Gopher Wrestling recruiting target Mark Hall (2016 Apple Valley) earned a spot yesterday on the US Junior World Freestyle team that will travel to the World Championships in Brazil in mid-August. Hall won easily at 74 Kilos by tech fall and pin over OK State redshirt Super freshman Chance Marsteller...and he continues to show why he is one of the highest rated high school wrestling recruits in the last 10-20 years.
2016 Gopher commit Mitchell McKee (St. Michael-Albertville) wrestled in the Challenge Tournament for the chance to make the best-of-three finals at 60 Kilos, but he lost 6-0 to the eventual champion Brock Zacherl (Clarion WC).
Here is an article from InterMat on the US Junior World team:
World champs Lee, Hall, Pico earn spots on Junior World Team
Josh Lowe, InterMat High School Analyst
6/13/2015
MADISON, Wis. -- Four UWW Cadet freestyle World champions came to Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday seeking the chance to represent the United States at the Junior World Championships in Recife, Brazil come the middle of August. Three of those four earned spots on the team, while the fourth was beaten by a fellow Cadet World champion.
Spencer Lee throws Danny Vega in the finals of the UWW Junior World Team Trials (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)
Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) and Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), who both won UWW Cadet World titles last summer -- and are currently also ranked first in their high school grade level -- earned spots at 50 and 74 kilos respectively.
Lee, last summer a Cadet World champion at 50 kilos, came into this tournament seeking a bounce back after suffering a two-match sweep at the hands of Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla.) in the 54-kilo final at the UWW Cadet National championships two weekends ago. He got that bounce back on Friday with four 10-0 technical falls from four matches to earn a Junior World team spot; a pair of those coming in the challenge tournament, and two more to sweep UWW Junior Nationals champion Danny Vega (Ironwood Ridge, Ariz.)
Hall, last summer's Cadet World champion at 76 kilos, came into this event on fire after an impressive UWW Junior Nationals tournament at this weight class. That form continued in his finals series against Chance Marsteller (Oklahoma State), which was a battle of the last two wrestlers to win the InterMat High School Wrestler of the Year; Hall this past year, and Marsteller last year. Hall earned a 10-0 technical fall in the first match, and a pin in 3:44 during the second match.
Aaron Pico outscored Zain Retherford 11-4 over two matches at 66 kilos (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)
The showdown of Cadet World champions came at 66 kilos between Zain Retherford (Penn State) and Aaron Pico (TMWC), a match between the 2012 and 2013 World champions at 63 kilos respectively. It was also the second straight year that the pair of wrestlers met in the UWW Junior World Trials final, and the pair has also battled for the UWW Junior National title in this weight class the last two years.
Pico has now won all six meetings against Retherford, today's matches by 5-2 and 6-2 decisions. This follows an 8-5 victory for Pico last month at the UWW Junior Nationals. Last year's match victories for Pico were 7-0 at the Junior Nationals, and then 3-0 and 5-1 at the Junior World Team Trials. Pico moves onto Brazil, where he will seek to improve upon his Junior World silver medal in this weight class from last summer.
Other Junior World Team Trials champions on Friday were Stevan Micic (Northwestern) at 55 kilos, Brock Zacherl (Clarion) at 60, Zahid Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif./Arizona State) at 84, Anthony Cassar (Penn State) at 96, and Nathan Butler (Stanford) at 120. The first two emerged through the Challenge Tournament, and beat last month's national champion on Friday afternoon, while the latter three were UWW Junior Nationals champions last month.
Stevan Micic defeated Daton Fix in two straight matches at 55 kilos (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)
Most notable among those World Team Trials titlists was Micic, who avenged a loss from last month's UWW Junior Nationals final to Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla.). It was a 10-0 technical fall for Fix on that occasion, after Fix had beaten two NCAA Division I qualifiers along the way to that final. However, on Friday afternoon, the redshirted freshman from Northwestern came through with a sweep in the two matches. A pair of decisions, 7-4 and 10-4, advance 2013 Cadet World Team member Micic to this summer's Junior World Championships.
While Zacherl did win the title today, he will have to face a special wrestle-off against returning Junior World silver medalist Joey McKenna (USOTC/Stanford) for the 60 kilogram spot in Recife.
Best-of-three finals results
50 kilos:
Spencer Lee (Young Guns) def. Danny Vega (Tucson Cyclones), 2 matches to 0
Lee won by tech. fall over Vega, 10-0
Lee won by tech. fall over Vega, 10-0
55 kilos:
Stevan Micic (Chicago RTC) def. Daton Fix (Team Big), 2 matches to 0
Micic dec. Fix, 7-4
Micic dec. Fix, 10-4
60 kilos:
Brock Zacherl (Clarion WC) def. Gary Wayne Harding (Cowboy WC), 2 matches to 0
Zacherl won by tech. fall over Harding, 11-0
Zacherl won by tech. fall over Harding, 10-0
66 kilos:
Aaron Pico (Titan Mercury WC) def. Zain Retherford (Nittany Lion WC), 2 matches to 0
Pico dec. Retherford, 5-2
Pico dec. Retherford, 6-2
74 kilos:
Mark Hall (Minnesota Storm) def. Chance Marsteller (Titan Mercury WC), 2 matches to 0
Hall won by tech. fall over Marsteller, 10-0
Hall pinned Marsteller, 3:44
84 kilos:
Zahid Valencia (Sunkist Kids) def. Chandler Rogers (Titan Mercury WC), 2 matches to 0
Valencia won by tech. fall over Rogers, 10-0
Valencia pinned Rogers, 2:49
96 kilos:
Anthony Cassar (Nittany Lion WC) def. Jacob Seely (Northern Colorado WC), 2 matches to 0
Cassar won by tech. fall over Seely, 12-2
Cassar won by tech. fall over Seely, 10-0
120 kilos:
Nathan Butler (Stanford WC) def. Jake Gunning (Buffalo RTC), 2 matches to 0
Butler won by tech. fall over Gunning, 11-0
Butler won by tech. fall over Gunning, 11-0
Challenge tournament finals results
50 kilos: Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) tech. fall Brandon Courtney (Desert Edge, Ariz.), 10-0
55 kilos: Stevan Micic (Northwestern) tech. fall Jack Mueller (Trinity Christian Academy, Texas), 10-0
60 kilos: Brock Zacherl (Clarion) dec. Mitch McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.), 6-0
66 kilos: Zain Retherford (Penn State) dec. Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa./Penn State), 5-0
74 kilos: Chance Marsteller (Oklahoma State) dec. Logan Massa (St. Johns, Mich./Michigan), 8-8
84 kilos: Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) tech. fall Jaeden Bernstein (Navy), 10-0
96 kilos: Jacoby Seely (Fruita, Colo./Northern Colorado) dec. Ben Honis (FLWC), 10-4
120 kilos: Jake Gunning (Buffalo) dec. Garrett Ryan (Columbia), 5-0
2016 Gopher commit Mitchell McKee (St. Michael-Albertville) wrestled in the Challenge Tournament for the chance to make the best-of-three finals at 60 Kilos, but he lost 6-0 to the eventual champion Brock Zacherl (Clarion WC).
Here is an article from InterMat on the US Junior World team:
World champs Lee, Hall, Pico earn spots on Junior World Team
Josh Lowe, InterMat High School Analyst
6/13/2015
MADISON, Wis. -- Four UWW Cadet freestyle World champions came to Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday seeking the chance to represent the United States at the Junior World Championships in Recife, Brazil come the middle of August. Three of those four earned spots on the team, while the fourth was beaten by a fellow Cadet World champion.
Spencer Lee throws Danny Vega in the finals of the UWW Junior World Team Trials (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)
Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) and Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), who both won UWW Cadet World titles last summer -- and are currently also ranked first in their high school grade level -- earned spots at 50 and 74 kilos respectively.
Lee, last summer a Cadet World champion at 50 kilos, came into this tournament seeking a bounce back after suffering a two-match sweep at the hands of Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla.) in the 54-kilo final at the UWW Cadet National championships two weekends ago. He got that bounce back on Friday with four 10-0 technical falls from four matches to earn a Junior World team spot; a pair of those coming in the challenge tournament, and two more to sweep UWW Junior Nationals champion Danny Vega (Ironwood Ridge, Ariz.)
Hall, last summer's Cadet World champion at 76 kilos, came into this event on fire after an impressive UWW Junior Nationals tournament at this weight class. That form continued in his finals series against Chance Marsteller (Oklahoma State), which was a battle of the last two wrestlers to win the InterMat High School Wrestler of the Year; Hall this past year, and Marsteller last year. Hall earned a 10-0 technical fall in the first match, and a pin in 3:44 during the second match.
Aaron Pico outscored Zain Retherford 11-4 over two matches at 66 kilos (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)
The showdown of Cadet World champions came at 66 kilos between Zain Retherford (Penn State) and Aaron Pico (TMWC), a match between the 2012 and 2013 World champions at 63 kilos respectively. It was also the second straight year that the pair of wrestlers met in the UWW Junior World Trials final, and the pair has also battled for the UWW Junior National title in this weight class the last two years.
Pico has now won all six meetings against Retherford, today's matches by 5-2 and 6-2 decisions. This follows an 8-5 victory for Pico last month at the UWW Junior Nationals. Last year's match victories for Pico were 7-0 at the Junior Nationals, and then 3-0 and 5-1 at the Junior World Team Trials. Pico moves onto Brazil, where he will seek to improve upon his Junior World silver medal in this weight class from last summer.
Other Junior World Team Trials champions on Friday were Stevan Micic (Northwestern) at 55 kilos, Brock Zacherl (Clarion) at 60, Zahid Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif./Arizona State) at 84, Anthony Cassar (Penn State) at 96, and Nathan Butler (Stanford) at 120. The first two emerged through the Challenge Tournament, and beat last month's national champion on Friday afternoon, while the latter three were UWW Junior Nationals champions last month.
Stevan Micic defeated Daton Fix in two straight matches at 55 kilos (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)
Most notable among those World Team Trials titlists was Micic, who avenged a loss from last month's UWW Junior Nationals final to Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla.). It was a 10-0 technical fall for Fix on that occasion, after Fix had beaten two NCAA Division I qualifiers along the way to that final. However, on Friday afternoon, the redshirted freshman from Northwestern came through with a sweep in the two matches. A pair of decisions, 7-4 and 10-4, advance 2013 Cadet World Team member Micic to this summer's Junior World Championships.
While Zacherl did win the title today, he will have to face a special wrestle-off against returning Junior World silver medalist Joey McKenna (USOTC/Stanford) for the 60 kilogram spot in Recife.
Best-of-three finals results
50 kilos:
Spencer Lee (Young Guns) def. Danny Vega (Tucson Cyclones), 2 matches to 0
Lee won by tech. fall over Vega, 10-0
Lee won by tech. fall over Vega, 10-0
55 kilos:
Stevan Micic (Chicago RTC) def. Daton Fix (Team Big), 2 matches to 0
Micic dec. Fix, 7-4
Micic dec. Fix, 10-4
60 kilos:
Brock Zacherl (Clarion WC) def. Gary Wayne Harding (Cowboy WC), 2 matches to 0
Zacherl won by tech. fall over Harding, 11-0
Zacherl won by tech. fall over Harding, 10-0
66 kilos:
Aaron Pico (Titan Mercury WC) def. Zain Retherford (Nittany Lion WC), 2 matches to 0
Pico dec. Retherford, 5-2
Pico dec. Retherford, 6-2
74 kilos:
Mark Hall (Minnesota Storm) def. Chance Marsteller (Titan Mercury WC), 2 matches to 0
Hall won by tech. fall over Marsteller, 10-0
Hall pinned Marsteller, 3:44
84 kilos:
Zahid Valencia (Sunkist Kids) def. Chandler Rogers (Titan Mercury WC), 2 matches to 0
Valencia won by tech. fall over Rogers, 10-0
Valencia pinned Rogers, 2:49
96 kilos:
Anthony Cassar (Nittany Lion WC) def. Jacob Seely (Northern Colorado WC), 2 matches to 0
Cassar won by tech. fall over Seely, 12-2
Cassar won by tech. fall over Seely, 10-0
120 kilos:
Nathan Butler (Stanford WC) def. Jake Gunning (Buffalo RTC), 2 matches to 0
Butler won by tech. fall over Gunning, 11-0
Butler won by tech. fall over Gunning, 11-0
Challenge tournament finals results
50 kilos: Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) tech. fall Brandon Courtney (Desert Edge, Ariz.), 10-0
55 kilos: Stevan Micic (Northwestern) tech. fall Jack Mueller (Trinity Christian Academy, Texas), 10-0
60 kilos: Brock Zacherl (Clarion) dec. Mitch McKee (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.), 6-0
66 kilos: Zain Retherford (Penn State) dec. Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa./Penn State), 5-0
74 kilos: Chance Marsteller (Oklahoma State) dec. Logan Massa (St. Johns, Mich./Michigan), 8-8
84 kilos: Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) tech. fall Jaeden Bernstein (Navy), 10-0
96 kilos: Jacoby Seely (Fruita, Colo./Northern Colorado) dec. Ben Honis (FLWC), 10-4
120 kilos: Jake Gunning (Buffalo) dec. Garrett Ryan (Columbia), 5-0
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