By Mike Finn, W.I.N. Editor

FARGO, N.D. — In pinning seven of his first nine victims at the Junior National championships, six of Sean Bilodeau’s falls in the Fargodome came in the first minute of his pool matches; making one wonder if the graduate from Brooks School in Harvard, Mass., was getting bored.

“They were all exciting,” said Bilodeau, who didn’t decide to come to Fargo until a week before the competition started in late July. “The main reason I decided to come out here was that I missed the excitement of this tournament.”

And there was nothing more exciting for Bilodeau in the 152-pound freestyle classification than the final 30 seconds of his championship match with Conrad Polz of Orland Park, Ill. At that point, Bilodeau had not only lost the first period, 4-2, to Polz but was trailing 3-1 in the second period.

But just when many in the dome was writing off the future Lehigh wrestler, Bilodeau not only scored a takedown and exposure points to lead 4-3 — which would have guaranteed a third period — but he eventually used the move to score his eighth pin — with 13 seconds on the clock — to earn him not only the Junior Nationals championship, but Outstanding Wrestling honors as well.

“My training motto is that everyone has shoulders. You can pin anyone at any time,” said Bilodeau, who said he pinned 30 of the 40 opponents he defeated last winter when he earned a National Prep championship.

“I knew that I was going to win the period but I said to myself that I’ve got to end it here. That move is not usually used to pin guys. It’s usually used to roll guys through and get two points. But I got him to his back, locked up a tight cradle and that was it.

“I saw the fall a little bit before it was called. I was holding it, squeezing it and the ref wasn’t calling it. I just put all my body weight into it and tried to get the fall.”

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