Carnage Seals 2026 Elite 8 Title in Atlanta
Red shoes on a blue mat. The dust settles in Georgia.
The red wrestling shoes sit still on the blue mat in Atlanta, Georgia. The dust from the tussle has finally settled. Team Carnage has taken the 2026 Elite 8 Duals Championship, a victory that tastes different than last year's near miss. They are no longer the bridesmaids to Dynasty. They are the ones holding the gold.
Sunday afternoon brought a lopsided final. Team Carnage dismantled Team Thunder, 33-19. The scoreline tells a story of control, of pins and major decisions stacking up like bricks in a wall. It was a performance that erased the memory of the 2025 defeat. The arena in Georgia saw a team that had waited a year to prove their weight.
Path to the Finals
The road started on Saturday with two pools of six teams. Round robin action narrowed the field to the Elite 8. The top four from each pool advanced to the championship bracket. Carnage and Thunder emerged as pool winners, setting a collision course for the title bout. It was a setup written in the results of the previous day.
Carnage avenged their loss to Dynasty with a 43-16 quarterfinal drubbing. The score was a statement. They then faced Valiant Prep in the semifinals, winning by a 48-15 count. Thunder had a different journey. They pulled off a late comeback against Cormier Trained. The dual came down to the heavyweight bout. Satoshi Davis from SLAM! Academy in Nevada picked up a 3-2 win over Matthew Cooley from Oakdale, California. That narrow 26-24 victory pushed Thunder into the final.
Upsets Define the Final
The championship final lacked the drama of the semis, but it was full of surprises. Carnage won eight of the first eleven matches. They jumped out to a 30-9 lead. That lead was built on unexpected wins. Parker Casey from Johnston, Iowa, gave Jake Hughes from Beaver, Ohio, everything he had. Casey lost 3-2 in the first overtime round on a locked hands call. It was a battle that came down to the final second.
Brock Humphrey from Linsly, West Virginia, registered for Super 32 at 106 pounds. He moved to 113 for Elite 8. Ranked fourth at 106, he faced Killian Coluccio from Lacey Township, New Jersey. When both were at 113, Coluccio was ranked ahead. Humphrey’s 4-2 win was a big bonus. It came right after Thunder picked up an unexpected win at 106 pounds. Cameron Bartlow from Clovis, California, grabbed a tiebreaker win over Carter Smith from Perrysburg, Ohio. The momentum shifted back and forth.
Jovanni Tovar, the recently crowned U17 World Champ from Miami Southridge, Florida, was ranked No. 4 at 120 pounds. He competed at 126 for Elite 8. He became the victim of an upset. Mateo Gallegos from DuBois won 1-0. That victory put more unplanned points on the board for Carnage. The final surprise came from Grayson Fuchs of Detroit Catholic Central, Michigan. At 150 pounds, Fuchs edged Arseni Kikiniou from Poway, California, in the ultimate tiebreaker period. Kikiniou is a double U17 National Champ. The upset was significant.
Counted On for Points
Five of Carnage’s finest came through with points the team was counting on. Bonus points were gained by Johnathan Thompson from Iowa, Matt O’Neill from Malvern Prep, Pennsylvania, and MJ Staples from New Prairie, Indiana. Thompson started Carnage off with a 17-5 major decision of Chase Miller-Smith from Ohio at 100 pounds. O’Neill destroyed Elijah Castanon at 144 pounds with an 18-0 technical fall. Staples decked Ryan Gavrish from Saint John Vianney, New Jersey, in 3:23 at 165.
Hard-fought decisions were earned by Chase Karenbauer from Grove City, Pennsylvania, and Blaze Van Gundy from Dublin Coffman, Ohio. Karenbauer got by Barndon Bickerton from Highland, Ohio, 1-0 at 120 pounds. Van Gundy encountered Bobby Ruscitti from Lombard Montini, Illinois, at 132 pounds. He sat Ruscitti down with an 8-5 win. These victories were the backbone of Carnage’s lead. They were steady, reliable, and crucial.
