Craig named Outstanding Wrestler, one of five double champs at FILA Cadet National Freestyle Champio

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
05/08/2004


David Craig of Brandon, Fla. captured the 167.5 pound title, and was named Outstanding Wrestler at the FILA Cadet National Freestyle Championships held at Northwestern Univ. in Evanston, Ill. May 8.    Craig defeate Alton Lucas of W. Babylon, N.Y. in the gold-medal finals, 5-2. Lucas opened the event with a 2-0 lead, but Craig stormed back in the second period and took over the match. It was a rematch of the gold-medal match of the 2003 Cadet National freestyle finals in Fargo, N.D., won by Craig with a fall.    Craig was one of five athletes to win double titles, capturing both the freestyle and Greco-Roman titles at the University Nationals. The other double champions were Eric Grajales of Brandon, Fla. at 42 kg/92.5 lbs., Henry Cejudo of Phoenix, Ariz. at 50 kg/110 lbs., Jon Reader of Davison, Mich. at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. and Louis Caputo of Blue Springs, Mo. at 85 kg/187.25 lbs.    Craig and Cejudo were the only athletes to repeat as FILA Cadet National champions, as both were also freestyle champions at this event last year.    Grajales won a wild finals match, edging  Mark Ballweg of Waverly, Iowa, 16-14 in a shootout. The match was tied at 14-14 late in the final period.    Cejudo won six matches on the way to the title, including two technical falls and a pin. In the championship match, Cejudo beat Aaron Hart of Urbana, Ohio, 9-2. Cejudo was also a Cadet National double champion last summer in Fargo, N.D.    Reader was impressive in the gold-medal match, scoring a 12-2 technical fall over Adam Pittman of Chesapeake, Va. Reader dropped a match in his pool, losing to Brandon Rader of West Virginia in the fifth round. When Rader was pinned by Arizona's Mike Lovio in the round-robin, Reader advanced to the finals.    Caputo defeated returning FILA Cadet National champion Taylor Moore of Oak Gove, Mo., 4-0 in the finals. Moore was the first Cadet Triple Crown winner in history last year.    Bryan LaShomb of Moyock N.C. won the 119-pound title, defeating 2004 FILA Cadet National Greco-Roman champion Matt Vacanti of Papillon, Neb. in the finals, 14-11.    Dominating the 58 kg/127.75 lbs. division was Mikey Benefiel of Oswego, Ill, who scored a 12-0 technical fall over Jordan Frishkorn of Chesapeake, Va. in the finals. He had four technical falls in the tournament.    Other individual champions were Pat McCaffrey of Glen Ellyn, Ill. at 46 kg/101.25 lbs., Chris Brown of Chesapeake, Va. at 69 kg/152 lbs. and Ryan Nachtrab of Bowling Green, Ohio at 100 kg/220.25 lbs.    McCaffrey scored a 10-0 technical fall in the finals over Joe McCullough of Erie, Pa. Brown stopped 2003 Cadet National double champion Matt Dragon of Noxen, Pa., 5-1. Nachtrab pinned Trey Rogers of Chesapeake, Va. in 37 seconds.