Two major age-group events took place over the weekend — the Northern Plains Regional Championships in Rochester, Minnesota — and of course, the 21st annual Junior Greco World Duals in Concord, California. Both play important roles in the promotion of Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States. The Northern Plains Regional is one of the most celebrated regional age-group qualifiers in the country and holds a long-standing tradition of putting out National champs. The Duals, held every year at the Community Youth Center in Concord, is the home of head coach Mark Halvorson (and many notable athletes). There is no other event in the US that crams together as much international training and competition for Junior competitors, which in turn makes it vital to the health of the sport in America.
Northern Plains once again overloaded with talent
Paxton Creese (100 lbs, Minnesota) had a busy beginning to the spring overseas where he picked up gold at the 2017 Tallinn Open in Estonia. He’s (obviously) back now and preparing for his run at Fargo, where he took third last year. Creese dominated throughout on Friday to win gold in the Cadet division, tech’ing fellow Minnesota prospect Cael Swensen in the finals. Creese also won Juniors at the same weight, though there was only one other wrestler in his bracket.
One of the more hardcore wrestlers in the country is 2016 Cadet Nationals runner-up Tyler Eischens (152 lbs, Minnesota) and he kept himself on track by breezing through his bracket. To watch Eischens is to take notice of a kid who when wrestling Greco, just looks like he’s at home. One move into another and a no-nonsense, aggressive approach make him fun to watch. At 120 lbs for the Juniors was Dylan Koontz (Wisconsin), and he’s another who gets switched on awfully fast. Koontz is a lanky sort and makes it work for him as he plunges in underhooks to gain control. From there, he knows what to do. Switching back over to Cadet from Junior is Isaiah Alford (170 lbs, Nebraska), who showed both talent and grit Friday when he came away with a fall over rugged Minnesotan John LaBelle. Alford is going to be someone to keep an eye on. Alex Thomsen (126 lbs, Iowa) repeated as champion. Thomsen is a well-known name who is gifted in every style of wrestling, but is especially pleasing to watch when he’s trying to launch everybody.
2017 Northern Plains Regionals Final Results
CADET (weight classes in lbs)
88
Gold: Caleb Coyle (Nebraska) def. Nate Rubino (Nebraska) 15-4, TF
Bronze: Payton Jacobson (Wisconsin) def. Brandon O`Brien (Iowa) 10-0, TF
94
Gold: Brody Lee (Wisconsin) def. Drake Ayala (Iowa) 14-2, TF
Bronze: Blaine Brenner (Wisconsin) def. Chase Murphy (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
100
Gold: Paxton Creese (Minnesota) def. Cael Swensen (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
3rd: Kanin Hable (Minnesota) def. Joshua Frye (Wisconsin) 10-0, TF
106
Gold: Caleb Rathjen (Iowa) def. Jakason Burks (Nebraska) 9-6
Bronze: Joey Thompson (Minnesota) def. Ryan Scherber (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
113
Gold: Reid Ballantyne (Minnesota) def. Maxx Mayfield (Nebraska) 10-0, TF
Bronze: Andrew Sanders (Minnesota) def. Adam Allard (Iowa) 9-1
120
Gold: Ryan Sokol (Minnesota) def. Jake Svihel (Minnesota) 16-6, TF
Bronze: Cael Happel (Iowa) def. Caleb Gross (Wisconsin) 11-8
126
Gold: Carson Manville (Minnesota) def. Logan James (Iowa) 10-0, TF
Bronze: Joey Bianchi (Wisconsin) def. Mitchel Petersen (Minnesota) 14-2, TF
132
Gold: Charlie Pickell (Minnesota) def. Nick Dunagan (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
Bronze: Reid Koenig (Wisconsin) def. Brody Olson (Minnesota) via fall
138
Gold: Cade DeVos (Iowa) def. over Kaden Reetz (Wisconsin) 5-2
Bronze: Colby Njos (Minnesota) def. Drevon Ross (Iowa) 12-0, TF
145
Gold: Lance Runyon (Iowa) def. Vincent Mosher (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
Bronze: Caleb Hatch (Wisconsin) def. Cayden Robson (Wisconsin) via fall
152
Gold: Michael Weber (Montana) def. over Braeden Campbell (Missouri) 6-5
Bronze: Trevor Pomeroy (Minnesota) def. Willie Bastyr (Minnesota) 12-2, TF
160
Gold: Carter Marx (Minnesota) def. Nathan Fuller (Wisconsin) 14-8
Bronze: Dajun Johnson (Wisconsin) def. Tallin Johnson (Minnesota) 20-8, TF
170
Gold: Isaiah Alford (Nebraska) def. John LaBelle (Minnesota) via fall
Bronze: Tyler Hannah (Wisconsin) def. Colton Krell (Minnesota) 12-0, TF
182
Gold: Grant Parrish (Minnesota) def. Gabe Christenson (Iowa) via fall
Bronze: Shane Gibson (Montana) def. Kasten Grape (Nebraska) 12-2, TF
195
Round Robin:
Brennan Rutt (Minnesota) def. Brayden Wolf (Iowa) 10-0, TF
Brennan Rutt (Minnesota) def. Jake Rau (Wisconsin) 10-0, TF
Brennan Rutt (Minnesota) def. Ezequiel Rodriguez (Wisconsin) 10-0, TF
Rutt wins with Wolf silver and Rodriquez and Rau as third and fourth
220
Round Robin:
Eddie Loredo (Nebraska) def. over Tyler Lawrenson (Iowa) 5-1
Eddie Loredo (Nebraska) def. Ramiro Gomez (Iowa) 10-0, TF
Loredo wins with Lawrenson second and Gomez third
285
Gold: Nick Pierce (Minnesota) def. Andrew Snyder (Iowa) (TF 11-0)
Bronze: Jackson Hasz (Nebraska) def. Jerrod Osterkamp (Wisconsin) (TF 10-0)
JUNIOR (weight classes in lbs)
100
Round Robin:
Paxton Creese (Minnesota) def. Tyler Srp (Wisconsin) 11-0, TF
Paxton Creese (Minnesota) def. Tyler Srp (Wisconsin) 10-0, TF
106
Round Robin:
Manny Drexler (Wisconsin) def. Devin Harmison (Iowa) via fall
Joey Thompson (Minnesota) def. Malakye Rodriguez (Illinois) 14-4
Devin Harmison (Iowa) def. Malakye Rodriguez (Illinois) (TF 10-0)
Manny Drexler (Wisconsin) won by default over Joey Thompson (Minnesota)
Devin Harmison (Iowa) won by default over Joey Thompson (Minnesota)
Manny Drexler (Wisconsin) def. Malakye Rodriguez (Illinois) 14-1, TF
Drexler wins with Harmison second, Thompson third, and Rodriguez fourth
113
Gold: Camden Russell (Nebraska) def. Koltin Grzybowski (Wisconsin) 11-0, TF
Bronze: Maxwell Crowe (Minnesota) def. Nathan Orosco (Illinois) 10-0, TF
120
Round Robin:
Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) def. Tyler Jones (Minnesota) via fall
Van Schmidt (Nebraska) def. Carter Weeks (Iowa) via fall
Dylan Koontz (Wisconsin) def. Carter Weeks (Iowa) 11-0, TF
Van Schmidt (Nebraska) def. over Tyler Jones (Minnesota) 15-13
Dylan Koontz (Wisconsin) def. Van Schmidt (Nebraska) 11-0, TF
Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) def. Carter Weeks (Iowa) via fall
Dylan Koontz (Wisconsin) def. Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) via fall
Tyler Jones (Minnesota) def. Carter Weeks (Iowa) 12-2
Dylan Koontz (Wisconsin) def. Tyler Jones (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) def. Van Schmidt (Nebraska) 17-4, TF
Koontz wins with Barnett second Van Schmidt third, and Jones fourth
126
Gold: Alex Thomsen (Iowa) def. Drew Bennett (Iowa) 12-1
Bronze: Jake Gliva (Minnesota) def. Cade Heisdorf (Wisconsin) via fall
132
Gold: Rylee Molitor (Minnesota) def. Spencer Miller (Minnesota) 13-2, TF
Bronze: Jarod Maes (Wisconsin) def. over Kyree Noble (Wisconsin) 17-12
138
Gold: Jakob Bergeland (Minnesota) def. Drew Scharenbrock (Wisconsin) via fall
Bronze: Jermey Schoenherr (Wisconsin) def. Cael Carlson (Minnesota) via fall
145
Gold: Tyler Shilson (Minnesota) def. Garrett Model (Wisconsin) 10-8
Bronze: Alexander Lloyd (Minnesota) def. Samuel Webster (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
152
Gold: Tyler Eischens (Minnesota) def. Istvan Tifan (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
Bronze: Theodore Pierce (Minnesota) def. Jacob Tvinnereim (Minnesota) via fall
160
Gold: Peyton Robb (Minnesota) def. Brock Schlough (Wisconsin) 15-4, TF
Bronze: Tyler Dow (Wisconsin) def. Shawn Brown (Iowa) 12-2, TF
170
Gold: Billy Higgins (Nebraska) def. Joseph Posledni (Illinois) 13-0, TF
Bronze: Kenny O`Neil (Minnesota) def. Chase Pomeroy (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
182
Gold: Jack Jessen (Illinois) def. Cody Baldridge (Illinois) 12-1
Bronze: Jesse Shearer (North Dakota) def. Caden Steffen (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
195
Gold: Brett Campbell (Missouri) def. Hunter DeJong (Iowa) 10-0, TF
Bronze: Jared Florell (Minnesota) won by default over Riley Vanik (Illinois) (injury)
220
Gold: Payton Smith (South Dakota) def. Nate Lloyd (Wisconsin) 10-0, TF
Bronze: Jack Sutton (Nebraska) def. Andrew Quackenbush (Wisconsin) via fall
285
Gold: Tony Cassioppi (Illinois) def. Trenten Rogich (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
Bronze: Alexander Aarsvold (Minnesota) def. Noah Carter (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
Junior Greco World Duals wrapped
Although there are a few days of camp still remaining in Concord, the 2017 Junior Greco World Duals is officially in the books. A few very talented US Greco-Roman athletes went at it over the weekend, which consisted of a whopping seven (!) duals followed by the individual tournament. Two-time Junior World Team member Randon Miranda (59 kg, California North/NYAC) won at 59 kilograms. Miranda actually was the recipient of surprising headlock-and-fall on Saturday, but he rebounded very strong on Sunday to take his second-consecutive title at the event. CYC stud and 2016 Cadet World Team member Peyton Omania (70 kg) also won his second straight gold at the Junior World Duals, and was forced to navigate through a hardcore bracket — Omania had three international opponents to get through and he did just that.
Young Cadet Hunter Lewis (49 kg) from Wisconsin wrestled for the Scandinavian squad and ran the table. 2016 Fargo Cadet National champ Tyler Curd (98.5 kg, Missouri/Kansas) took third, but the experience will no doubt be great for him. Curd is a strong, come-forward type of athlete who likes to throw and clearly has a bright future of him.
For a full breakdown on the Junior Duals and complete results, hop over to here.
Second week of Senior World Team camp underway
The first week of camp for the 2017 US Greco-Roman World Team saw a lot going on. Patrick Smith (71 kg, Minnesota Storm) graduated with his master’s degree, Robby Smith (130 kg, NYAC) had to assume the mic at the Beat the Streets event on Wednesday evening, the squad was on a Portland TV news show, and then there was a clinic at US National Team head coach Matt Lindland’s famous MMA gym, Team Quest. In between these spaces, work was getting done. Circuit training, drilling, cross-training, and team-building activities have been the order of the day out there in Eagle Creek, Oregon. Looking at the schedule for this week, it appears that nothing too wild is on the horizon, but if you have been paying attention to social media, that could obviously change very quickly.
Speaking of World Team members…
Cheney Haight (80 kg, NYAC) is the guest on the latest episode of “The Five Point Move Podcast”, which was just released hours ago (streaming below). Haight, 32, has been a fixture on the US Greco-Roman circuit for well over a decade at this point, having come out of the Northern Michigan program back when it was helmed by Ivan Ivanov. There was a sabbatical in the middle of his career following 2012, but Haight reappeared a couple of years later and immediately picked up where he left off as one of the nation’s most respected and consistent competitors. Now a two-time World Team member with his victory in Vegas last month, Haight is focused solely on winning a medal. Lord knows he’ll work hard for it.
But the bottom line is that an athlete with as much class, integrity, and success as Haight is a fantastic person to talk to and he was a great guest. Understated but always on point, you’ll really like what he has to say.
What’s coming up here
- A Coach Lindland’s Report — if you have questions or comments, send them in!
- A new “Catching Up With ” segment can be expected and it should be a good one.
- The Cadet roster for overseas next month.
- Previews for Akron are also on the docket.
Questions? Concerns? Feel like reaching out? Do so on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!
Listen to “5PM04: Two-time Greco-Roman world teamer Cheney Haight” on Spreaker.
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