Drury repeats as USMC Junior Greco-Roman champion; Waters wins OW, Illinois takes team title

FARGO, N.D. – Landon Drury of Colorado repeated as champion, and Alan Waters of Pennsylvania was named Outstanding Wrestler during an exciting finals at the USMC Junior Nationals in the FargoDome on Saturday night.

Drury won the 138-pound title, scoring an 8-0 technical fall over Alex Braun of Minnesota in the finals. Drury, who has been a Greco-Roman specialist, defeated Braun, who is ranked No. 4 by FloWrestling nationally. Drury heads next to Northern Michigan to continue his Greco-Roman focus in college.

Waters needed only 33 seconds to pin Aidan Squier of New Jersey in the 175-pound finals. He dominated the field during the two-day event, getting four pins and two technical falls, and outscoring his opponents 40-0.

Illinois won the team title with 171 points, with two individual champions and 10 All-Americans. Oklahoma placed second with 122 points and three individual champions. Minnesota placed third with 110 points and one champion.

Illinois was led by individual champion Michael Rundell (100) and Anthony Ruzic (126), both who have won previous Junior titles.

Rundell scored a 10-0 technical fall over Jose Cordero of Tennessee in the finals. He won the Junior freestyle title on Wednesday night, securing a double title this year.

Ruzic, who is heading to the University of Illinois this fall, shut out Jackson Heslin of Connecticut, 6-0 in the finals. It is Ruzic’s third Fargo title, having won the Junior Greco-Roman crown in 2022 and a 16U Greco-Roman title in 2021.

Oklahoma’s three champions were the most of any state, achieved by Cason Craft (106), Rhett Peak (132) and Jude Randall (157). Craft jumped to a lead over Dylan Ota of Texas early on, and emerged with a 7-6 victory in the finals. Peak controlled the action in his 4-0 victory over Treygen Morin of Idaho Randall had a tough scrap with Brett Back, securing a 4-3 decision.

Aliaksandr Kikiniou of California became the second member of his family to win a Fargo title this evening, capturing the 165-pound title, scoring a winning gut wrench to beat Griffin Lundeen of Minnesota, 3-1. His younger brother Arseni won a 16U title earlier in the session. They are the sons of Aliaksandr Kikiniou, who is a member of Senior Greco-Roman Team USA and an Olympian for Belarus before immigrating to the USA.

Pierson Manville of Pennsylvania was emotional after securing a 9-0 technical fall over Wyatt Medlin of Illinois in the 144-pound finals. Manville is considered one of the nation’s top wrestlers, yet had not reached the top of the podium in several previous attempts in Fargo.

Colorado had a pair of champions, Drury and Brandon Dean (150), who scored a pin in 1:57 over Garrett Reece of Colorado in the finals.

North Dakota’s Nicolas Enzminger fell behind Ezekiel Witt of Kansas by a 7-0 margin, then powered back in the second period with some big throws to take the lead at 113 pounds. He ultimately won by disqualification, when Witt was hit with penalties for blocking Enzminger’s throws.

Minnesota’s Zakary McPhee broke up a high-scoring match with Alihan Bereket of Illinois with a pin in 5:04 at 190 pounds. McPhee is heading to UW-Eau Claire this fall.

The 285-pound finals was also high scoring, with 17 points scored in the first period. Shilo Jones of Idaho emerged with a 13-10 victory. It was Jones’ second national title of the year, to go with his Junior Folkstyle crown secured in March.

Other individual champions were Kody Tanimoto of Texas (120) and Soren Pirhoun of Virginia (215).

Pirhoun, who immigrated to the USA from Iran a few years ago, scored a 10-1 technical fall over Michael Calcagno of Illinois, firing up the Virginia cheering section in the stands. Tanimoto, who came in as top seed, took the early lead and finished off Isaiah Jones of Oklahoma, 7-4.

USMC JUNIOR GRECO-ROMAN NATIONALS

At Fargo, N.D., July 20

100 pounds

Finals: Michael Rundell (IL) tech fall Jose Cordero (TN) 10-0, 5:02

3rd: Vincent Demarco (IL) tech fall Jameson Thomas (AL) 10-2 1:45

5th: Xavier Diaz (PA) pin Ray Long (IL) 5:56

7th: Kacen Jones (UT) tech fall Trexden Olsen (UT) 9-0 1:30

106 pounds

Finals: Cason Craft (OK) dec. Dylan Ota (TX) 7-6

3rd: Caden Correll (IL) pin Brady Byrd (IN) 1:03

5th: Roderick Brown (FL) tech fall Maddox Martinez (NM) 18-7 3:24

7th: Caden Smith (VA) dec. Hunter Hurl (UT) 9-2

113 pounds

Finals: Nicolas Enzminger (ND) disq. Ezekiel Witt (KS), cautions.

3rd: Roman Luttrell (NM) tech fall Caleb Noble (IL) 11-2 2:27

5th: Dunia Sibomana (NY) tech fall Santana Ramon (MI) 8-0 1:33

7th: Everest Sutton (CO) pin William Jakeway (SC) 0:59

120 pounds

Finals: Kody Tanimoto (TX) dec. Isaiah Jones (OK) 7-4.

3rd: Gage Singleton (OR) tech fall Musa Tamaradze (MA) 9-0 1:20

5th: Maximus Riggins (IA) tech fall Davis Motyka (PA) 10-1 2:29

7th: Brayten Casey (WI) dec. Jeremiah Wachsmuth (OR) 10-6

126 pounds

Finals: Anthony Ruzic (IL) dec. Jackson Heslin (CT) 6-0

3rd: Jaxton Packer (ID) pin Logan Schwanz (MN) 1:40

5th: Lawson Eller (MN) tech fall Sawyer Hackbarth (OK) 9-0 1:33

7th: Drew Hansen (MI) dec. Boden Banta (ID) 5-5

132 pounds

Finals: Rhett Peak (OK) dec. Treygen Morin (ID) 4-0

3rd: Manuel Saldate (NV) tech fall Geronimo Rivera (UT) 12-1 3:49

5th: Brian Grabner (AK) won by forfeit Moses Mendoza (CA)

7th: Jarvis Little (TN) tech fall Edwin Sierra (CA) 8-0 2:03

138 pounds

Finals: Landon Drury (CO) tech fall Alex Braun (MN) 8-0, 2:03

3rd: Dmytro Chubenko (OH) dec. William Anderson (AL) 8-4

5th: Dillon Cooper (KS) tech fall Amryn Nutter (WI) 15-6 4:25

7th: Layne Kleimann (UT) tech fall Landon Thomas (MI) 10-2 2:30

144 pounds

Finals: Pierson Manville (PA) tech fall Wyatt Medlin (IL) 9-0, 2:03

3rd: Maksym Chubenko (OH) dec. Luis Alberto-desilva (PA) 7-5

5th: Derek Barrows (CO) pin Emil Necula (GA) 1:40

7th: Jake Miller (OK) dec. Brayden Canoyer (NE) 8-3

150 pounds

Finals: Brandon Dean (CO) pin Garrett Reece (CO) 1:57

3rd: Paul Kelly (CA) dec. Hunter Sturgill (TN) 2-2

5th: Bas Diaz (IA) dec. Tre Haines (WA) 1-1

7th: Rafael o. Garcia morales (UST) dec. Anderson Heap (FL) 9-3

157 pounds

Finals: Jude Randall (OK) dec. Brett Back (WI) 4-3.

3rd: Tucker Roybal (UT) dec. Leister Bowling iv (CO) 4-3

5th: Patrick Brackett (CO) tech fall Logan Glynn (NE) 9-0 0:33

7th: Matthew Randolph (MN) dec. Will Scherer (MO) 4-3

165 pounds

Finals: Aliaksandr Kikiniou (CA) dec. Griffin Lundeen (MN) 3-1

3rd: Trae Rios (OK) pin Jarrett Wadsen (MN) 4:23

5th: Bradlee Farrer (UT) dec. Evan Roudebush (IN) 6-5

7th: Konlin Weaver (GA) dec. Maximus Norman (TN) 6-0

175 pounds

Finals: Adam Waters (PA) pin Aidan Squier (NJ) 0:33.

3rd: Waylon Cressell (IN) tech fall Matthew Jens (IL) 8-0 1:04

5th: Hudson Rogers (ID) dec. Ben Smith (UT) 12-6

7th: Lucas Ricketts (KY) tech fall Jonathan Sims (OH) 11-2 5:54

190 pounds

Finals: Zakary McPhee (MN) pin Alihan Bereket (IL) 5:04.

3rd: Aiden Cooley (TX) tech fall Brenden Heying (IA) 8-0 0:38

5th: William Ward (ND) tech fall Breyson Kelley (WI) 14-4 1:46

7th: Alexander Smith (FL) pin Riley Hucks (SC) 1:22

215 pounds

Finals: Soren Pirhoun (VA) tech fall Michael Calcagno (IL) 10-1, 4:07

3rd: Angelo Posada (CA) tech fall Cason Howle (SC) 10-2 0:44

5th: Jayden Tadeo-gosal (CA) inj. def. Cittadino Tuttle (MN)

7th: Carson Gooley (ID) pin Henry Christensen (IA) 0:31

285 pounds

Finals: Shilo Jones (ID) dec. Micah Hach (SD) 13-10.

3rd: Grant Stromberg (WI) dec. Mustafa Woodi (OH) 8-1

5th: Hunter Vander heiden (WI) pin Alexander Bajoras (MA) 2:33

7th: Dean Bechtold (PA) pin Willie Cox (AL) 0:45

JUNIOR GRECO-ROMAN

Team Scores

1. Illinois 171

2. Oklahoma 122

3. Minnesota 110

4. Colorado 105

5. Pennsylvania 83

6. Idaho 76

7. California 73

8. Wisconsin 63

9. Texas 60

10. Utah 57

11. Ohio 44

12. Tennessee 39

13. Indiana 34

13. North Dakota 34

15. Iowa 32

16. Virginia 30

17. Kansas 29

18. Alabama 26

19. New Mexico 22

20. Connecticut 20

20. New Jersey 20

20. South Dakota 20

23. Massachusetts 19

24. Oregon 17

25. Florida 16

25. South Carolina 16

27. Nevada 15

28. Michigan 14

29. Georgia 12

30. Alaska 9

30. Nebraska 9

30. New York 9

33. Washington 7

34. Kentucky 5

34. Puerto RIco 5

36. Missouri 21. Illinois 171

2. Oklahoma 122

3. Minnesota 110

4. Colorado 105

5. Pennsylvania 83

6. Idaho 76

7. California 73

8. Wisconsin 63

9. Texas 60

10. Utah 57

11. Ohio 44

12. Tennessee 39

13. Indiana 34

13. North Dakota 34

15. Iowa 32

16. Virginia 30

17. Kansas 29

18. Alabama 26

19. New Mexico 22

20. Connecticut 20

20. New Jersey 20

20. South Dakota 20

23. Massachusetts 19

24. Oregon 17

25. Florida 16

25. South Carolina 16

27. Nevada 15

28. Michigan 14

29. Georgia 12

30. Alaska 9

30. Nebraska 9

30. New York 9

33. Washington 7

34. Kentucky 5

34. Puerto Rico 5

36. Missouri 2