Instead the story of the tournament was about second opportunities. In fact, both finalists in the Freestyle Duals finished second in their preliminary pool. Illinois was second to the top entry from Pennsylvania, while Missouri was second to New Jersey. The defending champions, Minnesota 1, also took second in their preliminary pool -- to Oklahoma.
The need for a second chance became even more pressing for Illinois when they would lose the opening match of Championship Red Pool competition to Oklahoma, 38-35. The crucial last five points for Oklahoma came from a forfeit at 265 pounds. Arguably the headline match of the event came within this dual meet, as Bryce Brill defeated Gary Wayne Harding in two periods (6-5, 2-0) at 98 pounds. Brill and Harding are ranked third and fourth respectively in the recently completed Intermat Junior High rankings.
New Jersey defeated Oklahoma in the next match of pool competition, 42-29, which enabled them to head into the final match of the round-robin undefeated at 2-0. Despite rolling out to a 34-14 lead after the 144 pound weight class against the Garden State squad, the road coming home for Illinois would not be easy. New Jersey did make it close with wins in five of the last six matches. However, that one victory, which came from Edgar Ruano at 190 pounds, would be enough to give Illinois the victory.
That victory would have Illinois, New Jersey, and Oklahoma end the Red pool 2-1. Michigan was 0-3 in this pool. The first tiebreaker would be total match points in the three-team round-robin to determine a third place finisher. Oklahoma had the least points from the three teams, 67 compared to 74 for Illinois and 77 for New Jersey. Illinois won the pool, as the head-to-head dual match is the tiebreaker at that point.
In order to make it to the final from the Championship Blue Pool, Missouri had to survive a pair of close matches against the returning finalists in this event. Despite losing 9 of the 17 contested matches, Missouri would outlast Minnesota 36-33 when Keyen Broughton would bump up one weight class and earn the fall against Minnesota’s Colton Hines in the last match of the dual meet.
In the final dual meet of the pool stage, Missouri would steamroll to a 28-7 lead against Pennsylvania after nine matches. However, it would need every one of those points, as the Show Me State squad only got wins from Matthew McClimens (175) and DeShawn Clancy (210) coming home. The final score was 37-36 in favor of Missouri.
Illinois defeated Missouri in the championship final match 40-31, as they took home nine of the fifteen contested matches. After Edgar Ruano’s win at 190 pounds, the squad had a 40-21 lead, which clinched the victory. Two forfeit wins by Missouri would make the final margin of defeat nine points.
Brill was the lone undefeated wrestler for the Illinois squad, and was 17-0 for the combined Schoolboy National Dual Meet competitions.
Placement Matches:
First Place: Illinois defeated Missouri, 40-31
Third Place: New Jersey defeated Minnesota 1, 37-34
Fifth Place: Oklahoma 1 defeated Pennsylvania Red, 40-36
Seventh Place: Wisconsin defeated Michigan Red, 47-29
Ninth Place: Minnesota 2 defeated Kansas, 36-35
Undefeated wrestlers (at least six wins in contested matches):
70 Pounds: Markus Simmons (OK-1) 10-0, Ryan Friedman (MD) 7-0
77 Pounds: Davion Jeffries (OK-1) 10-0, James Pleski (MN-2) 6-0
91 Pounds: Chandler Carroll (IN-2) 7-0
98 Pounds: Bryce Brill (IL) 8-0
112 Pounds: Jack Clark (NJ) 9-0
120 Pounds: Justin Staudenmayer (PA) 7-0
128 Pounds: Eric Morris (PA) 9-0
136 Pounds: Chris Wilkes, Jr (MO) 7-0, Alex Hernandez (IA) 6-0
144 Pounds: Brock Warren (OK-1) 10-0, Stephen Bachmann (MD) 7-0
152 Pounds: Jadon Davenport (OK-1) 10-0, Dominick Flock (WI) 8-0
160 Pounds: Jacyn Goebel (IA) 6-0
190 Pounds: Tom Haines (PA) 9-0
210 Pounds: El-Shaddai Gilmore Vanltoesen (NY) 6-0
265 Pounds: Gregory Webb (NJ) 9-0
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