Amos earns fifth Fargo stop sign at Junior freestyle
Photo: Braxton Amos, ranked No. 1 at 195 pounds this season, scored a technical fall over Dorian Crosby for the 220-pound Junior Nationals freestyle championship. (G. Wyatt Schultz photo)
FARGO, N.D. — Braxton Amos, the nation’s top-ranked wrestler from Mineral Wells High School in West Virginia, recorded his fifth championship of the US Marines Junior/Cadet nationals when he captured the 220-pound freestyle championship Tuesday afternoon in the Fargodome.
Amos, a two-time West Virginia state champ and senior at Parkersburg High school, had not competed in Fargo since winning back-to-back Cadet national championships in both freestyle and Greco in 2016 and ’17.
On the strength of four individual championships, the state of Illinois won the team title with 51 points. Winning titles for the Land of Lincoln were Daniel Sheen (St. Charles) at 100 pounds,Anthony Molton (Lockport) at 120 pounds, Abe Assad (Carol Stream) at 182 pounds, and heavyweight Luke Luffman (Urbana).
Assad was one of two future Iowa Hawkeyes to capture Junior titles. The other was 170-pound Patrick Kennedy from the state of Minnesota.
California saw three wrestlers win championships: Andre Gonzales (106) of San Diego, Jace Luchau (152) of Selma and Jonovan Smith (195) of Encino. Luchau was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler after he defeated John Martin Best of West Virginia.
The tournament continues Wednesday when women’s freestyle will conclude with a championship at 1 p.m. (CDT). That will be followed by Greco-Roman finals in 16U (Cadets) on Thursday and Juniors on Friday.
Top 10 States
Pl. | State (Ch/AA) | Pts |
1 | Illinois (4/13) | 51 |
2 | Ohio (2/9) | 42 |
3 | Iowa (1/8) | 40 |
4 | Missouri (1/8) | 37 |
5 | Pennsylvania (0/8) | 34 |
6 | Oklahoma (0/10) | 32 |
7 | California (3/8) | 31 |
8 | Minnesota (1/7) | 30 |
9 | Nebraska (0/5) | 19 |
10 | Wisconsin (0/4) | 18 |
Junior Nationals Men’s Freestyle Championship Highlights
(The numbers before each wrestler indicated their final high school ranking by WIN Magazine this year).
100 — Daniel Sheen (St. Charles, Illinois) dec. Brandon O’Brien (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), 2-1 —Sheen, a sophomore at Montini-Catholic, scored his only points in the first period by countering a shot by O’Brien, junior at Linn Mar High School. c
106 — #21 Andre Gonzales (San Diego, California) dec. #17 Blake West (Owatonna, Minnesota), 19-7 (5:55)— After West, a junior at Owatonna High School, cut Gonzales’ lead to 5-4 at intermission, the junior at Poway High School exploded for a trio of four-point moves, including two effective headlocks.
113 — #19 Drake Ayala (Ft. Dodge, Iowa) won by TF over Nico Provo (Stratford, Connecticut), 19-8 — After Provo, a junior at Greener Farms Academy used an effective leg lace to score eight straight points and lead 8-5 with 1:13 left in the first, Ayala, a junior at Ft. Dodge, Iowa, ran off 14 straight points — 12 in the second period — for the technical fall.
120 — #8 (120) Anthony Molton (Lockport, Illinois) dec. #9 Jakason Burks (Omaha, Nebraska), 17-16 — Trailing 15-11 with 1:06 in the bout, Moulton — a graduate of Lockport Township and commitment to Old Dominion, scored six straight points for the victory. Molton had taken a 6-0 lead before Burks, a commitment to Oklahoma State, exploded with 10 straight points. Molton used a four-pointer with 1:39 left to take an 11-10 lead before Burks scored five straight points.
126 — Angelo Rini (Kirkland, Ohio) won by TF over Ethen Miller (Parkville, Missouri), 14-4 (4:05)— After Miller, a junior at Park Hill High scored four straight to cut Rini’s margin to 6-4, the graduate of St. Eds and Columbia college commitment ended any doubt when he scored eight straight points in the second period for the technical fall.
132 — #6 Dominick Serrano (Windsor, Colorado) won by TF over #10 Michael Burnett (Elyria, Ohio), 10-0 — Serrano, a senior at Windsor High and commitment to Nebraska scored his final six points in the final 28 seconds of the first period.
138 — #7 (152) Joshua Saunders (St. Louis, Missouri) dec. #12 (145) Ridge Lovett (Post Falls, Idaho), 5-3— Moments after Saunders was forced to take blood timeout, the senior at Christian Brothers High and future Cornell wrestler, scored the final four points for the championships. Lovett, a graduate of Post Falls High and Nebraska commitment, led 3-1 on a takedown with 1:44 left in the bout.
145 — Anthony Echemendia (Tucson, Arizona) dec. #11 (152) Victor Voinovich (Brecksville, Ohio), 10-4— Echemendia, who left his native Cuba a year ago before spending a year at Sunnyside High, led 8-0 after one period off the strength of a takedown and gut 30 seconds into the match. Voinovich, a junior at Brecksville High, cut the margin to 8-4 on two takedowns in the second period.
152 — #3 Jace Luchau (Selma, California) dec. #21 John Martin Best (Vienna, West Virginia), 8-2— Luchau, who graduated from Selma High and will attend Fresno State, scored all his points off a pair of four-pointers in the first period. Best, senior at Parkersburg HS, scored his points off a takedown with 13 seconds left.
160 — #4 Padraic Gallagher (Chesterland, Ohio) won by TF over #12 Cade Devos (Altoona, Iowa) 12-2, 2:55— Gallagher, senior at St. Eds, scored four takedowns, the last one coming with five seconds left in the first. Devos, who will be wrestling at South Dakota State, was trailing 8-0 before tallying a takedown.
170 — #6 (182) Patrick Kennedy (West Concord, Minnesota) won by TF over #9 Gerrit Nijenhuis (Eighty Four, Pennsylvania) 10-0, 2:20 — Kennedy, a senior at Kasson-Mantorville HS and future Iowa Hawkeye tallied a pair of takedowns and two exposure moves.
182 — #2 Abe Assad (Carol Stream, Illinois) dec. Dustin Plott (Tuttle, Oklahoma), 8-2— After Plott, a senior at Tuttle High School, cut the margin at 5-2 on a takedown with 1:50 left, Assad, a graduate of Glenbard North and future Iowa Hawkeye iced the victory on a takedown with 41 seconds left.
195 — Jonovan Smith (Encino, California) #15 Cole Urbas (Port Matilda, Pennsylvania), 11-6— Smith, a graduated of Birmingham Community Charter HS, scored six straight points after Urbas, from State College High and future Penn wrestler cut the margin to 5-4.
220 — #1 Braxton Amos (Mineral Wells, West Virginia) won by TF over Dorian Crosby (Erie, Pennsylvania), 10-0 (2:23)— Amos, a senior from Parkersburg HS, score four stepouts before a takedown turned into a pair of leglaces for the tech fall.
285 — #5 Luke Luffman (Urbana, Illinois) dec. #21 Aydin Guttridge (Rockford, Illinois), 4-1 —Luffman who, graduated from Urbana HS and will attend Iowa, scored all his points off four stepouts.
Guttridge, graduated from Rockford East HS, will attend Wisconsin
Semifinals
100 Daniel Sheen (Illinois) VSU Cael Keck (Missouri), 11-0 1:25
100 Brandon O’brien (Iowa) VPO1 Samuel Hayes (Illinois), 16-8
106 Andre Gonzales (California) VPO1 Eli Griffin (Oklahoma), 6-4
106 Blake West (Minnesota) VSU Kenny Sailas (Colorado), 11-0 2:40
113 Nico Provo (Connecticut) VPO1 Aedyn Concepcion (Alaska), 10-2
113 Drake Ayala (Iowa) VPO1 Jeremiah Reno (Missouri), 7-7
120 Jakason Burks (Nebraska) VSU Joseph Thompson (Minnesota), 11-0 3:39
120 Anthony Molton (Illinois) VSU Destin Summers (Idaho), 10-0 1:41
126 Angelo Rini (Ohio) VSU1 Wyatt Henson (Missouri), 23-13 6:00
126 Ethen Miller (Missouri) VPO1 Jayden Gomez (California), 7-1
132 Michael Burnett (Ohio) VPO1 Mosha Schwartz (Colorado), 6-4
132 Dominick Serrano (Colorado) VSU Domenic Zaccone (Illinois), 10-0 2:03
138 Joshua Saunders (Missouri) VSU1 Lachlan Mcneil (Pennsylvania), 12-2 3:56
138 Ridge Lovett (Idaho) VSU1 Samuel Hillegas (Pennsylvania), 12-2 5:19
145 Anthony Echemendia (Arizona) VPO1 Chance Mclane (Montana), 10-2
145 Victor Voinovich (Ohio) VPO Joseph Zargo (New Jersey), 8-0
152 Jace Luchau (California) VPO1 Keegan O’toole (Wisconsin), 12-7
152 John martin Best (West Virginia) VPO Daniel Manibog (Texas), 7-0
160 Cade Devos (Iowa) VPO1 Dajun Johnson (Wisconsin), 4-1
160 Padraic Gallagher (Ohio) VSU David Rubio (Oregon), 10-0 1:52
170 Gerrit Nijenhuis (Pennsylvania) VPO1 Gavin Kane (Georgia), 9-6
170 Patrick Kennedy (Minnesota) VPO1 Nevan Snodgrass (Ohio), 9-5
182 Abe Assad (Illinois) VSU Luke Stout (Pennsylvania), 10-0 1:48
182 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma) VSU1 Parker Keckeisen (Wisconsin), 16-6 4:03
195 Cole Urbas (Pennsylvania) VSU Isaac Trumble (Nebraska), 10-0 1:48
195 Jonovan Smith (California) VPO1 Ethan Hatcher (Ohio), 8-6
220 Braxton Amos (West Virginia) VSU Konner Doucet (Oklahoma), 10-0 1:34
220 Dorian Crosby (Pennsylvania) VFA Cade Lautt (Kansas), 2-2 2:29
285 Luke Luffman (Illinois) VPO1 Joshua Heindselman (Oklahoma), 3-3
285 Aydin Guttridge (Illinois) VSU Roberto Pena (Illinois), 10-0 2:08