Oklahoma Wins Freestyle Junior National Dual Title With 33-26 Win Over Pennsylvania
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John Fuller (USA Wrestling)
06/30/2002
Enid, Okla. - Charles Jones became an unlikely hero on Sunday night. Jones, wrestling for the Oklahoma Chiggers, defeated Nathan Galloway of the Pennsylvania Thundercats, one of the top Junior level wrestlers in the nation, to help his team to a 33-26 win in the finals of the Freestyle Junior National Duals. "I know I can wrestle with the best in the nation, but it just comes down to proving I am that good. I need to win matches like these to show people what I am capable of," Jones said after his team claimed their seventh national championship in freestyle. Jones raced out to a 6-2 lead halfway through the second period before holding off a late attack by Galloway in the 6-5 win. Jones' victory tied the dual meet at 20-20 with five matches left. "I can't say enough about Charlie," Oklahoma coach Archie Randall said. "He was tough out there tonight, but so were all of our guys. This whole tournament, not just the finals match, was a complete team effort. Every one of our guys contributed." Until Jones' monumental win, neither team was able to gain control of the dual meet. Oklahoma got on the board quick with Mike Bizzle's 13-0 technical fall over Justin Accordino at 98 lbs. The Thundercats roared back, though, getting wins from Brad Pataky at 105 lbs. and Coleman Scott at 112 lbs. to take a 7-5 lead. University of Oklahoma recruit Derrick Fleenor regained momentum for the Chiggers with a 13-3 technical fall over Drew Headlee. Fleenor was dominating from par terre in the match against Headlee. 125-pound Justin Porter recorded a 10-0 technical fall over Mark Throckmorton to help the Chiggers gain control of the dual meet, but Pennsylvania continued to fight back. Pennsylvania's Dave Morgan pinned Greg Waag at 130 lbs. and Matt Kocher held off a late flurry by Oklahoma's Teyon Ware to avoid a technical fall in an 8-0 loss. Ware's win gave Oklahoma an 16-12 lead midway through the dual, a lead that was diminished in the next match when Pennsylvania's Jeff Eckloff won by technical fall over Chris Jones. Things seemed to be going well for Pennsylvania after that, as Matt Storniolo recorded a win at 145 lbs. to give the Thundercats the lead heading into the Jones-Galloway match. The Chiggers put the dual away after the 152-pound bout by winning four of the final five matches. Johnnny Hendricks, 160 lbs., Joel Flaggert, 189 lbs., Rockey Richie, 215 lbs., and Phillip Doerner, 275 lbs., all eased through wins to end the dual. Pennsylvania received a final gasp of hope at 171 lbs., when Jeremy Hart, a Penn State signee, defeated Matt Steele, an Oklahoma signee, 3-0. The win by Oklahoma adds fuel to a major rivalry between the two states. "These are arguably the two top states for high school wrestling in the nation. We both had a lot of our big guns here, so it really shows what this year's Oklahoma team was capable of," Randall said. Now that the Junior National Dual Championships have ended, the wrestlers will move on to their next goal - winning individual championships at the Junior National Championships in Fargo, ND, July 21-27.