Junior freestyle finals set for Saturday morning at Fargo

Zander Wick of California will wrestle for a Junior title tomorrow. Photo: John Sachs, tech-fall.com.

FARGO, N.D. – Jarod Verkleeren, a 2014 Cadet national champion, advanced to the finals of the 145-pound Junior Freestyle National Championships and will wrestle for his first Junior national title Sunday at the Fargodome.

Verkleeren did not compete at last year’s National Championships as he was in Sarajevo, representing the U.S. at the Cadet World Championships, where he won a World title at 63 kg. He is set to face Anthony Artalona of Florida, who won Cadet Greco and freestyle national titles last year.

Two returning Junior national champions advanced to the finals.

Utah’s Taylor LaMont, 2016 Junior Greco-Roman national champ and World Team member, has breezed through the 132-pound bracket, defeating each of his opponents with 10-0 tech falls. He will wrestle Ian Parker of Michigan in hopes of earning his fifth Fargo title.

Jason Holmes of Arizona also seeks his second-straight Junior freestyle national championship after defeating Jaret Lane of Pennsylvania in the semifinals at 106 pounds. He will face Rayvon Foley of Michigan in the finals. Similar to LaMont, Holmes has won every match by tech fall.

Arizona’s Brandon Courtney sought to defend his title at 120 pounds, however, that journey was cut short when Gavin Teasdale, a 2015 Cadet World Team member, took a 4-1 decision over Courtney in the semis. Teasdale will go head-to-head with Oklahoma’s Dalton Duffield, the 2016 Junior Greco-Roman national champion.

The 160-pound final features Cadet Greco-Roman World Team member Max Wohlabaugh of Florida, who will take on 2014 Cadet Nationals Greco-Roman champion Jake Allar of Minnesota.

Griffin Parriott of Minnesota and Sam Shields-Cobray of Oregon, both 2016 Junior Greco-Roman national champs, remain alive and look to double up in Fargo.

Parriott finds himself against 2016 Junior Folkstyle national champion Zander Wick of California in the 152-pound finals.

At 220 pounds, Shields-Colbray will have a tough opponent in 2014 Cadet Triple Crown winner Keegan Moore. Both are having good tournaments, earning all of their wins by either pin or tech fall.

At 126 pounds, three-time Fargo champ and 2013 Cadet Freestyle World Team member Austin Gomez of Illinois is slated to take on Indiana’s Paul Konrath, who owns three USA Wrestling national titles.

The 100-pound final will pit Colorado teammates Brendon Garcia and Malik Heinselman against each other. Garcia is fresh off winning a Junior Greco-Roman national title on Tuesday and Heinselman is a 2015 Cadet freestyle and Greco-Roman national champion and two-time Cadet World Team member in freestyle.

Another 2015 Cadet national champ in the mix is Dylan D’Emilio of Ohio who advanced to the finals at 113 pounds. He is set to face two-time Fargo champion California’s Nic Aguilar tomorrow.

Four 2016 Junior Greco national champs were knocked out in the semis, including Lane, Mitch McKee of Minnesota (138), Ryan Deakin of Colorado (145) and hometown favorite Brandon Metz of North Dakota (285).

Action from the Fargodome will resume tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. (CT) with the Junior freestyle finals.

All matches from the 2016 ASICS/Vaughan Cadet and Junior National Championships can be viewed live on Flowrestling.com with a FLO PRO account. Complete brackets, results and team scores can be found on Trackwrestling.com.

ASICS/VAUGHAN JUNIOR FREESTYLE NATIONALS
At Fargo, N.D., July 22

Finals pairings
100 lbs. – Malik Heinselman (Colorado) vs. Brendon Garcia (Colorado)
106 lbs. – Jason Holmes (Arizona) vs. Rayvon Foley (Michigan)
113 lbs. – Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio) vs. Nic Aguilar (California)
120 lbs. – Gavin Teasdale (Pennsylvania) vs. Dalton Duffield (Oklahoma)
126 lbs. – Austin Gomez (Illinois) vs. Paul Konrath (Indiana)
132 lbs. – Taylor LaMont (Utah) vs. Ian Parker (Michigan)
138 lbs. – Nick Lee (Indiana) vs. Kanen Storr (Michigan)
145 lbs. – Jarod Verkleeren (Pennsylvania) vs. Anthony Artalona (Florida)
152 lbs. – Zander Wick (California) vs. Griffin Parriott (Minnesota)
160 lbs. – Jake Allar (Minnesota) vs. Max Wohlabaugh (Florida)
170 lbs. – Owen Pentz (Utah) vs. Canten Marriott (Missouri)
182 lbs. – Kevin Parker (New York) vs. Owen Webster (Minnesota)
195 lbs. – John Borst (Virginia) vs. Benjamin Darmstadt (Ohio)
220 lbs. – Sam Shields-Colbray (Oregon) vs. Keegan Moore (Minnesota)
285 lbs. – Anthony Cassioppi (Illinois) vs. Gannon Gremmel (Iowa)

Semifinals results
100 pounds
Malik Heinselman (Colorado) tech. fall Brandon Nunez (New York), 10-0
Brendon Garcia (Colorado) tech. fall Matthew Peterson (Minnesota), 10-0

106 pounds
Jason Holmes (Arizona) tech. fall Jaret Lane (Pennsylvania), 10-0
Rayvon Foley (Michigan) tech. fall Ty Smith (Nevada), 18-8

113 pounds
Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio) dec. Michael Colaiocco (New Jersey), 10-4
Nic Aguilar (California) dec. Mike Madara (Pennsylvania), 18-11

120 pounds
Gavin Teasdale (Pennsylvania) dec. Brandon Courtney (Arizona), 4-1
Dalton Duffield (Oklahoma) dec. Jet Taylor (Oklahoma), 8-7

126 pounds
Austin Gomez (Illinois) tech. fall Paul Bianchi (Wisconsin), 13-3
Paul Konrath (Indiana) dec. Zach Sherman (New Jersey), 4-0

132 pounds
Taylor LaMont (Utah) tech. fall Brent Jones (Minnesota), 10-0
Ian Parker (Michigan) tech. fall Brock Rathbun (Iowa), 10-0

138 pounds
Nick Lee (Indiana) tech. fall Mitchell McKee (Minnesota), 14-4
Kanen Storr (Michigan) dec. Parker Filius (Montana), 8-1

145 pounds
Jarod Verkleeren (Pennsylvania) tech. fall Ryan Deakin (Colorado), 10-0
Anthony Artalona (Florida) fall Jaron Jensen (Utah), 4:42

152 pounds
Zander Wick (California) dec. Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma), 11-4
Griffin Parriott (Minnesota) dec. David San Miguel (California), 6-0

160 pounds
Jake Allar (Minnesota) dec. Evan Wick (California), 4-3
Max Wohlabaugh (Florida) dec. Eric Hong (Pennsylvania), 5-4

170 pounds
Owen Pentz (Utah) tech. fall Timothy Bowers (Ohio), 11-0
Canten Marriott (Missouri) dec. Josh Ramirez (Louisiana), 6-2

182 pounds
Kevin Parker (New York) tech. fall Jelanie Embree (Michigan), 10-0
Owen Webster (Minnesota) dec. AJ Pedro (Massachusetts), 8-3

195 pounds
John Borst (Virginia) tech. fall Miles Lee (Pennsylvania), 10-0
Benjamin Darmstadt (Ohio) fall Patrick Brucki (Illinois), 1:00

220 pounds
Sam Shields-Colbray (Oregon) tech. fall Ashton Seely (Utah), 10-0
Keegan Moore (Minnesota) tech. fall Anthony Piscopo (Pennsylvania), 12-1

285 pounds
Anthony Cassioppi (Illinois) dec. Carter Isley (Iowa), 9-2
Gannon Gremmel (Iowa) dec. Brandon Metz (North Dakota), 10-4