Session I provided plenty of emotional moments at Final X Lincoln

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Updated: June 15, 2019

Photos: Left, Jacarra Winchester turned this heel pick into a winning takedown against Dominque Parrish at 55 kilos in Session I of Final X Lincoln Saturday afternoon. Center, Ryan Mango used to gut to score the deciding points in his second win over Xavier Johnson at 63 kilos in Greco-Roman. Right, Raymond Bunker gives his Final X trophy to his mother Ann after the Marine won the 72-kilo Greco-Roman World Team berth.(Photos by Tim Tushla.)

LINCOLN, Neb. — Greco-Roman was featured in four of the six weight classes that were held Saturday afternoon at the Devaney Center in the first session of Final X Lincoln … and Raymond Bunker and Ryan Mango delivered with two emotional moments in earning spots in the 2019 UWW World Championships this September.

Nine more weight classes — five in men’s freestyle — will be determined tonight on the campus of Nebraska in Best-of-3 matches of Session II that begins at 6 p.m. CDT. A week ago in Piscataway, N.J., 14 other weight classes were determined. There will be upcoming bout, announced soon, between Kyle Dake and Alex Dieringer at 79 kilos after Dake, a 2018 World champ, requested a postponement because of injury.

Bunker, who has only been competing in Greco-Roman for four years after leaving Harper College to join the Marines and was hardly known by those outside the sport, credited his mother, Ann, who is dealing with cancer, as his inspiration to beat Alex Mossing in two straight bouts at 72 kilograms.

Mango, the younger brother of Spenser Mango (the former eight-time World/Olympic team member, came back to win both of his 63-kilogram bouts over Xavier Johnson, 11-2 and 6-5, to qualify for his first World team.

The other two Greco-Roman wrestlers to qualify for a spot on this year’s World Team, which will compete in Kazakhstan, Sept. 14-22, were Ildar Hafizov at 55 kilograms and G’Angelo Hancock at 97 kilos. It marked the second time both wrestlers earned a World Team berth.

Women’s freestyle also sent two wrestlers to the Worlds as Alli Ragan dominated her Hawkeye Wrestling Club teammate Lauren Louive in two matches at 59 kilograms, while Jacarra Winchester won two bouts over Dominique Parrish at 55 kilograms.

WIN Magazine will provide comprehensive coverage and analysis of both Final X locations in next issue, which will be mailed June 27. Click here to subscribe to WIN Magazine or call 888-305-0606.

 

The following are the nine match-ups that will take place in Session II Saturday night, beginning at 6 p.m. CDT.

Bout 1: Women’s FS 62 kg/136.5 lbs – Mallory Velte (Sacramento, Calif./Titan Mercury WC) vs.  Kayla Miracle (Iowa City, Iowa/Sunkist Kids/Hawkeye WC)

Bout 2: Women’s FS 53 kg/116.5 lbs – Sarah Hildebrandt (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC/OTC) vs. Katherine Shai (Denver, Colo./Titan Mercury WC)

Bout 3: Women’s FS 76 kg/167.5 – Adeline Gray (Denver, Colo./New York AC) vs. Precious Bell (Lancaster, Calif./Titan Mercury WC)

Bout 4: Men’s GR 130 kg / 286.5 lbs – Adam Coon (Ann Arbor, Mich./New York AC/Cliff Keen WC) vs. Cohlton Schultz (Parker, Colo./Sunkist Kids/EAP)

Bout 5: Men’s FS 61 kg/134.5 lbs  – Joe Colon (Fresno, Calif./Titan Mercury WC/Valley RTC) vs. Tyler Graff (Princeton, N.J./Titan Mercury WC/NJRTC)

Bout 6: Men’s FS 97 kg / 213.5 lbs – Kyle Snyder (Columbus, Ohio/Titan Mercury WC/Ohio RTC) vs. Kyven Gadson (Ames, Iowa/Titan Mercury WC/Cyclone RTC)

Bout 7: Men’s FS 70 kg / 154 lbs – Ryan Deakin (Broomfield, Colo./Titan Mercury WC/Chicago RTC) vs. James Green (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids/Nebraska WTC)

Bout 8: Men’s FS 57 kg / 125.5 lbs – Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla./Titan Mercury WC/Cowboy RTC) vs. Thomas Gilman (Iowa City, Iowa/Titan Mercury WC/Hawkeye WC)

Bout 9: Men’s FS 74 kg / 163.5 lbs – Jordan Burroughs (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids/Nebraska WTC) vs. Isaiah Martinez (Champaign, Ill./Titan Mercury WC/Illinois RTC)

 

Final X Session I Highlights

June 15, 2019 • Lincoln, Neb.

Bout 1: Women’s FS 59 kg/130 lbs – Alli Ragan (Iowa City, Iowa/Sunkist Kids/Hawkeye WC) defeated Lauren Louive (Iowa City, Iowa/New York AC/Hawkeye WC), two matches to none

Match 1 — Ragan won by TF over Louive, 10-0 — Ragan scored a total of four takedowns in the battle of club teammates, with the final one coming with 1:25 left in the first period that led a match-ending tight high waist turn for two exposure points.

Match 2 — Ragan won by TF over Louive, 10-0 — Ragan used a leg lace, coming off her third takedown with 1:38 left — to earn a spot on her sixth World Team

 

Bout 2: Men’s GR 60 kg/132 lbs – Ildar Hafizov (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) defeated Leslie Fuenffinger (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP), two matches to none

Match 1 – Hafizov won 7-5 — The native of  Uzbekistan scored all his points in the first period after a passivity gainst Fuenffinger led to a par terre advantage for Hafizov who used a chest lock to score six points. Fueffinger rallied with a passivity point and a bear hug with 120 left in the match.

Match 2 – Hafizov won by fall, 1:51 — Hafizov qualified for his fourth World Championships — and second in the United States — when his only takedown with 1:27 led to three straight exposure guts and eventually a fall.

 

Bout 3: Women’s FS 55 kg/121.5 lbs  – Jacarra Winchester (Colorado Springs, Colo./Titan Mercury WC/OTC) defeated Dominique Parrish (Scotts Valley, Calif./Titan Mercury WC/Burnaby Mountain WC), two matches to none

Match 1 — Winchester won by TF 10-0 — Winchester, a fifth-place finisher in last year’s Worlds, scored five takedowns, the final one off a heel pick with one second left. Her other takedowns were three singles and an arm drag.

Match 2 — Winchester won 8-3 — Winchester qualified for her second World tournament when she scored six of her points in the final 1:11 of the first period that gae her an 8-1 lead.

 

Bout 4: Men’s GR 72 kg/158.5 lbs – Raymond Bunker (Camp LeJeune, N.C./U.S. Marine Corps) defeated Alex Mossing (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Force RTC), two matches to none

Match 1 — Bunker won 3-1 — The Marine scored his points off a first-period passivity and stepout and added a second stepout by the Air Force wrestler with 42 seconds left. Mossing earned his only point off a passivity call against Bunker.

Match 2 — Bunker won 7-0 — The native of Chicago led 4-0 after a takedown and two stepouts and added another takedown at stepout in the second period for his first World Team berth.

 

Bout 5: Men’s GR 63 kg/138.75 lbs – Ryan Mango (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) defeated Xavier Johnson (Camp LeJeune, N.C./U.S. Marine Corps), two matches to none

Match 1 — Mango won by TF 11-2 — Mango was trailing 2-0 in the second period when he countered a throw by Johnson and scored a takedown with 1:56 left, then used four turns over a tight high waist for the technical fall. The final point came when Johnson’s video challenge was overruled.

Match 2 — Mango won 6-5 — Down 5-0 in the second period, Mango first earned a stepout and passivity point and used a four-point lift and throw off par terre with 1:15 left in the match to clinch a spot on his first World Team

 

Bout 6: Men’s GR 97 kg/213.5 lbs – G’Angelo Hancock (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) defeated Lucas Sheridan (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP), two matches to none

Match 1 – Hancock won by TF 8-0 — Hancock scored three takedowns, the third ending the match with 2:37 left in the match. The first takedown also led to a gut that gave Hancock a 4-0 lead.

Match 2 — Hancock won 5-2 — Hancock trailed 1-0 — after giving up a point at the 2:23 mark in the first period — before he scored five straight points to lead 5-2 at intermission. No points were scored in the second period.

 

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