That included three wins against elite prospects in the Class of 2015, who redshirted this past season. It was first a 10-0 win in the quarterfinal over Josh Shields (Arizona State), which was followed up by an 8-4 win in the semifinals over future college teammate Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State), and then a pin over Logan Massa (Michigan) in the final. Hall and Massa wrestled a shootout at the Olympic Team Trials earlier this month, a match that Hall won; on this occasion, Hall trailed early on, but rallied back for the pin in 1:34.
Two other competitors repeated as champions in this tournament, Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla.) at 55 kilograms and Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) at 84.
In three matches prior to the final, Fix amassed a trio of victories by technical fall, most notably the 10-0 semifinal technical fall against fellow elite Class of 2017 prospect Austin Gomez (Glenbard North, Ill.); Gomez was a returning UWW Junior Nationals medalist in this weight class. Then it was a 6-5 victorious battle over Gavin Teasdale (Jefferson Morgan, Pa.) in the final; both wrestlers were UWW Cadet National freestyle champions the previous two seasons.
Valencia wrestled five matches in the tournament and only allowed one point throughout the event, that coming in an 11-1 quarterfinal victory over Nathan Traxler (Marmion Academy, Ill.), a top 30 Class of 2016 prospect. His semifinal and final victory came against fellow top ten wrestlers from the Class of 2015, a 4-0 victory over Bobby Steveson (Minnesota) and then a 7-0 win over NCAA champion at 174 pounds Myles Martin (Ohio State); Valencia also beat Martin 7-0 in last year's final at this event.
These three champions will have the opportunity to compete against an Iranian opponent as part of the Beat the Streets "United in the Square" dual meet on May 19th, along with the champion at 60 kilograms. In addition, all champions in the eight contested weight classes advance to the final of the UWW World Team Trials, which will be in Irving, Texas on May 21st and 22nd; those choosing to compete at Times Square have the right to delay their match against the challenge tournament champion.
One of the other champions on Saturday was returning UWW Junior World freestyle champion Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.), who won all three of his matches in the tournament by 10-0 technical fall at 50 kilograms. The nation's top Class of 2017 prospect faced Patrick McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.) in the championship match.
The other wrestler having first choice to compete at the Beat the Streets event on Times Square will be Minnesota signee Mitch McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.), the champion at 60 kilograms. He earned a pin in 2:15 against Seth Gross (South Dakota State), a three-time Fargo freestyle champion in high school, who was one match from All-American honors in the NCAA tournament at 141 pounds last month. The other four matches that McKee won in this tournament all came by technical fall.
Rounding out the champions for weight classes that will be contested at the UWW Junior World Championships in France later this summer were Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) at 66 kilograms, Jacob Seely (Northern Colorado) at 96 kilograms, and Rylee Streifel (Minnesota) at 120 kilograms.
Pantaleo was a semifinalist in the NCAA tournament at 149 before dropping three matches to finish sixth. Leading up to this tournament's championship match, he had four pins sandwiched around a 12-2 technical fall in the quarterfinal round. In the championship match, it was a 5-1 decision over Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton), a top ten Class of 2015 prospect.
Seely was runner-up at this weight class last year in this same tournament, as well as a challenge tournament finalist at the World Team Trials. Before enrolling at Northern Colorado this past fall, he also was a Junior National freestyle champion in Fargo. This afternoon, he beat fellow redshirting freshman Lance Benick (Arizona State) 9-2 in the championship match.
In another championship match battle of redshirting freshmen, it was Rylee Streifel (Minnesota) scoring a 10-8 victory over Patrick Grayson (Nebraska).
Champions in the three weight classes not to be contested at the UWW Junior World Championships were Cole Martin (Wisconsin) at 63 kilograms, Michael Kemerer (Iowa) at 70 kilograms, and Beau Breske (Hartford Union, Wis.) at 79 kilograms.
Martin, who redshirted this season as a true freshman, beat top 50 Class of 2017 prospect Ben Freeman (Walled Lake Central, Mich.) by an 8-8 criteria decision in his championship match.
Kemerer, a top 15 prospect in the 2015 class also redshirted this past season, advanced to the final with three technical falls and a pin in the semifinal. He earned a 9-8 victory in the final over top 40 Class of 2016 prospect Evan Wick (San Marino, Calif.), who was a Junior National freestyle runner-up last summer in Fargo.
Breske, ranked No. 12 in the Class of 2016 and a commit to Nebraska, advanced to the final with three shutout technical falls and then a 13-9 semifinal decision. He upended Myles Amine (Michigan), a redshirting true freshman 9-4 in the championship match.
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