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    Mark Palmer •

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    Metcalf, Ramos, McDonough winners at Agon V

    Brent Metcal and Aaron Pico battled in the main event at Agon 5 (Photo/Nic Ryder)


    CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- At Agon V: Iowa Against the World professional amateur wrestling event at U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids Friday night, it was Iowa 3, World 2, with former University of Iowa mat champs Brent Metcalf, Tony Ramos and Matt McDonough coming out on top against top wrestlers from outside the state.

    In one of the co-main event matches sponsored by Agon Wrestling Championships, Metcalf, 28, a two-time NCAA champ for the Hawkeyes, got a 4-1 win over 18-year-old freestyle phenom Aaron Pico ... while, in the other, 2014 NCAA titlist Tony Ramos earned a 12-8 come-from-behind win over 2008 US Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo.

    Tony Ramos has Henry Cejudo's leg up in the air at Agon 5 (Photo/Nic Ryder)
    Both top-of-the-card matches ended with a bit of fireworks. In the case of Ramos-Cejedo, the Iowa alum rallied from an 8-4 deficit in the last 45 seconds to score a takedown, exposure points, then another takedown before putting the Olympian-turned-MMA fighter in a cradle in the final seconds which had some observers declaring Ramos had scored a fall. Metcalf's fireworks came off the mat. After concluding the last match of the evening, the three-time NCAA finalist took to the microphone to declare that he was the more aggressive scorer, but later said that he was not disrespecting Pico. On Saturday morning, Metcalf tweeted an apology: "In honor of Easter Weekend ... I told myself I wouldn't push anyone off the stage or make some big scene ..." with the hashtags #Fail #KeepItClassyMetcalf

    Scoring the third team win for Team Iowa in a battle of 125-pound NCAA champs was Matt McDonough, 2012 NCAA titlewinner for the Hawkeyes, getting a 6-2 victory over Angel Escobedo, 2008 NCAA titlist for Indiana University who last summer joined the coaching staff at Iowa State. McDonough was never behind at any point of his match vs. his former Big Ten rival.

    The evening did not start off so great for former Iowa Hawkeye wrestlers. Deron Winn, a national junior college champ who now competes for the Cyclone Wrestling Club at Iowa State, got a 6-3 win over Hawkeye All-American Phil Keddy. In a rematch of the 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships' 157-pound finals, Jason Welch of Northwestern avenged that loss by beating Derek St. John, 12-10.

    Austin Gomez topped Justin Mejia 15-8 in one of three high school matches at Agon 5 (Photo/Nic Ryder)
    In addition to matches featuring post-collegiate wrestlers, Agon V also included three bouts with the next generation of potential college mat stars. Austin Gomez, a national champ from Glenbard North High School in Illinois, defeated Justin Mejia, a California high school sophomore who has made a verbal commitment to wrestle for the Hawkeyes, 15-8. Two other high school stars committed to wrestle at Iowa were more successful. Alex Marinelli, a two-time Ohio state champ from St. Paris Graham High School, got a 9-4 win over Pennsylvania's John Shields ... while Mike Kemerer, who won a Pennsylvania state title as a senior this year after being a three-time PIAA finalist, defeated future University of Minnesota wrestler Fredy Stroker of Bettendorf, Iowa, 5-4.

    Attendance figures were not released for Agon V. K.J. Pilcher, wrestling writer for the Cedar Rapids Gazette, estimated the crowd to be between 3,500-4,000; another individual posted on Twitter that the U.S. Cellular Center, which has a reported seating capacity for sporting events of 6,900, was "about half-full."

    Friday night's event in Cedar Rapids was Agon Wrestling Championships' fifth event. The organization's inaugural event was held in Las Vegas in late October 2013. "Agon" comes from Greek word describing a one-on-one, no-holds-barred contest where human nature was tested to the limits. "Agon" is the root of English words "antagonist" and "agony."

    Results:
    Brent Metcalf dec. Aaron Pico, 4-1
    Matt McDonough dec. Angel Escobedo, 6-2
    Tony Ramos dec. Henry Cejudo, 12-8
    Jason Welch dec. Derek St. John, 12-10
    Deron Winn dec. Phil Keddy, 6-3
    Michael Kemerer dec. Fredy Stroker, 5-4
    Austin Gomez dec. Justin Mejia, 15-8
    Alex Marinelli dec. John Shields, 9-4
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