Illinois completes sweep by winning Cadet National Duals freestyle title
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by Andrew Hipps
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Just two days after Illinois and Minnesota met in the Greco-Roman finals at the Cadet National Duals, the two states met again for the freestyle championship.
And once again, Illinois came out victorious against Minnesota to win the Cadet National Duals championship in freestyle. Illinois beat Minnesota 37-35.
"I think Illinois is at a point in its development of wrestling where we're going to be dominant for several years," said Illinois assistant coach Kerry Boumans, who also serves as a coach at the Overtime School of Wrestling. "We have some tough, tough kids. But not just tough, but technically they're getting better. That's because of the coaching that goes on in the state of Illinois. We have a lot of good coaches that teach the basics, the fundamentals. It's a good thing for the coaches and a good thing for the kids."
It marked the third national title over the weekend for Illinois. In addition to the Cadet teams winning freestyle and Greco-Roman titles, the Illinois Schoolboy team won the national title in freestyle.
Illinois came through the Blue Pool, defeating Pennsylvania 1 (45-28), Washington (51-24), and Iowa (38-33). Minnesota 1 won the Red Pool with victories over Missouri (54-18), Oklahoma (46-24), and Wisconsin (46-25).
"We knew it would be a battle in the championship," said Boumans. "Minnesota always brings a tough team. Really, we had some holes. We really did. When I say holes ... every kid is a tough kid and every kid wrestled to the best of their ability. We had a couple kids hurt. They sucked it up and went through it … and did a great job. But Minnesota always comes with a great team. They're always going to scrap."
Illinois jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead against Minnesota. Nkosi Moody, a 2009 Cadet Folkstyle Nationals runner-up, got Illinois started with a straight two-period victory, 3-1, 6-0, over Minnesota's Jarred Oftdahl at 84 pounds.
At 91, Matthew Garelli of Illinois picked up a pin in the first period at 1:44 over Minnesota's Matt Elsenpeter.
However, Minnesota picked up wins in the next three weights, with two of those wins coming by pin. At 98, Minnesota's Sam Brancale, a 2008 USA Wrestling Triple Crown winner, defeated Nick Fontenetta of Illinois, 3-0, 2-1. The next two Minnesota wrestlers, Mitch Bengtson (105) and Eric Bauer (112), picked up pins. Bengtson pinned Kevon Powell at 1:17, while Bauer stuck Eddie Greco in 51 seconds to give Minnesota a 14-9 lead.
Illinois got key victories at 119 and 125 from Eddie Klimara and Jameson Oster to tie the dual at 15-15. Kilmara defeated 2009 Cadet Folkstyle Nationals champion Dakota Trom, 8-0, 1-1, 5-0.
At 125, Minnesota sent out Jake Short rather than Ben Morgan. Short defeated Morgan in the Minnesota freestyle state tournament, but Morgan was a Cadet Folkstyle Nationals champion and was made the 2009 Cadet Duals All-Tournament Team in Greco-Roman. Oster also has a recent win over Morgan.
"We just thought we would give them a different look," said Jim Moulsoff, who serves as the Minnesota's Cadet Director and freestyle coach. "Jake has a lot of tools. There's a horse a piece there. We just went with one and rolled the dice to see if he would give us a better look."
Oster scored a shutout victory, 4-0, 2-0, over Short.
At 130, Minnesota's Matt Kelliher, a 2009 high school state champion for Apple Valley, picked up three-period victory over Zane Richards, 2-0, 0-2, 2-0, to give Minnesota an 18-16 lead. But Illinois won the next two weights, 135 and 140, and retook the lead, 22-20.
At 135, Blaise Butler topped Dan Dick, 4-0, 3-2. Spartacus Chino, who placed in the 2009 Illinois high school state tournament, looked very impressive in a two period victory, 2-1, 7-3, over Brandon Kingsley at 140. Kingsley is a Minnesota high school state champion and former USA Wrestling Triple Crown winner.
Minnesota's Zach Rohr defeated Tim Corse of Illinois at 145, which tied the score up at 23-23. But the most pivotal match of the dual meet was at 152 between Steve Congenie of Illinois and Minnesota's Cooper Moore. Moore won the first period and looked to be on his way to giving Minnesota the lead in the dual meet. But Congenie, who trains at the Overtime School of Wrestling, used double overs to throw Cooper to his back and pin him with just four seconds left on the clock.
"Steve gave up some real critical points that he shouldn't have, but he made up for it," said Boumans. "Moore gave him a real good match, but Congenie pulled it out."
The pin gave Illinois a 28-23 going into 160.
At 160, Minnesota's Jake Waste won a hard fought, three-period match, 0-1, 1-0, 1-0 over Sam Brooks of Illinois to cut the deficit to 29-26. Dylan Reel added to Illinois' lead with a 4-0, 2-1 victory over Minnesota's Cody Tibbetts at 171, which put Illinois on top by a score of 32-27. At 189, Minnesota's Michael Kroells came from behind to defeat Austin Marsden, 0-3, 6-4, 1-1.
With Illinois leading 33-30 going into the 215-pound match, Gage Harrah scored a technical fall victory, 10-2, 9-2 over Isaac Eichmann, which sealed the deal for Illinois.
"Gage did a fantastic job," said Boumans. "We needed a tech or pin … or for the guy not to score. He pulled it out and did a great job."
At 285, Minnesota's Donny Longendyke dominated Reid Sealby, 7-0, 7-0, but it was too late as Illinois took the dual and the championship by a score of 37-35.
Despite the loss, Moulsoff was pleased with Minnesota's performance over the weekend.
"We had a great weekend," said Moulsoff. "We're a very young Cadet team. The same 51 wrestlers we brought to the freestyle tournament wrestled in the Greco tournament. Illinois brought in a fresh squad. But you have to give it to Illinois. They wrestled well and fought hard."
According to Moulsoff, Minnesota's focus has always been on Fargo in late July.
"We don't go to a training camp to prepare for this tournament," said Moulsoff. "We put the team together and have one practice. Our first priority is Fargo. We use this as training to prepare for Fargo because there's where we separate the grain from the chaff."
Wisconsin defeated Iowa, 37-36, to finish third.
Defending Cadet Duals freestyle champion Oklahoma topped Washington, 42-35, to place fifth.
Kevin Crutchmer, who serves as the Cadet Director for Oklahoma, was happy with the way tournament was run and also with his team's performance.
He said Oklahoma did not have some of its top Cadets competing at the Cadet Duals.
"Some of our Cadets are wrestling on the Junior team," said Crutchmer. "We're going to try to do well at the Junior Duals. So we take some hits here at Cadet level because some of our quality Cadets are on the Junior team. But that's how we do it in Oklahoma. We do it from the Junior level down."
Pennsylvania 1 defeated Missouri, 46-24, to place seventh.
Championship Results
1st Place - Illinois
2nd Place - Minnesota 1
3rd Place - Wisconsin
4th Place - Iowa
5th Place - Oklahoma 1
6th Place - Washington
7th Place - Pennsylvania 1
8th Place - Missouri
First Place: Illinois defeated Minnesota 1 37-35
Third Place: Wisconsin defeated Iowa 37-36
Fifth Place: Oklahoma 1 defeated Washington 42-35
Seventh Place: Pennsylvania 1 defeated Missouri 46-24
Championship Dual
Illinois 37, Minnesota 35
84 Nkosi Moody (Illinois) over Jarred Oftdahl (Minnesota 1) Dec 3-1,6-0
91 Matthew Garelli (Illinois) over Matt Elsenpeter (Minnesota 1) Pin 1:44
98 Sam Brancale (Minnesota 1) over Nick Fontenetta (Illinois) Dec 3-0,2-1
105 Mitch Bengtson (Minnesota 1) over Kevon Powell (Illinois) Pin 1:17
112 Eric Bauer (Minnesota 1) over Eddie Greco (Illinois) Pin 0:51
119 Eddie Klimara (Illinois) over Dakota Trom (Minnesota 1) Dec 8-0,1-1,5-0
125 Jameson Oster (Illinois) over Jake Short (Minnesota 1) Dec 4-0,2-0
130 Matt Kelliher (Minnesota 1) over Zane Richards (Illinois) Dec 2-0,0-2,2-0
135 Blaise Butler (Illinois) over Dan Dick (Minnesota 1) Dec 4-0,3-2
140 Spartacus Chino (Illinois) over Brandon Kingsley (Minnesota 1) Dec 2-1,7-3
145 Zach Rohr (Minnesota 1) over Tim Corse (Illinois) Dec 2-0,4-2
152 Steve Congenie (Illinois) over Cooper Moore (Minnesota 1) Pin 4-3,1:56
160 Jake Waste (Minnesota 1) over Sam Brooks (Illinois) Dec 0-1,1-0,1-0
171 Dylan Reel (Illinois) over Cody Tibbetts (Minnesota 1) Dec 4-0,2-1
189 Michael Kroells (Minnesota 1) over Austin Marsden (Illinois) Dec 0-3,6-4,1-1
215 Gage Harrah (Illinois) over Isaac Eichmann (Minnesota 1) TF 10-2,9-2
285 Donny Longendyke (Minnesota 1) over Reid Sealby (Illinois) TF 7-0,7-0
All-Tournament Team - Cadet Greco-Roman National Duals
84 Pounds: Zach Howell of Delaware went 8-0, Dylan Akers of Texas went 6-0
91 Pounds: Colton Howell of Missouri went 10-0, Jacob Schmitt of Michigan 1 went 9-0
98 Pounds: Ty Dippery of Pennsylvania 2 went 7-0, Nick Roberts of Pennsylvania 1 went 9-0
105 Pounds: Jack Hathaway of Iowa went 6-0
112 Pounds: Ben Whitford of Michigan 1 went 9-0
119 Pounds: Eddie Klimara of Illinois went 9-0, Joe Orecchio of New Jersey went 6-0
130 Pounds: Alex Dieringer of Wisconsin went 9-0
135 Pounds: Eric Hoffman of Maryland went 7-0, Zak Benitz of Wisconsin went 9-0
140 Pounds: Gabe Moreno of Iowa went 10-0
145 Pounds: Christopher Nevenger of New York went 9-0, Zach Rohr of Minnesota 1 went 6-0
152 Pounds: Taylor Massa of Michigan 1 went 10-0, Steve Congenie of Illinois went 9-0
171 Pounds: Devin Peterson of Wisconsin went 10-0, Zackary Diekel of New York went 9-0, Travis Mallo of Iowa went 9-0
189 Pounds: Adam Coon of Michigan 1 went 9-0, Michael Kroells of Minnesota 1 went 6-0
215 Pounds: Gage Harrah of Illinois went 9-0, Maalique Micenheimer of California went 6-0
285 Pounds: Caleb White of Iowa went 9-0, Donny Longendyke of Minnesota 1 went 8-0
And once again, Illinois came out victorious against Minnesota to win the Cadet National Duals championship in freestyle. Illinois beat Minnesota 37-35.
"I think Illinois is at a point in its development of wrestling where we're going to be dominant for several years," said Illinois assistant coach Kerry Boumans, who also serves as a coach at the Overtime School of Wrestling. "We have some tough, tough kids. But not just tough, but technically they're getting better. That's because of the coaching that goes on in the state of Illinois. We have a lot of good coaches that teach the basics, the fundamentals. It's a good thing for the coaches and a good thing for the kids."
It marked the third national title over the weekend for Illinois. In addition to the Cadet teams winning freestyle and Greco-Roman titles, the Illinois Schoolboy team won the national title in freestyle.
Illinois came through the Blue Pool, defeating Pennsylvania 1 (45-28), Washington (51-24), and Iowa (38-33). Minnesota 1 won the Red Pool with victories over Missouri (54-18), Oklahoma (46-24), and Wisconsin (46-25).
"We knew it would be a battle in the championship," said Boumans. "Minnesota always brings a tough team. Really, we had some holes. We really did. When I say holes ... every kid is a tough kid and every kid wrestled to the best of their ability. We had a couple kids hurt. They sucked it up and went through it … and did a great job. But Minnesota always comes with a great team. They're always going to scrap."
Illinois jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead against Minnesota. Nkosi Moody, a 2009 Cadet Folkstyle Nationals runner-up, got Illinois started with a straight two-period victory, 3-1, 6-0, over Minnesota's Jarred Oftdahl at 84 pounds.
At 91, Matthew Garelli of Illinois picked up a pin in the first period at 1:44 over Minnesota's Matt Elsenpeter.
However, Minnesota picked up wins in the next three weights, with two of those wins coming by pin. At 98, Minnesota's Sam Brancale, a 2008 USA Wrestling Triple Crown winner, defeated Nick Fontenetta of Illinois, 3-0, 2-1. The next two Minnesota wrestlers, Mitch Bengtson (105) and Eric Bauer (112), picked up pins. Bengtson pinned Kevon Powell at 1:17, while Bauer stuck Eddie Greco in 51 seconds to give Minnesota a 14-9 lead.
Illinois got key victories at 119 and 125 from Eddie Klimara and Jameson Oster to tie the dual at 15-15. Kilmara defeated 2009 Cadet Folkstyle Nationals champion Dakota Trom, 8-0, 1-1, 5-0.
At 125, Minnesota sent out Jake Short rather than Ben Morgan. Short defeated Morgan in the Minnesota freestyle state tournament, but Morgan was a Cadet Folkstyle Nationals champion and was made the 2009 Cadet Duals All-Tournament Team in Greco-Roman. Oster also has a recent win over Morgan.
"We just thought we would give them a different look," said Jim Moulsoff, who serves as the Minnesota's Cadet Director and freestyle coach. "Jake has a lot of tools. There's a horse a piece there. We just went with one and rolled the dice to see if he would give us a better look."
Oster scored a shutout victory, 4-0, 2-0, over Short.
At 130, Minnesota's Matt Kelliher, a 2009 high school state champion for Apple Valley, picked up three-period victory over Zane Richards, 2-0, 0-2, 2-0, to give Minnesota an 18-16 lead. But Illinois won the next two weights, 135 and 140, and retook the lead, 22-20.
At 135, Blaise Butler topped Dan Dick, 4-0, 3-2. Spartacus Chino, who placed in the 2009 Illinois high school state tournament, looked very impressive in a two period victory, 2-1, 7-3, over Brandon Kingsley at 140. Kingsley is a Minnesota high school state champion and former USA Wrestling Triple Crown winner.
Minnesota's Zach Rohr defeated Tim Corse of Illinois at 145, which tied the score up at 23-23. But the most pivotal match of the dual meet was at 152 between Steve Congenie of Illinois and Minnesota's Cooper Moore. Moore won the first period and looked to be on his way to giving Minnesota the lead in the dual meet. But Congenie, who trains at the Overtime School of Wrestling, used double overs to throw Cooper to his back and pin him with just four seconds left on the clock.
"Steve gave up some real critical points that he shouldn't have, but he made up for it," said Boumans. "Moore gave him a real good match, but Congenie pulled it out."
The pin gave Illinois a 28-23 going into 160.
At 160, Minnesota's Jake Waste won a hard fought, three-period match, 0-1, 1-0, 1-0 over Sam Brooks of Illinois to cut the deficit to 29-26. Dylan Reel added to Illinois' lead with a 4-0, 2-1 victory over Minnesota's Cody Tibbetts at 171, which put Illinois on top by a score of 32-27. At 189, Minnesota's Michael Kroells came from behind to defeat Austin Marsden, 0-3, 6-4, 1-1.
With Illinois leading 33-30 going into the 215-pound match, Gage Harrah scored a technical fall victory, 10-2, 9-2 over Isaac Eichmann, which sealed the deal for Illinois.
"Gage did a fantastic job," said Boumans. "We needed a tech or pin … or for the guy not to score. He pulled it out and did a great job."
At 285, Minnesota's Donny Longendyke dominated Reid Sealby, 7-0, 7-0, but it was too late as Illinois took the dual and the championship by a score of 37-35.
Despite the loss, Moulsoff was pleased with Minnesota's performance over the weekend.
"We had a great weekend," said Moulsoff. "We're a very young Cadet team. The same 51 wrestlers we brought to the freestyle tournament wrestled in the Greco tournament. Illinois brought in a fresh squad. But you have to give it to Illinois. They wrestled well and fought hard."
According to Moulsoff, Minnesota's focus has always been on Fargo in late July.
"We don't go to a training camp to prepare for this tournament," said Moulsoff. "We put the team together and have one practice. Our first priority is Fargo. We use this as training to prepare for Fargo because there's where we separate the grain from the chaff."
Wisconsin defeated Iowa, 37-36, to finish third.
Defending Cadet Duals freestyle champion Oklahoma topped Washington, 42-35, to place fifth.
Kevin Crutchmer, who serves as the Cadet Director for Oklahoma, was happy with the way tournament was run and also with his team's performance.
He said Oklahoma did not have some of its top Cadets competing at the Cadet Duals.
"Some of our Cadets are wrestling on the Junior team," said Crutchmer. "We're going to try to do well at the Junior Duals. So we take some hits here at Cadet level because some of our quality Cadets are on the Junior team. But that's how we do it in Oklahoma. We do it from the Junior level down."
Pennsylvania 1 defeated Missouri, 46-24, to place seventh.
Championship Results
1st Place - Illinois
2nd Place - Minnesota 1
3rd Place - Wisconsin
4th Place - Iowa
5th Place - Oklahoma 1
6th Place - Washington
7th Place - Pennsylvania 1
8th Place - Missouri
First Place: Illinois defeated Minnesota 1 37-35
Third Place: Wisconsin defeated Iowa 37-36
Fifth Place: Oklahoma 1 defeated Washington 42-35
Seventh Place: Pennsylvania 1 defeated Missouri 46-24
Championship Dual
Illinois 37, Minnesota 35
84 Nkosi Moody (Illinois) over Jarred Oftdahl (Minnesota 1) Dec 3-1,6-0
91 Matthew Garelli (Illinois) over Matt Elsenpeter (Minnesota 1) Pin 1:44
98 Sam Brancale (Minnesota 1) over Nick Fontenetta (Illinois) Dec 3-0,2-1
105 Mitch Bengtson (Minnesota 1) over Kevon Powell (Illinois) Pin 1:17
112 Eric Bauer (Minnesota 1) over Eddie Greco (Illinois) Pin 0:51
119 Eddie Klimara (Illinois) over Dakota Trom (Minnesota 1) Dec 8-0,1-1,5-0
125 Jameson Oster (Illinois) over Jake Short (Minnesota 1) Dec 4-0,2-0
130 Matt Kelliher (Minnesota 1) over Zane Richards (Illinois) Dec 2-0,0-2,2-0
135 Blaise Butler (Illinois) over Dan Dick (Minnesota 1) Dec 4-0,3-2
140 Spartacus Chino (Illinois) over Brandon Kingsley (Minnesota 1) Dec 2-1,7-3
145 Zach Rohr (Minnesota 1) over Tim Corse (Illinois) Dec 2-0,4-2
152 Steve Congenie (Illinois) over Cooper Moore (Minnesota 1) Pin 4-3,1:56
160 Jake Waste (Minnesota 1) over Sam Brooks (Illinois) Dec 0-1,1-0,1-0
171 Dylan Reel (Illinois) over Cody Tibbetts (Minnesota 1) Dec 4-0,2-1
189 Michael Kroells (Minnesota 1) over Austin Marsden (Illinois) Dec 0-3,6-4,1-1
215 Gage Harrah (Illinois) over Isaac Eichmann (Minnesota 1) TF 10-2,9-2
285 Donny Longendyke (Minnesota 1) over Reid Sealby (Illinois) TF 7-0,7-0
All-Tournament Team - Cadet Greco-Roman National Duals
84 Pounds: Zach Howell of Delaware went 8-0, Dylan Akers of Texas went 6-0
91 Pounds: Colton Howell of Missouri went 10-0, Jacob Schmitt of Michigan 1 went 9-0
98 Pounds: Ty Dippery of Pennsylvania 2 went 7-0, Nick Roberts of Pennsylvania 1 went 9-0
105 Pounds: Jack Hathaway of Iowa went 6-0
112 Pounds: Ben Whitford of Michigan 1 went 9-0
119 Pounds: Eddie Klimara of Illinois went 9-0, Joe Orecchio of New Jersey went 6-0
130 Pounds: Alex Dieringer of Wisconsin went 9-0
135 Pounds: Eric Hoffman of Maryland went 7-0, Zak Benitz of Wisconsin went 9-0
140 Pounds: Gabe Moreno of Iowa went 10-0
145 Pounds: Christopher Nevenger of New York went 9-0, Zach Rohr of Minnesota 1 went 6-0
152 Pounds: Taylor Massa of Michigan 1 went 10-0, Steve Congenie of Illinois went 9-0
171 Pounds: Devin Peterson of Wisconsin went 10-0, Zackary Diekel of New York went 9-0, Travis Mallo of Iowa went 9-0
189 Pounds: Adam Coon of Michigan 1 went 9-0, Michael Kroells of Minnesota 1 went 6-0
215 Pounds: Gage Harrah of Illinois went 9-0, Maalique Micenheimer of California went 6-0
285 Pounds: Caleb White of Iowa went 9-0, Donny Longendyke of Minnesota 1 went 8-0
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