Junior National Greco-Roman champions (Photo/Trackwrestling)FARGO, N.D. -- Mitchell McKee has always shined in Fargo.
The Minnesota native entered this year's event with four Fargo titles in four years and seven finals appearances in eight attempts. On Tuesday, McKee made it five Fargo titles by cruising to a Junior National Greco-Roman title at 138 pounds with a 13-0 technical fall in the finals over Montana's Jarett Degen.
In his post-match interview, McKee was asked by Shane Sparks what the word commitment means to him.
"Commitment is getting in the practice room, wrestling hard every, getting in there often and training for moments like this that you have to come out and give it your all with the right technique," said McKee.
McKee was one of four wrestlers to repeat as a champion in the Junior National Greco-Roman competition. Other repeat champions included Pennsylvania's Jaret Lane (106), Illinois' Dack Punke (113) and Oklahoma's Dalton Duffield (120).
Lane battled Florida's Elijah Varona in the finals at 106 pound in a rematch of last year's finals match at 100 pounds. Varona led most of the match until the closing seconds when Lane hit a four-point move to steal a 5-2 victory.
"Even if you're down you can come back in this style of wrestling at any point with a big throw or a pin," said Lane.
Punke was dominant in the finals at 113 pounds, earning a 10-0 technical fall over Nebraska's Joseph Harrison in under a minute. Punke's title gave Illinois its 73rd Junior Greco title, which is more than any other state.
"The team and the state of Illinois just keeps me motivated to come out here and do as best as I can at nationals," said Punke.
Duffield used a five-point throw to put an exclamation point on a 13-2 victory in the finals over Austin Macias of Illinois. He was named Outstanding Wrestler of the competition.
Utah's Taylor LaMont (132), who placed fifth at the Cadet World Championships last year in Greco-Roman, claimed his fourth Fargo title. He was a Junior Greco-Roman champion in 2014.
"I think my biggest accomplishments are probably here on this stage," said LaMont. "This is my fourth Fargo title. It's really hard to compare to those."
Local favorite Brandon Metz, a Fargo native, concluded the Junior National Greco-Roman competition with a fall in 29 seconds to win the title at 285 pounds.
Illinois claimed the team title with 72 points. Minnesota came in second with 38 points. Colorado (30), California (29) and Oregon (29) rounded out the top five teams.
Finals results:
100: Brendon Garcia (Colorado) tech. fall Brenden Chaowanapibool (Washington), 11-0
106: Jaret Lane (Pennsylvania) dec. Elijah Varona (Florida), 5-2
113: Dack Punke (Illinois) tech. fall Joe Harrison (Nebraska), 10-0
120: Dalton Duffield (Oklahoma) tech. fall Austin Macias (Illinois), 13-2
126: Matt Schmitt (Missouri) dec. Gabe Townsell (Illinois), 6-1
132: Taylor LaMont (Utah) pinned Dalton Young (Washington), 1:33
138: Mitchell McKee (Minnesota) tech. fall Jarett Degen (Montana), 13-0
145 Ryan Deakin (Colorado) dec. Jaron Jensen (Utah), 2-1
152: Griffin Parriot (Minnesota) dec. Lenny Merkin (New York), 9-2
160: Anthony Mantanona (California) dec. Max Wohlabaugh (Florida), 8-5
170: Thomas Brackett (Tennessee) by medical default over Kamal Bey (Colorado)
182: Logan Gruszka (Illinois) dec. Tony Vezzetti (Illinois), 9-2
195: Haydn Maley (Oregon) tech. fall Isaac Bartel (Iowa), 14-2
220: Sam Shields-Colbray (Oregon) tech. fall Jeffrey Allen (Virginia), 13-2
285: Brandon Metz (North Dakota) pinned Thomas Helton (Illinois), 0:29
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