NOTES FROM PRESS ROW IN FARGO, Thursday, July 24
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by Gary Abbott
National rankings could take a beating…again
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor
http://www.win-magazine.com
For those of us who do national rankings, there's only one thing we can say with certainty: We're going to be adjusting them after each event.
Especially this one.
A total of 16 wrestlers in the Cadet freestyle field were ranked in W.I.N. magazine's most recently published rankings, back in April. Most were in the lower weights. The field included nine of our top 20 103-pounders, which made for a loaded 112-pound weight class here in the Fargodome.
It includes eight ranked wrestlers.
Those eight: Hunter Stieber (No. 1 at 103) and Gus Sako (No. 10) of Ohio, Devin Carter (No. 7) of Virginia, Niko Megaludis (No. 11), Zach Horan (No. 18) and Cameron Throckmorton (No. 19) of Pennsylvania, Evan Silver (No. 17) of Maryland and Cadet Greco-Roman champion and Outstanding Wrestler Jesse Thielke (No. 10 at 112) of Wisconsin.
The overall report card: At the conclusion of Thursday's matches, 11 of the 16 will become All-Americans, and seven are still unbeaten.
Stieber needed three periods to get past a game Megaludis Thursday morning, but is still unbeaten and headed toward the finals. Horan has been the star of Pool A with his pin over Thielke and victory over statemate Throckmorton.
At 105, a pair of ranked 103-pounders, Ty Mitch (No. 8) of Ohio and Carson Kuhn (No. 14) of Utah, are both 5-0 and apparently headed to the finals.
Also unbeaten: Destin McCauley (No. 13 at 119) of Minnesota at 135, defending champion Chris Phillips (No. 7) at 171 and Andrew Campolattano (No. 15) at 189. Campolattano is trying for a double title.
Stay tuned…we're not resting on our laurels.
Virginia wrestler makes history, at least within the Commonwealth
By Jason Bryant
www.intermatwrestle.com
Over the course of the Cadet Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling tournaments, the squad from Virginia has seem more success than it typically has. The eighth-place finish in Greco-Roman wasn't exactly news that was going to set the world on fire, but six Greco All-Americans represented five different high schools -- Mataoca, Grassfield, Norfolk Academy, Poquoson and Christiansburg. The spectrum there covered three of the four classes in Virginia. There's three public school classes -- AAA, AA and A. The private schools don't compete within the public school Virginia High School League, and Aaron Runzo, the Greco champ at 119, attends Norfolk Academy. It's typically AAA schools which dominate the medal count when Virginia wrestlers place out here, but there was a first for Team Virginia in the Cadet Freestyle tournament. Garrett Fosdyck, a sophomore at Mathews High School, will place at heavyweight in freestyle and he will become the first wrestler from a Group A high school to have earned a medal at the Cadet or Junior Nationals. The Group A division in Virginia is the smallest in terms of wrestling schools with only about half of the 100-some-odd schools fielding wrestling teams. Fosdyck, who was only third in the state at heavyweight, gives all four Virginia classifications a placewinner in Fargo. It's not exactly uncommon for the power states to accomplish this year in and year out, but for Mathews and Group A, it's notable ... because it's never happened before.
In case you've never heard of Mathews, it's in the Tidewater region of Virginia situated on the Middle Peninsula, bordering Gloucester and Middlesex Counties. If you want great fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, Mathews is a great place to start.
The buzz is about Kendrick Sanders
By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
http://www.themat.com
Anybody who attended the ASICS/Vaughan National Greco-Roman finals is still talking about the performance of Florida star Kendrick Sanders, who won his second straight Junior Nationals title in Greco-Roman with a scintillating performance on the center mat at 145 pounds.
Sanders will be entering his senior year at South Dade High School, already a two-time state champion to go along with his two national titles. When you watch him wrestle, you understand why people want to talk about him. He has all the tools, power, quickness, technique, heart and more. Based upon his wrestling abilities, he is truly a champion.
However, those around him keep talking about the person he is… and just how impressive Sanders is in all aspects of his life.
Florida's state chairperson Bill Grant tells stories about how hard working, humble and appreciative Sanders is for his opportunities in wrestling. Sanders comes from a challenging background, but has overcome them all. The people from his community have rallied around Sanders, helping raise money to allow him to compete in the sport on the national level.
Florida coach Shawn Sheldon talks about the kid's work ethic, his amazing skills and just how good a person he is. Sheldon, who made two Olympic Greco-Roman teams, marvels at his abilities in the classic style. Sheldon says that he enjoys working with Sanders, and that he is a quick learner.
Referee Mo Babi tells the story about how he had to disqualify Sanders during a match at the National Duals, because he had committed three fouls and was cautioned out. Instead of being indigant or upset, Sanders respectfully asked Babi after the bout why he had beed penalized. He listened closely and thanked him for the information. A year later, Babi ran into Sanders and the wrestler remembered him. Sanders told Babi that he has never been penalized for that foul ever since that first incident.
Sanders entered the freestyle tournament, and many were excited to see how he would do in the other international style. However, Sanders won his first match and withdrew.
According to Florida coach Russ Cozart, Sanders hurt his elbow in the pool finals in Greco-Roman, and struggled with the injury during the Greco-Roman finals. You wouldn't have known it from watching him take apart his opponents. I guess you can say Sanders is tough, too.
Living on Fargo time
By Randy Hinderliter, USAW-Kansas
http://www.usawks.com
With all due respect to Don Williams, for the past few days, I've been "livin on 'Fargo" time!
I was bemoaning my condition to my friend, Rob Sherrill. He suggested it was a lot like "Groundhog Day!" Regardless whether it is "Groundhog Day" or (with respects to Yogi Berra this time) déjà vu all over again ... it is Fargo!
I've been coming to this event for several years now and in Fargo I tend to find myself in a strange time warp. A zone of late to bed and early to rise. In a stupor, I take a nap in the shower and head off to breakfast. I'm not sure whether I eat or not (as I gain 10 pounds every trip I must be eating) but afterwards, I find myself standing outside the dining hall. I spin two times and click my heels three times … suddenly I am on the floor of the FargoDome!
Once there, I setup my computer and open up the usawks.com web page and about 17 pages of TrackWrestling. For the next few hours I find myself sub-consciously or un-consciously typing away … reporting on matches for the home folk.
About halfway through the day I spin two times (in reverse this time) and again click my heels. I then find myself back at the dining hall or in one of the plethora of meetings. After the meal or meeting it's … well, you get the picture!
If you're living on Fargo time you lose track of what the date is, what day it is, and most times have no clue what time it is! Your contact with the outside world is limited to trips to BW's, Labby's or the Turf.
At some point, I find myself standing bedside … am I going to bed or just rising … I have no clue because afterall … I am living on Fargo time!
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor
http://www.win-magazine.com
For those of us who do national rankings, there's only one thing we can say with certainty: We're going to be adjusting them after each event.
Especially this one.
A total of 16 wrestlers in the Cadet freestyle field were ranked in W.I.N. magazine's most recently published rankings, back in April. Most were in the lower weights. The field included nine of our top 20 103-pounders, which made for a loaded 112-pound weight class here in the Fargodome.
It includes eight ranked wrestlers.
Those eight: Hunter Stieber (No. 1 at 103) and Gus Sako (No. 10) of Ohio, Devin Carter (No. 7) of Virginia, Niko Megaludis (No. 11), Zach Horan (No. 18) and Cameron Throckmorton (No. 19) of Pennsylvania, Evan Silver (No. 17) of Maryland and Cadet Greco-Roman champion and Outstanding Wrestler Jesse Thielke (No. 10 at 112) of Wisconsin.
The overall report card: At the conclusion of Thursday's matches, 11 of the 16 will become All-Americans, and seven are still unbeaten.
Stieber needed three periods to get past a game Megaludis Thursday morning, but is still unbeaten and headed toward the finals. Horan has been the star of Pool A with his pin over Thielke and victory over statemate Throckmorton.
At 105, a pair of ranked 103-pounders, Ty Mitch (No. 8) of Ohio and Carson Kuhn (No. 14) of Utah, are both 5-0 and apparently headed to the finals.
Also unbeaten: Destin McCauley (No. 13 at 119) of Minnesota at 135, defending champion Chris Phillips (No. 7) at 171 and Andrew Campolattano (No. 15) at 189. Campolattano is trying for a double title.
Stay tuned…we're not resting on our laurels.
Virginia wrestler makes history, at least within the Commonwealth
By Jason Bryant
www.intermatwrestle.com
Over the course of the Cadet Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling tournaments, the squad from Virginia has seem more success than it typically has. The eighth-place finish in Greco-Roman wasn't exactly news that was going to set the world on fire, but six Greco All-Americans represented five different high schools -- Mataoca, Grassfield, Norfolk Academy, Poquoson and Christiansburg. The spectrum there covered three of the four classes in Virginia. There's three public school classes -- AAA, AA and A. The private schools don't compete within the public school Virginia High School League, and Aaron Runzo, the Greco champ at 119, attends Norfolk Academy. It's typically AAA schools which dominate the medal count when Virginia wrestlers place out here, but there was a first for Team Virginia in the Cadet Freestyle tournament. Garrett Fosdyck, a sophomore at Mathews High School, will place at heavyweight in freestyle and he will become the first wrestler from a Group A high school to have earned a medal at the Cadet or Junior Nationals. The Group A division in Virginia is the smallest in terms of wrestling schools with only about half of the 100-some-odd schools fielding wrestling teams. Fosdyck, who was only third in the state at heavyweight, gives all four Virginia classifications a placewinner in Fargo. It's not exactly uncommon for the power states to accomplish this year in and year out, but for Mathews and Group A, it's notable ... because it's never happened before.
In case you've never heard of Mathews, it's in the Tidewater region of Virginia situated on the Middle Peninsula, bordering Gloucester and Middlesex Counties. If you want great fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, Mathews is a great place to start.
The buzz is about Kendrick Sanders
By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
http://www.themat.com
Anybody who attended the ASICS/Vaughan National Greco-Roman finals is still talking about the performance of Florida star Kendrick Sanders, who won his second straight Junior Nationals title in Greco-Roman with a scintillating performance on the center mat at 145 pounds.
Sanders will be entering his senior year at South Dade High School, already a two-time state champion to go along with his two national titles. When you watch him wrestle, you understand why people want to talk about him. He has all the tools, power, quickness, technique, heart and more. Based upon his wrestling abilities, he is truly a champion.
However, those around him keep talking about the person he is… and just how impressive Sanders is in all aspects of his life.
Florida's state chairperson Bill Grant tells stories about how hard working, humble and appreciative Sanders is for his opportunities in wrestling. Sanders comes from a challenging background, but has overcome them all. The people from his community have rallied around Sanders, helping raise money to allow him to compete in the sport on the national level.
Florida coach Shawn Sheldon talks about the kid's work ethic, his amazing skills and just how good a person he is. Sheldon, who made two Olympic Greco-Roman teams, marvels at his abilities in the classic style. Sheldon says that he enjoys working with Sanders, and that he is a quick learner.
Referee Mo Babi tells the story about how he had to disqualify Sanders during a match at the National Duals, because he had committed three fouls and was cautioned out. Instead of being indigant or upset, Sanders respectfully asked Babi after the bout why he had beed penalized. He listened closely and thanked him for the information. A year later, Babi ran into Sanders and the wrestler remembered him. Sanders told Babi that he has never been penalized for that foul ever since that first incident.
Sanders entered the freestyle tournament, and many were excited to see how he would do in the other international style. However, Sanders won his first match and withdrew.
According to Florida coach Russ Cozart, Sanders hurt his elbow in the pool finals in Greco-Roman, and struggled with the injury during the Greco-Roman finals. You wouldn't have known it from watching him take apart his opponents. I guess you can say Sanders is tough, too.
Living on Fargo time
By Randy Hinderliter, USAW-Kansas
http://www.usawks.com
With all due respect to Don Williams, for the past few days, I've been "livin on 'Fargo" time!
I was bemoaning my condition to my friend, Rob Sherrill. He suggested it was a lot like "Groundhog Day!" Regardless whether it is "Groundhog Day" or (with respects to Yogi Berra this time) déjà vu all over again ... it is Fargo!
I've been coming to this event for several years now and in Fargo I tend to find myself in a strange time warp. A zone of late to bed and early to rise. In a stupor, I take a nap in the shower and head off to breakfast. I'm not sure whether I eat or not (as I gain 10 pounds every trip I must be eating) but afterwards, I find myself standing outside the dining hall. I spin two times and click my heels three times … suddenly I am on the floor of the FargoDome!
Once there, I setup my computer and open up the usawks.com web page and about 17 pages of TrackWrestling. For the next few hours I find myself sub-consciously or un-consciously typing away … reporting on matches for the home folk.
About halfway through the day I spin two times (in reverse this time) and again click my heels. I then find myself back at the dining hall or in one of the plethora of meetings. After the meal or meeting it's … well, you get the picture!
If you're living on Fargo time you lose track of what the date is, what day it is, and most times have no clue what time it is! Your contact with the outside world is limited to trips to BW's, Labby's or the Turf.
At some point, I find myself standing bedside … am I going to bed or just rising … I have no clue because afterall … I am living on Fargo time!
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