canon-McMillan junior certainly looked like an all-star, as he went 4-0 to reach the quarterfinals of the Super 32 tournament.

It wasn’t just the number of wins, but who they came against that created a buzz.

Macri beat California’s Nic Aguilar – a three-time Fargo national champion – in the round of 32, then knocked off North Carolina’s Esco Walker Jr., who won the NHSCA Junior title this year, to reach the quarterfinals.

FloWrestling has Aguilar ranked second at 113 pounds and Walker listed as No. 5 at 120.

In order to take a belt back to Canonsburg, Macri might need to beat two more nationally ranked wrestlers. He’ll face unranked Benyamin Kamali of Michigan in the quarterfinals. A victory there could put Macri in the semifinals against Colorado’s Colton Yapoujian (No. 5 at 113), and No. 6 New York’s Adam Busiello – the Super 32 champ at 106 a year ago – is a potential finals opponent.

Macri’s moments

Macri might not have been in the spotlight going into the tournament – he’s 71-20 in his high school career and has twice qualified for the state tournament but has not placed – but he certainly stole the show on Saturday.

He beat Massachusetts’ Jack Darling 9-2 in the first round, then majored Ohio’s Bryce Hepner (9-1) in the second round. It was his 3-2 victory that first got people talking at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Aguilar scrambled his way to a first-period takedown, but Macri used a switch and solid hip positioning to reverse him 30 seconds later to tie the match at 2.

Macri did a nice job of riding Aguilar for the entire second period, then took the lead when Aguilar cut him with a minute to go in the third. He held off Aguilar’s late attacks for the 3-2 victory.

Close call

Another one-point victory – this one an 8-7 win that required a third-period rally – pushed Macri into Sunday’s quarterfinal round.

Macri cut the corner on Walker for a first-period takedown, then escaped for a 3-0 lead. But Walker caught Macri off balance for a five-point move and a 5-3 lead going to the third.

A quick escape put Walker up by three points, but Macri kept battling, scoring a pair of takedowns and a technical violation while only giving up one escape point for the victory.

Macri will look to keep the momentum going when the tournament resumes at 8 a.m. Sunday.