Dake vs. Taylor will be in 86 kg freestyle finals, as nine finals pairings set at U.S. Nationals/Trials Qualifier
Share:
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Photos of Kyle Dake and David Taylor competing at the U.S. Nationals/Trials Qualifier by Larry Slater.
VIDEO: U.S. Senior Nationals & Olympic Trials Qualifier Interviews
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Finalists were set in nine weight classes at the U.S. Senior Nationals/Trials Qualifier at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Friday. All six Olympic men’s freestyle weight classes are being held today, along with the final three of the women’s freestyle weight classes.
In perhaps the most anticipated weight class competition on the men’s freestyle side, earning a spot in the finals at 86 kg/189 lbs. were longtime rivals Kyle Dake of the Titan Mercury WC and David Taylor of the Nittany Lion WC. Both moved up from 74 kg/163 lbs., where Dake was No. 2 and Taylor was No. 3 behind Olympic champion and three-time World champion Jordan Burroughs.
Taylor was dominant in his half bracket, getting two technical falls and a decision and outscoring his opponents, 4-0. In the quarterfinals, he beat No. 1 seed and college teammate Ed Ruth in a 13-0 technical fall. In the semifinals, he dispatched Richard Perry of the New York AC, 11-0.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been seeded eighth in my entire life, but I’ve got to expect that coming in. It’s a good weight class and I haven’t proven myself. It’s the first time I’ve felt good competing in a long time. It’s been a rocky start going up 20 pounds in a matter of a couple weeks, so its been tough trying to get back to the way I want to wrestle and today is the first day, I think, I’ve actually wrestled the way I want to wrestle since going up a weight class. My goal is to be an Olympic champion and this is really just the first step,” said Taylor.
Dake also had a nice run in his new weight class. In the quarterfinals, he beat 2013 World Team member Keith Gavin of Titan Mercury WC, 6-2, then stopped Jon Reader of the Sunkist Kids, 6-4 in the semifinals.
Dake and Taylor have wrestled often in both college and in freestyle. Dake won four NCAA titles and Taylor won two NCAA titles. Fans look forward to this matchup when it happens.
“New weight class, same guy. I have Kyle in the finals which is exciting. He’s an unbelievable competitor. We’ve obviously wrestled a lot of times in our career. It’s going to be an exciting match tonight,” said Taylor.
2012 Olympian Sam Hazewinkel of the Sunkist Kids, who was unseeded coming into the tournament, reached the 57 kg finals with a 10-0 technical fall over No. 2 seek Joe Colon of Titan Mercury WC, 10-0.
Hazewinkel will face Daniel Dennis of the Titan Mercury WC, who beat 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Coleman Scott of the Sunkist Kids, 3-2. Both Dennis and Colon dropped down from 61 kg, where Dennis was No. 2 and Scott No. 3 last year.
“In my mind I was the returning champ. I missed last year due to injury. The way I’ve been wrestling it just shows things are paying off. What I’ve been doing is right, but I have to keep going. Dennis is tough. He’s coming down a weight and he’s a tough kid, so we will have to see where I’m really at in the finals and then we will know," said Hazewinkel.
Another deep weight class in men’s freestyle was 65 kg/143 lbs. which will feature the top two seeds, Jimmy Kennedy of the New York AC against Logan Stieber of Titan Mercury WC.
Kennedy, a 2014 U.S. World Team member, beat three-time World Team member Reece Humphrey of the New York AC in the semifinals by a 9-0 margin.
Stieber, a four-time NCAA champion for Ohio State and past Junior World silver medalist, beat three-time age-group World medalist Aaron Pico of Titan Mercury WC, 13-5 in his semifinals bout.
“I’ve just been trying to turn people when I go ton top and I’ve done a great job of it. Scoring a lot of takedowns is good for me because usually I’m a turner, so it’s been good. It’s a crazy bracket. Every guy I’ve had so far has been really good. I felt pretty confident. I think he won all the challenges, but it didn’t really go points against me, which is good. It was a good match. Aaron’s really tough. Everybody knows that, so it was a good match for me to wrestle and compete hard,” said Stieber.
In women’s freestyle, there was a mild upset in the semifinals, as Jennifer Page of Titan Mercury WC defeated 2015 U.S. World Team member Erin Clodgo, 4-0. Page, who was No. 2 last year at 60 kg, moved up in weight for this event. She will face Amanda Hendey of Titan Mercury WC, who reached the finals by edging 2015 Junior World Team member Mallory Velte of Titan Mercury WC, 7-6.
“I’ve done really well today. I’m really happy with the way I’ve been wrestling. I’ve been using a lot of things I’ve been working on in practice, so I’m pretty happy with the improvements I’ve been making. Back when I used to wrestle 63, we wrestled a few times and went back and forth, but she made the World Team last year at 63. She’s been dominating this weight class, so I knew I was in for a tough match,” said Page.
At 74 kg/163 lbs., 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials runner-up Andrew Howe of the New York AC, will face Chris Perry of Titan Mercury WC. Howe beat Adam Hall of Titan Mercury WC, 3-1 in his semifinals, while Perry defeated Kevin LeValley of Buffalo Valley RTC in his semifinal, 4-0. Perry has dropped down from 86 kg/189 lbs. this year. Perry beat Howe in the finals of the 2014 NCAA Championships.
The top two seeds will meet in the other women’s freestyle matches. At 48 kg/105.5 lbs., Cody Pfau of Titan Mercury WC will wrestle longtime rival Erin Golston of the New York AC). At 69 kg, Tamyra Mensah of the Titan Mercury WC will face 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Randi Miller of the U.S. Army WCAP. Mensah beat Miller in the 2015 World Team Trials in their most recent meeting.
At 97 kg/213 lbs. in men’s freestyle, there is an unexpected finals pairing as unseeded Scott Schiller of the Minnesota Storm worked through the bracket and will face No. 6 seed Wynn Michalak of the Titan Mercury WC. The other finals is at 125 kg/275 lbs., as past Junior World champion Dom Bradley of the Sunkist Kids will battle past University World champion Tyrell Fortune of the Titan Mercury WC.
Please note that the gold-medal finals will begin promptly at 5:00 p.m. Pacific (this is a time change from an earlier schedule. Fans not in attendance can see the finals on Trackwrestling.com.
The top seven placewinners in each weight class this weekend qualify to compete at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Iowa City, Iowa, April 9-10. This is the largest of the #Road2IowaCity qualifying events.
U.S. NATIONALS/TRIALS QUALIFIER
At Las Vegas, Nev., December 19
Freestyle Finals pairings
57 kg/125.5 lbs. - Daniel Dennis, Iowa City, Iowa. (Titan Mercury WC) vs. Sam Hazewinkel, Norman, Okla. (Sunkist Kids)
65 kg/143 lbs. - Jimmy Kennedy, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Cliff Keen WC) vs. Logan Stieber, Columbus, Ohio (Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC)
74 kg/163 lbs. - Andrew Howe, Norman, Okla. (New York AC) vs. Chris Perry, Stillwater, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC)
86 kg/189 lbs. - Kyle Dake, Ithaca, N.Y. (Titan Mercury WC) vs. David Taylor, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
97 kg/213 lbs. - Wynn Michalak, Champaign, Ill. (Titan Mercury WC) vs. Scott Schiller, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
125 kg/275 lbs. - Dom Bradley, Morgantown, W.Va. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Tyrell Fortune, Tempe, Ariz. (Titan Mercury WC)
Women’s Freestyle Finals Pairings
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Cody Pfau, Brush, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC) vs. Erin Golston, Lake In The Hills, Ill. (NYAC/USOEC)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Amanda Hendey, San Gabriel, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC) vs. Jennifer Page, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC/OTC)
69 kg/152 lbs. - Tamyra Mensah, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC) vs. Randi Miller, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
Semifinals results
Men’s freestyle
57 kg/125.5 lbs.
Daniel Dennis, Iowa City, Iowa. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Coleman Scott, Chapel Hill, N.C. (Sunkist Kids), 3-2
Sam Hazewinkel, Norman, Okla. (Sunkist Kids) tech. fall Joe Colon, Cedar Falls, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC), 10-0
65 kg/143 lbs.
Jimmy Kennedy, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Cliff Keen WC) dec. Reece Humphrey, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC/Ohio RTC), 9-0
Logan Stieber, Columbus, Ohio (Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC) dec. Aaron Pico, Whittier, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC), 13-5
74 kg/163 lbs.
Andrew Howe, Norman, Okla. (New York AC) dec. Adam Hall, Raleigh, N.C. (Titan Mercury WC), 3-1
Chris Perry, Stillwater, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Kevin LeValley, Lewisburg, Pa. (Buffalo Valley RTC), 4-0
86 kg/189 lbs.
David Taylor, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC) tech. fall Richard Perry, Washington, D.C. (New York AC), 11-0
Kyle Dake, Ithaca, N.Y. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Jon Reader, Brookings, S.D. (Sunkist Kids), 6-4
97 kg/213 lbs.
Scott Schiller, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) dec. Micah Burak, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC), 4-3
Wynn Michalak, Champaign, Ill. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Kyven Gadson, Ames, Iowa (Sunkist Kids), 1-0
125 kg/275 lbs.
Dom Bradley, Morgantown, W.Va. (Sunkist Kids) dec. Eric Thompson, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC), 7-1
Tyrell Fortune, Tempe, Ariz. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Anthony Nelson, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm), 2-1
Women’s Freestyle semifinals results
48 kg/105.5 lbs.
Cody Pfau, Brush, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC) pin Nicole Woody, Bristol, Tenn. (Terrapin WC), 2:41
Erin Golston, Lake In The Hills, Ill. (NYAC/USOEC) dec. Marina Doi, Kingsburg, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC), 8-0
63 kg/138.75 lbs.
Jennifer Page, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC/OTC) dec. Erin Clodgo, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids/OTC), 4-0
Amanda Hendey, San Gabriel, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Mallory Velte, Sacramento, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC), 7-6
69 kg/152 lbs.
Tamyra Mensah, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC) tech. fall Rachel Watters, Ankeny, Iowa (OKCU Gator Women’s RTC), 11-0
Randi Miller, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP) vs. Forrest Molinari, Benicia, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC), 4-2
VIDEO: U.S. Senior Nationals & Olympic Trials Qualifier Interviews
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Finalists were set in nine weight classes at the U.S. Senior Nationals/Trials Qualifier at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Friday. All six Olympic men’s freestyle weight classes are being held today, along with the final three of the women’s freestyle weight classes.
In perhaps the most anticipated weight class competition on the men’s freestyle side, earning a spot in the finals at 86 kg/189 lbs. were longtime rivals Kyle Dake of the Titan Mercury WC and David Taylor of the Nittany Lion WC. Both moved up from 74 kg/163 lbs., where Dake was No. 2 and Taylor was No. 3 behind Olympic champion and three-time World champion Jordan Burroughs.
Taylor was dominant in his half bracket, getting two technical falls and a decision and outscoring his opponents, 4-0. In the quarterfinals, he beat No. 1 seed and college teammate Ed Ruth in a 13-0 technical fall. In the semifinals, he dispatched Richard Perry of the New York AC, 11-0.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been seeded eighth in my entire life, but I’ve got to expect that coming in. It’s a good weight class and I haven’t proven myself. It’s the first time I’ve felt good competing in a long time. It’s been a rocky start going up 20 pounds in a matter of a couple weeks, so its been tough trying to get back to the way I want to wrestle and today is the first day, I think, I’ve actually wrestled the way I want to wrestle since going up a weight class. My goal is to be an Olympic champion and this is really just the first step,” said Taylor.
Dake also had a nice run in his new weight class. In the quarterfinals, he beat 2013 World Team member Keith Gavin of Titan Mercury WC, 6-2, then stopped Jon Reader of the Sunkist Kids, 6-4 in the semifinals.
Dake and Taylor have wrestled often in both college and in freestyle. Dake won four NCAA titles and Taylor won two NCAA titles. Fans look forward to this matchup when it happens.
“New weight class, same guy. I have Kyle in the finals which is exciting. He’s an unbelievable competitor. We’ve obviously wrestled a lot of times in our career. It’s going to be an exciting match tonight,” said Taylor.
2012 Olympian Sam Hazewinkel of the Sunkist Kids, who was unseeded coming into the tournament, reached the 57 kg finals with a 10-0 technical fall over No. 2 seek Joe Colon of Titan Mercury WC, 10-0.
Hazewinkel will face Daniel Dennis of the Titan Mercury WC, who beat 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Coleman Scott of the Sunkist Kids, 3-2. Both Dennis and Colon dropped down from 61 kg, where Dennis was No. 2 and Scott No. 3 last year.
“In my mind I was the returning champ. I missed last year due to injury. The way I’ve been wrestling it just shows things are paying off. What I’ve been doing is right, but I have to keep going. Dennis is tough. He’s coming down a weight and he’s a tough kid, so we will have to see where I’m really at in the finals and then we will know," said Hazewinkel.
Another deep weight class in men’s freestyle was 65 kg/143 lbs. which will feature the top two seeds, Jimmy Kennedy of the New York AC against Logan Stieber of Titan Mercury WC.
Kennedy, a 2014 U.S. World Team member, beat three-time World Team member Reece Humphrey of the New York AC in the semifinals by a 9-0 margin.
Stieber, a four-time NCAA champion for Ohio State and past Junior World silver medalist, beat three-time age-group World medalist Aaron Pico of Titan Mercury WC, 13-5 in his semifinals bout.
“I’ve just been trying to turn people when I go ton top and I’ve done a great job of it. Scoring a lot of takedowns is good for me because usually I’m a turner, so it’s been good. It’s a crazy bracket. Every guy I’ve had so far has been really good. I felt pretty confident. I think he won all the challenges, but it didn’t really go points against me, which is good. It was a good match. Aaron’s really tough. Everybody knows that, so it was a good match for me to wrestle and compete hard,” said Stieber.
In women’s freestyle, there was a mild upset in the semifinals, as Jennifer Page of Titan Mercury WC defeated 2015 U.S. World Team member Erin Clodgo, 4-0. Page, who was No. 2 last year at 60 kg, moved up in weight for this event. She will face Amanda Hendey of Titan Mercury WC, who reached the finals by edging 2015 Junior World Team member Mallory Velte of Titan Mercury WC, 7-6.
“I’ve done really well today. I’m really happy with the way I’ve been wrestling. I’ve been using a lot of things I’ve been working on in practice, so I’m pretty happy with the improvements I’ve been making. Back when I used to wrestle 63, we wrestled a few times and went back and forth, but she made the World Team last year at 63. She’s been dominating this weight class, so I knew I was in for a tough match,” said Page.
At 74 kg/163 lbs., 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials runner-up Andrew Howe of the New York AC, will face Chris Perry of Titan Mercury WC. Howe beat Adam Hall of Titan Mercury WC, 3-1 in his semifinals, while Perry defeated Kevin LeValley of Buffalo Valley RTC in his semifinal, 4-0. Perry has dropped down from 86 kg/189 lbs. this year. Perry beat Howe in the finals of the 2014 NCAA Championships.
The top two seeds will meet in the other women’s freestyle matches. At 48 kg/105.5 lbs., Cody Pfau of Titan Mercury WC will wrestle longtime rival Erin Golston of the New York AC). At 69 kg, Tamyra Mensah of the Titan Mercury WC will face 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Randi Miller of the U.S. Army WCAP. Mensah beat Miller in the 2015 World Team Trials in their most recent meeting.
At 97 kg/213 lbs. in men’s freestyle, there is an unexpected finals pairing as unseeded Scott Schiller of the Minnesota Storm worked through the bracket and will face No. 6 seed Wynn Michalak of the Titan Mercury WC. The other finals is at 125 kg/275 lbs., as past Junior World champion Dom Bradley of the Sunkist Kids will battle past University World champion Tyrell Fortune of the Titan Mercury WC.
Please note that the gold-medal finals will begin promptly at 5:00 p.m. Pacific (this is a time change from an earlier schedule. Fans not in attendance can see the finals on Trackwrestling.com.
The top seven placewinners in each weight class this weekend qualify to compete at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Iowa City, Iowa, April 9-10. This is the largest of the #Road2IowaCity qualifying events.
U.S. NATIONALS/TRIALS QUALIFIER
At Las Vegas, Nev., December 19
Freestyle Finals pairings
57 kg/125.5 lbs. - Daniel Dennis, Iowa City, Iowa. (Titan Mercury WC) vs. Sam Hazewinkel, Norman, Okla. (Sunkist Kids)
65 kg/143 lbs. - Jimmy Kennedy, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Cliff Keen WC) vs. Logan Stieber, Columbus, Ohio (Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC)
74 kg/163 lbs. - Andrew Howe, Norman, Okla. (New York AC) vs. Chris Perry, Stillwater, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC)
86 kg/189 lbs. - Kyle Dake, Ithaca, N.Y. (Titan Mercury WC) vs. David Taylor, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
97 kg/213 lbs. - Wynn Michalak, Champaign, Ill. (Titan Mercury WC) vs. Scott Schiller, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
125 kg/275 lbs. - Dom Bradley, Morgantown, W.Va. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Tyrell Fortune, Tempe, Ariz. (Titan Mercury WC)
Women’s Freestyle Finals Pairings
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Cody Pfau, Brush, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC) vs. Erin Golston, Lake In The Hills, Ill. (NYAC/USOEC)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Amanda Hendey, San Gabriel, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC) vs. Jennifer Page, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC/OTC)
69 kg/152 lbs. - Tamyra Mensah, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC) vs. Randi Miller, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
Semifinals results
Men’s freestyle
57 kg/125.5 lbs.
Daniel Dennis, Iowa City, Iowa. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Coleman Scott, Chapel Hill, N.C. (Sunkist Kids), 3-2
Sam Hazewinkel, Norman, Okla. (Sunkist Kids) tech. fall Joe Colon, Cedar Falls, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC), 10-0
65 kg/143 lbs.
Jimmy Kennedy, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Cliff Keen WC) dec. Reece Humphrey, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC/Ohio RTC), 9-0
Logan Stieber, Columbus, Ohio (Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC) dec. Aaron Pico, Whittier, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC), 13-5
74 kg/163 lbs.
Andrew Howe, Norman, Okla. (New York AC) dec. Adam Hall, Raleigh, N.C. (Titan Mercury WC), 3-1
Chris Perry, Stillwater, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Kevin LeValley, Lewisburg, Pa. (Buffalo Valley RTC), 4-0
86 kg/189 lbs.
David Taylor, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC) tech. fall Richard Perry, Washington, D.C. (New York AC), 11-0
Kyle Dake, Ithaca, N.Y. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Jon Reader, Brookings, S.D. (Sunkist Kids), 6-4
97 kg/213 lbs.
Scott Schiller, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) dec. Micah Burak, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC), 4-3
Wynn Michalak, Champaign, Ill. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Kyven Gadson, Ames, Iowa (Sunkist Kids), 1-0
125 kg/275 lbs.
Dom Bradley, Morgantown, W.Va. (Sunkist Kids) dec. Eric Thompson, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC), 7-1
Tyrell Fortune, Tempe, Ariz. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Anthony Nelson, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm), 2-1
Women’s Freestyle semifinals results
48 kg/105.5 lbs.
Cody Pfau, Brush, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC) pin Nicole Woody, Bristol, Tenn. (Terrapin WC), 2:41
Erin Golston, Lake In The Hills, Ill. (NYAC/USOEC) dec. Marina Doi, Kingsburg, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC), 8-0
63 kg/138.75 lbs.
Jennifer Page, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC/OTC) dec. Erin Clodgo, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids/OTC), 4-0
Amanda Hendey, San Gabriel, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Mallory Velte, Sacramento, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC), 7-6
69 kg/152 lbs.
Tamyra Mensah, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC) tech. fall Rachel Watters, Ankeny, Iowa (OKCU Gator Women’s RTC), 11-0
Randi Miller, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP) vs. Forrest Molinari, Benicia, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC), 4-2
Read More#
2023 U20 U.S. Women’s Freestyle World Team Biographies
Bouzakis, Jaffe, Robinson to go for women’s freestyle bronze at U17 World Championships, Brooks back in repechage
Turner and Fowler win U17 World titles, Crull gets bronze, U.S. women in second place after one day
United World Wrestling releases schedule for Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Sept. 16-24
