2018-19 ALL-USA Boys Wrestler of the Year: Carson Kharchla, Olentangy Liberty
USA TODAY High School Sports is proud to announce the ALL-USA Boys Wrestling Teams for the 2018-19 season, selected in coordination with Earl Smith of TheOpenMat.com based on past performance, level of competition and strength of schedule.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Troy Tirapelle, Buchanan
TEAMS: FIRST TEAM | SECOND TEAM | THIRD TEAM
PLAYER PROFILE:
Name: Carson Kharchla
School: Olentangy Liberty (Powell, Ohio)
Weight: 170
Year: Senior
College: Ohio State
Carson Kharchla entered the summer of 2018 as one of the top incoming seniors in Ohio and a very highly sought after recruit. He even improved his stock by dominating the field in Fargo at Junior Freestyle Nationals.
At that tournament, he outscored the competition 41-0 en route to the national semifinals, at which point he ran into Travis Wittlake (Marshfield, Ore.), a graduated senior that had won a Cadet World bronze medal in 2016 and was one of the top wrestlers in the high school Class of 2018. Carson had little trouble with Wittlake, winning 7-4, then moving on to win the championship without surrendering a single point.
In the high school preseason, Kharchla took part in the Who’s #1 dual meet and downed the second-ranked wrestler in the country Julian Ramirez (Blair Academy, Blairstown N.J.) 11-4. He would later beat Ramirez again 5-2 in the finals of the Walsh Jesuit Ironman, the toughest in-season tournament in the nation.
Carson would pick up his second straight Ohio state title by winning a 7-1 decision in the finals. He will continue his wrestling career at Ohio State University.
POLL: Who should be ALL-USA Boys Wrestler of the Year?
LOOKBACK: 2018-19 ALL-USA Preseason Team