Junior World Teams to carry U.S. flag at major event

This past weekend, USA Wrestling hosted its Junior World Team Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo. Many of the nation’s top 17-20 year old wrestlers came for specialized training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, then battled for spots on the U.S. Junior World Team.

The winners of the competition in men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman earned the right to represent the United States at the Junior World Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Aug. 29 – Sept. 3.

Over the years, the FILA Junior World Championships has consistently produced athletes who have gone on to win World and Olympic medals on the Senior level. This is a major proving ground for international stars. This is not only true for the United States, but also for all of the other major wrestling nations.

There are so many examples of this if you you go through the international records. Alexander Kareline of Russia, the three-time Olympic Greco-Roman champion who many consider the greatest modern wrestler, started his career as a 1985 Espoir World Champion (which then was the same age group for 17-20 year olds). The athlete considered by many as the top freestyle wrestler in the world today, Buvaisa Saitiev of Russia, won the 1995 Espoir World title as a 20 year old, then later that summer won his first Senior World Championships title in Atlanta, Ga.

An example of an American who made the quick step from success on the Junior level to Olympic glory was Garrett Lowney, a 1999 Junior World champion in Greco-Roman who shocked the world with his amazing Olympic bronze medal performance the next summer at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Another past Junior World champion for the United States, freestyler Stephen Abas, captured an Olympic silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

The Junior World Championships is a big deal within international wrestling. All of the nations with strong wrestling programs bring talented athletes to this event, and have them well prepared for the competition. They know how important the Junior World competition has become in developing future World and Olympic stars.

This past weekend in Colorado Springs saw tremendous action between many outstanding wrestlers in both international styles. The result is that the United States will field a strong team of athletes who will be ready for the challenges that face them in Guatemala City.

The freestyle team features some very recognizable names, as well as athletes who have shown great potential in the international styles.

The most prominent athlete may be Henry Cejudo of the Sunkist Kids at 121 pounds. He was a high school senior when he won the U.S. Nationals freestyle title this year, the first in USA Wrestling history. Cejudo lost in the Senior World Team Trials to World champion Sammie Henson in one of the most anticipated series of the year. Cejudo had to wrestle well to win the Junior World Team Trials, beating an impressive Franklin Gomez of the Michigan WC in two straight close matches. Cejudo was fifth in the Junior Worlds last summer.

The athlete with the best past Junior World performance was the 110-pound champion Pat McCaffrey of the OTC, who won a Junior World bronze medal last year. McCaffrey beat FILA Junior National champion Marty Eng of Newberg in the final series.

One of the highlight finals came at 132 pounds, where Coleman Scott of the Gator WC earned the team spot. Scott, a two-time NCAA All-American for Oklahoma State, needed three matches to get past NCAA runner-up Troy Nickerson of Cornell. They split their first two matches, and in the deciding third bout, Scott shut down Nickerson, 1-0, 3-0. It had been a long day for Nickerson, who won three matches in the Challenge Tournament before facing Scott, who sat out until the finals as the FILA Junior Nationals champion.

Putting in an impressive performance at 145.5 pounds was Brent Metcalf, who made big news last summer as the second wrestler to ever win six career Junior National titles. Metcalf redshirted as a freshman last year at Virginia Tech, and is following head coach Tom Brands to the Univ. of Iowa. Metcalf beat Mitch Mueller, a young star from Iowa State, in the finals series, 5-0, 2-0 in match one and 2-1, 6-0 in match two.

Max Askren of the Sunkist Kids, who took a redshirt year as a freshman at Missouri this year, made the team at 211.5 lbs. Askren’s older brother Ben was a NCAA champion this year, but Max made news of his own, placing at the U.S. Senior Nationals in April. Askren won two straight matches over FILA Junior National champion Brent Jones in the Championship Series.

The other freestyle team members have strong achievements in USA Wrestling’s age-group programs: Matt Coughlin of the Hoosier WC at 163 pounds, Louis Caputo of Harvard at 185 pounds and Erik Nye of Red Bluff at 264.5 pounds.

The Greco-Roman team has a number of talented athletes as well, and will head to the World Championships with high hopes.

The USOEC program at Northern Michigan played a prominent role at this event, placing four athletes who competed in the program this year on the Junior World Team. The top name was Spenser Mango of the Gator WC at 121 pounds, who was second at the U.S. Senior Nationals this year and won age-group national titles at the University and FILA Junior levels this year.

The other three team members who trained under USOEC coaches Ivan Ivanov and Jim Gruenwald during the season this year were Andrew Bisek of the Minnesota Storm at 163 pounds, Chas Betts of the Minnesota Storm at 185 pounds and Robbie Smith of the New York AC at 211.5 pounds. All have been ranked nationally on the Senior level, and have strong age-group achievements.

One athlete was able to win the Junior World Team Trials in both styles, Erik Nye of Red Bluff at 264.5 pounds. Nye won the freestyle title on Friday, then captured the Greco-Roman crown on Saturday. Last summer, at the Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D, Nye was a freestyle champion and a Greco-Roman runner-up.

The champion at 132 pounds was Brett Robbins of the Panther WC, who beat FILA Junior Nationals champion Shawn Jones in two straight matches in the Championship Series. Robbins was a two-time Junior National Greco-Roman champion as an Illinois high school star, and is now competing for the Univ. of Northern Iowa.

All of the other Junior World Greco-Roman team members are familiar names who have paid their dues in USA Wrestling’s age-group national programs. Also earning their trip to Guatemala are Eric Grajales of the Brandon WC at 110 pounds and Jason Robins of the Sunkist Kids at 145.5 pounds.

Two years ago, USA Wrestling changed the method for selecting the Junior World Teams. In the past, often the FILA Junior Nationals was the final qualifying event for the U.S. team. However, under that system, some of the most talented athletes did not always attended the Trials event. For some, the tournament was too close in time frame to the draining college season and national tournament. For others, there are conflicts with final exams, graduations, Then there are those who missed out due to injuries who might be able to attend later in the spring.

Under the new format, the champions from the FILA Junior Nationals become the top seed in the Championship Series, a best-of-three competition for the team spot. Earlier in the day, all of the other qualifiers wrestled in a Challenge Tournament, with the winner advancing into the Championship Series. During the week prior to the Junior World Team Trials, there was also a specialized training camp hosted for all of the participants.

The rule changes also expanded the number of athletes who were permitted into the competition. The qualifying standards went beyond just the placements at the FILA Junior Nationals. Athletes with major achievements in other USA Wrestling events, as well as at the college levels, were able to earn a spot in the Challenge Tournament. This provided the top prospects for success on the world level an opportunity to enter the Trials and to challenge for the U.S. team.

The end result from the World Team Trials is an American team that should be very strong, one that has the potential to bring back medals for our nation.

These talented World Team athletes will have an opportunity to spend much of their summer training for the World Championships, where they will face the world’s best at their weight classes. They will all get access to outstanding coaches and training facilities, in order to be at their best when they compete in Guatemala.

Many of these athletes are expected to make big news on the college levels later in their careers. However, right now, their focus will be on becoming the best in the world at the Junior level. If history repeats itself, it could also be possible that we will also see these names years down the road as members of U.S. Olympic and World Teams.

Gary Abbott is the Director of Communications and Special Projects for USA Wrestling and is a founder of the National Wrestling Media Association and is a 2005 recipient of the NWCA Meritorious Service Award.

Gary Abbott