Pennsylvania Chicken Tenders beat Missouri, 50-28, to win Schoolboy Freestyle Duals and sweep both s
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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
06/13/2004
The Pennsylvania Chicken Tenders defeated Missouri, 50-28, to claim the team title at the National Schoolboy Freestyle Duals, held in Indianapolis, Ind. It was the second team title for the Pennsylvania Chicken Tenders for the weekend. The team claimed the Greco-Roman title on Friday, with a 50-29 win over Minnesota in the gold-medal round. A total of 24 teams entered this dual meet competition, representing their USA Wrestling state associations. Schoolboys are age 13-14. Many of the best youth wrestlers in the nation participated in this competition. Pennsylvania led the entire finals match, winning the first two bouts and never looking back. The closest team score came after four matches, with Pennsylvania leading 9-8. Then the Chicken Tenders won four straight matches and kept a comfortable margin the rest of the way. Nine Pennsylvania wrestlers scored technical falls in the finals round against Missouri: Matt Prestafilipo (70), Josh Kindig (90), Jordan Oliver (95), Colin Johnston (100), Robert Robinson (120), Zach Bennett (125), Josh Roosa (130), Zach Benzio (165) and Paul Snyder (225). Overall, the Pennsylvania Chicken Tenders won nine dual meets in the competition. For the weekend, the team won 18 dual meets without a loss in both styles. They advanced to the freestyle finals by winning the Red Pool, with wins over Wisconsin, Ohio and Washington. The Blue Pool was a bit more complicated, as no team went unbeaten. Missouri, Michigan Blue and Indiana Gold all had 2-1 records in the pool. Missouri advanced to the finals, under the tie-breaking procedures, with Michigan Blue going for third place and Indiana Gold going for fifth place. Indiana Blue lost all three bouts in the pool. Claiming third place was Washington, with a 52-30 win over Michigan Blue. Ohio captured fifth place, beating Indiana Gold 40-37. Taking seventh was Wisconsin, which stopped Indiana Blue, 48-30. The consolation bracket winner was Minnesota, which beat Kansas 48-33 to claim the bracket title. All of the teams that did not advance to the pool competition were placed in the consolation bracket.