Spencer Lee throws Danny Vega in the finals of the UWW Junior World Team Trials (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Lee, last summer a Cadet World champion at 50 kilos, came into this tournament seeking a bounce back after suffering a two-match sweep at the hands of Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla.) in the 54-kilo final at the UWW Cadet National championships two weekends ago. He got that bounce back on Friday with four 10-0 technical falls from four matches to earn a Junior World team spot; a pair of those coming in the challenge tournament, and two more to sweep UWW Junior Nationals champion Danny Vega (Ironwood Ridge, Ariz.)
Hall, last summer's Cadet World champion at 76 kilos, came into this event on fire after an impressive UWW Junior Nationals tournament at this weight class. That form continued in his finals series against Chance Marsteller (Oklahoma State), which was a battle of the last two wrestlers to win the InterMat High School Wrestler of the Year; Hall this past year, and Marsteller last year. Hall earned a 10-0 technical fall in the first match, and a pin in 3:44 during the second match.
Aaron Pico outscored Zain Retherford 11-4 over two matches at 66 kilos (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Pico has now won all six meetings against Retherford, today's matches by 5-2 and 6-2 decisions. This follows an 8-5 victory for Pico last month at the UWW Junior Nationals. Last year's match victories for Pico were 7-0 at the Junior Nationals, and then 3-0 and 5-1 at the Junior World Team Trials. Pico moves onto Brazil, where he will seek to improve upon his Junior World silver medal in this weight class from last summer.
Other Junior World Team Trials champions on Friday were Stevan Micic (Northwestern) at 55 kilos, Brock Zacherl (Clarion) at 60, Zahid Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif./Arizona State) at 84, Anthony Cassar (Penn State) at 96, and Nathan Butler (Stanford) at 120. The first two emerged through the Challenge Tournament, and beat last month's national champion on Friday afternoon, while the latter three were UWW Junior Natonals champions last month.
Stevan Micic defeated Daton Fix in two straight matches at 55 kilos (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)While Zacherl did win the title today, he will have to face a special wrestle-off against returning Junior World silver medalist Joey McKenna (USOTC/Stanford) for the 60 kilogram spot in Recife.
Best-of-three finals results
50 kilos:
Spencer Lee (Young Guns) def. Danny Vega (Tucson Cyclones), 2 matches to 0
Lee won by tech. fall over Vega, 10-0
Lee won by tech. fall over Vega, 10-0
55 kilos:
Stevan Micic (Chicago RTC) def. Daton Fix (Team Big), 2 matches to 0
Micic dec. Fix, 7-4
Micic dec. Fix, 10-4
60 kilos:
Brock Zacherl (Clarion WC) def. Gary Wayne Harding (Cowboy WC), 2 matches to 0
Zacherl won by tech. fall over Harding, 11-0
Zacherl won by tech. fall over Harding, 10-0
66 kilos:
Aaron Pico (Titan Mercury WC) def. Zain Retherford (Nittany Lion WC), 2 matches to 0
Pico dec. Retherford, 5-2
Pico dec. Retherford, 6-2
74 kilos:
Mark Hall (Minnesota Storm) def. Chance Marsteller (Titan Mercury WC), 2 matches to 0
Hall won by tech. fall over Marsteller, 10-0
Hall pinned Marsteller, 3:44
84 kilos:
Zahid Valencia (Sunkist Kids) def. Chandler Rogers (Titan Mercury WC), 2 matches to 0
Valencia won by tech. fall over Rogers, 10-0
Valencia pinned Rogers, 2:49
96 kilos:
Anthony Cassar (Nittany Lion WC) def. Jacob Seely (Northern Colorado WC), 2 matches to 0
Cassar won by tech. fall over Seely, 12-2
Cassar won by tech. fall over Seely, 10-0
120 kilos:
Nathan Butler (Stanford WC) def. Jake Gunning (Buffalo RTC), 2 matches to 0
Butler won by tech. fall over Gunning, 11-0
Butler won by tech. fall over Gunning, 11-0
Challenge tournament finals results
50 kilos: Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) tech. fall Brandon Courtney (Desert Edge, Ariz.), 10-0
55 kilos: Stevan Micic (Northwestern) tech. fall Jack Mueller (Trinity Christian Academy, Texas), 10-0
60 kilos: Brock Zacherl (Clarion) dec. Mitch McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.), 6-0
66 kilos: Zain Retherford (Penn State) dec. Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa./Penn State), 5-0
74 kilos: Chance Marsteller (Oklahoma State) dec. Logan Massa (St. Johns, Mich./Michigan), 8-8
84 kilos: Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) tech. fall Jaeden Bernstein (Navy), 10-0
96 kilos: Jacoby Seely (Fruita, Colo./Northern Colorado) dec. Ben Honis (FLWC), 10-4
120 kilos: Jake Gunning (Buffalo) dec. Garrett Ryan (Columbia), 5-0
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