Aaron Pico of California, a Cadet Triple Crown winner competing in Fargo, N.D. in 2012. Top high school talents are expected to enter this year’s Western Junior Regionals, as it returns to Las Vegas, Nev. John Sachs photo.

Many of the best high school wrestlers in the Western United States, as well as top talents from all across the nation, are expected to participate in the Western Junior Regionals, which will be held alongside the U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas, Nev., April 16-20.

For the first time ever, the Western Junior Regional competition will feature a Junior Women’s division. 

The Western Junior Regional women’s division and Greco-Roman competitions will be held on Wed., April 17. The Western Junior Regional men’s freestyle wrestlers will compete on Thursday, April 18 and Friday, April 19.

This event offers a great opportunity for high school athletes to test themselves against other talented wrestlers and also help them prepare for the upcoming ASICS/Vaughan Junior Nationals later in the season. 

This year, there is an exciting new opportunity concerning hotel reservations and entry fees. Participants in all five USA Wrestling tournaments in Las Vegas will receive their event registration fee at half price if they book their hotel room through VEGAS.com. You must go through the USA Wrestling event websites first to get the proper location on Vegas.com and receive a discount code for registration. This is a tremendous value for all who use this option.
 
VEGAS.com offers extremely low prices at a large variety of hotels in Las Vegas and offers a price guarantee. If you can find a lower price at that hotel property somewhere else, VEGAS.com will match the rate.
 
YOU MUST BOOK A ROOM THROUGH VEGAS.COM FIRST IN ORDER TO RECEIVE A DISCOUNT CODE TO USE LATER FOR TOURNAMENT REGISTRATION. Do not go directly to Vegas.com to book your room. Use the link on the USA Wrestling event websites to Vegas.com to order your room and receive the discount code for event registration.

Online registration is available for all five USA Wrestling tournaments in Las Vegas, with a deadline of Tuesday, April 16 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time. For the Western Junior Regionals, onsite late registration will be permitted with an additional late entry fee.

Western Juniors Online Registration deadline – early a.m. April 16

When the tournament has been held alongside the Senior National Championships, the field has been large and talented. In the past, the Western Regionals has set records for the number of entries when held in Las Vegas.

One of the reasons that the Western Junior Regionals is so popular when held alongside the U.S. Nationals is that the participants get a chance to watch the Senior-level stars in action during the weekend. Many of the wrestlers also spend time with their families enjoying the vacation opportunities.

A tradition of excellence has been established at the Western Junior Regionals, which has been a fertile proving ground for talented young wrestling stars for decades.

Last year, five wrestlers claimed double titles, winning both men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman competitions. It was a tremendous display of dominance from some of the nation’s best high school competitors.

Double champions last year were Brock George of Utah at 100 lbs., Ohio brothers Zack Nelson at 132 lbs. and Zane Nelson at 145 lbs., Dustin Fuller of Iowa at 160 lbs. and Ryder Newman of Nevada at 182 lbs.

The top three place winners in each Junior weight class at the Western Junior Regionals qualify for their state's National Team. USA Wrestling’s ASICS/Vaughan Junior National Championships are July 12-20, in Fargo, N.D. 

This event also offers a great opportunity for high school women athletes to prepare for the upcoming Body Bar Women’s National Championships in Lakeland, Fla., May 10-12.

Last year, Greco-Roman champion at 170 lbs., Georgan Speiller of Florida went on to win a title at the 2012 ASICS/Vaughan Junior National Championships at 160 lbs. Don’t be surprised if more Western Junior Regional champions show up and win titles this year in Fargo.

WESTERN JUNIOR REGIONALS SCHEDULE
At Las Vegas, Nev.

Tuesday, April 16

9:00AM (Pacific Time) - Online Junior Athlete Registration – All Divisions

Wednesday, April 17

10:00AM-11:00AM - Mandatory Check-in, Weigh-in Card Pickup, and Waiver Drop-off for Junior (High School) Women’s Western Regional 

11:00AM-11:10AM -  Junior (High School) Women’s Western Regional Medical Check & Weigh-in (Room N113)

3:00PM-Conclusion - Junior (High School) Woman’s Western Regional Preliminaries, Medal Matches and Finals

7:00PM-8:00PM - Mandatory Check-in, Weigh-in Card Pickup, and Waiver Drop-off for Western Junior (High School) Greco-Roman Regional (Room N113)

8:00PM-8:15PM - Junior (High School) Greco-Roman Western Regional Medical Check & Weigh-in (Room N113). Athletes who actively compete in both styles of the Boys Western Junior (High School) Regional will only have to weigh-in once. 

Wednesday, April 17

9:00AM-1:00PM -Junior (High School) Greco-Roman Western Regional Preliminaries

3:00PM-Conclusion - Junior (High School) Greco-Roman Western Regional Preliminaries, Medal Matches and Finals

7:00PM-8:00PM - Mandatory Check-in, Weigh-in Card Pickup, and Waiver Drop-off for Junior (High School) Freestyle Western Regional

8:00PM-8:15PM - Junior (High School) Freestyle Western Regional Medical Check & Weigh-in

Thursday, April 18

9:00AM-1:00PM - Junior (High School) Freestyle Western Regional Preliminaries Session I

2:00PM-6:00PM - Junior (High School) Freestyle Western Regional Preliminaries Session II

Friday, April 19

9:00AM-Conclusion - Junior (High School) Freestyle Western Regional Preliminaries, Medal Matches and Finals

2012 WESTERN JUNIOR FREESTYLE REGIONALS
Gold-medal matches
	110 – Brock George (Utah) dec. Tommy Rios (Arizona), 5-1, 3-3, 3-2
	106 – Issac Jimenez (Texas) dec. Tirso Lara (California), 3-4, 7-1, 1-1
	113 – Riko Quintana (California) dec. Miguel Bentancourt (Texas), 3-0,
 5-1
	120 – Melvin Arciaga (Washington) dec. Chase Green (Idaho), 3-0, 6-2
	126 – Jordan Hart (Nevada) tech. fall Fabian Caraveo (Texas), 8-2, 7-1
	132 – Zack Nelson (Ohio) tech. fall Jimmy Felix (California), 7-1, 6-0
	138 – Chase Call (Idaho) tech. fall Ryan Vandall (Arizona), 7-0, 6-0
	145 – Zane Nelson (Ohio) dec. Bronson Ashjian (Nevada), 3-2, 4-1
	152 – Terry Mason (Nevada) dec. Brad Lindsay (Arizona), 8-0, 4-2
	160 – Dustin Fuller (Iowa) dec. Ocean Haire (Arizona), 7-0, 2-1
	170 – 1st - Lukas Basham (California); 2nd – Cory Woods (CA)
	182 – Ryder Newman (Nevada) dec. Ajay Gill (Washington), 4-1, 6-0
	195 – Garrett Ryan (Arizona) tech. fall Brik Chesley (Nevada), 7-0, 6-0
	220 – Parm Dhesi (Washington) dec. Floyd Jones (Arizona), 6-1, 6-0
	285 – Amar Dhesi (Washington) tech. fall Ricky Villegas (Arizona), 6-0, 8-0

2012 WESTERN JUNIOR GRECO-ROMAN REGIONALS
Gold-medal matches
	110 – 1st - Brock George (Utah); 2nd – Hayden Karren (Colorado)
	106 – Tirso Lara (California) dec. J.B. Gierlich (California), 1-0, 1-0
	113 – 1st - Riko Quintana (California); 2nd – Victor Leal (California)
	120 – Joshua Breece (Oklahoma) tech. Shawn Miller (California), 8-0, 8-0
	126 – Ali Soto Macias (Arizona) tech. fall Glenn Farina (Arizona), 7-0, 
6-0
	132 – Zack Nelson (Ohio) dec. Kevin Coburn (California), 1-1, 0-1, 5-2
	138 – David Perez (Arizona) dec. Chase Call (Idaho), 3-0, 1-3, 2-0
	145 – Zane Nelson (Ohio) dec. Alexander Aniciete (Nevada), 4-0, 1-0
	152 – Devin Vasquez (Texas) dec. Terry Mason (Nevada), 6-5, 2-0
	160 – Dustin Fuller (Iowa) dec. Carlos Alfredo Apodaca (Arizona), 1-0,
 4-3
	170 – Geordan Speiller (Florida) pinned Martin Moreno (Arizona), 1:36
	182 – Ryder Newman (Nevada) dec. Zack Hanson (California), 0-5, 0-7
	195 – Nicolas Johnson (California) pinned Garrett Ryan (Arizona), 1:33
	220 – William Mason (Nevada)