The last five weight class finals resulted in victories by shutout technical fall. It included the last championship match, where Adam Coon (Michigan) scored a 10-0 victory over Nathan Butler (Kansas) to secure a second straight Junior Triple Crown -- titles in folkstyle, Greco-Roman, and freestyle. The University of Michigan-bound Coon, ranked No. 2 overall in the Class of 2013, became the first wrestler to accomplish that feat.
More dominance came in the form of three Junior National freestyle champions from the state of Ohio, all of whom will be matriculating at college within the next six weeks. Despite giving up his first points of the tournament, Nathan Tomasello scored a tenth consecutive technical fall victory to win a third straight Junior National freestyle title. He scored a 14-4 victory over Kaid Brock (Oklahoma) in winning the 120-pound title.
Anthony Collica earned a second consecutive Junior National freestyle title at 145 pounds, capping off a 10-0 week in which all matches were won by pin or technical fall, with a pin at the 2:21 mark over Greco-Roman champion Blayne Briceno (Calfiornia). The third Ohio champion was Markus Scheidel at 160 pounds, who rallied back to beat Davonte Mahomes (Illinois) 7-6 in the final. Scheidel won his title despite losing earlier in the tournament to a wrestler not earning All-American honors, and in so doing prevented Mahomes from winning a Junior Triple Crown of his own.
Joining Scheidel in winning a weight class title despite an earlier loss to a wrestler that did not earn All-American honors was Seth Gross (Minnesota), who beat Kyle Gliva (Minnesota) 8-5 in the 132 pound final. It was a third consecutive freestyle title in Fargo for Gross, who won Cadet titles the prior two years. Like Gross, Gliva also made it to the final despite losing to a wrestler not earning All-American honors; Scheidel and Garcia also did the same.
Also winning a third consecutive freestyle title in Fargo was Aaron Pico (California), the nation's top wrestler in the Class of 2016, who won all ten of his matches at 138 pounds by tech. fall. This included a 10-0 victory over Joey McKenna (New Jersey), who had won the Greco-Roman title earlier in the week. With Pico's extreme dominance during the tournament, he was named the Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament.
Additional wrestlers to win consecutive freestyle titles in Fargo were Hunter Marko (Wisconsin) at 106 pounds, Bo Nickal (Texas) at 170, Michael Pixley (Missouri) at 182, and Roy Nash (Utah) at 220 as all won titles at the Cadet level last year. Marko scored a 6-4 victory over Joey Cisneros (California) in the finals' second closest match, which relegated Cisneros to a double runner-up finish; Nickal scored a 10-0 tech. fall over Tyler Askey (Georgia); Pixley upended Riley Lefever (Indiana) by 11-0 tech. fall, which was his eight tech. fall in as many matches for the tournament; and Nash made it double titles this week with an 11-0 tech. fall over Angus Cowell (Connecticut), as all nine of his matches were ended by pin or tech. fall.
Rounding out the Junior freestyle champions in Fargo were Elijah Oliver (Tennessee) at 113 pounds, Ryan Blees (North Dakota) at 152, and Mitch Sliga (Indiana) at 195.
Finals Results:
100: Kirk Johansen (Illinois) tech. fall Francis Edelen (Illinois), 14-4
106: Hunter Marko (Wisconsin) dec. Joey Cisneros (California), 6-4
113: Elijah Oliver (Tennessee) tech. fall Brian Rossi (Illinois), 12-2
120: Nathan Tomasello (Ohio) tech. fall Kaid Brock (Oklahoma), 14-4
126: Jered Cortez (Illinois) dec. P.T. Garcia (Colorado), 4-0
132: Seth Gross (Minnesota) dec. Kyle Gliva (Minnesota), 8-5
138: Aaron Pico (California) tech. fall Joey McKenna (New Jersey), 10-0
145: Anthony Collica (Ohio) pinned Blayne Briceno (California), 2:21
152: Ryan Blees (North Dakota) dec. Jake Short (Minnesota), 12-9
160: Markus Scheidel (Ohio) dec. Davonte Mahomes (Illinois), 7-6
170: Bo Nickal (Texas) tech. fall Tyler Askey (Georgia), 10-0
182: Michael Pixley (Missouri) tech. fall Riley Lefever (Indiana), 11-0
195: Mitch Sliga (Indiana) tech. fall Joel Dixon (Oklahoma), 10-0
220: Roy Nash (Utah) tech. fall Angus Cowell (Connecticut), 11-0
285: Adam Coon (Michigan) tech. fall Nathan Butler (Kansas), 10-0
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now