Whitford & Coon win Junior Greco National Titles
By Steve Widzinski
MI Grappler Hight School Analyst
steve@michigangrappler.com
7/19 – Team Michigan’s Fargo success continued
on Tuesday in the Junior Greco Roman finals.
Led by six All-Americans, Team Michigan posted
34 team points to finish in fifth place as a team.
Among the states finishing behind Michigan were
Iowa, California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
What made Michigan’s fifth place finish even
more impressive was that Michigan was represente
d by only 15 wrestlers, while every other team in
the top ten had at least 20 competitors. Among
the top performers for Michigan were Ben
Whitford and Adam Coon who both posted
undefeated records en route to Junior Greco
Roman national championships.
After spending the past two seasons wrestling
in Illinois, Ben Whitford made his return to
Michigan wrestling in grand fashion. The St. Johns junior was absolutely dominant in his path to first place, losing just one period throughout the entire the tournament. Whitford capped his impressive run with a highflying tech fall over Oklahoma state champion Chase Ferman in the 135lbs finals.
Following a Cadet Greco Roman championship last summer, Fowlerville junior Adam Coon made a seamless transition to the Junior division by putting together an 8-0 record to win the 215lbs championship. Coon picked up a few notable victories along the way to the finals including a 1-0, 3-0 decision over Illinois state champion Josh Marchok. Coon’s success continued in the finals where he defeated Florida’s Lee Wildes by way of a second period fall.
Also reaching the finals for Michigan was Detroit Catholic Central senior Kevin Beazley. Beazley battled through his pool with several big wins to earn a spot in the 171lbs finals against Illinois’ Jahwon Akui who is ranked third in the nation at 171lbs by Intermat. Beazley competed well with Akui, eventually losing a closely contested 1-0, 1-0 match.
St. Johns junior Josh Pennell made a significant contribution to Michigan’s fifth place finish by taking home third place honors in the 130lbs pound weight class. The only loss of the tournament for Pennell came to the eventual champion Kevin Norstrem of Florida who is a three-time state champion. Pennell bounced back from the loss by defeating three-time Montana state champion Val Rauser in his third place match.
Martin Rodriguez of Grand Ledge continued his Greco Roman success in Fargo by earning All-American status in the 105lbs weight class. Rodriguez compiled a 5-2 record to finish the tournament in fifth place. He ended on a high note with a dominant 5-0, 6-0 win over Oregon’s Josh Johnson in the fifth place match.
Michigan’s final All-American came at 119lbs where Jacob Schmitt finished in eighth place. After starting on a dominant 6-0 tear, Schmitt was forced to injury default in the rest of his matches leading to his eighth place finish.
Falling just short of All-American honors was St Johns junior Brant Schafer. Schafer compiled a 5-2 record, with his only losses coming to the eventual fourth and sixth place finishers. Also coming close to placing was Hudson senior Devan Marry, who recorded four wins before being eliminated from his pool.
Copyright 2007-2011, Michigan Grappler, LLC
May not be republished or reproduced without expressed, written permission
Contact Michigan Grappler via E-Mail: admin@michigangrappler.com
Coon (left) and Whitford (right)
