2014 JUNIOR AND CADET NATIONALS 4 earn Triple Crowns
By Craig Sesker FARGO, N.D. – It was another highly successful event at the annual ASICS/Vaughan Juniior and Cadet Nationals. Numbers were up across the board as
more than 4,000 wrestlers competed in the eight-day extravaganza at the Fargo Dome in eastern North Dakota. Four wrestlers earned Triple Crowns
and a pair of FILA Cadet World champi- ons earned titles as well. Here is how it all went down on July 19-26 in Fargo:
Junior freestyle The champions at the two smallest
weight classes earned the two biggest achievements in the USA Wrestling Junior division this year. California’s Randon Miranda (100 pounds) and Arizona’s Danny Vega (106) captured coveted USA Wrestling Triple Crowns after earning Junior Nationals freestyle championships at the Fargo Dome.
Miranda used a big second period to
earn a 14-3 technical fall over Connecticut’s Zack Murillo in the finals. “I’m excited, I’m happy,” Miranda said.
“I worked super hard for this. Every prac- tice I put in the kind of effort to win a Triple Crown. You’ve just got to work hard and think all the time that you’re going to be a champion.” Vega followed with a tech of his own in
rolling to a 12-1 win over Indiana’s Drew Hildebrandt in the finals. “I was a little nervous, but I knew it
would happen,” Vega said. “It’s exciting to do this. I just had to focus on winning the national title today and not worry so much about the Triple Crown. I trained real hard for this.” Miranda and Vega captured Junior Nationals Greco titles and Junior Folkstyle Nationals crowns earlier this year.
New Jersey’s Mason Manville earned
his second big title in a week after defeat- ing New Jersey teammate David McFadden 7-2 in the 152-pound finals. Manville came right to North Dakota
after winning a FILA Cadet World freestyle title seven days earlier in Slovakia. Manville won Cadet Nationals
12 USA Wrestler
USA Wrestling Junior Triple Crown winners Randon Miranda of California (right) and Danny Vega of Arizona. John Sachs photo.
titles in freestyle and Greco-Roman here in 2013, and also won a Cadet Greco title in Fargo in 2012. “It’s been crazy,” Manville said. “It’s a
grind on the body. I’m tired, but I’m glad I got to do it.” New Jersey won a close race for the
team title with 58 points, followed closely by Minnesota (53), Oklahoma (53) and Pennsylvania (53). 2013 Junior Nationals freestyle champi-
on Ryan Blees of North Dakota held off 2014 FILA Junior Nationals freestyle champion Logan Massa of Michigan 5-2 in the 152 finals. Blees was named Outstanding
Wrestler. Minnesota’s Tommy Thorn won his sec-
ond Junior Nationals freestyle title after topping Missouri’s Ke-Shawn Hayes 5-1 in the 132 finals. 2013 Junior Folkstyle Nationals cham-
pion Bobby Steveson of Minnesota spun behind for a late takedown to edge 2012 Cadet Triple Crown winner Lance Benick of Minnesota 3-1 in the 195 finals.
2014 Junior Folkstyle Nationals cham-
pion Mitchell McKee of Minnesota rallied from an early four-point deficit to earn a wild 10-8 win over Charles Tucker of New Jersey in the 126 finals. Oklahoma’s Chandler Rogers captured
his fourth Fargo title after earning a 10-0 win over New Jersey’s Josef Johnson in the 170 finals. 2013 Cadet Nationals champion Isaiah
White of Illinois took charge in the second period in a 9-3 win over Pennsylvania’s Vincenzo Joseph in the 145 finals. 2014 Junior Folkstyle Nationals cham-
pion Adarious Jones of Illinois downed Jesse Webb of Massachusetts 3-0 in the heavyweight finals. 2013 Cadet Nationals freestyle champi-
on Jack Mueller of Texas rolled to a 12-1 victory over Missouri’s Matthew Schmitt in the Junior Nationals freestyle finals at 113 pounds. Ohio’s Austin Assad overcame an early
5-0 deficit in rallying for an 11-8 win over Georgia’s Sean Russell in the 120 finals. Continued on page 13
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