Semifinals set for Junior men's freestyle at USMC National Championships, Triple Crown hopefuls go five-for-six in quarterfinals

Brandon O'Brien of Iowa is still chasing a Triple Crown. Photo by John Sachs.

Fargo, N.D. - Monday morning at the Fargo Dome featured the Junior men’s freestyle quarterfinals. Of the six Triple Crown contenders still alive after last nights’ preliminary rounds, five are still in the hunt.

At 100 pounds Brandon O’Brien of Iowa kept his momentum rolling with a 10-0 technical fall. Blake West of Minnesota advanced to the 106 pound quarterfinals with a 14-3 technical fall of his own. Drake Ayala, another Iowan, earned a 10-0 technical in his quarterfinal match.

Moesha Schwartz of Colorado had a wild back-and-forth match with Trey Crawford of Missouri in the 138 pounds quarterfinals. Schwartz came out on top, 11-9, to keep his Triple Crown hopes alive.

Idaho’s Ridge Lovett took his quarterfinal match, 4-0, to advance to the semifinals. Lovett was a Junior freestyle runner-up last year, and will be attending the University of Nebraska in the fall. In the semifinal he’ll face Samuel Hillegas, a two-time Pennsylvania state champion. Yesterday, Hillegas knocked of 2018 Cadet freestyle champion Joshua Edmond of Michigan, 11-9.

Rocky Elam of Missouri had his Triple Crown chances shot down by Parker Keckeisen of Wisconsin in the 182 quarterfinals. Keckeisen, an incoming freshman at the University of Northern Iowa, scored big on four-point feet-to-back takedowns in the first period and second periods, ultimately winning 9-1.

2018 Junior freestyle champion Keegan O’Toole of Wisconsin earned an 8-4 decision over Chase Saldate of California at 152 pounds to keep his back-to-back title hopes alive.

Luke Luffman, the other returning Junior freestyle champion in the tournament, earned a 10-0 technical fall in the 285 pound quarterfinal over Braxton Mikesell of Washington. He will face Joshua Heindselman of the Oklahoma in the semifinals. Three of the 285 pound semifinalists are from Illinois, with the other semifinal match featuring Aydin Guttridge and Roberto Pena.

The semifinals will occur this evening at 5:00 pm CST and will be streaming on Flowrestling.

2019 USMC JUNIOR/16U NATIONALS
At Fargo, N.D., July 12-19

Junior men’s freestyle semifinal pairings

100

Daniel Sheen (Illinois) vs Cael Keck (Missouri)

Samuel Hayes (Illinois) vs Brandon O'brien (Iowa)

106

Eli Griffin (Oklahoma) vs Andre Gonzales (California)

Blake West (Minnesota) vs Keny Sailas (Colorado)

113

Nico Provo (Connecticut) vs Aedyn Concepcion (Alaska)

Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs Jeremiah Reno (Missouri)

120

Joseph Thompson (Minnesota) vs Jakason Burks (Nebraska)

Destin Summers (Idaho) vs Anthony Molton (Illinois)

126

Angelo Rini (Ohio) vs Wyatt Henson (Missouri)

Jayden Gomez (California) vs Ethen Miller (Missouri)

132

Mosha Schwartz (Colorado) vs Michael Burnett (Ohio)

Domenic Zaccone (Illinois) vs Dominick Serrano (Colorado)

138

Joshua Saunders (Missouri) vs Lachlan Mcneil (Pennsylvania)

Samuel Hillegas (Pennsylvania) vs Ridge Lovett (Idaho)

145

Anthony Echemendia (Arizona) vs Chance Mclane (Montana)

Joseph Zargo (New Jersey) vs Victor Voinovich (Ohio)

152

Keegan O'toole (Wisconsin) vs Jace Luchau (California)

John martin Best (West Virginia) vs Daniel Manibog (Texas)

160

Cade Devos (Iowa) dec. vs Dajun Johnson (Wisconsin)

Padraic Gallagher (Ohio) vs David Rubio (Oregon)

170

Gerrit Nijenhuis (Pennsylvania) vs Gavin Kane (Georgia)

Patrick Kennedy (Minnesota) vs Nevan Snodgrass (Ohio)

182

Abe Assad (Illinois) vs Luke Stout (Pennsylvania)

Parker Keckeisen (Wisconsin) vs Dustin Plott (Oklahoma)

195

Cole Urbas (Pennsylvania) vs Isaac Trumble (Nebraska)

Ethan Hatcher (Ohio) vs Jonovan Smith (California)

220

Braxton Amos (West Virginia) vs Konner Doucet (Oklahoma)

Dorian Crosby (Pennsylvania) vs Cade Lautt (Kansas)

285

Luke Luffman (Illinois) vs Joshua Heindselman (Oklahoma)

Aydin Guttridge (Illinois) vs Roberto Pena (Illinois)

Junior men’s freestyle quarterfinal results

100

Daniel Sheen (Illinois) TF Noah Savageau (North Dakota), 10-0 0:32

Cael Keck (Missouri) pin Nathan Vasquez (California), 6-2 1:18

Samuel Hayes (Illinois) TF Ty Daugherty (Ohio), 10-0 1:28

Brandon O'Brien (Iowa) TF Hunter Sloan (Pennsylvania), 10-0 0:35

106

Eli Griffin (Oklahoma) TF Jeremy Bockert (Alaska), 10-0 0:35

Andre Gonzales (California) TF Kelly Dunnigan (New Jersey), 14-1 4:49

Blake West (Minnesota) TF Caleb- Coyle (Nebraska), 14-3 5:27

Kenny Sailas (Colorado) pin Colin Noel (Ohio), 8-0 1:25

113

Nico Provo (Connecticut) TF Joziah Fry (Rhode Island), 10-0 0:31

Aedyn Concepcion (Alaska) forfeit Jett Strickenberger (Colorado)

Drake Ayala (Iowa) TF Yusief Lillie (Washington), 10-0 5:38

Jeremiah Reno (Missouri) TF Sheldon Seymour (Pennsylvania), 10-0 2:23

120

Joseph Thompson (Minnesota) dec. Chance Lamer (Oregon), 19-10

Jakason Burks (Nebraska) dec. Jackson Cockrell (Oklahoma), 6-6

Destin Summers (Idaho) dec. Alex Almeyda (New Jersey), 9-6

Anthony Molton (Illinois) TF Dustin Norris (Ohio), 11-1 2:13

126

Angelo Rini (Ohio) dec. Kyle Burwick (North Dakota), 16-11

Wyatt Henson (Missouri) dec. Nick Masters (Georgia), 14-8

Jayden Gomez (California) dec. Cameron Johnson (Illinois), 11-9

Ethen Miller (Missouri) dec. Brayden Littell (Indiana), 10-6

132

Mosha Schwartz (Colorado) dec. Trey Crawford (Missouri), 13-11

Michael Burnett (Ohio) dec. Cael Happel (Iowa), 12-4

Domenic Zaccone (Illinois) dec. Drew Roberts (Washington), 3-2

Dominick Serrano (Colorado) pin Nathaniel Pulliam (Missouri), 12-1 4:35

138

Joshua Saunders (Missouri) TF Caleb Henson (Georgia), 10-0 0:49

Lachlan Mcneil (Pennsylvania) TF Ryder Ramsey (Oklahoma), 10-0 2:40

Samuel Hillegas (Pennsylvania) TF Noah Villarreal (Illinois), 12-2 1:51

Ridge Lovett (Idaho) dec. Caden Mccrary (Georgia), 4-0

145

Anthony Echemendia (Arizona) TF Chase Warden (Texas), 11-0 2:47

Chance Mclane (Montana) dec. Beau Ohlson (Oregon), 12-9

Joseph Zargo (New Jersey) TF Vincent Zerban (Illinois), 10-0 2:26

Victor Voinovich (Ohio) TF Joshua Ogunsanya (Illinois), 16-4 2:56

152

Keegan O'toole (Wisconsin) dec. Chase Saldate (California), 8-4

Jace Luchau (California) TF Cael Carlson (Minnesota), 10-0 1:30

John martin Best (West Virginia) dec. Kaden Reetz (Wisconsin), 11-4

Daniel Manibog (Texas) pin Donald Cates (North Carolina), 7-0 1:26

160

Cade Devos (Iowa) dec. Luke Surber (Oklahoma), 8-4

Dajun Johnson (Wisconsin) pin Baylor Fernandes (Illinois), 2-0 0:16

Padraic Gallagher (Ohio) dec. Cael Valencia (California), 14-11

David Rubio (Oregon) dec. Aurelius Dunbar (Pennsylvania), 9-8

170

Gerrit Nijenhuis (Pennsylvania) dec. Trent Munoz (California), 9-6

Gavin Kane (Georgia) TF Alex Cramer (Illinois), 14-4 2:41

Patrick Kennedy (Minnesota) TF Angel Garcia (Pennsylvania), 11-0 1:34

Nevan Snodgrass (Ohio) TF Connor Oneill (New Jersey), 10-0 1:50

182

Abe Assad (Illinois) dec. John Poznanski (New Jersey), 9-4

Luke Stout (Pennsylvania) dec. Jake Evans (Ohio), 9-2

Parker Keckeisen (Wisconsin) dec. Rocky Elam (Missouri), 9-1

Dustin Plott (Oklahoma) dec. Christopher Foca (New Jersey), 14-14

195

Cole Urbas (Pennsylvania) dec. Matthew Cover (Ohio), 10-8

Isaac Trumble (Nebraska) pin Austin Walley (Pennsylvania), 10-6 5:14

Ethan Hatcher (Ohio) TF Matthew Kaylor (North Dakota), 12-2 4:15

Jonovan Smith (California) dec. Santos Cantu (Oregon), 2-1

220

Braxton Amos (West Virginia) TF Cody Fisher (Iowa), 10-0 0:54

Konner Doucet (Oklahoma) dec. Daniel Striggow (Minnesota), 6-5

Dorian Crosby (Pennsylvania) dec. Guillermo Escobedo (California), 4-2

Cade Lautt (Kansas) dec. Gabe Christenson (Iowa), 13-9

285

Luke Luffman (Illinois) TF Braxton Mikesell (Washington), 11-0 3:40

Joshua Heindselman (Oklahoma) TF Garrett Kappes (Maryland), 13-3 5:31

Aydin Guttridge (Illinois) pin Spencer Trenary (Iowa), 11-7 5:51

Roberto Pena (Illinois) dec. John Wiese (Oklahoma), 7-2