Continued from page 30 Iowa’s Fredy Stroker edged Florida’s Patricio Lugo 4-3 in the Junior Nationals 145-pound finals. John Sachs photo.
Stroker also had an opportunity to work with U.S. Assistant National Coach Brandon Slay, who is USA Wrestling’s develop- mental coach in men’s freestyle. “It says a lot about Fredy Stroker that he would leave home in the summer to train with our team at the Olympic Training Center,” said Slay, a 2000 Olympic gold medalist. “It says he was dead serious about making the necessary sacrifices to be the Junior Nationals champion, and he accomplished his goal. “Training daily with Mark Hall and being challenged in our pro- gram really prepared him to reach his goals, and I'm proud of his commitment to winning. Fredy has one of the best high crotches in the country, and he has a bright future at Minnesota if he keeps loving the process and doing the sacrificial extra." Stroker is part of a talented recruiting class that is headed to
the University of Minnesota this fall. “We’re really excited about this class,” Stroker said. “The Gophers lost a lot of guys from last year’s team, but we’re hop- ing to rebuild and build another national title contending team in a few years.” Stroker finishes his summer with some huge momentum, win- ning a Junior Nationals crown in Fargo before starting his col- lege career.
“I have wrestled on some of the biggest stages that there are in high school wrestling,” Stroker said. “It was really important to come through and finally win it here.
“I was thinking about maybe not coming to Fargo this year and just relaxing a little bit before I go to college, but I’m glad I decided to compete. It’s awesome to be up on that big stage and win a title here.”
31 USA Wrestler
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