Joyce, Lucas, Ambrosino qualify for Cadet National Greco-Roman finals as field cut down to All-Ameri

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
07/20/2003


The evening session at the ASICS/Vaughan Junior and Cadet National Championships on Sunday, July 20 featured competition in both age divisions. The nation's top Cadet and Junior age wrestlers were busy knocking off the competition and narrowing the field of contenders in their weight divisions.    The Cadet Nationals completed its second day, and each weight class was whittled down to All-American contenders. In some weights, the All-American have already been identified, as the pools are down to four athletes. In others, it is just a match away.    In three pools, the winner of the pool is already determined, meaning the athlete has qualified for the gold-medal finals on Monday. This happened in the 145 A pool, won by Brett Ambrosino of Illinois, as well as in the 160 B pool, won by Alton Lucas of New York, and in the 275 A pool, captured by Justin Neal of Maryland.    The Junior Nationals was still in its early stages, but featured some spectacular action including many talented stars.    CADET NATIONALS DOWN TO ALL-AMERICAN ROUNDS    A pair of 2002 Cadet National Greco-Roman champions returned this year in an attempt to repeat: Henry Cejudo of Arizona at 105 pounds and Troy Nickerson of New York at 112 pounds.    Cejudo scored a 7-0 win over Joseph Martin of Connecticut, then stopped Aaron Smith of Oklahoma with a 10-0 technical fall. His next win was an 8-0 decision over J.D. Goodrich of Washington. There are four people alive in his pool. Last year, Cejudo was the champion at 91 pounds.    On Sunday, Nickerson opened with an 11-0 technical fall over Sean Joyce of Florida, then edged Zach Bigboy of Minnesota, 5-2. In his third bout of the evening, Nickerson scored a 10-0 technical fall over Justin Accordino of Pennsylvania Nickerson won his Cadet National title at 105 pounds last summer.    A pair of Greco-Roman runners-up from last year were also still alive in their weight classes: Tim McGoldrick of Pennsylvania at 135 pounds and Kyle Bounds of Washington at 145 pounds.     Pat McCaffrey of Pennsylvania, who was third in the Cadet Nationals in Greco-Roman last year and was also Cadet National freestyle champion, remains in the hunt at 91 pounds.    Nicole Jane Woody of Maryland fell short in her attempt to become the first girl to earn All-American honors at the Cadet Nationals, competing in the 84-pound division. Woody went 1-1 in Saturday's action. On Sunday, she defeated Josh Grube of Oklahoma, 2-1 in overtime, but was eliminated from the medal rounds with a 10-0 technical fall loss to Jake Quinten of Pennsylvania.    REMAINING COMPETITORS IN CADET GRECO-ROMAN NATIONALS    84 A - Evan Russell (IN), Josh Chappa (WI), Jake Quinten (PA)  84  A - 4th in pool - Johnny Urich (IN)  84B - Scott Dayton (NY) Donny Altman (KS), Matt Fields (IN)  84 B - 4th in pool - Jason Ray (IN)    91 A - Anthony Jorge (FL), Justin Blummer (OK), Pat McCaffrey (PA), Paul Gentry (ID)  91 B - Scott O'Donnell (MO), Matthew Kyler (PA), Alex Piasecki (FL), Matt McNaughton (IL)    98 A -Levi Jones (WA), Devlon Childress (MI), Tyler Bowles (WA)  98 A - 4th in pool - Zach Sanders (MN)  98 B -Sean Kitchens (WA), Kelly Kubec (WA), Mike Thorn (MN)  98 B - 4th in pool - Marty Eng (OR)    105A - J.D. Goodrich (WA), Josh Strait (ID), Henry Cejudo (AZ), Joseph Martin (CT)  105 B - Adam Smetana (PA), Seth Flodeen (MN), Trevor Hall (WA)  105B - 4th in pool - Alex Warren (IN)    112 A - Victor Weideman (NE), Troy Nickerson (NY), Colon Frick (PA)  112 A - 4th in pool - Justin Accordino (PA)  112 B - Steve Myrtych (PA), Matt Vacanti (NE), J.P. O'Connor (NY), Brian Shelton (OK)    119 A - Jake Swenson (UT), Elijah Hutchison (AK), David Albrecht (MN), Frankie Gayeski (NJ)  119 B - Jayson Ness (MN), Michael Rowe (MD), Jon Reader (MI), Brian Graham (MO)    125 A - Jon Isacson (IL), Garrett Scott (PA), Codey Schultz (MN), Jeremy McCoy (NE)  125 B - Dallas Seavey (AK), Beau Penk (MN), John Basting (ND), Eric Graham (MO)    130 A- Matthew Hobar (TX), Lowell Switzer (NE), Matt Lopez (AZ), Adam Hall (ID)  130 B - Michael Powers (CT), Joseph Cornejo (KS), Brandon Sitch (WA), Tom Renner (MI)    135 A -Tim McGoldrick (PA), Carlo Fernandino (NY), Chris Karsseboom (OR)  135 A - 4th in pool - Braden L'Amoreaux (MI)  135 B - Anthony Elder (UT), Jeff Warusz (PA), Jason Brew (MI), Kaylen Baxter (AK)    140A - Talon Knox (UT), John Dibala (OR), Josh Rohler (OH), Jesse Robbins (FL)  140 B - Ryan Smith (PA), Daniel LeClere (IA), Matt Dragon (PA), Peter Miller (MO), Lewis Gonzalez (CA)    145 A - 1st in pool - Brett Ambrosino (IL); 2nd in pool - Archie McConnell (PA); 3rd in pool - Jeff Marra (CT); 4th in pool - Gresh Melby (MT)  145B - Match for 1st in pool - Andy Jackson (OR) vs. Kyle Bounds (WA)  145 B - 3rd in pool - Jeff James (OK); 4th in pool - Rob Waltko (PA)    152 A - Brandon Simpson (MO), Tim Matheson (MN), Mack Lewnes (MD)  152 A - 4th in pool - Evan Piessig (WI)  152 B - Paul Vasquez (AZ), Jack Hartley (NC), Caleb Young (MN), Derek Basbagill (IN)    160 A -Match for 1st in pool - David Craig (FL),vs. Andrew Geving (WI)  160 A - 3rd in pool - David McCarty (NY); 4th in pool - Ryan Anderson (WA)  160 B - 1st in pool - Alton Lucas (NY); 4th in pool - Julius Rios (WY)  160 B - Match for 3rd in pool - Pat Flynn (PA), Trevor Stewart (MI),    171 A - Dominic Marella (IL), Jovan Belcher (NY), Louis Caputo (MO)  171 A - 4th in pool - Kyle Chittick (MI)  171 B - Eric Decker (NY), Seth Parker (IN), Steve Crozier (IA)  171 B - 4th in pool - Collin Brooks (OR)    189 A - Match for 1st in pool - Nate Sipes (PA), Taylor Moore (MO),   189 A - 3rd in pool - Jon Jones (NY); 4th in pool - Jeremy Jennings (IL)  189 B - James Aston (TX), Kevin Landry (MN), Mike Hurst (PA)  189 B - 4th in pool - Nick Sipes (PA)    215 A - Skip Crooks (WY), Erik Nye (CA), Steve Larson (MN)  215 A - Wrestle-off for 4th in pool - Spencer Carr (OH) vs. Matt Dobson (VA),  215 B - James Patchen (WI), Robby Smith (CA), Brent Eidenschink (MN)  215 B - 4th in pool - John Kardoulis (NY)    275 A - 1st in Pool - Justin Neal (MD); 4th in pool - Jake Mallonee (MO),  275 A - Match for 2nd in pool - Zach Covington (IA), Kenny Lester (FL)  275 B - Match for 1st in pool - Jake Seitz (AL) vs. Aaron Shiosaki (CA)  275 B - 3rd in pool - Scott Sandoval (IL); 4th in pool - Justin Wren (TX)    JUNIOR NATIONALS MOVES THROUGH FOUR ROUNDS    Returning champion Tanner Gardner of Kansas remained undefeated at 119 pounds. On Sunday night, he scored a pair of technical falls to John Ness of Colorado 13-2 and Eric Albright of Pennsylvania, 12-1. Gardner won his Junior title last year at 105 pounds    Returning champion Cheney Haight of Utah continued his unbeaten run at 152 pounds. On Sunday evening, he scored a 13-1 technical fall over Andy Nicodin of Colorado, then scored a 6-1 victory over Mike Sabatello of Illinois. Haight won his title last year at 140 pounds    Returning champion J.D. Bergman of Ohio also continued to dominate at 189 pounds. Sunday night, he pinned Derek Lalowski of Illinois in 1:41 and Travis Slama of Missouri in 1:19. This is the same weight class that Bergman won last year.    Also in the Greco-Roman division this year is a Junior National freestyle champion from last year, Craig Henning of Wisconsin at 145 pounds. In the evening session, he won a pair of 10-0 technical falls.    A major portion of the Junior Greco-Roman event will be held on Monday, in a session that runs from 9:00 a.m. through 1:00 p.m.