After a three-day stretch of wrestling in Las Vegas, Gopher wrestling celebrates several placers at the 2019 Marine Corps US Open in the senior men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman divisions as well as the UWW Junior Nationals who all secured their spots at May’s World Team Trials.
At UWW Junior Nationals, Brayton Lee (70kg) was the runner-up after going 5-1 on the weekend and outscoring his opponents 52-21. Lee advanced to Saturday night’s finals against Sammy Sasso but fell 10-0.
Jake Allar (79kg) was the Gophers other junior placer with a sixth-place finish on the weekend. After losing his second bout of the tournament, Allar ripped off four straight wins and outscored his opponents 28-0 in that span.
Both Lee and Allar will compete for a spot on the Junior Men’s Freestyle World Team in May. The 2019 World Team Trials will hosted by North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, from May 16-19.
Patrick McKee (57kg) also fought back on the consolation side of the bracket after dropping his second match. McKee won four consecutive matches, including a victory over Gophers commit Matt Ramos in the first consolation round of eight. McKee scored double-digit points in all seven of his matches over the weekend.
At the senior level, Tony Nelson represented Minnesota in the 125kg finals against Adam Coon after a string of four consecutive wins. Nelson fell to Coon in a tight 5-2 match and will next compete at the World Team Trials.
Both Jayson Ness and Brett Pfarr secured their spots at the World Team Trials by placing third and fourth respectively. Ness dominated throughout the weekend and his only loss came to 2017 World Team Member Zain Retherford.
Pfarr won his first two bouts by technical superiority and after dropping a bout to Nicholas Heflin he won one match on the consolation side and benefitted from two consecutive forfeits to advance to the third place bout against Sammy Brooks.
Volunteer assistant coach Zach Sanders advanced to the 57kg seventh-place match against Frank Perelli with a qualifying spot on the line but fell 2-1.
Gophers junior Mitch McKee, already with a spot at the World Team Trials, went 2-2 on the weekend at the senior level.
Pat Smith, the lone former Gopher competing in the traditional Greco-Roman style, advanced to Friday night’s finals against Kamal Bey by going 4-0 and outscoring his opponents 23-3 on Thursday. Smith fell to Bey 7-5 in the entertaining headliner of the Greco-Roman finals. He will also compete at the World Team Trials.
Brackets/Results on flowrestling.org
Senior Men’s Freestyle
Zach Sanders (57kg)
Round of 32: Zach Sanders TF Raymond Evans (14-4)
Round of 16: Zach Sanders TF Robert Garcia IV (12-2)
Quarterfinals: Darian Cruz dec. Zach Sanders (5-0)
Cons. Round of 8 #2: Zach Sanders TF Austin Miller (14-4)
Cons. Round of 4 #1: Vitali Arujau TF Zach Sanders (11-1)
Seventh Place Match: Frank Perelli dec. Zach Sanders (2-1)
Skyler Petry (57kg)
Round of 32: Nathan Tomasello TF Skyler Petry (12-2)
Cons. Round of 16 #1: Skyler Petry TF Nicolas Aguilar (10-0)
Cons. Round of 16 #2: Jesse Delgado dec. Skyler Petry (18-13)
Daniel DeShazer (61kg)
Round of 16: Joey Palmer dec. Daniel DeShazer (2-2)
Cons. Round of 16 #2: Casey Cobb TF Daniel DeShazer (12-1)
Jayson Ness (65kg)
Round of 32: Jayson Ness dec. Joey Lazor (6-0)
Round of 16: Jayson Ness dec. Bernard Futrell (4-2)
Quarterfinals: Zain Retherford TF Jayson Ness (10-0)
Cons. Round of 8 #2: Jayson Ness TF Dom Demas (16-3)
Cons. Round of 4: Jayson Ness dec. Kanen Storr (9-2)
Consolation Semifinals: Jayson Ness by forfeit over Jordan Oliver
Third Place Match: Jayson Ness dec. Frank Molinaro (5-0)
Mitch McKee (65kg)
Round of 32: Mitch McKee dec. Robbie Mathers (2-0)
Round of 16: Zain Retherford TF Mitch McKee (10-0)
Cons. Round of 16 #2: Mitch McKee TF Alec Opsal (10-0)
Cons. Round of 8 #1: Bernard Futrell TF Mitch McKee (13-0)
Elroy Perkin (70kg)
Round of 32: Elroy Perkin dec. Joshua Kindig (8-0)
Round of 16: Brandon Sorenson TF Elroy Perkin (14-3)
Cons. Round of 16 #2: Elroy Perkin TF Deondre Wilson (10-0)
Cons. Round of 8 #1: Elroy Perkin TF Wyatt Sheets (11-0)
Cons. Round of 8 #2: Elroy Perkin dec. Nazar Kulchytskyy
Brett Pfarr (86kg)
Round of 32: Brett Pfarr TF Adam Rateb (10-0)
Round of 16: Brett Pfarr TF Skyler Gonzalez (11-2)
Quarterfinals: Nicholas Heflin dec. Brett Pfarr (12-9)
Cons. Round of 8 #2: Brett Pfarr dec. Nino Bonaccorsi (4-1)
Cons. Round of 4: Brett Pfarr by forfeit over Max Dean
Consolation Semifinals: Brett Pfarr by forfeit over Myles Martin
Third Place Match: Sammy Brooks dec. Brett Pfarr (7-3)
Hayden Zillmer (92kg)
Round of 32: Hayden Zillmer dec. Cody Walters (9-0)
Round of 16: Hayden Zillmer dec. Joshua Manu (4-2)
Quarterfinals: Hayden Zillmer dec. Riley Lefever (4-0)
Semifinals: Hayden Zillmer dec. Kollin Moore (12-7)
Finals: Bo Nickal TF Hayden Zillmer (13-3)
Tony Nelson (125kg)
Round of 32: Tony Nelson TF Cornelius Putnam (10-0)
Round of 16: Tony Nelson TF Brandon Metz (10-0)
Quarterfinals: Tony Nelson dec. Youssif Hemida (3-2)
Semifinals: Tony Nelson dec. Dom Bradley (3-1)
Finals: Adam Coon dec. Tony Nelson (5-2)
UWW Junior Nationals
Patrick McKee (57kg)
Round of 64: Patrick McKee TF Eddie Daniel (12-2)
Round of 32: Trevor Msatrogiovanni dec. Patrick McKee (11-10)
Cons. Round of 32 #2: Patrick McKee TF Jack Medley (11-0)
Cons. Round of 16 #1: Patrick McKee TF McGwire Midkiff (24-14)
Cons. Round of 16 #2: Patrick McKee TF Brandon Kaylor (12-2)
Cons. Round of 8 #1: Patrick McKee dec. Matt Ramos (16-13)
Cons. Round of 8 #2: Wyatt Henson dec. Patrick McKee (25-17)
Jake Gliva (61kg)
Round of 64: Jake Gliva TF Orion Anderson (10-0)
Round of 32: Job Greenwood dec. Jake Gliva (13-9)
Cons. Round of 32 #2: Zach Price TF Jake Gliva (13-3)
Brayton Lee (70kg)
Round of 64: Brayton lee TF Cayd Lara (14-3)
Round of 32: Brayton Lee TF Anthony Scantlin (12-0)
Round of 16: Brayton Lee dec. Kevon Davenport (6-2)
Quarterfinals: Brayton Lee TF Jared Franek (11-0)
Semifinals: Brayton Lee dec. Jacori Teemer (9-9)
Finals: Sammy Sasso TF Brayton Lee (10-0)
Kasper McIntosh (74kg)
Round of 64: Nelson Brands dec. Kasper McIntosh (5-2)
Cons. Round of 32 #1: Kasper McIntosh TF Hunter Michaels (21-11)
Cons. Round of 32 #2: James Noel TF Kasper McIntosh (10-0)
Jake Allar (79kg)
Round of 32: Jake Allar TF Isaiah Luellen (12-2)
Round of 16: Michel O’Malley dec. Jake Allar (4-0)
Cons. Round of 16 #2: Jake Allar TF Layne Malczewski (10-0)
Cons. Round of 8 #1: Jake Allar dec. Tate Battani (4-0)
Cons. Round of 8 #2: Jake Allar TF Jeremiah Kent (10-0)
Cons. Round of 4: Jake Allar TF Jake Hendricks (10-0)
Consolation Semifinals: Parker Kechkeisen dec. Jake Allar (8-1)
Fifth Place Match: Tyler Dow dec. Jake Allar (4-4)
Caden Steffen (86kg)
Round of 32: Max Wohlabaugh dec. Caden Steffen (6-0)
Cons. Round of 16 #1: Brian Bonino dec. Caden Steffen (6-2)
Greco-Roman
Pat Smith (77kg)
Round of 32: Pat Smith TF Eric Murdoch (8-0)
Round of 16: Pat Smith TF Angel Soto (8-0)
Quarterfinals: Pat Smith dec. Corey Hope (2-1)
Semifinals: Pat Smith dec. Mason Manville (5-2)
Finals: Kamal Bey dec. Pat Smith (5-2)
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