Six double champions crowned at the 1997 HEALTHSOUTH Cadet Freestyle Nation

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
07/25/1997


A total of thirteen champions, including six double champions, were crowned at the 1997 HEALTHSOUTH Cadet Freestyle National Wrestling Championships in Fargo, N.D., on Friday, July 25. 

The 13th annual HEALTHSOUTH Cadet Nationals, which featured the best 15-16 year old wrestlers in the nation, are being held alongside the 27th annual John Vaughan/Asics Tiger Junior Nationals for the second straight year making it the largest amateur wrestling tournament in the world.

A double champion is a wrestler who claims championships in both the Greco-Roman and freestyle tournaments.

Claiming double titles were Mark Moos of Lorain, Ohio, Chris Fleeger of Trout Run, Pa., Coyte Cooper of Anacortes, Wash., Josh McLay of Hastings, Minn., Tommy Rowlands of Columbus, Ohio and Joshua Etu of Queensbury, N.Y.

Moos, the first double champion in Ohio history, pinned Zac Roth of Lake Crystal, Minn. in 1:20 to win the 83.5 pound title. Moos is a five-time state champion in both freestyle and Greco-Roman.

Fleeger, a member of the 1997 Cadet Greco-Roman World Team, captured the double title at 103.5 pounds with a 10-0 victory over Mason Lenhard of Parma, Ohio in 2:26. Fleeger also claimed double titles in the 1997 Northeast Regionals and the 1997 East Coast Junior Duals.

Cooper, who claimed the Cadet Greco-Roman national title at 121 pounds earlier in the week, defeated Victor Jackson of Poquoson, Va. 9-2 to claim his third straight national title.

Cooper, a three-time U.S. Cadet World Team member, was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

McLay, who placed third in the 1997 Cadet Greco-Roman World Team Trials, defeated Ryan Lange of Northfield, Ohio 4-1 in the 154 pound finals.

Rowlands, who placed fourth at the 1997 Cadet Freestyle World Championships, won the 167 pound title with a 12-1 victory over Travis Pascoe of Rathdrum, Idaho in 2:46.

Etu, the 1997 Cadet Greco-Roman World Champion, added a Cadet Nationals double title to his list of accomplishments by pinning Kevin Finnegan of Warsaw, N.Y. in just 0:27 to claim the title at 209 pounds.

Wrestlers claiming their first Cadet freestyle national titles included Eric Hopkins of Broken Arrow, Okla., Tommy Owen of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Cliff Moore of Dubuque, Iowa, Max Odom of Tehachapi, Calif., Nick Frost of Tucson, Ariz., Jon Trenge of Orefield, Pa and Steve Mocco of North Bergen, N.J.

Hopkins, a 1997 Southern Plains champion, captured the national title at 88 pounds with a 9-0 decision over Geoffrey Reisman of Upper Sadle River, N.J.

Owen, who was fourth in the 1997 Cadet World Team Trials in Greco-Roman, claimed his first national title with a 9-8 overtime decision over Jerad Karlen of McHenry, Ill. at 94.5 pounds.

Moore, the Cadet World Team Trials champion in freestyle at 114.5 pounds, won his first title with a 4-3 decision over Mike Akers of Poquoson, Va. at 112 pounds.

Odom, a three-time Western Regional champion, won his first national championship at 121 pounds with a 13-1 technical fall over Chris Brizzi of Ramsey, N.J. in 3:51.

Frost, who was second in the 1997 Cadet World Team Trials in freestyle, captured his first national title at 143 pounds with a 11-2 decision over Zachariah Doll of Quakertown, Pa.

Trenge, the runner-up in the Cadet Nationals in Greco-Roman on Monday, claimed the double championship at 182.5 pounds by pinning George Kirgan of Granite City, Ill. in 1:11.

Mocco, who placed third in the Cadet Nationals in freestyle in 1996, won his first national championship with by pinning David Walker of Seminole, Fla. in 3:56 at 242 pounds.

Zachariah Doll of Quakertown, Pa. won the Most Falls Award by compiling a total of 8 pins in 8:40.

A total of 989 competitors took to the mats at the 1997 HEALTHSOUTH Cadet Greco-Roman Nationals.

The 1997 John Vaughan/Asics Tiger Junior Nationals wrap-up on Saturday, July 26 with preliminaries scheduled from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Medal matches (3rd, 5th, 7th) are scheduled from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. with finals set for 6:00-8:00 p.m.

1997 HEALTHSOUTH Cadet Freestyle National Championships

Final Results

Friday, July 25 - Fargo, N.D.

83.5 lbs.

1st - Mark Moos, Lorain, Ohio pin Zac Roth, Lake Crystal, Minn., 1:20; 3rd - Adam Grillo, Albion, N.Y won by tech. fall over Brian Slater, Moore, Okla., 11-0; 5th - Sean Bolen, Lake Oswego, Ore. pin Nick Leon, Vista, Cal., 1:30; 7th - Mike Magnusson, Blaine, Wash. won by tech. fall over Eric Fiedler, Cambridge, Minn., 13-2

88 lbs.

1st - Eric Hopkins, Broken Arrow, Okla dec. Geoffrey Reisman, Upper Saddle River, N.J., 9-0; 3rd - Lewis Williams, Omaha, Neb. dec. Troy Forte, Pittsford, N.Y., 15-13, ot; 5th - Jack Scott, Holt, Mich. dec. Pawel Szajda, Farmington, Conn., 9-4; 7th - Daniel Villa, Bakersfield, Calif. dec. Carson Bernard, Loveland, Colo., 10-5

94.5 lbs.

1st - Tommy Owen, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho dec. Jerad Karlen, McHenry, Ill., 9-8 ot; 3rd - Nathan Schy, Hampton, Va. dec. William Moyer, Osceola, Ind., 5-2; 5th - Robert Maldonado, Hammond, Ind. pin Andy Bricker, Live Oak, Fla., 2:52; 7th - Ricky Garcia, Cerritos, Calif. dec. Rocky Laughlin, Malvern, Ohio, 3-2, ot

103.5 lbs.

1st - Chris Fleeger, Trout Run, Pa. won by tech. fall over Mason Lenhard, Parma, Ohio, 10-0, 2:26; 3rd - Matt Jones, Lake Crystal, Minn. pin Joshua Lamano, Layton, Utah, 3:03; 5th - Kyle Ott, Huber Heights, Ohio dec. Travis Harrison, Eugene, Ore., 15-9; 7th - Israel Martinez, Aurora, Ill. dec. Wes Gibson, Beech Grove, Ind., 3-1, ot

112 lbs.

1st - Cliff Moore, Dubuque, Iowa dec. Mike Akers, Poquoson, Va., 4-3; 3rd - Steve Cordova, Ogden, Utah dec. Doug McGraw, Emporium, Pa., 10-6; 5th - Mike May, New Alexandria, Pa. pin Scott Moore, Franklin, Pa., 3:42; 7th - Joe Alexander, Franklinville, N.J. dec. Matt Jacobs, Freeport, Ill., 8-2

121 lbs.

1st - Max Odom, Tehachapi, Calif. won by tech. fall over Chris Brizzi, Ramsey, N.J., 13-1, 3:51; 3rd - Foley Dowd, Howell, N.J. dec. Ben Martinez, Pixley, Calif., 6-2; 5th - Josh Ballard, Carlsbad, N.M. dec. Craig Frost, Roselle Park, N.J., 7-4; 7th - Nicholas Pell, Benton City, Wash. pin P.J. Sargent, Elysburg, Pa., 1:29

132 lbs.

1st - Coyte Cooper, Anacortes, Wash. dec. Victor Jackson, Poquoson, Va., 9-2; 3rd - Mike Pirozzola, Levittown, Pa. dec. Branson Phillips, Tulsa, Okla., 7-3; 5th - James Medeiros, Fremont, Calif. won by tech. fall over Phil Riedman, Litchville, N.D., 10-0; 7th - Paul Carlson, Cedar, Minn. won by tech. fall over Mitch Morgan, Midway, Utah, 10-0

143 lbs.

1st - Nick Frost, Tucson, Ariz. dec. Zachariah Doll, Quakertown, Pa., 11-2; 3rd - Matt Grice, Newalla, Okla. dec. Steve Amy, Illinois City, Ill., 7-5; 5th - Luke Crockett, Woodland, Wash. dec. Adam Gilmore, Willard, Ohio, 3-0; 7th - Justin Giovinco, Norristown, Pa. pin Justin Frohlich, Woodcliff Lake, N.J., 0:57

154 lbs.

1st - Josh McLay, Hastings, Minn. dec. Ryan Lange, Northfield, Ohio, 4-1 ; 3rd - Ed Gomez, Freeport, N.Y. pin Ryan Hieber, Galion, Ohio, 0:38; 5th - Wes Roberts, Oklahoma City, Okla. won by tech. fall over Vince Arlotta, Turnersville, N.J., 10-0; 7th - Dean Schuler, Toledo, Ohio dec. Kyle Fisher, Havre, Mont., 9-0

167 lbs.

1st - Tommy Rowlands, Columbus, Ohio won by tech. fall over Travis Pascoe, Rathdrum, Idaho, 12-1, 2:46; 3rd - Brad Christie, Fort Lee, N.J. pin Jonathan Robideaux, Aloha, Ore., 0:39; 5th - Jason Potter, St. Charles, Ill. dec. Phil Hogan, Boulder, Colo., 8-3; 7th - Jacob Hutchins, Rice, Minn. pin Dan Salmon, Powell, Ohio, 1:22

182.5 lbs.

1st - Jon Trenge, Orefield, Pa. pin George Kirgan, Granite City, Ill., 1:11; 3rd - Ryan Halladay, Woodbridge, N.J. pin Trey Clark, LaPorte City, Iowa, 1:58; 5th - Nick Richmond, West Alexander, Pa. dec. Jareck Horton, Apple Valley, Minn., 8-2; 7th - Matt Hogue, Cochranton, Pa. won by tech. fall over Matt Kunkel, Abadeen, Md., 11-0

209 lbs.

1st - Josh Etu, Queensbury, N.Y pin Kevin Finnegan, Warsaw, N.Y., 0:27.; 3rd - Jacob Leair, Grants Pass, Ore. dec. Seth Morris, Spokane, Wash., 5-0; 5th - Pat Degain, White Lake, Mich. dec. Jon Rosas, Diamondville, Wyo., 8-0; 7th