Chandler Rogers won his second straight Cadet National Greco-Roman title (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)"Greco is probably on the No. 1 list of my favorite styles of wrestling," said Rogers in a post-match interview. "Throwing is my favorite. I did it in the finals. I love to throw. You don't really get that opportunity in freestyle and folkstyle."
Rogers and California's Aaron Pico (132) were the only repeat champions in the Cadet National Greco-Roman competition.
Pico, like Rogers, was dominant throughout the competition, including in the finals at 132 pounds where he registered a technical fall shutout victory over Nevada's Brady O'Keefe, 6-0, 6-0. He showed a variety of high-level skills in the finals, scoring with takedowns, turns, and throws to overwhelm O'Keefe. Pico, who will be a freshman at St. John Bosco High School, did not give up a point in nine matches, and six of his wins came by technical fall. He was named Outstanding Wrestler in the Cadet National Greco-Roman competition.
Aaron Pico earned Outstanding Wrestler honors of the event after dominating at 132 (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Pico is one of five wrestlers still in the hunt for a Cadet Triple Crown after winning both the Cadet National folkstyle and Greco-Roman competitions. The final leg of the Triple Crown is the freestyle competition, which gets underway on Wednesday.
The other four wrestlers with Cadet Triple Crown hopes include Wisconsin's Hunter Marko (94), Minnesota's Mitchell McKee (100), Texas' Bo Nickal (152), and Minnesota's Lance Benick (195).
Marko, who trains at PINnacle, a Minnesota club run by Olympic silver medalist Brandon Paulson and NCAA champion Jared Lawrence, won his finals match at 94 pounds in two periods over Pennsylvania's Jon Gabriel. After a scoreless 90 seconds, Marko took the top position and scored two gut wrenches to take the opening period 4-0. In the second period Marko scored with an arm throw and a trapped arm gut wrench to win the period and the match.
McKee, who also trains at PINnacle, defeated New Jersey's Kyle Bierdumpfel in two periods in the championship match at 100 pounds. McKee took the opening period, 1-0, after defending in par terre. McKee scored with a front headlock roll through in the second period and came away with a 2-1 victory in the second for the win.
Nickal, a FILA Cadet National runner-up in both Greco-Roman and freestyle, needed just two periods to defeat Keiffer Taylor of Utah in the finals at 152 pounds. Nickal scored with a one-point takedown, followed up quickly with three trapped-arm gut wrenches to take the opening period 7-0. Nickal closed out the victory by winning the second period 1-0. He becomes the eighth wrestler from Texas to win a Cadet National Greco-Roman title and the first since 2009.
Minnesota won the team title in the Cadet National Greco-Roman competition (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Benick was one of three titlists for team champion Minnesota, along with the aforementioned McKee and Mason Manville (145).
Manville, a Schoolboy National Triple Crown winner in 2011, defeated Dustin Williams of Kansas in the finals at 145 pounds. Manville won the first period by scoring with a gut wrench in the closing seconds. He took the second period 1-0 to claim his first Fargo title.
Cadet National Duals Greco-Roman champion Illinois finished second in the Cadet National Greco-Roman team competition. The Land of Lincoln had four finalists, but came away with just one champion, Vincent Turk (120).
Turk's finals victory came over Jonathan Marmolejo in a battle of Illinois and Izzy Style wrestlers. The match was scoreless through the first 90 seconds, which sent it to par terre, where Marmolejo scored with a gut wrench to take the opening period. Turk used a three-point throw in the second period to pace him to a 4-1 victory. The third period, like the first, was decided in par terre after a scoreless 90 seconds. Turk scored two points in the final 30 seconds to take the period and the match.
Wisconsin, Oregon, and Utah each had two champions.
Wisconsin's champions were Marko at 94 pounds and Joe Nelson (138).
Nelson, who was undefeated at the Cadet National Duals in Greco-Roman, topped Joey Gunther of Illinois in the finals at 138 pounds, winning in two periods. Nelson controlled the action in the first period to win 3-0. Nelson then took the match by successfully defending in par terre. Gunther was initially awarded a point as time expired, but it was taken off the board after Nelson's coaches challenged the call.
The two Oregonians to win titles were Samuel Colbray (182) Wyatt Spears (285).
Colbray's finals victory at 182 pounds came over Missouri's Michael Pixley, spoiling Pixley's chance at a Cadet Triple Crown after winning a Cadet folkstyle title earlier this year. Colbray, a six-time state champion in Greco-Roman, successfully defended in par terre to take the first period 1-0. Pixley did the same in the second. The third period once again came down to par terre, where Colbray scored three points to take the match.
Spears, who is going into his junior year at Sheldon High School, rallied to defeat Tanner Farmer of Illinois in a dramatic finals match at 285 pounds. Farmer dominated the first part of the match and appeared to be on his way to the title after winning the first period 8-0 before jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the second period. But Spears battled back, picking up a three-point throw in the second period that not only helped him win the second period, but also seemed to take the wind out of Farmer's sail. The two heavyweights were scoreless through the first 90 seconds of the third period, which sent it to par terre. Spears started on top and seemed unable to turn Farmer. But in the finals seconds he locked up a side headlock and turned Farmer for the victory.
Utah's two champions were Kimball Bastian (160) and Roy Nash (220).
Bastian, who was undefeated in both styles at the Cadet National Duals, needed just one offensive point to defeat Nick Fiegner of California in the finals at 160 pounds. Bastian scored a one-point takedown off a high dive in the first period to win 1-0. The second period came down to par terre after neither wrestler scored in the first 90 seconds. Bastian successfully defended to win the match.
Nash, a Western Regional champion in both styles, registered a shutout victory over Indiana's Connor Tolley, 4-0, 1-0, in the finals at 220 pounds. Nash scored with two gut wrenches in the first period and a one-point pushout in the second period.
Cadet World Team member Kyle Norstrem of Florida picked up his first Fargo stop sign with a two-period victory over Vincenzo Joseph of Pennsylvania in the finals at 106 pounds. Norstrem, who will be a freshman at national power Brandon High School, trailed 1-0 late in the first period before scoring three on a late headlock to steal the period 4-1. Joseph tried a throw of his own in the second period, but Norstrem successfully countered the move and rolled to a 7-0 win in the second to close out the match victory.
Pennsylvania's lone Cadet National Greco-Roman champion was Devin Schnupp, who pinned Maryland's Breandan Coughlin in the first match of Monday afternoon's finals at 88 pounds.
Virginia's Coy Ozias won a three-period battle over Idaho's Drake Foster at 113 pounds. In the first period Ozias scored with a one-point takedown off a Foster headlock attempt, and then followed up with two trapped arm gut wrenches, which put him up 5-0. Foster battled back in the second period, picking up a three-point throw and adding one-point takedown to take the period 4-0. The third period came down to par terre after a scoreless 90 seconds. Ozias had choice in third based on having more technical points, and was able to successfully defend, which gave him the victory.
Michigan's Cole Weaver, a Cadet double All-American in 2011, defeated Minnesota's Seth Gross, a Cadet and FILA Cadet freestyle champion, in the finals at 126 pounds.
Finals Results:
88: Devin Schnupp (Pennsylvania) pinned Breandan Coughlin (Maryland), 2-1, 1:04
94: Hunter Marko (Wisconsin) dec. Jon Gabriel (Pennsylvania), 4-0, 6-2
100: Mitchell McKee (Minnesota) dec. Kyle Bierdumpfel (New Jersey), 1-0, 2-1
106: Kyle Norstrem (Florida) dec. Vincenzo Joseph (Pennsylvania), 4-1, 7-0
113: Coy Ozias (Virginia) dec. Drake Foster (Idaho), 5-0, 0-4, 1-0
120: Vincent Turk (Illinois) dec. Jonathan Marmolejo (Illinois), 1-2, 4-0, 2-0
126: Cole Weaver (Michigan) dec. Seth Gross (Minnesota), 3-0, 5-0
132: Aaron Pico (California) dec. Brady O’Keefe (Nevada), 6-0, 6-0
138: Joe Nelson (Wisconsin) dec. Joey Gunther (Illinois), 3-0, 1-0
145: Mason Manville (Minnesota) dec. Dustin Williams (Kansas), 2-0, 1-0
152: Bo Nickal (Texas) dec. Keiffer Taylor (Utah), 7-0, 1-0
160: Kimball Bastian (Utah) dec. Nick Fiegner (California), 1-0, 1-0
170: Chandler Rogers (Washington) pinned Ryan Christensen (Washington), 0:33
182: Samuel Colbray (Oregon) dec. Michael Pixley (Missouri), 1-0, 0-1, 3-0
195: Lance Benick (Minnesota) pinned Landon Pellham (Michigan), 0:40
220: Roy Nash (Utah) dec. Connor Tolley (Indiana), 4-0, 1-0
285: Wyatt Spears (Oregon) dec. Tanner Farmer (Illinois), 0-8, 3-2, 2-0
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