Fargo Special Section

FARGO, N.D. - Hayden Zillmer of Minnesota became only the third Cadet Triple Crown winner in history with his victory at 84 pounds in freestyle at the Accelerade Cadet National Freestyle Championships on Wednesday.

This award is given to any Cadet wrestler who wins USA Wrestling folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman titles the same year. Previous Triple Crown winners were Taylor Moore of Missouri in 2003 and Zach Sanders of Minnesota in 2004. 

Zillmer pinned Jade Rauser of Montana in the championship match, 6-0, 1-1, 1:53. It was a rematch of the Greco-Roman finals from Sunday night, when Zillmer beat Rauser, 0-4, 5-0, 3-0.

Zillmer dominated the first period with a three-point takedown just 13 seconds into the match and went on to win that period by technical fall, 6-0. In the second period, Rauser scored a takedown with 15 seconds left to tie the score at 1-1, and Rauser won the tiebreaker. In the final period, Zillmer had a pair of three-point throws, with the pin coming off a hip toss.

"The Triple Crown was all I was thinking of," said Zillmer after the bout. "I like freestyle and Greco-Roman better than folkstyle. It is more fun."

Only a first year Cadet, Zillmer is eligible to come back next year for another attempt at the Triple Crown. Zillmer will be a freshman at Crosby-Ironman High School in the fall.

"I want to win the state high school tournament and come back here and win this again," said Zillmer.

Two sets of brothers were champions side-by-side, the Stieber brothers of Ohio and the Alton twins of Pennsylvania.

The younger brother Hunter Stieber was the champion at 98 pounds, defeating 2007 Cadet Nationals Greco-Roman champion Jesse Thielke of Wisconsin in the finals in two straight periods. Hunter Stieber, a 2007 FILA Cadet national champion, started things off with a three-point takedown in the first period and controlled the action the rest of the way.

Winning his second straight Cadet Nationals title at 112 pound was older brother Logan Stieber, who stopped Ohio teammate Samuel White in two periods, 1-0, 6-0 at 112 pounds. When the match was over, the two Stieber boys went over to the stands to give their father a joint hug.

"It is harder, always harder, but it is more fun. I was a little more relaxed because I have been here before," said Logan of his second Cadet freestyle title. 

Dylan Alton won the 130-pound title, with a close, three-period battle with two-time Cadet Greco-Roman champion Dylan Carew of Iowa, 1-8, 1-0, 2-1. After Carew dominated the first period, Alton won a pair of close battles to take the final two periods. Dylan Alton was also a FILA Cadet National champion this year.

Andrew Alton won his third career Cadet Nationals title with a quick dismantling of Brock Gutches of Oregon at 135 pounds. Alton won the first period 6-0 in just a few seconds, then came back with a 31 second pin in the second period. Andrew Alton was also a Cadet National freestyle champion in 2006 and claimed the 2007 Cadet National Greco-Roman title on Sunday night. Andrew Alton was named Outstanding Wrestler in the Junior Freestyle division.

"I was very pumped that my brother won," said Andrew Alton. "I went all out. This was my last match of the season. I'm glad that we won it together."

The Alton twins helped lead Ohio to the Wells Fargo Insurance Services Cup team title, edging second-place Ohio by just one point, 71 points to 70 points. Pennsylvania had an impressive 15 All-Americans. It was the second team title for Pennsylvania this week, as the Cadet Greco-Roman team also won Wells Fargo Insurance Services Cup on Sunday. Placing third was New Jersey with 58 points, followed by Missouri in fourth with 48 points and Minnesota in fifth with 41 points.

Also winning for Pennsylvania was 2006 Cadet Nationals freestyle runner-up Josh Kindig, who claimed the title at 119 in an action-packed, intense battle against two-time FILA Cadet Nationals champion Tony Ramos of Illinois. Kindig was also the runner-up at the 2007 Cadet Greco-Roman Nationals on Sunday night.

Ramos won the first period, with Kindig winning the second. In the deciding third period, Kindig scored a two-point crotch lift and a two-point exposure, the key moves in winning the tiebreaker of their 5-5 tie. 

2007 Cadet Greco-Roman champion Alan Waters of Missouri won his second title of the week at 105 pounds, by defeating 2006 Cadet National freestyle champion Jamie Clark of Ohio in the finals, 2-2, 1-1. Waters won the tie-breaking criteria in both periods.

Also winning a double title with Cadet Greco-Roman and freestyle gold medals this week was Kyle Caylor of Kansas, who scored an impressive first-period pin over Chris Weber of Wisconsin in 1:15 at 215 pounds. Caylor took Weber down, turned him over and scored the fall, followed with a celebration yell.

Winning a second career Cadet National title was Mac Bailey of Missouri, who captured the 125-pound title with a two-period victory over Alex Bridgeford of Nebraska. Bailey hit a sweet three-point headlock in the first period and controlled the rest of the bout. Bailey had been a Cadet National Greco-Roman champion in 2006, and was second in the Cadet Nationals in Greco-Roman earlier this week.

At 91 pounds, there was a turn-around in a rematch from the Cadet Greco-Roman finals on Sunday. Carson Kuhn of Utah, the Greco-Roman runner-up, stopped Greco-Roman champion Valyen Rauser of Montana, 1-1, 3-1. In the Greco-Roman finals, Rauser had won the match, 2-4, 4-2, 1:12.

At 189 pounds, the other finals rematch was also a turn-around when New Jersey's Jonathan Becker defeated teammate Andrew Campalattano in three periods, 3-0, 0-3, 2-0. Becker scored on a stepout and on a leg attack takedown in the third period for the win.  In the Greco-Roman finals, Campalattano won, 0-4, 2-1, 6-0.

There were two consecutive pins in a row in the middle weights.

Scoring a first-period pin in the 145-pound finals was Brandon Rolnick of New Jersey, who put away 2007 Cadet Nationals Greco-Roman champion Dirk Cowburn of Pennsylvania in 43 seconds. Rolnick scored a takedown, a tilt, and then took Cowburn over once again to secure the pin.

At 152 pounds, Austin Meys of New York scored a third-period pin over Preston Kieffer of New Jersey. Kieffer won the first period 6-2, and Meys came back in the second period for a 6-2 win. In the deciding third period, Meys locked up a front headlock, turned Kieffer twice with it, pinning him on the second turn in 58 seconds.

Ohio wrestlers won two matches in a row in the upper weights, with victories by Riley Kilroy at 160 pounds and Chris Phillips at 171 pounds. Kilroy stopped Tom Davies of South Dakota, 1-1, 6-2, while Phillips shut out Mic Berg of Minnesota, 6-0, 4-0.

The champion at 140 pounds was Kalvin York of Wisconsin, who defeated 2007 Cadet Nationals Greco-Roman champion Marshall Peppleman of Pennsylvania, wrestling with an aggressive style to a 4-2, 6-0 decision.

Winning the final bout of the evening went to Indiana's Joe Arthur who beat Montana's Toby Erickson in two straight periods, 1-0, 3-0. Arthur won the first period on a stepout, and scored a body lock takedown and two spin behind takedowns for the second period win.