Junior National Memories: Boys four-timers: Alan Fried (freestyle) & Oscar Wood (Greco-Roman)
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Photos from USA Wrestler newspaper of Alan Fried (left) and Oscar Wood (right).
The USA Wrestling Junior Nationals was created in 1971, becoming the annual national tournament for high school athletes in grades 9-12 in the Olympic styles. In 1986, USA Wrestling added the Cadet Nationals for wrestlers 15-16 years old. For about 10 years, the Junior Nationals and the Cadet Nationals were held in different cities on different weekends. That ended in 1996, when USA Wrestling combined the two tournaments for one week in Fargo, N.D., which allowed many USA Wrestling state leaders to volunteer for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga. The combined event was a success, and the two events have been held together ever since.
Right from the beginning of the Junior Nationals, going all the way through 1996 when it was combined with the Cadet Nationals, there were often talented freshmen who competed at the Junior Nationals. Some young talents wrestled in both the Cadet and Junior Nationals the same year, and a few were able to win them both the same year. Winning the Junior Nationals the summer after a freshman year was a very difficult and quite rare. Just like those seeking to win four NCAA titles, an athlete must win as a freshman in order to become a “four-timer” in a specific style.
Only two boys in the first 49 years of the Junior Nationals have been able to win four Junior Nationals titles in a specific style, Alan Fried of Ohio, who won four Junior National freestyle titles from 1986-1989, and Oscar Wood of Oregon, who won four Junior National Greco-Roman titles from 1991-1994.
Alan Fried, only 4x Junior Freestyle champion
Let’s start off with Fried, who reached the four-timer status first. He competed for legendary coach Howard Ferguson at St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, which at the time was considered the best high school wrestling program in the nation. Although it is a private school, St. Eds competed in the Ohio State High School Championships. Fried was among Ferguson’s greatest athletes, winning three Ohio State high school titles and placing third as a freshman.
What Fried was able to achieve at the Junior Nationals is not only record-setting, but also historic, as he won all four of Junior National titles in different weight classes. He was the 105.5-pound champion as a freshman, the 123-pound champion as a sophomore, the 132-pound champion as a junior and the 143-pound champion as a senior. (That is the kind of feat that was big news at the college level years later, when Cornell’s Kyle Dake won four NCAA titles in four different weight classes.
Each of these victories came when the Junior Nationals were held in Cedar Falls, Iowa at the University of Northern Iowa. Fried showed a great mix of elite freestyle technique and a mental toughness that helped him win the close matches against other elite opponents. His first two Junior Nationals freestyle finals were close battle. As a freshman, he outscored Sean Watt of Iowa, 10-7. He came back as a sophomore and beat a fellow Ohio star, Adam DiSabato, 4-3 in the finals.
However, his junior victory was the one that almost got away. Fried jumped up to 132 pounds, where the defending champion was Tim Anderson of Iowa. At that time, USA Wrestling used a double-elimination vertical pairing system, where it was possible to lose a match and still come back to win. In his pool competition, Fried was defeated by Anderson 7-6. He did not lose again, and when both Anderson and Fried qualified for a rematch in the finals, Fried scored an impressive 9-0 victory for title No. 3. He was named ASICS High School Wrestler of the Year after his junior season.
After graduating from St. Eds, right before heading off to Oklahoma State for college, Fried came back to chase freestyle title No. 4, up another weight class to 143. Fried sailed through the weight class on his final try, capped off with a 6-0 victory in the finals over Donnie Kiernan of Nevada.
After high school, Fried became a top college competitor, winning an NCAA title in 1994 at 142 pounds, and placing second in two other NCAA Championships. His biggest achievement may have been his 1991 Espoir World freestyle title at 62 kg, an event where he won seven straight matches. In the finals, he was tied with Olchocur Muchtarov of the Soviet Union at 5-5 late in the match. Fried nailed a three-point double-leg takedown to win the bout 8-5 in the closing moments. He made a run at the Senior level for a number of years, but was unable to make a Senior World Team. Fried went on to law school and work in the legal profession as well as in the business world. He coached at the Alan Fried Wrestling Academy in his native Cleveland area.
Alan Fried (Team Ohio), freestyle wrestling
Freshman – 1986 – dec. Sean Watt (IA), 10-7 in 105.5-pound finals
Sophomore – 1987 – dec. Adam DiSabato (OH), 4-3, in 123-pound finals
Junior – 1988 – dec. Tim Anderson (IA), 9-0, in 132-pound finals
Senior – 1989 – dec. Donnie Kiernan (NV), 6-0 in 143-pound finals
Oscar Wood, only 4x Junior Greco-Roman champion
Starting from his freshman year of high school, Gresham, Ore. native Oscar Wood showed some outstanding Greco-Roman skills, as well as the ability to wrestle at his best under pressure. Wood was a premier high school wrestler for Sam Barlow High School, reaching the state finals as a freshman to become runner-up, then winning the state tournament his final three years.
Wood’s freshman victory at the Junior Nationals was spectacular. In a battle of future Olympians, Wood reached the 114.5 pounds finals against 1990 Junior Nationals champion Brandon Paulson of Minnesota and secured a 6-4 upset victory. The key to Wood’s big finals win was a big three-point throw early in the bout, and he never let Paulson close the gap the rest of the way. He won this title in Warrensburg, Mo., the only year the Junior Nationals was held in that city. Wood quickly established that he had big move capability, and could wrestle with the best in the nation at a young age.
Unlike Fried who changed weights every year, Wood moved up only one time for the rest of his Junior Nationals career. As a sophomore, the Junior Nationals moved one more time to St. Paul, Minn., and Wood jumped up two weight classes to 132, where he remained the rest of his Junior career. He defeated Washington’s Tim Kitchen in the finals, 6-0 in 1992, but hammered the rest of the field, scoring pins in seven of his 10 matches.
The Junior Nationals moved to Fargo, N.D., for Wood’s junior year, and this was the scene of his last two triumphs. In 1993, Wood won his third straight, capped off with a 12-0 victory in the finals over Cedrick Cooper of Texas. He was named Outstanding Wrestler in Greco-Roman. Other stars in his weight were third-place David Kjeldgaard of Ohio and fourth-place Biff Walizer of Pennsylvania.
His senior year was something spectacular, as he closed his high school career with a huge splash. In Greco-Roman, he claimed the Outstanding Wrestler award for the second straight year, with a 9-3 win over Biff Walizer of Pennsylvania in the finals. That gave him four career Greco-Roman titles, but he was not finished. Wood came back to win the title in freestyle as well, beating North Dakota’s Kasey Gillis in the finals, 6-3. On the way to freestyle gold, Wood beat another future Olympian, California’s Cadet World champion Eric Guerrero, 6-4 in pool competition. Wood finished as the second five-time Junior Nationals champion, tying Andre Metzger of Michigan with the record, as well as an eight-time Junior All-American, matching New Jersey star Pat Lynch at that level. To make it even better, his younger brother Isaac Wood was a Junior Nationals double champion that year, sweeping the 154-pound titles in both styles. Isaac matched his brother Oscar by getting the Outstanding Wrestler Award in freestyle, giving the Wood brothers a sweep of the top award.
Wood went on to compete for Oregon State, where he was a two-time All-American for the Beavers, placing seventh in 1996 at 134 pounds as a freshman and third in 1998 at 142 pounds as a junior. His passion for Greco-Roman continued after college, and Wood joined the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program. His best year was in 2004, when he defeated 2000 Olympian Kevin Bracken in the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, Ind. to claim the 66 kg spot at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Wood competed into the next Olympic cycle, and later served as a coach for the Army WCAP program for a number of years.
Oscar Wood (Team Oregon), Greco-Roman wrestling
Freshman - 1991 – dec. Brandon Paulson (MN), 6-4, in 114.5-pound finals
Sophomore – 1992 – dec. Tim Kitchen (WA), 6-0, in 132-pound finals
Junior – 1993 – dec. Cedrick Cooper (TX), 12-0, in 132-pound finals
Senior – 1994 – dec. Biff Walizer (PA), 9-3 in 132-pound finals
Since the Junior and the Cadet (16U) Nationals began being held side-by-side, most freshmen boys do not enter the Junior Nationals, instead competing against their fellow 15-or-16 year-old peers. Very few boys compete in both the Junior and 16U Nationals during the same year, as well. With that being the case, it seems unlikely that anybody is going to match the record set by Fried and Wood at the Junior National level.
This is a different situation among girls, because a large number of the 16U wrestlers also enter the Junior division. Girls only wrestle in freestyle and can wrestle at two ages in Fargo, while boys have the option of going both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Not only have a number of girls won the 16U and Junior title the same year, there are actually four girls who have reached the maximum of four Junior National titles in their careers: Tatiana Suarez Padilla of California, Teshya Alo of Hawaii, Nicole Woody of Maryland and Emily Shilson of Minnesota. We will discuss these great stars in another article on a different day.
Excerpt from USA Wrestler, August 1989
Fried wins title four, named meet OW
By Rob Sherrill, Illinois Grappler
Cedar Falls, Iowa – Alan Fried of University Heights, Ohio completed a four-year domination of this tournament by winning the 143-pound title in the USA Wrestling Junior National Freestyle Championships.
Fried’s win gave him an unprecedented fourth Junior National freestyle title – and the first Outstanding Wrestler Award.
He won at 105.5 pounds in 1986, 123 pounds in 1987 and 132 pounds in 1988. Going into this year’s meet, Fried had been tied with Iowan Mark Schwab with a record three national freestyle wins.
In a topsy-turvy meet in which other defending champions, including ASICS Tiger Wrestler of the Year Adam Mariano failed to repeat, Fried showed why he was the nation’s most sought-after recruit. He blanked Donny Kiernan of Las Vegas, Nevada 6-0 in the title match.
“Winning four straight isn’t something you think about,” said Fried, who will compete in the World Espoir meet, then head to Oklahoma State in the fall. “But I figured if I was good enough to win it as a freshman, I should be good enough to win it every year.”
Excerpt from USA Wrestler, October 1994
Wood ties record with fifth Junior National championship
Fargo, N.D. – Oscar Wood of Oregon led a record-setting week at the 24th annual Junior National Championships, held at the Fargodome on the campus of North Dakota State University, July 24-30.
Wood completed a sweep of the 1994 freestyle and Greco-Roman championships to become just the second wrestler to ever win five Junior National titles.
Andre Metzger of Michigan, a 1986 World freestyle silver medalist, won three Greco-Roman titles and two freestyle titles between 1976-78.
Wood became the first wrestler to win four Junior National Greco-Roman titles.
Wood scored a 6-2 win over Kasey Gilliss of North Dakota in the 132-pound freestyle finals. He scored a key win over 1993 Cadet World Champion Eric Guerrero of California in the pool finals, 6-4.
Wood was named the Outstanding Wrestler in the Greco-Roman tournament, after defeating Biff Walizer of Pennsylvania in the finals, 9-3.
Wood also became only the second eight-time Junior National All-American, joining New Jersey’s Pat Lynch for the honor.
His younger brother Isaac Wood finished off a double championship of his own by pinning Josh Holiday of California in just 25 seconds in the 154-pound freestyle finals. He was named Outstanding Wrestler in the freestyle tournament.
The USA Wrestling Junior Nationals was created in 1971, becoming the annual national tournament for high school athletes in grades 9-12 in the Olympic styles. In 1986, USA Wrestling added the Cadet Nationals for wrestlers 15-16 years old. For about 10 years, the Junior Nationals and the Cadet Nationals were held in different cities on different weekends. That ended in 1996, when USA Wrestling combined the two tournaments for one week in Fargo, N.D., which allowed many USA Wrestling state leaders to volunteer for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga. The combined event was a success, and the two events have been held together ever since.
Right from the beginning of the Junior Nationals, going all the way through 1996 when it was combined with the Cadet Nationals, there were often talented freshmen who competed at the Junior Nationals. Some young talents wrestled in both the Cadet and Junior Nationals the same year, and a few were able to win them both the same year. Winning the Junior Nationals the summer after a freshman year was a very difficult and quite rare. Just like those seeking to win four NCAA titles, an athlete must win as a freshman in order to become a “four-timer” in a specific style.
Only two boys in the first 49 years of the Junior Nationals have been able to win four Junior Nationals titles in a specific style, Alan Fried of Ohio, who won four Junior National freestyle titles from 1986-1989, and Oscar Wood of Oregon, who won four Junior National Greco-Roman titles from 1991-1994.
Alan Fried, only 4x Junior Freestyle champion
Let’s start off with Fried, who reached the four-timer status first. He competed for legendary coach Howard Ferguson at St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, which at the time was considered the best high school wrestling program in the nation. Although it is a private school, St. Eds competed in the Ohio State High School Championships. Fried was among Ferguson’s greatest athletes, winning three Ohio State high school titles and placing third as a freshman.
What Fried was able to achieve at the Junior Nationals is not only record-setting, but also historic, as he won all four of Junior National titles in different weight classes. He was the 105.5-pound champion as a freshman, the 123-pound champion as a sophomore, the 132-pound champion as a junior and the 143-pound champion as a senior. (That is the kind of feat that was big news at the college level years later, when Cornell’s Kyle Dake won four NCAA titles in four different weight classes.
Each of these victories came when the Junior Nationals were held in Cedar Falls, Iowa at the University of Northern Iowa. Fried showed a great mix of elite freestyle technique and a mental toughness that helped him win the close matches against other elite opponents. His first two Junior Nationals freestyle finals were close battle. As a freshman, he outscored Sean Watt of Iowa, 10-7. He came back as a sophomore and beat a fellow Ohio star, Adam DiSabato, 4-3 in the finals.
However, his junior victory was the one that almost got away. Fried jumped up to 132 pounds, where the defending champion was Tim Anderson of Iowa. At that time, USA Wrestling used a double-elimination vertical pairing system, where it was possible to lose a match and still come back to win. In his pool competition, Fried was defeated by Anderson 7-6. He did not lose again, and when both Anderson and Fried qualified for a rematch in the finals, Fried scored an impressive 9-0 victory for title No. 3. He was named ASICS High School Wrestler of the Year after his junior season.
After graduating from St. Eds, right before heading off to Oklahoma State for college, Fried came back to chase freestyle title No. 4, up another weight class to 143. Fried sailed through the weight class on his final try, capped off with a 6-0 victory in the finals over Donnie Kiernan of Nevada.
After high school, Fried became a top college competitor, winning an NCAA title in 1994 at 142 pounds, and placing second in two other NCAA Championships. His biggest achievement may have been his 1991 Espoir World freestyle title at 62 kg, an event where he won seven straight matches. In the finals, he was tied with Olchocur Muchtarov of the Soviet Union at 5-5 late in the match. Fried nailed a three-point double-leg takedown to win the bout 8-5 in the closing moments. He made a run at the Senior level for a number of years, but was unable to make a Senior World Team. Fried went on to law school and work in the legal profession as well as in the business world. He coached at the Alan Fried Wrestling Academy in his native Cleveland area.
Alan Fried (Team Ohio), freestyle wrestling
Freshman – 1986 – dec. Sean Watt (IA), 10-7 in 105.5-pound finals
Sophomore – 1987 – dec. Adam DiSabato (OH), 4-3, in 123-pound finals
Junior – 1988 – dec. Tim Anderson (IA), 9-0, in 132-pound finals
Senior – 1989 – dec. Donnie Kiernan (NV), 6-0 in 143-pound finals
Oscar Wood, only 4x Junior Greco-Roman champion
Starting from his freshman year of high school, Gresham, Ore. native Oscar Wood showed some outstanding Greco-Roman skills, as well as the ability to wrestle at his best under pressure. Wood was a premier high school wrestler for Sam Barlow High School, reaching the state finals as a freshman to become runner-up, then winning the state tournament his final three years.
Wood’s freshman victory at the Junior Nationals was spectacular. In a battle of future Olympians, Wood reached the 114.5 pounds finals against 1990 Junior Nationals champion Brandon Paulson of Minnesota and secured a 6-4 upset victory. The key to Wood’s big finals win was a big three-point throw early in the bout, and he never let Paulson close the gap the rest of the way. He won this title in Warrensburg, Mo., the only year the Junior Nationals was held in that city. Wood quickly established that he had big move capability, and could wrestle with the best in the nation at a young age.
Unlike Fried who changed weights every year, Wood moved up only one time for the rest of his Junior Nationals career. As a sophomore, the Junior Nationals moved one more time to St. Paul, Minn., and Wood jumped up two weight classes to 132, where he remained the rest of his Junior career. He defeated Washington’s Tim Kitchen in the finals, 6-0 in 1992, but hammered the rest of the field, scoring pins in seven of his 10 matches.
The Junior Nationals moved to Fargo, N.D., for Wood’s junior year, and this was the scene of his last two triumphs. In 1993, Wood won his third straight, capped off with a 12-0 victory in the finals over Cedrick Cooper of Texas. He was named Outstanding Wrestler in Greco-Roman. Other stars in his weight were third-place David Kjeldgaard of Ohio and fourth-place Biff Walizer of Pennsylvania.
His senior year was something spectacular, as he closed his high school career with a huge splash. In Greco-Roman, he claimed the Outstanding Wrestler award for the second straight year, with a 9-3 win over Biff Walizer of Pennsylvania in the finals. That gave him four career Greco-Roman titles, but he was not finished. Wood came back to win the title in freestyle as well, beating North Dakota’s Kasey Gillis in the finals, 6-3. On the way to freestyle gold, Wood beat another future Olympian, California’s Cadet World champion Eric Guerrero, 6-4 in pool competition. Wood finished as the second five-time Junior Nationals champion, tying Andre Metzger of Michigan with the record, as well as an eight-time Junior All-American, matching New Jersey star Pat Lynch at that level. To make it even better, his younger brother Isaac Wood was a Junior Nationals double champion that year, sweeping the 154-pound titles in both styles. Isaac matched his brother Oscar by getting the Outstanding Wrestler Award in freestyle, giving the Wood brothers a sweep of the top award.
Wood went on to compete for Oregon State, where he was a two-time All-American for the Beavers, placing seventh in 1996 at 134 pounds as a freshman and third in 1998 at 142 pounds as a junior. His passion for Greco-Roman continued after college, and Wood joined the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program. His best year was in 2004, when he defeated 2000 Olympian Kevin Bracken in the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, Ind. to claim the 66 kg spot at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Wood competed into the next Olympic cycle, and later served as a coach for the Army WCAP program for a number of years.
Oscar Wood (Team Oregon), Greco-Roman wrestling
Freshman - 1991 – dec. Brandon Paulson (MN), 6-4, in 114.5-pound finals
Sophomore – 1992 – dec. Tim Kitchen (WA), 6-0, in 132-pound finals
Junior – 1993 – dec. Cedrick Cooper (TX), 12-0, in 132-pound finals
Senior – 1994 – dec. Biff Walizer (PA), 9-3 in 132-pound finals
Since the Junior and the Cadet (16U) Nationals began being held side-by-side, most freshmen boys do not enter the Junior Nationals, instead competing against their fellow 15-or-16 year-old peers. Very few boys compete in both the Junior and 16U Nationals during the same year, as well. With that being the case, it seems unlikely that anybody is going to match the record set by Fried and Wood at the Junior National level.
This is a different situation among girls, because a large number of the 16U wrestlers also enter the Junior division. Girls only wrestle in freestyle and can wrestle at two ages in Fargo, while boys have the option of going both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Not only have a number of girls won the 16U and Junior title the same year, there are actually four girls who have reached the maximum of four Junior National titles in their careers: Tatiana Suarez Padilla of California, Teshya Alo of Hawaii, Nicole Woody of Maryland and Emily Shilson of Minnesota. We will discuss these great stars in another article on a different day.
Excerpt from USA Wrestler, August 1989
Fried wins title four, named meet OW
By Rob Sherrill, Illinois Grappler
Cedar Falls, Iowa – Alan Fried of University Heights, Ohio completed a four-year domination of this tournament by winning the 143-pound title in the USA Wrestling Junior National Freestyle Championships.
Fried’s win gave him an unprecedented fourth Junior National freestyle title – and the first Outstanding Wrestler Award.
He won at 105.5 pounds in 1986, 123 pounds in 1987 and 132 pounds in 1988. Going into this year’s meet, Fried had been tied with Iowan Mark Schwab with a record three national freestyle wins.
In a topsy-turvy meet in which other defending champions, including ASICS Tiger Wrestler of the Year Adam Mariano failed to repeat, Fried showed why he was the nation’s most sought-after recruit. He blanked Donny Kiernan of Las Vegas, Nevada 6-0 in the title match.
“Winning four straight isn’t something you think about,” said Fried, who will compete in the World Espoir meet, then head to Oklahoma State in the fall. “But I figured if I was good enough to win it as a freshman, I should be good enough to win it every year.”
Excerpt from USA Wrestler, October 1994
Wood ties record with fifth Junior National championship
Fargo, N.D. – Oscar Wood of Oregon led a record-setting week at the 24th annual Junior National Championships, held at the Fargodome on the campus of North Dakota State University, July 24-30.
Wood completed a sweep of the 1994 freestyle and Greco-Roman championships to become just the second wrestler to ever win five Junior National titles.
Andre Metzger of Michigan, a 1986 World freestyle silver medalist, won three Greco-Roman titles and two freestyle titles between 1976-78.
Wood became the first wrestler to win four Junior National Greco-Roman titles.
Wood scored a 6-2 win over Kasey Gilliss of North Dakota in the 132-pound freestyle finals. He scored a key win over 1993 Cadet World Champion Eric Guerrero of California in the pool finals, 6-4.
Wood was named the Outstanding Wrestler in the Greco-Roman tournament, after defeating Biff Walizer of Pennsylvania in the finals, 9-3.
Wood also became only the second eight-time Junior National All-American, joining New Jersey’s Pat Lynch for the honor.
His younger brother Isaac Wood finished off a double championship of his own by pinning Josh Holiday of California in just 25 seconds in the 154-pound freestyle finals. He was named Outstanding Wrestler in the freestyle tournament.
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