Cael Miller of Illinois in action at the Air Force Special Warfare Junior National Duals.
TULSA, Okla. – A high-flying first day of men’s Greco-Roman competition at the Air Force Special Warfare Junior National Duals has concluded with Pennsylvania (Pool A), Minnesota Blue (Pool B), California Blue (Pool C) and Illinois (Pool D) each winning its respective group.
38 teams began the day in one of four preliminary pools, structured as traditional straight-line brackets. The top two teams from each preliminary pool advanced to the Gold/Silver bracket where they are guaranteed a top-eight finish and remain in contention for the first-place prize.
No. 1 overall seed Pennsylvania brought home the Pool A title with three impressive dual meet wins on Wednesday at Cox Business Convention Center. It edged a hard-nosed Idaho squad, 38-28, in the Pool A first place match. Seven wrestlers from Pennsylvania earned a technical fall win against Idaho, including elite prospects Pierson Manville and Vince Bouzakis.
No. 2 seed Minnesota Blue emerged as Pool B champion with a gritty 39-25 win over runner-up Iowa in the finals. Alex Braun, Landon Thoennes and Logan Swensen were among six Minnesota Blue wrestlers to pick up key bonus-point wins in the dual.
Coming in as the No. 6 seed, California Blue scored a key upset win over No. 3 seed Oklahoma Blue in the Pool C championship match, 47-18. California picked up ten technical falls against the team with home-mat advantage. Oklahoma Blue came back to beat Michigan, 44-25, in the true-second place dual to gain a place in the Gold/Silver bracket.
No. 4 seed Illinois won three comfortable duals to take the Pool D crown. It defeated runner-up Colorado, 46-18, in the Pool D finals. Colorado, the No. 5 seed, upended Washington in the true-second place dual to wrap things up on Wednesday.
All told, six of the top eight seeds made it to the Gold/Silver bracket. No. 7 seed Ohio Red and No. 8 seed Texas Blue fell short of expectations in pool play. Both teams finished in third place of its pool.
Top performers of day one includes Oscar Doces of Oregon and Nicolas Enzminger of North Dakota. Doces picked up four pins in 5:18, the most of anyone in the tournament. Enzminger earned five wins by technical fall to top the field.
Seven teams logged 30 or more bonus point victories—Oregon (40), North Dakota (37), Oklahoma Red (37), California Blue (32), Ohio Red (31), Washington (31) and Wisconsin (30).
The Air Force Special Warfare Junior National Duals is streaming live and on-demand at FloWrestling.com. Multiple subscription options are available to watch. Updated brackets and match-by-match results are available at Trackwrestling.com.
The men’s Greco-Roman tournament continues Thursday at 9 a.m. (CT) with the start of the color pools. A complete schedule of events for this weekend’s tournament in Tulsa is available at usawrestlingevents.com.
Air Force Special Warfare Junior National Duals | June 19-22, Tulsa, Okla.
Quick Links
Men’s Greco-Roman Gold/Silver Bracket
Pool A
Pennsylvania
Iowa
Illinois
Oklahoma Blue
Pool B
Minnesota Blue
Idaho
California Blue
Colorado
Men’s Greco-Roman Results
Pool A
1st Place – Pennsylvania
2nd Place – Idaho
3rd Place – Texas Blue
4th Place – Nebraska
5th Place – Oklahoma Red
6th Place – California Red
7th Place – Louisiana Blue
8th Place – Arkansas Blue
1st Place Match – Pennsylvania defeated Idaho, 38-28
3rd Place Match – Texas Blue defeated Nebraska, 37-32
5th Place Match – Oklahoma Red defeated California Red, 36-32
7th Place Match – Louisiana Blue defeated Arkansas Blue, 34-29
Pool B
1st Place – Minnesota Blue
2nd Place – Iowa
3rd Place – Ohio Red
4th Place – Indiana
5th Place – Oregon
6th Place – North Dakota
7th Place – Alabama
8th Place – Georgia
1st Place Match – Minnesota Blue defeated Iowa, 39-25
3rd Place Match – Ohio Red defeated Indiana, 51-14
5th Place Match – Oregon defeated North Dakota, 46-24
7th Place Match – Alabama defeated Georgia, 56-12
Pool C
1st Place – California Blue
2nd Place – Oklahoma Blue
3rd Place – Michigan
4th Place – Kansas Blue
5th Place – Wisconsin
6th Place – Florida
7th Place – Louisiana Red
8th Place – Texas Red
1st Place Match – California Blue defeated Oklahoma Blue, 47-18
2nd Place Match – Oklahoma Blue defeated Michigan, 44-25
3rd Place Match – Michigan defeated Kansas Blue, 43-21
5th Place Match – Wisconsin defeated Florida, 49-20
7th Place Match – Louisiana Red defeated Texas Red, 38-25
Pool D
1st Place – Illinois
2nd Place – Colorado
3rd Place – Washington
4th Place – Minnesota Red
5th Place – Utah
6th Place – Virginia Blue
7th Place – Ohio Blue
8th Place – Tennessee
1st Place Match – Illinois defeated Colorado, 46-18
2nd Place Match – Colorado defeated Washington, 38-29
3rd Place Match – Washington defeated Minnesota Red, 41-24
5th Place Match – Utah defeated Virginia Blue, 36-32
7th Place Match – Ohio Blue defeated Tennessee, 43-21