Drawing the No. 2 seed for the U.S. National Championships was not necessarily a bad thing.

The three competitors who hit the jackpot by earning Outstanding Wrestler honors in Las Vegas each entered the April 15 finals as No. 2 seeds. All three won their first U.S. Nationals titles.

Second seed Donny Pritzlaff of the New York Athletic Club was named Outstanding Wrestler in freestyle while No. 2 seeds Jacob Clark of the U.S. Marine Corps (Greco-Roman) and Sharon Jacobson of the USOEC/Gator Wrestling Club (women's freestyle) earned the same honor in their styles.

Pritzlaff upset six-time U.S. Nationals champion Joe Williams in the 163-pound freestyle finals. Clark knocked off three-time defending U.S. Nationals champion Brad Vering in the 185-pound Greco-Roman finals. Jacobson pinned unseeded Malinda Ripley in the 121-pound women's freestyle finals.

Long running strings of dominance end for Williams, Vering

Joe Williams of the Sunkist Kids and Brad Vering of the New York Athletic Club still are strong bets to make the World Team this year, but both wrestlers had long runs of success on American soil halted at the U.S. Nationals.

When Williams fell to Donny Prizlaff in the 163-pound finals, it marked the first time he had lost to an American since the 2000 Olympic Trials. Williams had won five straight U.S. Nationals titles and has made every World and Olympic team since 2001.

Vering has made every World and Olympic team since 2002. He had won the last three U.S. Nationals titles before falling to Jacob Clark in the 185-pound Greco-Roman finals in Vegas. His last loss to an American in the U.S. Nationals or World Team Trials came in the 2002 U.S. Nationals, where he finished second. He rebounded to make his first World Team that year.

King Henry rules

Why wrestle in college when you're already making your mark on the Senior level in freestyle as a senior in high school?

That's what Colorado Springs prep senior Henry Cejudo appears to be thinking after winning the U.S. Nationals in freestyle at 121 pounds.

Cejudo has been working closely with USA Wrestling Resident Freestyle Coach Terry Brands, a two-time World champion, and the time they've spent together at the Olympic Training Center is paying off.

Cejudo, 19, knocked off former college stars Luke Eustice and Matt Azevedo in his final two matches in Vegas.

Knocking off Sammie Henson in the World Team Trials will be a little more difficult. Henson did not compete in Vegas, but the 2000 Olympic silver medalist will return for the Trials May 27-28 in Sioux City, Iowa. Henson made the 2005 World Team and has wrestled well overseas this year.

First time is a charm for veterans Dantzler, Durlacher

Greco-Roman veterans T.C. Dantzler of the Gator Wrestling Club and Lindsay Durlacher of the New York Athletic Club have combined to make four World Teams, but neither wrestler had ever won a U.S. Nationals title. Until both guys pulled it off Saturday night.

Dantzler beat long-time rival Keith Sieracki of the U.S. Army in the 163-pound finals and Durlacher downed Spenser Mango of the USOEC/Gator Wrestling Club in the 121-pound finals.

Dantzler had been second in Vegas on three occasions and third in five other trips. Durlacher had been second at the U.S. Nationals the last three years.