Amos named OW, Sharp wins Triple Crown at Cadet Greco Championships

Cadet Greco-Roman Nationals interviews

FARGO, N.D. – Braxton Amos of West Virginia became only the 15th wrestler to win four Cadet national titles at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior and Cadet National Championships, when he wrapped up the weekend with the 2017 Greco-Roman Cadet title at 220 lbs. on Friday afternoon.

To join an elite group of accomplished wrestlers, Amos, who won the Cadet freestyle national title earlier this week, escaped Jacob Kaminski of Illinois in the semifinals, 9-8, to earn a spot in the finals against Luke Luffman, also from Illinois. On the big stage, Amos picked up an early takedown followed by a series of gut wrenches for a 10-0 win in 47 seconds.

For his performance, Amos was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.

“I work hard,” Amos said. “This last year I couldn’t wrestle in high school because of my ACL and I told myself I was going to win Fargo. Once I got cleared, it was just practice after practice. Keeping my focus has been my hardest issue here.”

Only one Cadet wrestler, Ashton Sharp, won the coveted USA Wrestling Triple Crown, which is given to wrestlers who win a folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman national title in the same season.

“This was a life goal that I never thought was in reach until this year when I started having more and more success. With my performance last year, I never thought it would be accomplished,” Sharp said.

Sharp, wrestling for Missouri, sailed to the 195-pound finals after a 20-8 technical fall against Wyatt Hendrickson of Kansas. He followed it up with a controlled 4-1 decision in the finals against Peter Christensen of Illinois.

“I just had to shut down everything he has,” Sharp said. “If he doesn’t have anything, he can’t score on me. I had to make sure I was dominating the position, no matter what position we were in. It means the world to me.”

Three other wrestlers doubled up on Fargo titles this weekend, including Dylan Ragusin of Illinois at 106 pounds, Carson Manville of Minnesota at 132 pounds and Carter Starocci of Pennsylvania.

Ragusin moved up to 106 pounds for Greco after claiming to 100-pound freestyle title. In the finals, he faced Matthew Ramos of Illinois, who was the freestyle runner-up at 106 pounds earlier this week. The score was tight throughout the bout with Ragusin holding on for a 4-3 win.

The win marked Ragusin’s second Cadet Greco national title and third Fargo championship overall.

In his first year at the Cadet level, Carson Manville, the freestyle tournament’s OW, picked up his second title on the weekend by way of a 5-1 decision over Joshua Saunders of Missouri, who was the freestyle champion at 126 pounds.

His two titles here in Fargo came just days after winning a pair of gold medals at the Cadet Pan American Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Competing for Pennsylvania, Carter Starocci was the final wrestler to win two Cadet championships this week.

“It’s a big confidence booster,” Starocci said. “My main focus is on freestyle, but my goal was to come out here and focus on one match at a time to win it. Even if I wouldn’t have won, I would have known that there is always room to improve.”

Like Ragusin, Starocci also moved up a weight class after the freestyle tournament to 160 pounds. He started his day with a 12-1 tech fall over California’s Marcos Jimenez in the semifinals before capping off a week of competition with a 6-1 finals win against Dalton Andrist from Minnesota.

There were three Cadet freestyle runners-up that ended the week as Fargo champions, including Chance Lamer of Oregon, Carter Young of Oklahoma, Kevon Davenport of Michigan.

After falling in a tight finals bout during freestyle, Lamer redeemed himself with a dominant first-period pin over Nathan Rubino of Nebraska to claim the 88-pound Greco championship.

Young put on an exciting show at 94 pounds that lasted 50 seconds, as he rolled his way to a 10-0 tech against Danny Curran of Illinois to claim his stop sign.

In the 138-pound semis, Davenport posted a win over Fidel Mayora of Illinois, who beat out Davenport for the freestyle title. From there, he faced Colby Njos of Minnesota, who he defeated in a 6-3 match.

To in their first Cadet Greco titles, Wisconsin teammates Hunter Lewis and McKay Foy of Wisconsin each earned pins in their finals bouts.

Lewis stuck Nebraska’s Conor Knopick in 2:05 at 113 pounds, while Foy earned the W against Arizona’s Aaron Gandara in 1:49.

Yusief Lille of Washington earned a 4-1 win over 2016 Cadet World Team member and 2016 Cadet Greco national runner-up Andrew Chambal in the finals to win 100-pound gold.

Only three states had multiple Greco champions crowned, including Illinois, which had Ragusin and Abe Assad (170), Oklahoma, which had Young and Reece Witcraft (126) and Wisconsin, which had Lewis and McKoy.

Other champions included Michael Weber of Montana at 145 pounds, Jonathon Fagen of Idaho and Eli Pokorney of Indiana.

In the team race, Illinois picked up its third team title of the week with 89 points, outscoring No. 2 Minnesota (48) by 41 points. Pennsylvania came in third with 44 points.

U.S. MARINE CORPS JUNIOR AND CADET NATIONALS
At Fargo, N.D.

Cadet Greco-Roman

Championships results
88 lbs. – Chance Lamer (Oregon) fall Nathan Rubino (Nebraska), 2:05
94 lbs. – Carter Young (Oklahoma) tech. fall Danny Curran (Illinois), 10-0
100 lbs. – Yusief Lillie (Washington) dec. Andrew Chambal (Michigan), 4-1
106 lbs. – Dylan Ragusin (Illinois) dec. Matthew Ramos (Illinois), 4-3
113 lbs. – Hunter Lewis (Wisconsin) fall Conor Knopick (Nebraska), 2:05
120 lbs. – Phillip Moomey (Nebraska) dec. Fabian Lopez (Illinois), 13-9
126 lbs. – Reece Witcraft (Oklahoma) tech. fall Ryan Ripplinger (North Dakota), 14-4
132 lbs. – Carson Manville (Minnesota) dec. Joshua Saunders (Missouri), 5-1
138 lbs. – Kevon Davenport (Michigan) dec. Colby Njos (Minnesota), 6-3
145 lbs. – Michael Weber (Montana) dec. Franky Almaguer (Washington), 4-2
152 lbs. – McKay Foy (Wisconsin) fall Aaron Gandara (Arizona), 1:49
160 lbs. – Carter Starocci (Pennsylvania) dec. Dalton Andrist (Minnesota), 6-1
170 lbs. – Abe Assad (Illinois) dec. Tyler Hannah (Wisconsin), 2-1
182 lbs. – Jonathon Fagen (Idaho) dec. Grant Parrish (Minnesota), 14-8
195 lbs. – Ashton Sharp (Missouri) dec. Peter Christensen (Illinois), 4-0
220 lbs. – Braxton Amos (West Virginia) tech. fall Luke Luffman (Illinois), 10-0
285 lbs. – Eli Pokorney (Indiana) dec. Logan Zschernitz (Wisconsin), 14-7

Final results
88 lbs.
1st  Chance Lamer (Oregon) fall Nathan Rubino (Nebraska), 2:05
3rd  Joseph Couch (Maryland) dec. Payton Jacobson (Wisconsin), 11-2
5th  Tommy Curran (Illinois) won by forfeit Cody Thompson (Colorado)
7th  Richard Treanor (North Carolina) dec. Ronan Schuelke (Illinois), 8-4

94 lbs.
1st  Carter Young (Oklahoma) tech. fall Danny Curran (Illinois), 10-0
3rd  Sheldon Seymour (Pennsylvania) tech. fall Kase Mauger (Idaho), 13-3
5th  Cooper Cox (Utah) tech. fall Blaine Brenner (Wisconsin), 14-4
7th  Guillermo Juarez (Illinois) tech. fall Chase Murphy (Minnesota), 15-4

100 lbs.
1st  Yusief Lillie (Washington) dec. Andrew Chambal (Michigan), 4-1
3rd  Paxton Creese (Minnesota) dec. Brody Norman (Illinois), 5-3
5th  Landen Parent (Minnesota) tech. fall Jett Strickenberger (Colorado), 12-2
7th  Cael Swensen (Minnesota) dec. Kanin Hable (Minnesota), 4-1

106 lbs.
1st  Dylan Ragusin (Illinois) dec. Matthew Ramos (Illinois), 4-3
3rd  Caden Mccrary (Georgia) dec. Aizayah Yacapin (Washington), 6-2
5th  Jakason Burks (Nebraska) tech. fall Brenden Chaowanapibool (Washington), 13-2 4:24
7th  Chris Kim (Pennsylvania) fall Noah Gochberg (Texas), 1:48

113 lbs.
1st  Hunter Lewis (Wisconsin) fall Conor Knopick (Nebraska), 2:05
3rd  Haiden Drury (Washington) tech. fall Tariq Hornbuckle (Arizona), 13-1
5th  Adam Arenas (California) dec. Joshua Ogunsanya (Illinois), 14-13
7th  Isaac Salas (California) dec. Enzo Silva (Illinois), 2-1

120 lbs.
1st  Phillip Moomey (Nebraska) dec. Fabian Lopez (Illinois), 13-9
3rd  Cameron Picklo (Oklahoma) dec. Brayden Roberts Mineral (West Virginia), 17-8
5th  Aidan Nutter (Wisconsin) dec. Austin Almaguer (Washington), 3-1
7th  Reese Durlacher (Illinois) won by forfeit Luke Odom (Illinois)

126 lbs.
1st  Reece Witcraft (Oklahoma) tech. fall Ryan Ripplinger (North Dakota), 15-4
3rd  Dominick Serrano (Colorado) tech. fall Ryan Franco (California), 10-0
5th  Joshua Jones (Pennsylvania) tech. fall Edward Scott DuBois, PA (Pennsylvania), 17-7
7th  Chase Warden (Texas) dec. Paul Watkins (Georgia), 8-6

132 lbs.
1st  Carson Manville (Minnesota) dec. Joshua Saunders (Missouri), 5-1
3rd  Dawson Sihavong (California) tech. fall John Martin (West Virginia), 14-2
5th  Teddy Okada (California) fall Torry Early (Illinois), 1:22
7th  Frankie Tal-shahar (Florida) tech. fall Stockton O`brien (Utah), 10-0

138 lbs.
1st  Kevon Davenport (Michigan) dec. Colby Njos (Minnesota), 6-3
3rd  Cade Devos (Iowa) dec. Alex Rubio (Washington), 5-0
5th  Michael Kistler (Pennsylvania) won by forfeit Fidel Mayora (Illinois)
7th  Logan Sumulong (California) won by forfeit Carter Tuttle (Pennsylvania)

145 lbs.
1st  Michael Weber (Montana) dec. Franky Almaguer (Washington), 4-2
3rd  Keller Rock (Arizona) dec. Alex Facundo (Michigan), 6-3
5th  Jakob Murillo (Idaho) dec. Jace Luchau (California), 12-9
7th  Jacob Mcknight (Michigan) tech. fall Lance Runyon (Iowa), 11-0

152 lbs.
1st  Mckay Foy (Utah) fall Aaron Gandara (Arizona), 1:49
3rd  Sione Halo (Washington) dec. Donnell Washington (Illinois), 7-5
5th  Cade Lindsey (Kansas) won by forfeit Kyle Knowles (Oklahoma)
7th  Brett Mcintosh (Ohio) tech. fall Gage Coppock (Wisconsin), 14-4

160 lbs.
1st  Carter Starocci (Pennsylvania) dec. Dalton Andrist (Minnesota), 6-1
3rd  Angel Garcia (Pennsylvania) tech. fall Marcos Jimenez (California), 10-0
5th  Jacob Nolan (New York) dec. Dominic Solis (Maryland), 13-11
7th  Jonovan Smith (California) dec. Ankhaa Enkhmandakh (California), 7-4

170 lbs.
1st  Abe Assad (Illinois) dec. Tyler Hannah (Wisconsin), 2-1
3rd  Ryan Ringler (Michigan) win by forfeit Julien Broderson (Iowa)
5th  Isaiah Alford (Nebraska) dec. Brian Boyd (Missouri), 8-3
7th  Garrett Kappes (Maryland) fall Jacob Atkins (Indiana), 0:34

182 lbs.
1st  Jonathon Fagen (Idaho) dec. Grant Parrish (Minnesota), 14-8
3rd  Darrien Roberts (Pennsylvania) dec. Silas Allred (Indiana), 11-3
5th  Devin Winston (Missouri) tech. fall Connor Bourne (Nevada), 11-0
7th  Trevor Swier (Illinois) tech. fall Gavin Carter (Kansas), 18-7

195 lbs.
1st  Ashton Sharp (Missouri) dec. Peter Christensen (Illinois), 4-0
3rd  Wyatt Hendrickson (Kansas) dec. Matthew Cover (Ohio), 9-8
5th  Aidan Conner (Texas) dec. Santos Cantu (Oregon), 3-1
7th  Avery Jaramillo (Oregon) dec. Cody Fisher (Iowa), 10-8

220 lbs.
1st  Braxton Amos (West Virginia) tech. fall Luke Luffman (Illinois), 10-0
3rd  Jacob Kaminski (Illinois) tech. fall Thomas Mukai (Virginia), 10-0
5th  Tarik Sutkovic (Arizona) tech. fall Lewis Fernandes (New Jersey), 13-1
7th  Hunter Catka (Pennsylvania) fall Nathaniel Deasey (Arizona), 1:24

285 lbs.
1st  Eli Pokorney (Indiana) dec. Logan Zschernitz (Wisconsin), 14-7
3rd  Nash Hutmacher (South Dakota) tech. fall Nicholas Pierce (Minnesota), 16-5
5th  Louden Haga (Ohio) tech. fall Justin Ramos (California), 10-0
7th  Colby Whitehill (Pennsylvania) fall Carlos Sanchez (Texas), 14-2