Metcalf remains unbeaten in quest for record-tying sixth Junior National title

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John Fuller (USA Wrestling)
07/29/2005


Fargo, N.D. - Brent Metcalf of Michigan remains the only defending champion that can repeat as champion at the ASICS/Vaughan Junior Freestyle National Championships at the FargoDome.    In fact, Metcalf, competing at 145 lbs., is just one Junior Nationals title shy of tying the national record of six, currently held by Sean Hage of Georgia. Metcalf was a Junior National double champion after his sophomore year in 2003 and after his junior year in 2004, and won the 2005 Junior National Greco-Roman Championships on Tuesday night.    Metcalf has breezed through his pool so far, outscoring five of his opponents 46-1 while also recording two falls. He will compete in tomorrow evening's finals.    Coming into this morning, three other wrestlers were looking to win a second Junior title - Patrick Feeley of Rhode Island (112 lbs.), Rollie Peterkin of Massachusetts (119) and Zach Bailey of Missouri (135).    Feeley will wrestle for seventh place after losing his final match to Zachary Sanders of Minnesota, 5-1, in pool competition.    In losing his last two matches, the best Peterkin can hope for is seventh place. He was defeated by Ben Ashmore of Texas, 12-2, and Franklin Gomez of Puerto Rico, 11-4. Gomez is a returning All-American.    Bailey was downed by Cesar Grajales of Florida, 8-7, in the sixth round and then defeated by returning All-American Reece Humphrey of Indiana, 14-6, in his final match. Bailey will not earn All-American status.    Also earning trips to the championship match are Louis Caputo of Missouri at 189 lbs. and Daniel Erekson of Idaho at 215 lbs.    Caputo was barely touched in his eight matches. He outscored his opponents 76-5 and recorded one fall.    Erekson was nearly just as dominant. He outscored seven opponents 77-4.    A host of Cadet national champions were defeated on Friday afternoon. They were Bryan LaShomb of Virginia at 119 lbs., Brandon Sitch of Washington and Sean Nemec of Ohio at 145 lbs., Mike Benefiel of Illinois at 152 lbs., Neil Erisman of Kansas and Scott Giffin of New Jersey at 160 lbs., Logan Downes of Pennsylvania at 171 lbs., Hudson Taylor of New Jersey at Sonny Yohn of Colorado at 189 lbs.     LaShomb, Sitch, Benefiel, Giffin and Downes were knocked out of the competition and will not earn All-American status.    Iowa wrestlers have been very dominant in the Junior competition so far. Currently, four wrestlers will head into the final day undefeated - Mark Kist at 105 lbs., Kyle Anson at 130 lbs., Mitch Mueller at 135 lbs. and Ryan Morningstar at 152 lbs.    A major match tomorrow morning will take place at 130 lbs., as Anson and Jordan Frishkorn of Virginia will wrestle. The winner of that match will compete for a Junior Nationals title.    Overall, eight of this year's Junior Greco-Roman national champions remain undefeated. Along with Metcalf and Caputo, the other remaining Greco-Roman champions alive in freestyle competition are Boris Novachkov of California (98), Franklin Gomez of Puerto Rico (119), Shawn Jones of Idaho (125), Adam Frey of Pennsylvania (130), Reece Humphrey of Indiana (135) and David Craig of Florida (171).    Connor McDonald of Delaware, expected to compete for a national title at 105 lbs., had to withdrawal from the tournament due to injury. McDonald was 5-0 in pool competition at the time he withdrew.     Junior freestyle competition will resume tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. (Central Time). TheMat.com will provide complete coverage.     Complete brackets in each weight class can be found posted in the special section on TheMat.com at: www.themat.com/specialevents/2005/fargo/default.asp.      CADET ATHLETES STILL ALIVE  * = Past Cadet Freestyle All-American    98 A  Justin Forrest (MO)  Nico Cortese (PA)  Boris Novachkov (CA) Cadet national champ  Bryan Rickard (MI)    98 B  1st - Jake Quinten (PA)  Tommy Bennett (FL)  Clark Morgan (CA)  4th - Nick Outumuro (CA)    105 A  Dalton Jensen (IA)  Marty Eng (OR)  Donte Butler (MO)  4th - *Connor McDonald (DE)    105 B  Marco Estrada (CA)  *Mark Kist (IA)  Josh Chappa (WI)  Vito Krischke (MO)  Jeremiah Barkac (ME)    112 A  Matthew Kyler (PA)  *Nick Shumate (KS)  Aaron Hart (OH)  *Matt McNaughton (IL)    112 B  Zachary Sanders (MN)  *Tony Mustari (CO)  Donny Altman (KS)  4th - Patrick Feeley (RI) 2002 national champion    119 A  Franklin Gomez (PR)  Montell Marion (IA)  Rollie Peterkin (MA)  Ben Ashmore (TX)    119 B  Mike Thorn (MN)  *Brad Pataky (PA)  Ross Gitomer (NJ)  4th - *Jimmy Kennedy (IL)    125 A  Sean Clair (PA)  Shawn Jones (ID)  Brian Shelton (OK)  4th - *Conor Beebe (IL)    125 B  *Mike Grey (NJ)  Daniel Mitcheff (OH)  Kyle Hutter (IL)  Steven Mytych (PA)    130 A  *Kyle Anson (IA)  Chris Diehl (MI)  *Jordan Frishkorn (VA)  4th - Ryan Moyer (MO)    130 B  *Jayson Ness (MN)  Joey Slaton (IA)  *Adam Frey (PA)  4th - Brandon Precin (IL)    135 A  *Mitch Mueller (IA)  Darrion Caldwell (NJ)  Cam Watkins (MD)  Willie Saxton (OH)    135 B  *Reece Humphrey (IN)  Cesar Grajales (FL)  Matt Vacanti (NE)  Max Shanaman (NJ)    140 A  Adam Hall (ID)  Ryan Adams (MN)  Travis Blasco (NJ)  4th - Clark Buffington (AK)    140 B  *Cyler Sanderson (UT)  Lance Palmer (OH)  J.P. O'Connor (NY)  4th - Kaylen Baxter (AK)    145 A  *Matt Dragon (PA)  *Joseph Cornejo (KS)  3rd - Jason Welch (CA)  4th - *Wesley English (IN)    145 B  1st - *Brent Metcalf (MI) national champion  *Sean Reynolds (IL)  *Sean Nemec (OH) Cadet champion  4th - Matt Ballweg (IA)    152 A  Colt Sponseller (OH)  *Ryan Morningstar (IA)  Jon Reader (MI)  Dave Bjorkstrand (MN)    152 B  Jake Kerr (IA)  *Shane Vernon (OK)  Kurt Kinser (IN)  4th - Joey Knox (GA)    160 A  *Rocky Cozart (FL)  Ben Fiacco (GA)  *David Rella (OH)  4th - Landis Wright (PA)    160 B  Ryan Patrovich (NY)  Kyle Bounds (WA)  Travis Hammons (IL)  4th - *Neil Erisman (KS) past Cadet champion    171 A  Jeff James (OK)  Duke Burk (IL)  Michael Moore (MO)  4th - Mike Miller (OH)    171 B  Clayton Foster (ID)  Brent Chriswell (WA)  *David Craig (FL)  4th - Michael Cuthbertson (AL)    189 A  *Hudson Taylor (NJ) Cadet champion  *Taylor Moore (MO)  *Max Askren (MO)  4th - Romeo Djoumessi (IA)    189 B  1st - *Louis Caputo (MO)  2nd - *Sonny Yohn (CO) Cadet champion  3rd - Trevor Perry (MI)  4th - Austin Boehm (ID)    215 A  1st - Daniel Erekson (ID)  *Brent Jones (VA)  Tyler Hemmesch (MN)  4th - Joe Nord (MN)    215 B  Brent Eidenschink (MN)  Robby Smith (CA)  Cody Gardner (VA)  4th - *Nate Sipes (PA)    275 A  *Erik Nye (CA)  *Drake McCoy (GA)  Bill Lundblad (MN)  4th - Nathan Fernandez (OK)    275 B  *Jared Rosholt (OK)  Kenny Lester (FL)  3rd - Andrew Blume (CA)  4th - Peter Reid (NJ)