As Mount Carmel wrestler and Missouri recruit Seth Mendoza chases history this season, he isn’t exactly ducking tough competition.
Mendoza won the 138-pound title at the Carnahan Memorial Tournament in Crown Point, Indiana, on Dec. 21, his latest event against national-caliber competition.
This comes after he faced two of the top 11 competitors in FloWrestling’s Pound-for-Pound national rankings at the Ironman Tournament in Ohio in early December. Mendoza is himself No. 10 in the Pound-for-Pound rankings.
“My bracket was pretty stacked (at the Ironman),” Mendoza said after getting a technical fall over Braylon Reynolds of Brownsburg (Ind.) in the Carnahan final. “I wrestled Sergio Vega in the semis and then in the finals wrestled Marcus Blaze.”
Vega, an Oklahoma State recruit from Sunnyside, Arizona, is No. 11 in the Pound-for-Pound rankings, while Blaze, a Penn State recruit from Perrysburg, Ohio, is No. 1.
Mendoza beat Vega 4-0 before suffering his first and only loss of the season to Blaze, 4-1.
“Obviously, there’s nothing to underestimate about him,” Mendoza said of Blaze. “He’s a really good competitor. So I was super excited because I’ve never wrestled him before, never been in the same bracket. It was something to look forward to.”
Ditto for his quest to become the 15th wrestler in Illinois history to win four IHSA state titles. Mendoza has won Class 3A championships at 106 pounds in 2022, 113 pounds in 2023 and 126 pounds last season.
The possibility of the four-peat does not weigh on him.
“No matter what tournament you’re at, there’s always some sort of pressure,” Mendoza said. “So it’s nothing out of the ordinary, just another thing to compete at.”
On the horizon is college wrestling. Mendoza didn’t make his decision to commit to Missouri lightly.
“I took my visit in September (2023),” he said. “Took five others after that, but something just stood out. And by the time in February when I was ready to commit, I just knew it was right.”
Also winning a Carnahan title was Marist senior Will Denny, who beat Owen Segorski of Lowell (Ind.) 8-4 in the 165 final. Like Mendoza, Denny is a returning state champ and Power Four signee. The reigning Class 3A 150-pound champ is headed to North Carolina State.
“We have a tough schedule and this is a crucial part of that tough schedule,” Denny said of the Carnahan, which featured 20 schools from seven states. “We know we’re going to see tough competition from all over the country. We love it.”
The diversity of styles at an event like this pushes Denny.
“I feel like when I climb the ladder, I get tighter feels from everyone, which really makes me get creative and open up,” he said. “Really makes me open up my offense and kind of be me.”
Denny got acquainted with North Carolina State by going there for camps as a freshman and sophomore.
“I knew that’s where I wanted to be,” he said.”One of my good role models, Vincent Robinson, went there and I trained with him. … It’s a perfect atmosphere and the kind of culture I fit in with.”