World silver medalist and Olympian Jake Herbert returned to competition this season after missing the past two seasons (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)"I always train to peak for this tournament this weekend, and I'm going to get ready to peak again in Madison at the World Team Trials," said Herbert. "This is a good start."
After the first period ended 2-2, the 30-year-old Herbert and 24-year-old Ruth had a wild flurry in the second period, which resulted in Herbert taking a 7-4 lead. He continued to pour it on and increased his lead to 13-4, nearly picking up a technical fall. Ruth, though, kept attacking in the final minute and quickly put himself back in the match, but was unable to complete the comeback. Herbert's finals opponent will be Keith Gavin, who topped Deron Winn, 8-4, in the semifinals.
Olympic champion Jake Varner needed to dig deep, but found a way to beat longtime rival J.D. Bergman in the semifinals at 97 kilos. Bergman led virtually the entire match and seemed to be on his way to the finals. With 10 seconds left and Bergman leading 2-0, Varner executed a misdirection duck under for a takedown, which gave him the victory on criteria.
"Sometimes that's how you've got to win. I had to do something. I was down 2-0. I knew a takedown would win. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't the way I wanted to, but I got the job done."
It will be a battle of experience versus youth in the finals at 97 kilos as Varner will face 19-year-old Kyle Snyder. Snyder, a two-time Junior World medalist, edged fellow collegian J'den Cox, 4-3, in the semifinals. This marks Snyder's first U.S. Open.
"We've wrestled a little in practice," Varner said of Snyder. "He's a tough kid. He's a young kid. I'm the old guy, I guess. But once you get on the mat it doesn't really matter."
Six of the eight No. 1 seeds advanced to the finals, with five of those wrestlers being returning World Team members.
At 57 kilos, Tony Ramos came from behind to defeat Joe Colon and put himself in a position to win his first U.S. Open title. Colon used a takedown and gut wrench to race out to a 4-0 lead. Ramos battled back with a takedown and turn of his own to knot the score at 4-4. Then, with just under 30 seconds left, Ramos scored a takedown to make it 6-4, which is how the match would end.
Ramos will now meet seventh-seeded Andrew Hochstrasser, a returning U.S. Open runner-up, who continued his impressive run through the bracket at 57 kilos. In the semifinals he dominated Danny Mitcheff, 11-0. Hochstrasser, a Pan American Championships gold medalist, has won all four of his matches by technical fall or pin.
"He's really solid, and I know he likes the re-shot," Hochstrasser said of Ramos. "So when I attack I'm going to make them crisp. I plan to beat him. That's the plan."
Reece Humphrey advanced to the finals at 61 kilos with a 10-0 first-period technical fall over Daniel Dennis. Humphrey used a throw and consecutive gut wrenches to roll to the technical fall victory. Humphrey's finals opponent will be Kendric Maple, who pinned Alan Waters in 30 seconds in the semifinals.
Jordan Oliver edged Kellen Russell in the semifinals at 65 kilos (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)The top two seeds at 70 kilos, Nick Marable and Dustin Schlatter, reached the finals. Marable found himself in a 4-2 hole in the first period after giving up a four-point feed-to-back takedown off a foot sweep. But the returning World Team member responded with a late first-period takedown to knot the score at 4-4, and then added another takedown in the final period.
Schlatter dominated Minnesota Storm teammate Kevin LeValley, 10-0, in the semifinals. The former Gopher was able to put the match away in par terre by scoring multiple turns consecutively off an ankle lace.
At 74 kilos, David Taylor continued his dominance with a 12-2 technical fall victory in the semifinals over University World champion Tyler Caldwell. Taylor will meet Andrew Howe in the finals. Howe found himself in a 4-0 hole early in his semifinals match against high school senior Anthony Valencia after giving up a takedown and turn. Howe responded with seven unanswered points to take the match 7-4 over the Arizona State signee.
Tervel Dlagnev, a two-time World bronze medalist, looked strong in advancing to the finals at 125 kilos with an 8-2 victory over two-time NCAA champion Nick Gwiazdowski. Dlagnev's finals opponent will be Zack Rey, who came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Tyrell Fortune, 4-3.
Semifinal results
57 kilos:
Tony Ramos dec. Joe Colon, 6-4
Andrew Hochstrasser tech. fall Danny Mitcheff, 11-0
61 kilos:
Kendric Maple pinned Alan Waters, 0:30
Reece Humphrey tech. fall Daniel Dennis, 10-0
65 kilos:
Brent Metcalf dec. Frank Molinaro, 4-2
Jordan Oliver dec. Kellen Russell, 4-3
70 kilos:
Nick Marable dec. Moza Fay, 6-4
Dustin Schlatter tech. fall Kevin LeValley, 10-0
74 kilos:
David Taylor tech. fall Tyler Caldwell, 12-2
Andrew Howe dec. Anthony Valencia, 7-4
86 kilos:
Jake Herbert dec. Ed Ruth, 13-11
Keith Gavin dec. Deron Winn, 8-4
97 kilos:
Jake Varner dec. J.D. Bergman, 2-2
Kyle Snyder dec. J'den Cox, 4-3
125 kilos:
Tervel Dlagnev dec. Nick Gwiazdowski, 8-2
Zack Rey dec. Tyrell Fortune, 4-3
Lester, Saddoris, Holm, Smith win Greco titles
Robby Smith defeated Toby Erickson to claim his second U.S. Open title (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)All four No. 1 seeds competing, Justin Lester, Bryce Saddoris, Jordan Holm and Robby Smith, won titles.
Lester, a two-time World bronze medalist, claimed his sixth U.S. Open title by defeating Pat Smith, 7-2, in the finals at 71 kilos. It was a rematch from last year's U.S. Open finals, also won by Lester.
"I'm really feeling good this tournament," said Lester. "No major injuries. I'm not hurting at all. The weight cut went excellent. I feel good. It was a good tournament to wrestle in. I didn't get that many matches, but the matches I did get I made count. I got some moves in that I wanted to try."
Saddoris edged Alejandro Sancho, 1-0, in the finals at 66 kilos to win his first U.S. Open title.
Holm captured his fourth U.S. Open crown with a 9-0 technical fall victory over Jon Anderson in the finals at 85 kilos.
Robby Smith, who placed fifth at the World Championships in 2013, electrified the crowd in Las Vegas with big moves in a dominating 9-0 technical fall victory over Toby Erickson in the finals at 130 kilos.
The 2015 U.S. World Team Trials for Greco-Roman are set for June 4 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Unlike previous years, the World Team Trials will not be a tournament, only a best-of-three finals in each of the eight weight classes. The 16 finalists from this weekend's U.S. Open advance to the best-of-three finals. The U.S. Open champion in each weight class will enter the Trials with a 1-0 match lead.
Finals results
66 kilos: Bryce Saddoris dec. Alejandro Sancho, 1-0
71 kilos: Justin Lester dec. Pat Smith, 7-2
85 kilos: Jordan Holm tech. fall Jon Anderson, 9-0
130 kilos: Robby Smith tech. fall Toby Erickson, 9-0
Top U.S. women's freestyle wrestlers advance to finals
Alyssa Lampe defeated Clarissa Chun in the semifinals (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)In one of the most anticipated matchups on Friday, Lampe pinned World champion and Olympic bronze medalist Clarissa Chun in the semifinals.
"She is still one of my favorites," Lampe said of Chun. "I have always looked up to her. We have wrestled a lot of matches. I haven't beat her very many times, so it's good."
Maroulis won by technical fall, 11-0, over Cadet World champion Teshya Alo in the semifinals, and will now face 2012 Olympian Kelsey Campbell in the finals.
Semifinal results
48 kilos:
Victoria Anthony tech. fall Erin Golston, 12-0
Alyssa Lampe pinned Clarissa Chun, 2:56
53 kilos:
Whitney Conder dec. Michaela Hutchison, 2-0
Carlene Sluberski pinned Haley Augello, 4:21
55 kilos:
Jacarra Winchester dec. Hanna Grisewood, 7-1
Sharon Jacobson dec. Sarah Hildebrandt, 3-2
58 kilos:
Helen Maroulis tech. fall Teshya Alo, 11-0
Kelsey Campbell dec. Alli Ragan, 3-1
60 kilos:
Leigh Jaynes-Provisor dec. Jennifer Page, 7-4
Jenna Burkert dec. Lauren Louive, 8-2
63 kilos:
Erin Clodgo tech. fall Koral Sugiyama, 10-0
Amanda Hendey dec. Jessica Kee, 4-2
69 kilos:
Randi Miller dec. Kayla Aggio, 6-0
Elena Pirozhkova dec. Veronica Carlson, 5-0
75 kilos:
Adeline Gray pinned Victoria Francis, 2:45
Jackie Cataline dec. Iris Smith, 2-1
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