16U National Duals set for Herriman, Utah., June 12-15 with Iowa the defending champions in both styles

USA Wrestling has entered its annual National Dual Meet Championships season, where USA Wrestling state association age-group teams loaded with talented athletes compete for national dual meet titles in the Olympic styles of wrestling, Greco-Roman and freestyle.

This week is the 16U National Duals for boys will be held for the first time at the Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman, Utah, June 12-15. The Greco-Roman competition is set for Wednesday and Thursday this week, followed by the freestyle competition on Friday and Saturday. This event features boys who turn 15 and 16 years old this calendar year.

The defending 16U National Greco-Roman champions is Iowa, which scored a 38-32 victory over Illinois in the championship dual meet last year. Pennsylvania Blue was third, with s 42-34 win over Wisconsin. Minnesota Blue claimed fifth place after beating Michigan Blue 41-32. Taking seventh place was Team Utah, which scored a 38-37 victory over Tennessee.

In the 16U National Duals freestyle finals last year, Iowa became a double champion by stopping Illinois, 41-26. Ohio Scarlet defeated Pennsylvania Blue, 34-32, to place third. Finishing in fifth was Wisconsin Red, a 46-27 victor over Minnesota Blue. Claiming seventh place was Ohio Gray, which stopped Michigan Blue 39-35 in their medal match.

The first day of each style will feature the pool competition, where teams will compete against a number of teams in preliminary pools. Based upon the results of the day one preliminary pool competition, the top teams from each pool will advance to the Gold/Silver pool on day two, which determines the top eight teams in the tournament. There will be three other placement pools which determine the final team placements in the tournament: Bronze/Copper, Red/Blue and Green/Yellow).

An All-Tournament Team, featuring athletes who go undefeated in their individual matches in a specific style, will be announced after each tournament.

This event will feature numerous talented athletes, who will be expected to battle for national titles and All-American honors at the USMC 16U Nationals in Fargo, N.D. in July.

Heading into the tournament, there were 36 state association teams registered in freestyle and 33 in Greco-Roman. The teams will be separated based upon PIN ratings.

The 16U National Duals teams entered are:

Freestyle (36 teams alphabetically): Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho I, Idaho II, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota I, Minnesota II, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma I, Oklahoma II, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina          , South Dakota, Texas I, Texas II, Utah I, Utah II, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin

Greco-Roman (33 teams alphabetically): Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho I, Idaho II, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota I, Minnesota II, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma I, Oklahoma II, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas I, Texas II, Utah I, Utah II, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin

All of the action will be broadcast live once again by FloWrestling

16U NATIONAL DUALS

Herriman, Utah, June 12-15

Wednesday, June 12 

9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. - Greco Roman Session 1: Rounds 1 & 2 Preliminary Championship Match, Championship Semi-Finals, & Consolation Quarterfinals

1:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. -  Greco-Roman Session 2: Rounds 3, 4 & 5 - Consolation Semi-Finals & 1st Place Match, Placement Match 3rd, 5th, 7th,  True 2nd place Match

Thursday, June 13

8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon - Greco-Roman Session 3:  Color Pools Rounds 1 & 2 Preliminary Duals

1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. - Greco-Roman Session 4: Rounds 3 & 4 Preliminary Duals & Finals Placement Match

Friday, June 14  

8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. - Freestyle Session 1: Rounds 1, 2, & 3– Preliminaries, Consolations, & Semifinals

1:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. - Freestyle Session 2: Rounds 4, 5 & 6  (Consolations, Placement (1st-8th), & True 2^nd, plus Round 1 of Color Pools

Saturday, June 15

9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. - Freestyle Session 3: Rounds 2, 3 & 4 of Color Pools - Preliminary Duals and Finals Placement Matches