Team Simon Roberts defeats Team Lloyd Keaser to claim America’s Cup title, 4-2

Wrestling legend Carl Adams and National Freestyle Coach Bill Zadick pose with the America's Cup champions, Team Simon Roberts. Photo by Joe Wedra.

CONCORD, N.C. – Team Simon Roberts defeated Team Lloyd Keaser, four matches to two, on Thursday night to win the America’s Cup, presented by the Sunkist Kids, Titan Mercury WC and the New York AC.

Kicking off the finals at 57kg, Daniel DeShazer put Team Roberts on the board first with a win over Guesseppe Rea Villarroel. DeShazer, who trains with the Gopher WC, secured a takedown in the first period and used a strong gut-wrench to post a 10-0 win over Rea Villarroel.

Team Roberts won via forfeit at 65kg with two-time Iowa All-American Pat Lugo. Two=time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis stepped in to wrestle an exhibition match at the weight. In the bout, the two traded takedowns in the first period and headed to the break tied at 2-2. Diakomihalis scored a pair of takedowns in the second period to walk away with a 7-2 decision in the exhibition.

At 74kg, Wisconsin All-American Evan Wick continued the winning ways for Team Roberts with a decision over Team Keaser’s Chad Walsh, who was an All-American at Rider. Wick used two first-period takedowns to take an early advantage and held off a late-match flurry from Walsh to win, 8-6.

Penn State’s three-time NCAA finalist Mark Hall knocked off Cornell’s Chris Foca, 4-2, to give Team Roberts its fourth-straight match win and secure the team victory. Tied at 2-2 at the break, Hall battled for a hard-fought takedown to begin the second period and held on through the final two minutes to win the bout.

Ben Honis, a Senior U.S. Open runner-up in 2019, provided a tough test for Wolfpack RTC’s Mike Macchiavello through the first four minutes of the finals match at 97kg. Honis held a 1-0 lead until late, but Macchiavello scored late in the match and took control to post a 7-1 win, Team Keaser’s first of the dual.

In the final bout of the event at 125kg, two-time World bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski of Team Lloyd Keaser wrapped up his perfect weekend with a pin over Garrett Ryan in the second period. The Wolfpack RTC standout went 4-0 over the course of the two days in Concord.

On matches, Team Roberts officially won the America’s Cup with the 4-2 advantage.

In the semifinals earlier in the day, Team Roberts cruised to a 4-1 win on matches over Team Carl Adams. In that match, Lugo and Wick both posted technical fall wins before Hall won, 5-2, over 2020 NCAA First-Team All-American Josh Shields. Also of note in that match was two-time World champion J’den Cox’s win at 97kg, a 12-0 technical fall performance over Honis.

In the semifinal bout on the other side, Team Lloyd Keaser defeated Team Bobby Douglas, 5-1 on matches. The duo of Macchiavello and Gwiazdowski proved to be dominant again with a pair of victories. In one of the more action-packed matches of the weekend, Walsh used a five-point throw to edge Elroy Perkin, 13-13 on criteria. Nahshon Garrett posted the lone Team Douglas win, a 12-2 technical fall over Henderson.

For third place, Team Carl Adams edged out Team Bobby Douglas after splitting matches, two-to-two. Team Adams used technical fall victories from Julian Ramirez (74kg) and Cox to win the match on third criteria, most technical falls. Team Douglas wins came from Nahshon Garrett (65kg) and Brett Pfarr (86kg).

Team Lee Kemp defeated Team Kenny Monday to take fifth place in the event. The win was highlighted by victories from Zach Sanders (57kg), Max Dean (86kg) and Tanner Hall (125kg). For Team Monday, Diakomihalis went back-and-forth with Mitch McKee at 65kg before securing an entertaining 14-10 win.

A total of $60,000 was awarded, based upon team results as well as individual results in each weight class. The entire event was broadcast live by FloWrestling, and is available as an archive for FloWrestling subscribers.

In honor of Black History Month, all six teams were named after Black wrestling legends who achieved historic milestones during their amazing careers.

See below for results of the event’s placement duals or CLICK HERE for full results from the weekend. 

Final standings
1: Team Simon Roberts
2: Team Lloyd Keaser
3: Team Carl Adams
4: Team Bobby Douglas
5: Team Lee Kemp
6: Team Kenny Monday

Championship
Team Simon Roberts defeats Team Lloyd Keaser on matches, 4-2
57 kg: Daniel DeShazer (Team Roberts) TF Guesseppe Rea Villarroel, 10-0
65 kg: Pat Lugo (Team Roberts) wins by forfeit
74 kg: Evan Wick (Team Roberts) df. Chad Walsh (Team Keaser), 8-6
86 kg: Mark Hall (Team Roberts) df. Chris Foca (Team Keaser), 4-3
97 kg: Mike Macchiavello (Team Keaser) df. Ben Honis (Team Roberts), 7-1
125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski (Team Keaser) pinned Garrett Ryan (Team Roberts), 3:44

3rd-place
Team Carl Adams defeats Team Bobby Douglas on technical falls, 2-1
57 kg: No Contest
65 kg: Nahshon Garrett (Team Douglas) TF Ethan Lizak (Team Adams), 11-0
74 kg: Julian Ramirez (Team Adams) TF Elroy Perkin (Team Douglas), 10-0
86 kg: Brett Pfarr (Team Douglas) df. Josh Shields (Team Adams), 7-0
97 kg: J’den Cox (Team Adams) TF Scott Boykin (Team Douglas), 11-0
125 kg: No Contest
Criteria:
Matches tied 2-2
Most falls tied 0-0
Most tech falls 2-1 Team Carl Adams

5th-place
Team Lee Kemp defeats Team Kenny Monday on matches, 3-1
57 kg: Zach Sanders (Team Kemp) df. Frank Perrelli (Team Monday), 4-2
65 kg: Yianni Diakomihalis (Team Monday) df. Mitch McKee (Team Kemp), 14-10
74 kg: No Contest
86 kg: Max Dean (Team Kemp) TF Ryan Epps (Team Monday), 10-0
97 kg: No Contest
125 kg: Tanner Hall (Team Kemp) df. Shawn Streck (Team Monday), 6-2

SEMIFINALS

Team Simon Roberts defeats Team Carl Adams on matches, 4-1
57 kg: No contest
65 kg: Pat Lugo (Team Roberts) TF Ethan Lizak (Team Adams), 10-0
74 kg: Evan Wick (Team Roberts) TF Julian Ramirez (Team Adams), 10-0
86 kg: Mark Hall (Team Roberts) df. Josh Shields (Team Adams), 5-2
97 kg: J’den Cox (Team Adams) TF Ben Honis (Team Roberts), 12-0
125 kg: Garrett Ryan (Team Roberts) inj. dft. Tony Nelson (Team Adams), 3:37

Team Lloyd Keaser defeats Team Bobby Douglas on matches, 5-1
57 kg: Josh Kramer (Team Keaser) wins by forfeit
65 kg: Nahshon Garrett (Team Douglas) TF Evan Henderson (Team Keaser), 12-2
74 kg: Chad Walsh (Team Keaser) df. Elroy Perkin (Team Douglas), 13-13 criteria
86 kg: Jonathan Loew (Team Keaser) df. Brett Pfarr (Team Douglas), 8-7
97 kg: Mike Macchiavello (Team Keaser) TF Scott Boykin (Team Douglas), 10-0
125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski (Team Keaser) df. Dom Bradley (Team Douglas), 3-0

QUARTERFINALS

Team Carl Adams defeats Team Lee Kemp on matches, 3-2
57 kg: No Contest
65 kg: Mitch McKee (Team Kemp) pinned Ethan Lizak (Team Adams), 1:15
74 kg: Julian Ramirez (Team Adams) df. Jasmit Phulka (Team Kemp), 5-3
86 kg: Max Dean (Team Kemp) TF Muhamed McBryde (Team Adams), 12-2
97 kg: J’den Cox (Team Adams) df. Hayden Zillmer (Team Kemp), 5-0
125 kg: Tony Nelson (Team Adams) df. Tanner Hall (Team Kemp), 2-1

Team Bobby Douglas defeats Team Kenny Monday on matches, 5-1
57 kg: Vito Arujau (Team Douglas) TF Frank Perrelli (Team Monday), 15-5
65 kg: Nahshon Garrett (Team Douglas) TF Josh Saunders (Team Monday), 10-0
74 kg: Elroy Perkin (Team Douglas) pinned Quincy Monday (Team Monday), 3:33
86 kg: Brett Pfarr (Team Douglas) df. Ryan Epps (Team Monday), 7-3
97 kg: Austin Schafer (Team Monday) df. Scott Boykin (Team Douglas), 8-6
125 kg: Dom Bradley (Team Douglas) TF Shawn Streck (Team Monday), 10-0