Minnesota Special Ed’s takes Greco-Roman National Junior Duals title
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John Fuller (USA Wrestling)
07/01/2005
Enid, Okla. - The Minnesota Special Ed's dominated Michigan for the second time in two days at the 2005 Greco-Roman National Junior Duals. However, the second one mattered the most, as it gave Minnesota the team title. Minnesota got off to a strong start, winning the first eight matches, to take a 30-2 lead. At that point, Michigan could only tie Minnesota, but would lose the tiebreaking criteria. Jason Brill (105 lbs.) and Jason Adams (135) recorded pins for Minnesota in those first eight matches, while Zach Sanders (112), Mike Thorn (125), Jayson Ness (130) and Ryan Adams (140) shut out their opponents in technical fall victories. The only time Michigan was even close to winning one of the first eight matches, was in the very first match. Minnesota's Paul Tellgern (98) snuck out a 6-4 victory over Bryan Rickard in a competitive match. Michigan's first win came at 145 lbs., when Brent Metcalf dominated Levi Price 10-0. Minnesota then squashed any hopes of a Michigan comeback as David Bjorkstrand (152) defeated Jonathan Fulger 10-0. Tyler Hemmisch of Minnesota (215) pinned Jesse Martin in less than one minute for Minnesota's final victory. Michigan won two other matches in the dual - Jonathan Reader (160) and Trevor Perry (189), both by fall. Minnesota Special Ed's defeated Michigan 37-25 in the first dual of the weekend on Wednesday morning, with Minnesota winning the final two matches by technical fall to seal the win. Michigan was a surprising competitor in the finals, losing in its pool to the Minnesota Squad. But in the championship pool, Michigan upset top-seeded Florida 35-27, and then lost to the Missouri Ramrods 30-30 on criteria. However, Florida downed Missouri, and Michigan made it to the finals on the tiebreaker of points scored among the three tied teams. With a win, Michigan would have been the first team with two losses to ever win this tournament. Florida defeated Illinois Greco 34-27 for third place. Illinois Greco led the dual 22-16, but Florida won five of the last six bouts to take the win. Florida stars Rocky Cozart (160) and David Craig (189) earned crucial wins for their team with a pin and technical fall, respectively. In the fifth-place dual, the Missouri Ramrods held off a late rally from California We Have Happier Cows to win 31-10. Missouri led 28-17 with only four matches left thanks in part to a pin by Vito Krischke (105) and technical falls by Eric Graham (135) and Brian Graham (140). California rallied with two pins and a technical fall, but a 9-1 victory by Missouri star Louis Caputo (189) ended all hopes of a California comeback. The Pennsylvania Wild Childs dominated Kansas 44-19 in the seventh-place dual. Pennsylvania received four forfeits in the dual meet, and won six other bouts by technical fall. New York Empire Strikes Back won the consolation bracket with a 33-28 win over Texas Greco Yellow Roses in the finals. Texas won the first four bouts of the dual, but New York took eight of the next 11 to earn the victory. Freestyle competition at the 2005 National Junior Duals begins on Friday morning at 10:00 a.m.