Massa wins Western Junior Greco title...8 Michiganders place
4/8 - The Western Junior Regionals kicked
off today in Las Vegas with the Greco-Roman
competetion and 8 Michigan preps finished
in the top 6 of their respective weight classes.
St Johns freshman Taylor Massa continued
his national dominance as he won the 145lb
weight class with ease.
Massa went 6-0 in his pool, only losing one
period along the way, to advance to the finals
at 145lbs. In the finals Massa racked up
points with ease as he scored a 6-0, 6-0
technical fall over John Thompson of
Washington.
Fellow freshman Jordan Thomas finished 5th
at 145lbs after going 4-2 in his pool.
Two other Michiganders besides Massa
made the Greco-Roman finals today, but lost
their final bout. Massa's St Johns teammate
Dan Osterman stormed through his pool at
130lbs, winning 6 matches in a row without
surrendering a period. Osterman knocked off two former Fargo Greco All-Americans en route to the finals, however, he lost a three period to FILA Cadet Greco All-American Kade Moss of Utah.
Sophomore Joe Rendina of Dundee finished runner up as well at 125lbs. After losing his opening match of the day, Rendina rattled off 4 straight wins to finish 1st in his pool and advance to the finals. Rendina lost a tight finals match to returning Cadet Greco National Finalist Jacob Falk of Utah 1-1, 1-0, 2-2. In the final period it was a last second push out that cost Rendina the period and the match.
Freshman Andrew Morse of Lowell finished 3rd at 135lbs with his lone loss coming to eventual champion Ryan Arand of Oregon. Morse knocked off Jason Chudzinksi of New York in his pool and Vincente Gallegjos of Colorado in the 3rd place match, both Chudzinski and Gallejos are returning Cadet Greco All-Americans.
Also finishing 3rd was Nick Bohn of East Kentwood. Bohn finished 3rd at 140lbs, which was one of the toughest weights in the tournament. Bohn came back from a 1st round loss to win 5 matches in a row en route to third place. Along the way Bohn scored a 14 second fall over 2x Cadet Greco Roman National Champion Dylan Ness of Minnesota and a 40 second fall over reigning Cadet Greco Roman National Runner Up Zachary Brunson of Oregon.
2x Lowell state champ Jackson Morse finished 4th at 152lbs, however, he actually defeated eventual champion Pierce Harger 5-0, 3-0. Morse lost his 1st match of the day to FILA Cadet Greco All-American Daniel Breit of Missouri, he then stormed through the rest of his pool. After beating Harger, who was a Cadet Greco National Runner Up last year, Morse created a three way tie for 1st in his pool, however Harger had the most round robin points, so he advanced.
John Rizgallah of Allegan finished 5th at 171lbs. After going 2-2 in his pool, Rizgallah scored a 2-1, 6-0 victory of Cole Nelson of Arizona to finish 6th.
The FILA Junior Nationals Greco Roman division wrestled today as well. Former East Kentwood standout and current George Mason freshman Jake Bohn finished 8th at 74kg while University of Michigan signee Eric Grajales of Florida won the 63kg weight class without losing a single period. Grajales will be a freshman for the Wolverines next fall.
The Western Junior Regionals will start freestyle action tommorow at 11:30 Vegas time, which means 2:30pm back in Michigan. The Freestyle competetion will go two days, wrapping up Friday.
Western Junior Regional Greco-Roman
Michigan Placers
125: Joe Rendina, 2nd
130: Dan Osterman, 2nd
135: Andrew Morse, 3rd
140: Nick Bohn, 3rd
145: Taylor Massa, 1st
145: Jordan Thomas, 5th
152: Jackson Morse, 4th
171: John Rizgallah, 5th
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