Once again, the Cadets steal the news. On Thursday, it was the 2017 US Cadet Greco-Roman National Duals held in York, Pennsylvania, the annual chaos that showcases the lion’s share of the best wrestlers in the country at that age division. Minnesota Storm repeated as champs after turning back a furious rally by an Illinois squad that hung in there long enough to make this thing a barnburner. The two teams exchanged big streaks, with Minnesota grabbing five in a row early in the contest before Illinois went on a six-match tear later on. Paxton Creese (100 lbs) for all intents and purposes locked it up for the Storm with a 10-0 tech over Alex Villar (Illinois). What you saw in this final dual was a lot of a passion. The kids cared about what they were doing and looked like they were having a lot of fun doing it. Everyone was engaged and it all made for gripping theater once the weight classes rotated through the order.
Pennsylvania Red took third with a big-time win over Iowa 58-18. The dual for fifth-place saw Ohio snare five of the last seven bouts to squeak past Washington 41-35. Full results can be found below.
2017 US Cadet Greco-Roman National Duals Final Results
1st place: MINNESOTA STORM — 40 ILLINOIS — 38
113 lbs Noah Surtin (Illinois) def. Reid Ballantyne (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
120 lbs Ryan Sokol (Minnesota Storm) def. Luke Odom (Illinois) 10-0, TF
126 lbs Carson Manville (Minnesota) def. Fabian Lopez (Illinois) 13-2, TF
132 lbs Tyler Shackle (Minnesota) def. Eddie Bolivar (Illinois) via fall (1:42)
138 lbs Colby Njos (Minnesota) def. Joshua Ramos (Illinois) via fall (5:25)
145 lbs Willie Bastyr (Minnesota) def. Jayden Terronez (Illinois) 14-8.
152 lbs Donnell Washington (Illinois) def. Dylan Fudge (Minnesota) 13-8.
160 lbs Cade King (Minnesota) def. James Cagnina (Illinois) 12-1, TF
170 lbs Dalton Andrist (Minnesota) def. Abe Assad (Illinois) via fall (2:54)
182 lbs Trevor Swier (Illinois) def. Grant Parrish (Minnesota) 12-2, TF.
195 lbs Peter Christensen (Illinois) def. Brennan Rutt (Minnesota) 10-0, TF
220 lbs Jacob Kaminski (Illinois) def. Wyatt Kruse (Minnesota) via fall (2:55)
285 lbs Luke Luffman (Illinois) def. Nick Pierce (Minnesota) 12-2, TF
88 lbs Tommy Curran (Illinois) def. Blake West (Minnesota) 10-8.
94 lbs Brody Norman (Illinois) def. Kanin Hable (Minnesota) 12-1, TF
100 lbs Paxton Creese (Minnesota) def. Alex Villar (Illinois) 10-0, TF
106 lbs Matthew Ramos (Illinois) def. Joey Thompson (Minnesota) 16-5, TF
3rd place: PENNSYLVANIA RED — 58 IOWA GOLD — 18
113 lbs Blake Passarelli (Pennsylvania Red) def. Cody Anderson (Iowa Gold) 13-10
120 lbs Jagger Condomitti (Pennsylvania Red) def. Evan Yant (Iowa Gold) 11-10
126 lbs Joshua Jones (Pennsylvania Red) def. Chase Luensman (Iowa Gold) via fall (0:48)
132 lbs Cameron Robinson (Pennsylvania Red) def. Gabe Lewis (Iowa Gold) 11-0, TF
138 lbs Michael Kistler (Pennsylvania Red) def. Drevon Ross (Iowa Gold) 12-0, TF
145 lbs Benny Baker (Pennsylvania Red) def. Spencer Mooberry (Iowa Gold) 15-3, TF
152 lbs Angel Garcia (Pennsylvania Red) won via forfeit
160 lbs Caden Wright (Pennsylvania Red) won via forfeit
170 lbs Neamiah Diggs (Pennsylvania Red) def. Gavin Wedemeier (Iowa Gold) 10-0, TF
182 lbs Darrien Roberts (Pennsylvania Red) def. Jack Sindlinger (Iowa Gold) 10-0, TF
195 lbs Brayden Wolf (Iowa Gold) won via forfeit
220 lbs Hunter Catka (Pennsylvania Red) def. Tanner Schultz (Iowa Gold) 11-1, TF
285 lbs Colby Whitehill (Pennsylvania Red) def. Josh Vis (Iowa Gold) 12-0, TF
88 lbs Drake Ayala (Iowa Gold) def. Costa Moore (Pennsylvania Red) via fall (0:41)
94 lbs Sheldon Seymour (Pennsylvania Red) def. Logan Luft (Iowa Gold) 12-0, TF
100 lbs Chris Kim (Pennsylvania Red) def. Matthew Lewis (Iowa Gold) via fall (0:12)
106 lbs Caleb Rathjen (Iowa Gold) def. Ryan Miller (Pennsylvania Red) 10-0, TF
5th place: OHIO — 41 WASHINGTON — 35
113 lbs Aizayah `Maka` Yacapin (Washington) def. Dylan Shawver (Ohio) 10-0, TF
120 lbs Mick Burnett (Ohio) def. Haiden Drury (Washington) 2-2
126 lbs CJ Richmond (Washington) def. Nick Moore (Ohio) 12-5
132 lbs Ryan Wheeler (Washington) def. Caden Blust (Ohio) via fall (1:23)
138 lbs Riley VanScoy (Washington) def. Dustin Morgillo (Ohio) via fall (1:02)
145 lbs Franky Almaguer (Washington) def. Gavin Bell (Ohio) 14-4, TF
152 lbs Nevan Snodgrass (Ohio) def. Kiran Srikanth (Washington) 13-0, TF
160 lbs Jacob Lagoa (Ohio) def. Sione Halo (Washington) via fall (1:23)
170 lbs Anthony D`Alasio (Ohio) def. Devin Neal (Washington) 11-0, TF
182 lbs Isaac Gomez (Washington) def. Zak Crissman (Ohio) 10-0, TF
195 lbs Matt Cdef. (Ohio) def. Braxton Mikesell (Washington) 11-0, TF
220 lbs Paul Haywood (Ohio) def. Janoah Thomas (Washington) via fall (3:45)
285 lbs Louden Haga (Ohio) def. Dustyn Camacho (Washington) 10-0, TF
88 lbs Zack Mattin (Ohio) def. Mark Marum (Washington) 15-3, TF
94 lbs Kyle Rowan (Ohio) def. Dominic Sowers (Washington) 10-0, TF
100 lbs Chase Randall (Washington) def. Jake Manley (Ohio) 14-4, TF
106 lbs Brenden Chaowanapibool (Washington) def. Peyten Keller (Ohio) 14-1, TF
7th place: OKLAHOMA — 43 MICHIGAN RED — 35
113 lbs Vince Perez (Michigan Red) def. Jaxon Randall (Oklahoma) 10-0, TF
120 lbs Ryder Ramsey (Oklahoma) def. John Sosa (Michigan Red) via fall (3:33)
126 lbs Eddie Homrock (Michigan Red) def. Cam Picklo (Oklahoma) 10-0, TF
132 lbs Matthew Grant (Michigan Red) def. Cougar Andersen (Oklahoma) via fall (0:46)
138 lbs Kevon Davenport (Michigan Red) def. Spencer Schickram (Oklahoma) 7-2
145 lbs Alex Facundo (Michigan Red) def. Wyatt Berry (Oklahoma) 13-0, TF
152 lbs Kyle Knowles (Oklahoma) def. Jaden Fisher (Michigan Red) 10-0, TF
160 lbs Gage Hockett (Oklahoma) def. Cade Gilless (Michigan Red) via fall (1:52)
170 lbs Charles Floyd (Oklahoma) def. Colin Jagielski (Michigan Red) 12-1, TF
182 lbs Ryan Ringler (Michigan Red) def. Matthew Santos (Oklahoma) 15-4, TF
195 lbs Cabe Dickerson (Oklahoma) def. Joshua Hill (Michigan Red) 15-5, TF
220 lbs Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) def. Tyler Delooff (Michigan Red) via fall (1:29)
285 lbs Donovan King (Michigan Red) def. Colin Naney (Oklahoma) via fall (0:53)
88 lbs Luke Ahrberg (Oklahoma) won via forfeit
94 lbs Blake Noonan (Michigan Red) def. JJ Gilbert (Oklahoma) 7-1
100 lbs Carter Young (Oklahoma) def. Sam Freeman (Michigan Red) 11-0, TF
106 lbs Tucker Owens (Oklahoma) def. Riley Bettich (Michigan Red) 18-8, TF
Schultz grabs gold to lead USA Cadets in Croatia
Teenage sensation Cohlton Schultz (100 kg, NYAC/CO) picked himself up a nice shiny gold medal on Saturday at the 2017 Croatia Open in Zagreb, Croatia. Schultz, who was a Cadet World Team member last year, is part of both the Cadet and Junior World teams this year. He put on a dominating performance this past weekend which included a 3-0 shutdown in the finals over Balint Vatzi (HUN). Camden Russell (54 kg, MWC/NE) is a name you’re likely going to be hearing a lot of going forward, at least according to Go Greco USA Developmental Program founder and 2017 US Cadet World Team coach Lucas Steldt. Russell was impressive in his own right, making it to the finals before dropping a tough 4-1 decision to Germany’s Deni Nakaev in his final. Of Russell, Steldt said, “He’s just an incredible wrestler and (fellow 2017 Cadet World Team coach) Zac Dominguez has these awesome athletes in Nebraska. Russell needs to be on a watch-list for both Gary (Mayabb) and Matt (Lindland).”
Three other US athletes almost came away with medals to join Schultz and Russell. Conor Knopick (MWC/NE) and Raiden Johnson (SWAT/FL) were strong throughout the day at 54 kilograms but lost in their bronze medal matches. Austin Almaguer (58 kg, Tri-Cities/WA) was also on the cusp but fell in his podium-making attempt.
All in all, it was a great first event for the newly-founded Go Greco USA Developmental Program. Next on the horizon is a week-long camp beginning today in Croatia before another competitive Cadet event in Serbia known as the Refik Memišević–Brale Tournament. Tomorrow, we will have a full scouting report on the American Cadets over in Europe complete with breakdowns from Steldt himself.
Russia Nationals sees Vlasov finally move up and Maryanayan prevail over Semenov
As we alluded to months ago, there was talk going back to the winter that Roman Vlasov (RUS, world no. 1 at 75 kg), the two-time Olympic champ and perhaps biggest star in the sport, was rumored to be moving up to 80 kilograms. This was despite his insistence it would take a year for him to do so. Of course, roundabout two weeks ago it was confirmed Vlasov would try it out at the 2017 Russia Nationals and it was…okay. In his final against Adlan Akiev (world no. 7), Vlasov found himself down 3-0 after being essentially snap-dragoned from a front headlock off the edge and losing the challenge. Naturally, things would wind up ebbing more and more in his favor. A passive point broke the ice. Vlasov then went heavy on an Akiev bodylock attempt to land on top for two more. A pair of step-out points made it 5-3 for the 26-year-old Vlasov and that was that. Akiev faded just enough in the second period, worn down perhaps by Vlasov’s superior positioning and angles. It was a somewhat physical affair, to be sure. Just weird.
Former Junior World champ and 2015 European Games gold medalist Stepan Maryanyan (world no. 17) was the victor in a high-paced but frustrating showdown with 2012 Olympic bronze Mingiyan Semenov (world no. 6) thanks to a 1-1 criteria decision. They swapped passivity points. That was really it. Maryanayan was awarded his passive point second. But what was curious, is that it was Semenov who seemed to make the more meaningful attempts, as per his style, and just could not penetrate Maryanyan’s bullish ties to bring any consistent pressure. Kind of a downer. We’ll have more on this event and its potential ramifications later on.
Ota gets ousted
2016 Olympic silver medalist Shinobu Ota (JPN, world no. 2) will not be representing Japan at the World Championships in Paris after he was defeated (again) by recent Asian Championships winner Kenichiro Fumita (world no. 3) yesterday at the Japan National Invitational. Back in December, Fumita and Ota put on an exciting bout that the latter took 9-7. Things were closer this time around with Fumita winning 6-2. 59 kilograms in Japan has not had a lockdown stable representative at World-level tournaments a few years. Kazuma Kuramoto is the last wrestler from Japan to rep the lowest weight at two consecutive World Championships (2013-14). In 2015, Shota Tanokura went for Japan at the Worlds before Ota wound up taking over the weight class for last year’s Rio Olympics.
What’s coming up here
- An interesting discussion with a few of the country’s unsung Greco-Roman athletes.
- The full roster of Go Greco USA Developmental Program Cadets who are currently overseas along with insights from coach Lucas Steldt.
- A new featured interview.
- Two-time Olympian Ben Provisor (85 kg, NYAC) will be the next guest on the podcast to talk about being on the 2017 World Team among other topics. If you’d like to get questions in early, here’s your chance!
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