UPDATE: Five U.S. champions crowned in freestyle at Bill Farrell International; Perry named OW

Richard Perry of the New York AC, the champion at 86 kg and the Outstanding Wrestler at the Bill Farrell International, receives his award from Avi Shmuly of the local organizing committee. Photo by Julieta Okot.
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – There were five U.S. champions in men’s freestyle on the final day of the Bill Farrell International, held at Mack Arena on the campus of Hofstra University on Sunday.
The Outstanding Wrestler was one of the biggest surprises of the event, former Bloomsburg wrestler Richard Perry (Washington, D.C./New York AC), the champion at 86 kg/189 lbs. In a battle of athletes who recently dropped down to this weight class, Perry edged veteran Deron Winn (Ames, Iowa/Titan Mercury WC), 5-4 in the finals.
Perry of the New York AC, a three-time NCAA qualifier for Bloomsburg who competed at 197 pounds last year in college. Perry defeated 2012 Olympic silver medalist Jaime Espinal of Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals, 8-4, then edged Austin Trotman of Titan Mercury WC, 6-5 in the semifinals.
“The decision to drop was easy. I didn’t cut much weight at 197. I made 86 kg this summer. I really liked how I felt wrestling here with the higher tier guys. I still have a lot to learn and a lot of work to put in. Today was a testament to the hard work I’ve done,” said Perry.
At 57 kg/125.5 lbs, former Northern Iowa star Joe Colon (USA/Titan Mercury WC) scored early and kept up the pressure to defeat Dan Mitcheff (Lakewood, Ohio/NYAC), 13-6 in the finals.
“I just came in and pushed my style. I got my underhooks and kept the pace high. I tried to bully dudes. I want to go out and score as many points as I can. I wrestle through all the positions. If you score more points, you win,” said Colon.
Battling back from an early deficit and dealing with painful ribs, Jason Chamberlain (Lincoln, Neb./Titan Mercury WC) had a strong second period to defeat Evan Henderson (Chapel Hill, N.C./NCRTC), 8-3 in the finals at 65 kg/143 lbs.
Moving up a weight class this year and winning his first major international event was Enoch Francois (Ithaca, N.Y./NYAC) who beat Manjot Sandhu of Canada, 10-4 in the finals at 97 kg/213 lbs.
Finishing the night with a big win at 125 kg/264.5 lbs. was 2014 University World champion Tyrell Fortune (Tempe, Ariz/Titan Mercury) who defeated past Junior World champion Dom Bradley (Morgantown, W.Va./Sunkist Kids), 3-1.
The other individual champions were Murshid Mutalimov of Russia at 61 kg/134 lbs., Haislan Garcia of Canada at 70 kg/154 lbs. and Ramazan Shamsudinov of Russia at 74 kg/163 lbs.
BILL FARRELL INTERNATIONAL
At Hempstead, N.Y., November 9
Men’s freestyle finals
57 kg/125.5 lbs.
Gold –Joe Colon (USA/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Dan Mitcheff (USA/NYAC), 13-6
Bronze – Andrew Hochstrasser (USA/Titan Mercury) pin Rei Kuwaki (Japan), 2:22
61 kg/134 lbs.
Gold– Murshid Mutalimov (Russia) tech. fall Ken Kikuchi (Japan), 12-1
Bronze – Vova Flegontov (Russia) pin Kyle Hutter (USA/Titan Mercury WC), 6:00
65 kg/143 lbs.
Gold– Jason Chamberlain (USA/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Evan Henderson (USA/NCRTC), 8-3
Bronze – Shikaid Dzhalilov (Russia) dec. Joe McKenna (USA/Lehigh Valley AC), 5-2
70 kg/154 lbs.
Gold–Haislan Garcia (Canada) dec. Adam Hall (USA/Titan Mercury WC), 3-1
Bronze – Jordan Oliver (USA/Sunkist Kids) dec. Cyler Sanderson (USA/Nittany Lion WC), 4-0
74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold–Ramazan Shamsudinov (Russia) dec. Quinton Godley (USA/Titan Mercury WC), 4-1
Bronze – Dan Vallimont (USA/Blue and Gold WC) pin Carmelo Lumia (Italy), 3:44
86 kg/189 lbs.
Gold – Richard Perry (USA/NYAC) dec. Deron Winn (USA/Titan Mercury WC), 5-4
Bronze – Jon Reader (USA/Sunkist Kids) dec. Austin Trotman (USA/Titan Mercury WC), 10-2
97 kg/213 lbs.
Gold – Enoch Francois (USA/NYAC) dec. Manjot Sandhu (Canada), 10-4
Bronze – Matt Gibson (USA/Titan Mercury WC) pin Jesse Ruiz (Mexico), 3:35
125 kg/264.5 lbs.
Gold – Tyrell Fortune (USA/Titan Mercury) dec. Dom Bradley (USA/Sunkist Kids), 3-1
Bronze – Pavel Krivtsov (Russia) tech. fall Eric Thompson (USA/Nittany Lion WC), 12-2
Outstanding Wrestler – Richard Perry (USA), 86 kg