UPDATED: Alo becomes first girl Kids National double champion; 10 others win coveted Kids Triple Crown

2009 Kids Triple Crown winners pose together. Photo by Brian T. Preece

OREM, Utah--The 2009 Asics USA Kids Nationals held in Orem, UT on the campus of Utah Valley University proved to be an extremely historical event.

Not only did 10 wrestlers achieve the coveted Triple Crown by winning the USA Kids Wrestling Nationals in folkstyle, Greco-Roman and freestyle in the same season, but Teshya Alo of Hawaii became the first female double winner ever.

Alo brought home the freestyle gold with a first round pin over California's Aaron Mora in the Novice 75-pound division finals. She showed her prowess freestyle, dominating hercompetition, going 6-0 with three pins.

Alo won the Greco-Roman event the night prior.

She also became the first female wrestler to win a Kids Nationals freestyle championship. Teresa Gordon-Dick of California won a Kids National Greco-Roman title and Samantha Lang of Oregon was a Kids National folkstyle champion.

"It feels awesome," exclaimed Alo, who dreams of one day being an Olympic Champion. "I train hard. I hate practice but I want to be the best."

Alo also said she prefers freestyle over Greco-Roman. "I hate Greco because I can't touch the legs. I always get cautions," she said.

For New Jersey's Joseph McKenna, the journey to the top was a bit more difficult but none less exhilarating. McKenna became a Kids Triple Crown winner at the Schoolboy 91-pound division.

McKenna topped a scrappy Nicholas Anthony of Pennsylvania, 3-3, 5-0, 2-0 in the freestyle finals. It was the third time these wrestlers had met but their previous two matches were in Greco-Roman including the championship match the night before. Since they had not met in freestyle, McKenna was a "little worried" but took, control in the last two periods after dropping the first round.

In contrast to Alo, McKenna likes Greco-Roman best because "you don't have worry about defending your legs and I have a lot of moves that work."

Representing Iowa, Jake Scanlan kept his family tradition going following in his brother footsteps to become a Triple Crown winner. His brother Joseph has won two Triple Crowns.

Scanlan saw very little action on the actual mat, earning three pins in combined 1:52 in a four-wrestler round robin to win the 265-pounds Schoolboy/girl freestyle title.

Scanlan and his brother Joseph dream of someday competing for Iowa State. "I definitely want to wrestle in college and be a high school state champion," he relates.

Scanlan says he prefers freestyle best of the three styles because it's more fun. He also takes pride in joining his brother as a Triple Crown winner. "It feels cool to accomplish what he has done."

On the other hand of the spectrum in weight but certainly not in heart was Louie Hayes of Illinois, who nailed down the Novice 60 pound title defeating Dylan Duncan, also of Illinois, 3-0, 6-0. The victory gave Hayes the coveted Kids Triple Crown.

"It feels really good and joyful to stand on top with these other wrestlers. I wrestled my heart out." Hayes says he likes all the styles but might have a slight preference for folkstyle.

Other Triple Crown winners were Indiana's Nathan Walton (Intermediate 80 pounds), Minnestota's Isaac Florell (Novice 140 pounds), Minnesota's Lance Benick (Novice 140 pounds +), Wisconsin's Jared Schaaf (Schoolboy/girl 136 pounds), Wisconsin's Dominic Flock (Schoolboy/girl 152 pounds), Nevada's Paul Harmon (Schoolboy/girl 160 pounds) and Illinois' Michael Johnson, Jr. (Schoolboy/girl 210 pounds).

This is familiar territory for Johnson, who was a Kids Triple Crown winner as a Novice wrestler in 2007. It caps a very strong season for him. Johnson was the Ultimate Dominator in 2008-09, scoring the most points in USA Wrestling's Ultimate Challenge Series of Folkstyle Wrestling.

2009 Kids Triple Crown winners:

Intermediate (ages 9-10)
80 - Nathan Walton (Indiana)

Novice (ages 11-12)
60 - Louie Hayes (Illinois)
140 - Isaac Florell (Minnesota)
140+ - Lance Benick (Minnesota)

Schoolboy/girl (ages 13-14)
91 - Joseph McKenna (New Jersey)
136 - Jared Schaaf (Wisconsin)
152 - Dominic Flock (Wisconsin)
160 - Paul Harmon (Nevada)
210 - Michael Johnson (Illinois)
265 - Jake Scanlan (Iowa)

2009 ASICS Kids National freestyle champions

Intermediate champions
50 - Brandon Kaylor of Washington
55 - Ty Smith of Nevada
60 - Clayton Currier of Montana
65 - Clai Quintanilla of Washington
70 - Stone Mendez of Nebraska
75 - Paul Steffensen of Alaska
80 - Nathan Walton of Indiana
87 - Garrett Niel of Iowa
95 - Jared Torres of California
103 - Max Darrah of Missouri
112 - Chazz Amundson of Oregon
120+ - Delbert Antone of Arizona

Novice champions
60 - Louie Hayes of Illinois
65 - Austin Gomez of Illinois
70 - Austin O`Connor of Illinois
75 - Teshya Alo of Hawaii
80 - Brock Benitz of Wisconsin
85 - Adam Blees of North Dakota
90 - Brandon Fleischmann of Wisconsin
95 - Stone Anderson of Minnesota
100 - Mason Manville of Virginia
105 - Dakota Wall of Idaho
112 - Brendan Harkey of Oregon
120 - Gabriel Nolasco of California
130 - Handsome Smith of Oregon
140 - Isaac Florell of Minnesota
140+ - Lance Benick of Minnesota
140++ - Maverick Jim of Arizona

Schoolboy/girl champions
70 - Sean Cannon of Nevada
77 - Grant Boggs of Montana
84 - Matthew Kolodzik of Ohio
91 - Joseph McKenna of New Jersey
98 - Bo Nickal of New Mexico
105 - Hayden Tuma of Idaho
112 - Jack Clark of New Jersey
120 - Tyler Cowger of Oregon
128 - Abraham Rodriguez of Oregon
136 - Jared Schaaf of Wisconsin
144 - Austin Wilson of Idaho
152 - Dominic Flock of Wisconsin
160 - Paul Harmon of Nevada
175 - Quace Wright of Alaska
190 - Austin Taylor of Utah
210 - Michael Johnson Jr. of Illinois
265 - Jake Scanlan of Iowa