About a dozen South Dakota State University wrestlers are scheduled to compete at the 2023 U23 Nationals and U20 World Team Trials this weekend in Geneva, Ohio.
Competition begins Friday and runs through Sunday at Spire Institute. Coverage of the event will be available through FloWrestling.org.
The majority of Jackrabbit wrestlers will be competing in the freestyle division of the U23 Nationals, with Spencer Trenary entered in both freestyle and Greco-Roman competition.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Augsburg University men’s wrestling alumnus Ryan Epps ’20 will compete for a spot on the USA Wrestling Senior National Team in the 82 kilogram (181 pounds) Greco-Roman class, after winning the championship at the USAW World Team Trials Challenge Tournament on Saturday at Discovery Canyon High School.
By winning the title on Saturday, Epps will advance to face current Senior World Team member Spencer Woods, who claimed the 82kg Greco-Roman title at the U.S. Open earlier this month, at the Final X competition on June 10 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The Final X winner will represent the United States at the UWW Senior World Championships Sept. 16-24 in Belgrade, Serbia. Woods competes for the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP).
Competing for the Minnesota Storm, Epps opened Saturday’s tournament with a 1-1, criteria win over Tommy Brackett (New York Athletic Club), then claimed a 9-1 superiority win over Andrew Berreyesa (New York Athletic Club), a Cornell (N.Y.) alum, in the semifinals. Epps then faced two-time Olympian Ben Provisor in the title bout, which Epps won 2-1. Epps rallied from a 1-0, first-period deficit with two single-point scores in the second period, going ahead with 57 seconds left.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The final three men’s freestyle wrestlers to qualify for Final X were determined during the finals at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament on Sunday afternoon.
Today’s winners will compete in Final X against the 2023 U.S. Open champion at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., June 10.
Advancing to Final X with victories were Nahshon Garrett at 61 kg, Zahid Valencia at 92 kg and Mason Parris at 125 kg. None of these athletes have yet to make a Senior World Team, although Valencia and Parris boast age-group World medals..
Garrett returns to Final X for the first time since 2018, when he won the U.S. Senior World Team berth but could not compete in the World Championships due to an injury in training. Continue reading at teamusa.org →
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The final four women’s freestyle wrestlers to qualify for Final X were determined during the finals at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament on Sunday afternoon
Today’s winners will compete in Final X against the 2023 U.S. Open champion at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., June 10.
Advancing to Final X with victories were Jacarra Winchester at 55 kg, Jennifer Page at 59 kg, Emma Bruntil at 68 kg and Adeline Gray at 76 kg.
Winchester scored a takedown to open the match, and when Villaescusa’s corner challenge, it was denied, making it 3-0. A double-leg takedown stretched it to 5-0 at the break. She added a slick trip for a takedown and added a turn to get it to 9-0. One final takedown iced an 11-0 win. Winchester now will battle U.S. Open champion and U23 World medalist Alisha Howk in Final X. Continue reading at teamusa.org →
Minnesota Storm wrestlers Patrick Smith, Ryan Epps, and Christian DuLaney win Challenge Tournament
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Senior World medalists Adam Coon (130 kg) and Aliaksandr Kikiniou (77 kg) were among 10 Greco-Roman champions from today’s World Team Trials Challenge Tournament at Discovery Canyon High School to punch their tickets for Final X.
Today’s winners will compete in Final X against the 2023 U.S. Open champion at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on June 10.
Coon, a 2018 World silver medalist, scored a 9-0 technical fall over Donny Longendyke in the finals. Coon advances to Final X to face Cohlton Schultz of the Sunkist Kids, who defeated him in the U.S. Open finals in April. Coon had not wrestled until recently after pursuing professional football after the 2021 season.
Kikinou, a 43-year-old who won a 2009 World bronze medalist for Belarus, recently received U.S. citizenship and was second at the U.S. Open. He won his finals today with a technical fall over Payton Jacobson, 10-0. He earned a Final X rematch against Kamal Bey, who defeated him in the U.S. Open finals. Continue reading at teamusa.org →
South Dakota State wrestler Tanner Sloan returns to the national stage this weekend, competing at the 2023 Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Sloan, who recently announced he will return to SDSU for his fifth and final collegiate season, is one of eight wrestlers entered in the freestyle division of the 92-kilogram weight class. The competition begins at 10 a.m. Central Time Saturday and concludes Sunday at Discovery Canyon Campus School. Video coverage of the event will be available through FloWrestling.org.
2020 Olympic champion Gable Steveson was among 30 wrestlers to win the 2023 Pritchard Companies U.S. Open Championships, presented by FloWrestling, and earn a spot in Final X, presented by Tezos, on June 10 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Final X will determine the 2023 U.S. Senior World Team in all three Olympic disciplines: men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman. There will be 30 weight classes contested, 10 in each Olympic discipline. The top two U.S. athletes in each weight class will compete in a best-of-three series at Final X to determine who will wrestle at the 2023 Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
Steveson recorded a technical fall victory over two-time World bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski in the 125 kg finals to advance to Final X. He will await the champion of the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament being held in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 20-21.
LAS VEGAS — South Dakota State wrestler Bennett Berge claimed the 86-kilogram freestyle title in the Under-20 Division of the 2023 U.S. Open held over the weekend.
The top-seeded Berge, who was wrestling as a member of the Jackrabbit Wrestling Club, posted a 6-0 record. He recorded shutouts against each of his first four opponents, winning by a combined score of 42-0. The Mantorville, Minnesota, native won by a 9-4 score (VPO1) in his semifinal matchup against Clayton Whiting of the Tiger Style Wrestling Club, then notched a 7-4 (VPO1) victory over Max McEnelly of the Waconia Wrestling Club to win the title.