Oliver edges out Retherford, Clark defeats Ramos at AWL: The Beginning

The American Wrestling League (AWL) held their inaugural event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this evening. Before the matches started the crowd honored the late Coach Mike Duroe in a moving gesture holding their cell phone flashlights to the ceiling in conjunction with Pin Cancer to “Light the Night”.

2018 World champions Kyle Dake and David Taylor captained the two competing squads, while J’den Cox, another 2018 World Champion, did play-by-play and color commentary.

The action started at 70 kg where two-time World medalist James Green took on hometown favorite, four-time All-American for Iowa Brandon Sorenson. Green showed why he is one of the best wrestlers in the world with a dominant 10-0 technical fall, scoring five takedowns.

Keeping the action going at 74 kg was U23 World Champion Richie Lewis and North Carolina State All-American Tommy Gantt. Lewis lead 2-0 into the break, before Gantt’s relentless pace began to wear him down. Gantt scored a point on a step out, and followed it up with three takedowns to win 7-2 and give team Taylor their first victory of the night.

The third match of the night was a highly anticipated battle between two National Team members Alex Dieringer and Isaiah Martinez. Martinez, who is No. 2 on the ladder at 74 kg, seemed to be facing a notable size disadvantage against Dieringer, who currently sits at No. 3 at 79 kg. Dieringer took a 2-0 lead on an early first period takedown. Martinez scored a step out to cut the score to 2-1 heading into the break. The second period replicated the first with Dieringer scoring a takedown early and Martinez earning a step out in the final minute to end the match 4-2 in Dieringer’s favor.

Match four featured another Iowa favorite with two-time Hawkeye All-American Sammy Brooks taking on three-time Ohio State All-American and 2017 National Team member Nick Heflin at 86 kg. Going into the break, Heflin lead 4-0 on the strength of two takedowns. However, the tide began to turn when Brooks brought the U.S. Cellular Center crowd to its feet with a massive two-point throw on the edge of the mat. Continuing to push the pace, Brooks scored a step out, followed by a two-point takedown and another two-point turn. From there, the points kept coming, and Sammy Brooks earned an 11-4 victory.

The fifth match of the night featured 2018 National Team member Deron Winn wrestling 2018 North Carolina State NCAA champion Michael Macchiavello. Winn, the combat sports renaissance man, was coming off a mixed martial arts fight win less than a week ago.

The up-and-comer Machiavello showed no fear against the veteran, scoring a takedown and turn on a gut wrench to take a 4-0 lead into the break. Machiavello extended his lead to 6-0 with another takedown in the second period. He tacked on another two on a counter to a Winn throw attempt to make the final score 8-0. After the match Winn received a standing ovation from the crowd after leaving his shoes on the mat and announcing his retirement after 25 years of competing in the sport. Winn plans to continue to train and compete full time in MMA.

During the intermission Living the Dream Medal Fund steward Andy Barth, alongside Men’s Freestyle Team coaches, Bill Zadick and Joe Russell, presented 2018 World Champions Kyle Dake, David Taylor, and J’den Cox with their ceremonial “big check”. Each wrestler earned 50 thousand dollars for their gold medal performances in Budapest this October.

Starting the action back up after the presentation was former Iowa State NCAA champ and 2018 National Team member Kyven Gadson, squaring off with two-time Duke All-American Jacob Kasper. Gadson scored first, converting a single leg takedown for two points. Kasper got on the board 30 seconds later with a step out point, and the score held 2-1 until the break. Within the first 10 seconds of the second period, Gadson scored a step out point off a single leg attempt pushing his lead to 3-1. Kasper scored another step out with 15 seconds left to make it a one-point match before a flurry in the final seconds resulted in a two-point Gadson exposure and a one-point Kasper reversal to make the final score 5-3 Gadson.

125 kg featured veteran heavyweight stalwarts, Dom Bradley and Zach Rey. Combined, the two have appeared on 10 National Teams. In a low scoring heavyweight affair, Dom Bradley took a 1-0 lead into the break. He added a passivity point to push the score to 2-0, before Rey earned a passivity point of his own, making it 2-1. The two big men exchanged step out points in the closing seconds to end the match 3-2 in Bradley’s favor. Since 2006 the duo has wrestled 10 times with the most recent match tying the series 5-5.

Circling back around to 57 kg, former NCAA champion Nico Megaludis took on former Cornell All-American Frank Perrelli. Perrelli opened the scoring with a first-period takedown and took a 2-0 lead into the break. Megaludis got on the board with a step out with two minutes remaining in the match. A minute later he scored a takedown and an exposure to take the lead 5-2. In the waning seconds, Megaludis sealed the deal with a go behind to win 7-2.

One of the most anticipated matches of the night took place at 61 kg with two former Hawkeye national champions Tony Ramos and Corey Clark squaring off. Ramos, a former World Team member currently coaching at UNC, entered to a mix of cheers and boos, as the crowd seemed to fully embrace current Hawkeye Wrestling Club member Clark. The first period featured a lot of hand fighting and not too many shot attempts. Clark brought a 1-0 lead off a passivity point into the break. In the second period, Clark countered a Ramos shot for two and scored another 2 off a gut wrench to take a 5-0 lead. Clark added a step out point to stretch his lead to 6-0. In the closing seconds, Clark countered another Ramos shot to end the match 8-0.

In the main event of the night two Pennsylvania wrestlers, Zain Retherford and Jordan Oliver duked it out. Retherford was a 2017 World Team Member, however Oliver owned a 2-0 record over him after beating him 5-3 in the 2017 US Open semi-finals. Immediately the crowd knew it was in for a treat as Oliver scored a slick takedown in the opening 10 seconds. Retherford cut the lead to 2-1 with a step out point 15 seconds later, and then converted on a takedown taking a 3-2 lead. Oliver answered with a takedown of his own to retake the lead 4-3. Oliver then hit the move of the night with a massive five-point suplex to go ahead 9-3 leading into the break. Oliver opened the second period with another takedown to make the score 11-3. With 1:30 left, Retherford scored a step out to make it 11-4, before Oliver exposed him for two to make it 13-4. Retherford scored three more step outs to make it 13-7. With 15 seconds left Retherford scored on a go behind to make it 13-9, and then tacked on another 2 on an exposure. However, it was too little too late, and Oliver hung on to win 13-11.

The high octane main event was a fitting finale for an extremely entertaining and exciting card at the first ever American Wrestling League endeavor.

70 kg: James Green (Team Dake) tech Brandon Sorenson (Team Taylor) 10-0

74 kg: Tommy Gantt (Team Taylor) dec. Richie Lewis (Team Dake) 7-2

79 kg: Alex Dieringer (Team Taylor) dec. Isaiah Martinez (Team Dake) 4-2

86 kg: Sammy Brooks (Team Taylor) dec. Nick Heflin (Team Dake) 11-4

92 kg: Michael Macchiavello (Team Taylor) dec. Deron Winn (Team Dake) 8-0

97 kg: Kyven Gadson (Team Taylor) dec. Jacob Kasper (Team Dake) 5-3

125 kg: Dom Bradley (Team Dake) dec Zach Rey (Team Taylor) 3-2.

57 kg: Nico Megaludis (Team Taylor) dec. Frank Perrelli (Team Dake) 7-2.

61 kg: Cory Clark (Team Taylor) dec Tony Ramos (Team Dake) 8-0.

65 kg: Jordan Oliver (Team Dake) dec. Zain Retherford (Team Taylor) 13-11.

Final: Team Taylor over Team Dake 7 matches to 3.