Based on the publicly available results of all matches in Japan, here are the top five wrestlers in each weight class. There is always room for debate, and there may be some errors in the data, but... these are rankings are right ;-) 1. Bobby Crisafulli (Kinnick) 2-0 A tech and a pin started off Bobby's season with a bang. After beating Christian (HM), he'll be looking to keep the momentum going the rest of the year in this deep weight class. 2. Shawn Dobberfuhl (ASIJ) 3-1 His 5th at Far East in 2020, his pin against Matthew (#4 at HWT), his tech against Luke (HM), and his 10-9 loss to Toy (see below) give Shawn the slight edge over Noah (#3). 3. Noah Cruz (Yokota) 5-1 How does a 12-10 win against Matthew (#4 at HWT) and pins of Braden (#4) and Jeffrey (#5) to go on top of scoring 15/15 team points for the Panthers against other D2 schools sound? Noah's only loss so far was by pin to Toy (see below). 4. Braden Dudley (Kubasaki) 4-2 Starting out the season 3-0 while shifting up to HWT a little, Braden looks pretty good so far. His losses are to Noah (#3) and Toy (see below). 5. Jeffrey Woolard (Zama) 2-1 While not being a name we've heard called in previous years, Jeffrey has done what it takes to score max team points in two of Zama's three dual meets, losing only to Noah (#3). Honorable mention: Luke Robottom (St. Mary's) 1-1, who tech'ed Noah (#3) to take fifth at the 2020 Far East, has lost only to Shawn (#2) this year. Christian Hecox (EJ King) 1-1, who's only loss so far is to Bobby (#1), is maybe a sign of the impending rise of EJ King in the Far East standings. Special mention: Toy Williams (Osan) was one of the "lost year" wrestlers (2021 grads) allowed to participate in the Azabu Ward tournament. He was #2 at the 2020 Far East, but he tore through this year's Top Five in the 215 bracket, pinning Braden (#4) and Noah (#3), and decisioning Shawn (#2) in the final to make up for last time. Toy is an assistant coach at a high school near where he goes to college in the US, so it was great to have him back in Japan working with, and dropping knowledge on, the kids a little bit (though I'm sure these three are glad they'll never see him as an opponent on the mat again).
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