(Photo/Mark Lundy; www.luttelens.com)Aside from the drama surrounding the weigh-in status of two-time world champion and 2016 Olympian bronze medalist, J'Den Cox, the morning session at the Olympic Trials generally went according to plan. Most knew that would not be the case in the evening session. The semifinals and challenge tournament finals featured some of the best action of the day and a handful of upsets.
Perhaps the bracket with the most chaos was 65 kg in the men's freestyle division. Both 2019 Final X participants, Zain Retherford and Yianni Diakomihalis, were upset victims in the semis. Retherford fell to 2019 NCAA runner-up, Joey McKenna, in a shootout that saw McKenna capitalize and score exposure points on Retherford's offensive attempts. Diakomihalis was defeated by former training partner Jordan Oliver. The two-time national champion from Oklahoma State rallied late in the second period and grabbed a single leg and ran Diakomihalis out of bounds for a step-out point. The tipped criteria in Oliver's favor with only six seconds remaining in the bout. Since no one is waiting in the Trials finals at 65 kg, both advanced without competing in the challenge tournament finals.
The most anticipated bout of the entire tournament is officially set as Kyle Dake dominated Jason Nolf 11-0 in the challenge tournament finals. That sets up another chapter in the rivalry between Dake and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs. Burroughs sits in the finals after winning a world bronze medal in 2019.
The women's division was shook up by a pair of high school juniors who secured spots in tomorrow's finals. Kennedy Blades registered an 11-1 tech fall over two-time world team member Forrest Molinari, after downing U23 world bronze medalist Alex Glaude in the semis. She will face 2019 world champion, Tamyra-Mensah Stock, at 68 kg, with a place on the Olympic team looming in the balance. The second high schooler, Kylie Welker, secured a spot in tomorrow's finals against legendary five-time world champion Adeline Gray at 76 kg. Welker clinched a place in the tournament after making the finals of the 68 kg weight class at the Last Chance Qualifier last weekend. Welker moved up to 76 kg for this tournament and was seeded 14th. She has wins over the top-two seeds, Dymond Guilford and Victoria Francis.
A young entrant in the Greco division that opened eyes was Wisconsin freshman Braxton Amos. Braxton qualified in both styles and lost a freestyle match early in the tournament. He had wins over a pair of veterans, Lucas Sheridan and Nicholas Boykin. Also, on the Greco front, a couple of WCAP wrestlers won the challenge tournament, Ryan Mango and Ellis Coleman, will compete for a place on the Olympic team.
Mango and Coleman's Army WCAP teammate Jenna Burkert was responsible for one of the most emotional moments of the tournament. Burkert's mother recently passed away and this was her first competition since. She teched Cameron Guerin in the semifinal before pinning two-time world silver medalist Alli Ragan in the challenge tournament final. That sets up a match with 2016 Olympic gold medalist Helen Maroulis in the 57 kg finals.
Here are the full results and tomorrow's Olympic Trials final matchups
MGR Semifinal Results
60 KG
Leslie Fuenffinger (WCAP) over Dalton Roberts (WCAP) 5-2
Ryan Mango (WCAP) over Sam Jones (NYAC) 4-1
67 KG
Benji Peak (Sunkist Kids) over Raymond Bunker (All-Marine) 9-0
Ellis Coleman (WCAP) over Xavier Johnson (All-Marine) 8-0
77 KG
Jesse Porter (NYAC) over Pat Smith (Minnesota Storm) 5-3
Peyton Walsh (All-Marine) over Jacob Fisher (Curby 3 Style) 4-1
87 KG
John Stefanowicz (All-Marine) over Alan Vera (NYAC) 6-3
Patrick Martinez (NYAC) over Jonathan Anderson (West Point WC) 8-0
97 KG
Braxton Amos (Wisconsin RTC) over Lucas Sheridan (WCAP) 8-6
Nicholas Boykin (Sunkist Kids) over Dan Miller (All-Marine) 7-5
130 KG
Adam Coon (NYAC/CKWC) over West Cathcart (NYAC-Illinois RTC) Fall 1:23
Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist Kids) over Jacob Mitchell (WCAP)
MGR Challenge Tournament Finals
63 KG
Ryan Mango (WCAP) over Leslie Fuenffinger (WCAP) 3-0
67 KG
Ellis Coleman (WCAP) over Benji Peak (Sunkist Kids) 7-3
87 KG
John Stefanowicz (All-Marine) over Patrick Martinez (NYAC) 6-3
97 KG
Braxton Amos (Wisconsin RTC) over Nicholas Boykin (Sunkist Kids) 8-2
WFS Semifinal Results
50 KG
Amy Fearnside (TMWC/USOPTC) over Whitney Conder (WCAP) 5:25
Victoria Anthony (ASU RTC/Sunkist Kids) over Alyssa Lampe (Beaver Dam RTC) 7-6
53 KG
Katherine Shai (TMWC/NCWC) over Areana Villaescusa (WCAP) 2-1
Ronna Heaton (Sunkist Kids) over Dominique Parrish (Sunkist Kids) Fall
57 KG
Alli Ragan (Sunkist Kids) over Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Rise WC) 9-2
Jenna Burkert (WCAP) over Cameron Guerin (Bearcat WC) 11-0
62 KG
Maya Nelson (Sunkist Kids) over Jennifer Page (TMWC/NLWC) 6-1
Macey Kilty (Sunkist Kids) over Mallory Velte (TMWC) 4-2
68 KG
Forrest Molinari (Sunkist Kids) over Alara Boyd (Bearcat WC) 4-3
Kennedy Blades (Sunkist Kids) over Alex Glaude (TMWC/Bearcat WC) 5-0
76 KG
Victoria Francis (TMWC) over Jackie Cataline (TMWC) 9-3
Kylie Welker (TMWC) over Dymond Guilford (TMWC/USOPTC) 8-0
WFS Challenge Tournament Finals
50 KG
Victoria Anthony (ASU RTC/Sunkist Kids) over Amy Fearnside (TMWC/USOPTC) 11-0
53 KG
Ronna Heaton (Sunkist Kids) over Katherine Shai (TMWC/NCWC)
57 KG
Jenna Burkert (WCAP) fall Alli Ragan (Sunkist Kids) 2:12
62 KG
Macey Kilty (Sunkist Kids) over Maya Nelson (Sunkist Kids) 5-0
68 KG
Kennedy Blades (Sunkist Kids) over Forrest Molinari (Sunkist Kids) 11-1
76 KG
Kylie Welker (TMWC) over Victoria Francis (TMWC) 6-3
MFS Semifinal Results
57 KG
Thomas Gilman (TMWC/NLWC) over Joe Colon (TMWC/Cyclone RTC) 10-0
Vito Arujau (TMWC/Spartan Combat) over Daton Fix (TMWC/Cowboy RTC) 7-5
65 KG
Jordan Oliver (Sunkist Kids) over Yianni Diakomihalis (TMWC/Spartan Combat) 4-4
Joey McKenna (TMWC) over Zain Retherford (TMWC/NLWC) 8-5
74 KG
Kyle Dake (TMWC/Spartan Combat) over Evan Wick (TMWC) 11-0
Jason Nolf (TMWC/NLWC) over David Carr (Cyclone RTC) 10-0
86 KG
David Taylor (TMWC/NLWC) over Gabe Dean (Spartan Combat) 4-0
Bo Nickal (TMWC/NLWC) over Zahid Valencia (Sunkist Kids) 12-5
97 KG
Kollin Moore (TMWC/Ohio RTC) over Ty Walz (TMWC/SERTC) 6-2
Mike Macchiavello (TMWC/Wolfpack WC) over Hayden Zillmer (Gopher WC) 2-2
125 KG
Nick Gwiazdowski (TMWC/Wolfpack) over Dom Bradley (Sunkist Kids) 6-0
Gable Steveson (Gopher WC) over Greg Kerkvliet (TMWC/NLWC) 11-0
MFS Challenge Tournament finals
74 KG
Kyle Dake (TMWC/Spartan Combat) over Jason Nolf (TMWC/NLWC) 11-0
97 KG
Kollin Moore (TMWC/Ohio RTC) over Mike Macchiavello (TMWC/Wolfpack WC) 10-0
Women's Freestyle Finals
50KG: Sarah Hildebrandt (New York AC) vs. Victoria Anthony (ASU RTC/Sunkist)
53KG: Jacarra Winchester (Titan Mercury) vs. Ronna Heaton (Sunkist)
57KG: Helen Maroulis (Sunkist) vs. Jenna Burkert (WCAP)
62KG: Kayla Miracle (Sunkist) vs. Macey Kilty (Sunkist)
68KG: Tamyra Mensah-Stock (Titan Mercury) vs. Kennedy Blades (Sunkist)
76KG: Adeline Gray (New York AC) vs. Kylie Welker (Titan Mercury)
Men's Freestyle Finals
57KG: Vito Arujau (Spartan Combat) vs. Thomas Gilman (NLWC)
65KG: Joey McKenna (Penn RTC) vs. Jordan Oliver (Sunkist)
74KG: Jordan Burroughs (Sunkist) vs. Kyle Dake (Spartan Combat)
86KG: David Taylor (NLWC) vs. Bo Nickal (NLWC)
97KG: Kyle Snyder (NLWC) vs. Kollin Moore (Ohio RTC)
125KG: Nick Gwiazdowski (Wolfpack) vs. Gable Steveson (Gopher)
Men's Greco-Roman Finals
60KG: Ildar Hafizov (WCAP) vs. Ryan Mango (WCAP)
67KG: Alex Sancho (WCAP) vs. Ellis Coleman (WCAP)
77KG: Jesse Porter (NYAC) vs. Peyton Walsh (All-Marine)
87KG: Joe Rau (TMWC) vs. John Stefanowicz (All-Marine)
97KG: G'Angelo Hancock (Sunkist) vs. Braxton Amos (Wisconsin RTC)
130KG: Adam Coon (NYAC/CKWC) vs. Cohlton Schultz (Sunkist)
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now