InterMat: Inside info from the N.W.C.A
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Junior Freestyle Notebook (running)
By Jason Bryant
jbryant@intermatwrestle.com
THURSDAY
SESSION III NOTES
Accordino knocks off Nay, Cibula eliminated
In one of the early bouts on Thursday morning, Pennsylvania's Justin Accordino topped Missouri's Shane Nay 5-2, 5-0 at 145 pounds. Also at 145, Minnesota's Jake Deitchler eliminated Wisconsin's Zac Cibula 5-1, 2-3, 3-1.
Gambrall avoids upset
Iowa's Grant Gambrall scored a takedown and a two-point exposure in the waning seconds of the third period to give him a victory at 171 pounds over Pennsylvania's Edward Ruth. Gambrall won the first period, then Ruth won the second in convincing fashion and was up 3-1 in the third and looked to win going away. But Gambrall scored the counter takedown, threw in the boots and turned Ruth to score the last two points in a 4-4 third period.
Neely breaks through
Missouri's Clarence Neely wasn't 100 percent when he wrestled last season after returning from a collapsed lung. He's just now getting back into form. Neely beat Greco-Roman champion Kyle DeBerry of Arizona 1-4, 1-0, 1-0 to stay unbeaten at 160 pounds. He'll face Kevin Hardy of Ohio next.
Keepin' at it
Massachusetts' Sean Bilodeau is doing his best to avoid people watching his matches for any length of time. Bilodeau picked up his fifth fall in as many matches -- and fourth in under 30 seconds to move on at 152 pounds.
Look out
As the first round of matches finish up, it's notable that there are at least 30 high profile matches involving nationally ranked kids in the next round. Not a final round, not a semifinal round, but just some absolutely brutal match-ups now coming back-to-back-to-back. We're down to eight mats, but it's still nuts in here.
Moore knocks out Trumbetti
Iowa's Nate Moore picked up a comfortable two-period win over Greco-Roman runner-up John Trumbetti of New Jersey.
Rappo leis loss on Fukushima, Taylor tested
Greco-Roman All-American Mark Rappo of Pennsylvania stayed unbeaten after knocking off previously unbeaten Hawaii's Bryson Fukushima, a former Cadet Freestyle All-American, 7-0, 6-0 at 105 pounds. David Taylor of Ohio topped B.J. Futrell, the same opponent he met in the Greco finals, this one was tight as well with Taylor winning 6-4, 4-3.
Another shot
The round saw two re-matches of Greco-Roman finals and the results ended up a push. Donte Butler of Missouri avenged his loss at 112 pounds to Iowa's Andrew Long in Greco with a high-scoring 6-0, 2-9, 7-5 win. At 130 pounds, Iowa got the better end of the stick as Dalton Jensen teched Kelly Kubec 6-0, 6-0 to win over Kubec again.
Boyle eliminates Cox
While Sean Boyle might be heading to Blair Academy next year, he's still representing Massachusetts here in Fargo. Boyle eliminated former Cadet Greco-Roman champion Tyler Cox of Wyoming 6-3, 6-0 on Mat 4 at 112 pounds. Boyle will face Ohio's Steve Mitcheff in round six.
Spjut Spjecial
Texas' Eric Spjut has thrived in Fargo the last two seasons. Things this year are going well for the 119-pounder, as he moved to 6-0 and will face Brian Owen of Washington in round seven. Owen just eliminated Wisconsin's Bobby Wunnicke 3-2, 5-1.
Nay pins White
Funny things happen when time is running out, just ask Missouri's Shane Nay. After splitting the first two periods with returning Junior National Champion Albert White of Illinois at 145 pounds, Nay was down 2-0 with 12 seconds to go, scored one on snap and spin, went back out front, with his front headlock and rolled through, planting White for the fall. The area around the mat was met with loud roars, signifying a big win by someone "over there."
Tank-like
Northwestern signee Mike Benefiel of Illinois had zero trouble with Missouri signee Dorian Henderson of Georgia. Benefield mowed through Henderson in both periods, picking up a 6-0, 7-0 victory to move on. Also at 171, a second-period pushout gave Grant Gambrall a slight upset victory over Illinois' Jordan Blanton 1-1, 1-0 at 171 pounds.
"That's huge"
Idaho's Kirk Smith was dealt a loss at 171 pounds by Colorado's Cody Yohn. The rising senior at Alamosa scored a 1-1, 1-0 victory to keep moving on.
Oliver takes the first big round robin
Pennsylvania's Jordan Oliver cleared hurdle number one in the loaded B Pool at 119 pounds by beating Nikko Triggas of California in two periods on the raised mat. Oliver scored two takedowns in the first period on sweep singles to win 2-0. In the second period, Oliver scored three more takedowns and nearly scored a fourth, but settled for a pushout in a 4-2 second period win. Triggas' only points in the bout were on pushouts.
Joiner knocks off Peppelman
Another raised mat match saw Missouri's Dylan Joiner win a solid 3-0, 4-1 match over Pennsylvania's Walter Peppelman. Joiner scored three points in the second with a driving blast double off the edge that dropped Peppelman to his hip.
Deitchler edges Salazar
It's becoming very common, then again, we're down to the best in the pools, but mat one hosted another high quality match. Jake Deitchler of Minnesota beat a scrappy Jake Salazar of Utah 0-1, 2-0, 3-2 at 145 pounds. Salazar won the first with a takedown, Deitchler scored two point on an exposure to win the second and it was a three-point double off the edge. Salazar mounted a comeback, but couldn't get a go-ahead point, since he needed two points to win and the last point wouldn't have done it due to Deitchler's three point throw earlier.
Cubberly knocks off Meade
We only caught the last seconds, and details are missing, but Ohio's Eric Cubberly handed Delaware's Alex Meade his first loss of the tournament at 152 pounds.
Sanders knocks off Triggas
Zach Sanders of Minnesota picked up a two-period victory over Nikko Triggas at 119 pounds, but Triggas will place, but will have to see where he ends up on classification points.
Howe tops Meade
Andrew Howe of Indiana scored a takedown in the overtime leg clinch to win the first period over Delaware's Alex Meade and then scored a pushout, a takedown and a two-point gut-wrench to win the second period and take the match at 152 pounds.
Winston over Chaires
As Howe was wrestling Meade, New Jersey's Scott Winston picked up a two-period win over New York's Michael Chaires at 160 pounds on Mat 7. Winston scored three in the first on a feet to back double and then used two second period takedowns to move on.
Final round robins coming up
We're getting to the last pool round robin matches to determine final placement. Those bouts are being called to the mat and we'll hit up the updates when they finish.
Let's see if we can get all this down
Eight mats going, 16 studs wrestling on them. Here's what you want to know. Jordan Oliver of Pennsylvania beat Zach Sanders of Minnesota 1-0, 1-0, scoring takedowns from the leg clinch in both periods. Oliver locked up a cradle from the leg clinch in the second. What's notable is the dead disc that was used in the coin toss. Try to picture throwing a flat tire up in the air and seeing how many times it flips. Yeah, it was like that.
Johnston upends Graff
Pennsylvania's Colin Johnston pulled a big upset at 130 pounds, beating Colorado's Tyler Graff. After winning the first period 1-1, Johnston trailed 1-0 with time winding down. As Johnston backed Graff to the edge, he snatched up Graff's leg drove out and finished a three pointer. If the three wouldn't have been awarded, he would have scored a pushout, since Graff's feet were already out.
Bilodeau pins Howe
Sean Bilodeau of Mass picked up his sixth fall in dramatic fashion at 152 pounds, pinning Indiana's Andrew Howe in the first period of their pool final. Tied at 1-1, Howe was hanging on Bilodeau's head, when the Lehigh-bound wrestler overhooked, with his head still down, planting Howe to the mat. After settling, he ended up with the fall to move into the finals.
Updated 2:11 p.m. CDT
SESSION II NOTES
Team Oregon supporting the cause
The Junior Freestyle team from Oregon is making a statement about how they feel about the recent decision to cut wrestling at the University of Oregon. State coach Scott Kearney, brother of UO head coach Chuck Kearney, had some shirts made up and the Junior Freestylers -- the one's that will be attending college or are thinking about attending college within the next year. Some college coaches here in the Fargodome have said they're going to boycott Nike in response. "Beavers or Ducks, we're all wearing them," said Scott Kearney.
Who's missing?
Oklahoma State signed three Junior National Champions as part of this coming year's recruiting class. All are eligible to compete and defend their titles, but Jamal Parks of Oklahoma, Ben Ashmore of Texas and Clayton Foster of Idaho are not competing. However, Oklahoma State assistant Mark Branch is in the house ... looking for some future Cowboys.
More Oregon
Oregon's always been creative with their team shirts. Last year, Jack Nicholson's character from "The Shining" was on the front of the shirts ... you know, the "Here's Johnny" face. This year, Borat graces the front. It's pretty funny. "Come wrestle national, if not, I be ranked not." .. Ok, that was lame.
Round four craziness
Here's what's happened in the last half hour: B.J. Futrell of Illinois beat Ladd Rupp of Oklahoma 8-0, 2-0 at 105 pounds; David Thorn of Minnesota beat Ben Sergent of Ohio at 112 pounds; Steve Mitcheff of Ohio topped Tyler Cox of Wyoming 6-0, 7-0 also at 112. Brian Owen of Washington beat Thomas Williams of California 1-0, 1-0. At 130 pounds, Max Ortega of New Mexico was eliminated from competition by Washington's Kelly Kubec. C.J. Napier of Kansas beat Shane Strumwasser of New York 1-0, 2-0 at 135. Also at 135, Jason Chamberlain of Utah beat Walter Peppelman of Pennyslvania 3-5, 5-0, 3-1. At 145 pounds, Minnesota's Jacob Deitchler eliminated Pennsylvania's Mallie Shuster 5-2, 6-0.
More fun
Missouri's Craig Wilson beat Pennsylvania's Tyler Nauman at 140 pounds 1-0, 2-2, 1-0; Virginia's Sam Rakes beat Michigan's Jacob Burge 1-0, 1-3, 1-0 at 160 pounds and Kevin Hardy of Ohio beat Tad Merritt of Minnesota in three periods also at 160. At 171, Michigan's Ben Bennett beat Pennsylvania's Edward Ruth 5-1, 4-3. Peter Yates of Georgia upended New Jersey's Trevor Melde 4-1, 4-2 in what could easily be deemed an upset.
171's worth watching
Georgia's Dorian Henderson will be heading to the University of Missouri in the fall, but he's getting his freestyle licks in before he goes to college. Henderson beat New Jersey's Cory Peltier 1-0, 7-0 at 171 pounds, while Mike Benefiel of Illinios moves on by beating Oklahoma's Chris Perry 3-0, 1-0.
Updated 8:54 p.m. CDT
WEDNESDAY
SESSION I NOTES
Schedule changed
Before the Junior Freestyle tournament kicked off, announcer Sandy Stevens let the folks inside the Fargodome know of a schedule change. Wednesday's competition for Juniors will go from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. CDT, and then kick back up at 6 p.m. and conclude at 9 p.m. Thursday's schedule will go from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. CDT, and the finals now starting at 4 p.m.
Taylor tops Young in first round
In what amounts to a "why is this happening now" type of situation, Ohio's David Taylor beat Pennsyvlvania's Shane Young 2-0, 7-0. In the first, Young was in on several single legs, but Taylor fought it off before countering a shot and scoring a pushout after lifting Young from the mat. Taylor scored a takedown with a quick high-crotch to ice the first period. In the second, Taylor countered a double leg attempt and locked around the body and threw Young for two and went right into a two-point gutwrench. Taylor finished Young off with another takedown and then a trapped arm gut that put Young to his back.
And the hits just keep on coming
Yes, we realize the slight delay since the last update, but when you see the matches below that just took place, you'll understand completely. One can lose 10-15 pounds running around this dome going from mat to mat to mat. Of course, we all put that back on after the session at Buffalo Wild Wings. But on to the matches.
Williams tops Solberg
At 119 pounds, California's Thomas Williams edged North Dakota's Justin Solberg 1-1, 1-0 in the opening round. Williams is ranked #32 by InterMat in the Top 100 Recruits for 2008, while Solberg is #77 overall.
125 LOA-DED!
With 10 All-Americans in the weight, it will of course lead to some brutal first-round draws. Here's what went down in just the FIRST round alone. Dan White of New Jersey trounced Texas' Riley Adamson 6-0, 6-0. Jake Tanenbaum of Kansas topped Daron Hohbein of North Dakota after dropping the first period 8-0. Tanenbaum rallied and picked up 2-1 and 5-2 period victories. John Trumbetti of New Jersey, the Greco-Roman runner-up, knocked off Chris Albright of Pennsylvania 7-0, 1-0. We're not done yet. Joe Trause of New Jersey pinned returning All-American Bryan Pearsall of Pennsylvania in 39 seconds in the opening round and California's Boris Novachkov beat Minnesota's Cole Von Ohlen 2-1, 4-1. You can now breathe.
Richmond takes out Varela
Vicente Varela finished third in last year's Junior Freestyle championships ... now, he'll have a long road ahead if he wants to repeat the feat, let alone place. Varela was dealt a 4-0, 6-0 loss by Greco-Roman champion Norman Richmond of Oregon. Why would two guys so good meet so early? Well, Richmond didn't have any prior junior placement points and was thrown into the mix. Also at 135, Virginia's Marty Carlson scored a slight upset of Kansas' Phillip Henes 4-0, 2-1.
Tough draw
There's always one kid that seems to get the worst draw in the tournament. It's a safe bet that Virginia's Mark Massey was that kid. The Poquoson state runner-up met Mike Benefiel of Illinois in round one, then drew Oklahoma's Chris Perry. Ouch.
Quick work
Lehigh signee Sean Bilodeau of Massachusetts is spending little time on the mat. He opened the tournament up with a 10 second fall over Delaware's Jake Rankin and then followed with a 21 second fall over Texan Chase Covington.
Updated 1:41 p.m.
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