Pekince, Morrissey, Brown, Murphy win Senior men’s titles at California Beach Nationals

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – Veysel Pekince of California (70 kg) won a national Beach title for the second straight year on the sands of Huntington Beach, one of four men to claim individual Senior gold medals at the California Beach Nationals on Saturday.

Pekince battled through a talented field, capping it off with a hard-fought 2-0 decision of Ryan Fillingame of the Swarm Wrestling Club in the finals. Pekince scored first on a step out. Fillingame got behind Pekince in a quad pod, and Pekince hit a slick counter move to secure the final takedown of the match.

Pekince is a native of Turkey and plans to compete at the California Community College level next season. He score a tight 2-2 decision of Conrad Rangell in the semifinals. Last year, when the U.S. Beach Nationals were held in Huntington Beach, Pekince was the 70 kg national champion.

Putting together an impressive run through the 80 kg bracket was Francis Morrissey of the Storm Wrestling Center, who scored the only point early in the match, and defeated Jared Fekete of the Marines in the finals, 1-0. Morrissey, a native of Georgia, is a two-time NAIA All-American for Missouri Valley College. Fekete, an Armed Forces Champion when he competed in the U.S. Marine Corps, is currently successful on the national Grappling and jiu-jitsu scene.

One of the craziest stories of the event came at 90 kg, where Kyle Brown of the MO West Championship WC claimed the gold medal. Brown, a high school wrestling coach in Missouri, was on vacation in Huntington Beach, when he met Beach wrestler Brock Howard, who told him about the Beach Nationals on the following day. Brown was convinced the give the tournament a try.

Brown met Howard twice during the tournament. Both competed in Pool B, and Howard hits a three-point move to end the match by pin. Both qualified for the semifinals, where they both won to set up a rematch. In the championship match, Brown tossed Howard for three points to win the title by fall. Brown competed for Blue Springs High School in Missouri, under the legendary coach Mike Hagerty.

The Over 90 kg finals featured a pair of wrestlers who competed at the NCAA Div. I level in college. Ian Murphy, a high school coach in California who competed at Cal-State Fullerton, scored a 3-0 victory in the finals over Eric Mittlestead, who recently completed his career at Cal-State Bakersfield. Mittlestead was being coached by his father Eric, a Veterans World champion and past NCAA All-American.

The California Beach Nationals is among the events which is part of the qualifying process for U.S. Senior Beach teams on the World and Pan American levels.

The Senior division headlined a large and growing California Beach Nationals, which had almost 300 entries in a number of age-divisions.

CALIFORNIA BEACH NATIONALS

At Huntington Beach, Calif., August 16

Senior Men’s results

70 kg

1st - Veysel Pekince (California)

2nd - Ryan Fillingame (Swarm Wrestling Club)

3rd - Bryan Coll (New York)

4th - Conrad Rangell (Minnesota)

1st Place Match - Veysel Pekince, CALI over Ryan Fillingame, SWC (VPO 2-0)

3rd Place Match - Bryan Coll, NEYO over Conrad Rangell, MINN (VSU1 3-2)

Semis - Ryan Fillingame, SWC over Bryan Coll, NEYO (VSU 3-0)

Semis - Veysel Pekince, CALI over Conrad Rangell, MINN (VPO 2-2)

Pool A

1st - Bryan Coll (New York)

2nd - Conrad Rangell (Minnesota)

3rd - Carlos Monteon Jr (Arizona)

4th - Joseph Grabowy (California)

Pool B

1st - Veysel Pekince (California)

2nd - Ryan Fillingame (Swarm Wrestling Club)

3rd - Jordin Humphrey (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club (TMWC))

4th - Eric Ybarguen (California)

80 kg

1st - Francis Morrissey (The Storm Wrestling Center)

2nd - Jared Fekete (Marines)

3rd - Wesley Peery (California)

4th - Joseph DeMatteo (Northwest Regional Training Center)

1st Place Match - Francis Morrissey, TSWC over Jared Fekete, MARI (VPO 1-0)

3rd Place Match - Wesley Peery, CALI over Joseph DeMatteo, NRTC (VSU 3-0)

Semis - Francis Morrissey, TSWC over Joseph DeMatteo, NRTC (VSU 3-0)

Semis - Jared Fekete, MARI over Wesley Peery, CALI (VSU1 3-1)

Pool A

1st - Wesley Peery (California)

2nd - Jared Fekete (Marines)

3rd - Christian Boox (Orange County Grappling)

4th - Joe Fitzsimons (Orange County Grappling)

5th - Eyitayo Makinde (Texas)

Pool B

1st - Joseph DeMatteo (Northwest Regional Training Center)

2nd - Deegan Montalbano (California)

3rd - Victor Bryson (little titans wrestling club)

4th - Matthew Chan (Orange County Grappling)

Pool C

1st - Francis Morrissey (The Storm Wrestling Center)

2nd - Dominic Damon (Outlaw Wrestling Club)

3rd - Jamie Garcia (California)

4th - Calixte Midon (California)

90 kg

1st - Kyle Brown (MO West Championship Wrestling Club)

2nd - Brock Howard (Colorado)

3rd - Evan Brown (Iowa)

4th - Wanya Rankins (North Carolina)

1st Place Match - Kyle Brown, MWCW over Brock Howard, COLO (VFA 3-0)

3rd Place Match - Evan Brown, IOWA over Wanya Rankins, NOCA (VFA 4-0)

Semis - Brock Howard, COLO over Wanya Rankins, NOCA (VSU 3-0)

Semis - Kyle Brown, MWCW over Evan Brown, IOWA (VSU1 3-1)

Pool A

1st - Evan Brown (Iowa)

2nd - Wanya Rankins (North Carolina)

3rd - Patrick Dixon (California)

Pool B

1st - Brock Howard (Colorado)

2nd - Kyle Brown (MO West Championship Wrestling Club)

3rd - Giancarlo Tolentino (California)

+90 kg

1st - Ian Murphy (California)

2nd - Eric Mittlestead (California)

3rd - Julian Silva (California)

4th - Ali Arsalan Khanpour (Texas)

1st Place Match - Ian Murphy, CALI over Eric Mittlestead, CALI (VSU 3-0)

3rd Place Match - Julian Silva, CALI over Ali Arsalan Khanpour, TEXA (VSU1 3-2)

Semis - Eric Mittlestead, CALI over Ali Arsalan Khanpour, TEXA (VSU1 3-1)

Semis - Ian Murphy, CALI over Julian Silva, CALI (VPO 1-1)

Pool A

1st - Ian Murphy (California)

2nd - Ali Arsalan Khanpour (Texas)

3rd - Armando Rodriguez (California)

4th - Gilberto De La Torre (California)

5th - James Smith (California)

Pool B

1st - Eric Mittlestead (California)

2nd - Julian Silva (California)

3rd - Kennedy Gilbertson (Mustang Wrestling Club)

4th - Frank Patino (Orange County Grappling)

5th - Travis Graham (California)