Northern Michigan OTS puts six on U23 Greco World Team at Trials in Akron

VIDEO: U23 Greco champion interviews

AKRON, Ohio – The U23 Greco World Team was determined today in Akron, Ohio, at the Cadet and U23 World Team Trials and features six wrestlers from the Northern Michigan Olympic Training Site.

The six current NMU-OTS athletes that earned bids to the U23 World Championships in Bucharest, Romania, in November include Randon Miranda at 60 kg, Travis Rice at 63 kg, Logan Kass at 72 kg, Jesse Porter at 77 kg, Carter Nielsen at 82 kg and George Sikes at 87 kg.

Miranda, the 2018 U.S. Open runner-up, had a fun back-and-forth series with Dalton Roberts for the 60 kg spot. After losing the first bout in the best-of-three-finals, 7-5, Miranda came back winning two-straight matches, 4-2 and 6-3, respectively. In the rubber match, Miranda trailed 3-1 with six seconds left but benefitted off a Roberts high-dive attempt, scoring four points and earning another point on a failed challenge to secure the team spot.

Teammates at NMU, Roberts and Miranda met up in last year’s U23 Trials finals with Roberts taking the win.

November will mark Miranda’s third trip to an age-group World Championships as he was also on the 2016 and 2017 Junior World Teams.

Also returning to the World stage are Rice and Porter.

Rice, a 2015 Junior World Team member, defeated Xavier Johnson in two matches at 63 kg, winning 6-6 and 18-7. In the second match, trailing 7-6 with 10 seconds left, Rice rattled off 12 quick points with a four-pointer and four gut wrenches to pick up the tech fall.

Porter heads to the U23 World for the second-consecutive year, taking out Fritz Schierl. The first match in the finals at 77 kg ended 6-6 in favor of Porter. He picked it up in the next bout, rolling to 10-0 tech fall.

The three other NMU wrestlers punched tickets to their first World Championships.

At 82 kg, Carter Nielsen claimed wins over Andrew Berreyesa, 1-1 and 12-2, while Sikes put up 2-0 and 5-1 decisions over Jimmy Stillerman at 87 kg.

Logan Kass advanced to the World Championships, winning the series at 72 kg by injury default and medical forfeit over 2017 U23 World Team member Alex Mossing.

G’Angelo Hancock, who made three World Teams just last summer, returned to competition for the first time since December when he competed at the City of Sassari International last weekend. Today, Hancock continued his comeback, earning his second-straight spot on the U23 World Team with two tech falls against Roy Nash, 8-0 and 10-1.

2017 Cadet World champion Cohlton Schultz was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler, after a day of four tech falls and one pin. In the finals at 130 kg, Schultz took on David Orndorff and scored a pin at the 4:04 mark before wrapping up a 10-0 tech fall in the second period of the deciding match.

Schultz is now at four-time age-group World Team member having already represented the U.S. at the 2016 and 2017 Cadet World Championships and the 2017 Junior World Championships. Schultz will compete for the Junior World Team spot next weekend in Indianapolis, Ind.

The other remaining World Team members are Dalton Duffield at 55 kg and Nolan Baker at 67 kg.

Duffield, who hasn’t competed in Greco in two years, put together two falls and two tech falls on the day to win a spot on his first team. In the finals, he defeated Jabari Moody with a 12-4 tech, followed by a pin at the 4:45 mark.

After months away from Greco competition due to injury, Baker defeated 2017 Junior Greco and 2018 Junior freestyle World Team member Dominick Demas in a series that was forced to three matches.

Baker won the first one handily with a 12-3 tech but Demas bounced back in the second match with an 8-6 decision. In the final bout of the entire tournament, Baker capitalized off an attempted throw from Demas and put him to his back for a fall in 54 seconds.

The 10 champions plus the second and third placers at each weight qualify for the Senior Greco World Team Trials in Tulsa, Okla., June 21-22.

U23 competition continues tomorrow with the men’s freestyle World Team Trials, starting at 9:30 a.m. ET live on Flowrestling.org.

2018 UWW CADET AND U23 WORLD TEAM TRIALS

at Akron, Ohio, June 1-3

U23 Greco-Roman

55 kg
1st – Dalton Duffield (unattached) def. Jabari Moody (NYAC), two matches to none
Bout one – Duffield TF Moody, 12-4
Bout two – Duffield fall Moody, 4:45

3rd – Sean Sesnan (Williams Baptist College) TF Jemone Carter (Marines), 9-1
5th – Corey Muniz (River Valley WC) VSU Colt Olinde (Blue Raider WC), 11-0
7th – Samuel Braswell (Cougar WC) VPO1 Poncie Yim (Backyard Wrestling Club), 13-8

60 kg
1st – Randon Miranda (NYAC) def. Dalton Roberts (NYAC), two matches to one
Bout one – Roberts dec. Miranda, 7-5
Bout two – Miranda dec. Roberts, 4-2
Bout three – Miranda dec. Roberts, 6-3

3rd – Liam Cronin (Indiana University) VPO1 Scott Arneson (Southern Exposure), 9-3
5th – Hunter Starner (Pennisula Wrestling) VSU1 Jacob Snoddy (Marines), 10-1
7th – Timothy Decatur-luker (Backyard WC) VPO1 Rahsun Lawrence (Backyard WC), 6-1

63 kg
1st – Travis Rice (NMU-OTS) def.. Xavier Johnson (Marines), two matches to none
Bout one – Rice dec. Johnson, 6-6
Bout two – Rice TF Johnson, 18-7

3rd – Ty Pelot (X-Factor Elite) VFA Erik Spence (NMU-OTS), 0:25
5th – Nick Anthony (University of Florida) VSU Raphael Rodriguez (golden pride wc), 8-0
7th – Brandon Woody (Cougar WC) VSU Justus Griffith (Florida Jets), 8-0

67 kg
1st – Nolan Baker (Northern Illinois RTC) def. Dominick Demas (OKRTC), two matches to one
Bout one – Baker TF Demas, 12-3
Bout two – Demas dec. Baker, 8-6
Bout three – Baker pin Demas, 0:54

3rd – Britton Holmes (NMU-OTS) VSU1 Wesley Dawkins (Nebraska Golden Eagles WC), 14-6
5th – Dylan Thurston (IRTC) VIN Lenny Petersen (Air Force RTC)
7th – Ny`trell Dean (River Valley WC) VFA Sammy Peticos (Unattached), 2:49

72 kg
1st – Logan Kass (Minnesota Storm) def. Alex Mossing (Air Force RTC), two matches to none
Bout one – Kass won by injury default over Mossing
Bout two – Kass won by medical forfeit

3rd – Brett Bye (Legends of Gold) VSU Mccoy Tekautz (Minnesota Storm), 9-0
5th – Trace Thome (University of Florida) VFA Dre-son Scruggs (Utah Valley RTC), 4:31
7th – Andrew Null (MWC Wrestling Academy) VSU1 Will Kaldes (Pittsburgh), 12-1

77 kg
1st – Jesse Porter (NYAC) def. Fritz Schierl (Ohio State-unattached), two matches to none
Bout one – Porter dec. Schierl, 6-6
Bout two – Porter TF Schierl, 10-0

3rd – Eddie Smith (Beast Mode) VPO1 Ryan Epps (Minnesota), 5-3
5th – Zach Krapf (Gunston WC) VSU1 Emanuel Diaz (Florida Jets), 12-3
7th – Russell Miller (River Valley Wrestling Club) VFA Ismael Cornejo jr (Knights WC), 2:30

82 kg
1st – Carter Nielsen (NMU-OTS) def. Andrew Berreyesa (Finger Lakes WC), two matches to none
Bout one – Nielsen dec. Berreyesa, 1-1
Bout two – Nielsen TF Berreyesa, 12-2

3rd – Chandler Rogers (Cowboy RTC/TMWC) VFA Spencer Woods (NMU-OTS), 0:27
5th – Thomas Brackett (Wave WC) VSU Jose Acosta (Northern Illinois Elite WC), 8-0
7th –

87 kg
1st - George Sikes (NMU-OTS) def. Jimmy Stillerman (Lancaster Alliance), two matches to none
Bout one – Sikes dec. Stillerman, 2-0
Bout two – Sikes dec. Stillerman, 5-1

3rd – Kaleb Gaede (Olympian Wrestling Elite) VPO1 Trenton Schultz (Univ. N Colo- unattached), 11-9
5th – Justin Villegas (Ouachita WC) VSU Daniel Myers (N/A), 8-0
7th – Corey Willett (JWC) VSU1 Timothy Eubanks (Williams Baptist College), 10-1

97 kg
1st – G’Angelo Hancock (Sunkist Kids) def. Roy Nash (NMU-OTS), two matches to none
Bout one – Hancock TF Nash, 8-0
Bout two – Hancock TF Nash, 10-1

3rd – Blake Smith (Colorado) VSU Devon Amburgy (Williams Baptist College), 8-0
5th – Ross Sealby (Northern Illinois RTC) VSU1 Joseph Munro (Marines), 12-4
7th – Hunter Hart (Montana) VSU Dylan Buschow (Unattached), 8-0

130 kg
1st – Cohlton Schultz (NYAC) def. David Orndorff (Utah Valley RTC), two matches to none
Bout one – Schultz pin Orndorff, 4:04
Bout two – Schultz TF Orndorff, 10-1

3rd – Trent Osnes (Marines) VSU1 Matthew Voss (Patriot Eilte Wrestling Club), 11-2
5th – Nicholas Boykin (Sunkist Kids WC) VFA Adolfo Sotolongo (River Valley WC), 0:39
7th – Cameron Barnes (River Valley WC) VFA Ethan Bunce (Knights WC), 3:00