Perez III repeats as 16U Greco champ in Fargo, 3 wrestlers earn double titles

FARGO, N.D. -- In two weeks, Robert Perez III, the nation's No. 1 freshman, will compete at the Cadet World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, so he headed to Fargo for a tune-up.

The tune-up resulted in Perez capturing his second straight 16U Greco-Roman title on Thursday, beating Matthew Singleton (Georgia) 7-2 in the finals at 145 pounds, the same wrestler he defeated to make the Cadet World Team.

Singleton led 1-1 on criteria with under a minute remaining before Perez scored an exposure off a front headlock to grab the lead. Singleton picked up a reversal to make the score 3-2. Perez would score a four-point throw in the finals seconds to win by five.

Minnesota's Jore Volk (100), Oklahoma's John Wiley (138) and Ohio's Seth Shumate (195) capped off double titles in Fargo by winning 16U Greco-Roman stop signs on Thursday.

Volk won his title by beating Benjamin Aranda (Illinois) 4-1 in the finals at 100 pounds. Aranda scored the first point off a step out, but Volk came right back with a four-point throw, which turned out to be enough to get the victory.

Wiley, a runner-up last summer in the 16U Greco competition, topped Cody Chittum (Tennessee) 4-1 to earn his title at 138 pounds. Chittum grabbed an early lead after a step out, but Wiley took the criteria lead at the break. He added to his lead with a step out in the second period. With 15 seconds left, Chittum attempted a throw, which Wiley countered and nearly secured the fall before time expired.

Shumate, the nation's No. 4 sophomore, capped off a dominant run to the title at 195 pounds with a 10-0 technical superiority in the finals over Isaiah Anderson (Washington). He scored with two four-point throws before ending the match with a gut wrench in just over a minute.

Illinois won the team title in the 16U Greco-Roman competition for the seventh straight year, finishing five points ahead of runner-up California.

Bradley Gillum (160) was the lone champion for Illinois. He defeated Adam Ahrendsen (Iowa) 6-3 in the finals at 160 pounds.

California and Minnesota both had three champions.

Ray Ray Harris (94) and Brock Bobzien (113) won titles for California before Perez became the Golden State's third champion.

Harris won by 14-3 technical superiority in the finals at 94 pounds over 16U freestyle champion Cael Hughes (Oklahoma).

Bobzien needed just 40 seconds to earn a 10-0 technical superiority in the 113-pound finals against Isaiah Kainoa Medina (California) at 113 pounds.

In addition to Volk, Caleb Thoennes (88) and Gavin Nelson (170) won titles.

Thoennes (Minnesota) shut out Hunter Taylor (Kansas) 6-0 in the finals at 88 pounds.


Nelson, a third-place finisher in the InterMat Classic, hung on to beat Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) 7-6 in the finals at 170 pounds. After Nelson went up 7-0 in the opening period, Picklo battled back. He threw Nelson to his back with a minute remaining and nearly secured a fall, but had to settle for two points, which put him down a point. But Nelson held strong position and took the victory.

Robert Weston (Georgia) was named Outstanding Wrestler of the event. He cruised to a first-period 11-0 technical superiority in the finals over Jared Simma (Kansas) at 152 pounds. Weston did not surrender a point in the Greco-Roman competition and won every match by technical superiority or fall.

Jacob Barnes (Oregon) won the title at 285 pounds with a 31-second fall over Hayden Copass (Illinois). It halted Copass' bid at a 16U Triple Crown.

Other champions included Christian Tanefeu (North Dakota) at 106 pounds, Nicolar Rivera (Wisconsin) at 120 pounds, Ramon Ramos (Arizona) at 126 pounds, Michael Kilic (Georgia) at 132 pounds, Nicholas Feldman (Pennsylvania) at 182 pounds and Gage Cook (Washington) at 220 pounds.

Placement Match Results

88:
1st: Caleb Thoennes (Minnesota) dec. Hunter Taylor (Kansas), 6-0
3rd: Grigor Cholakyan (California) dec. Alan Koehler (Minnesota), 6-4
5th: Kolby Warren (Missouri) tech. Cael Alderman (Kansas), 11-0 3:39
7th: Kyison Garcia (Utah) tech. Cosmo Damiani (New York), 11-0 2:00

94:
1st: Ray Ray Harris (California) tech. Cael Hughes (Oklahoma), 14-3 3:39
3rd: DJ Gillett (Oregon) tech. Coleman Nogle (Maryland), 12-1 2:34
5th: Kenneth Hendriksen (Texas) dec. Christopher Martino (Idaho), 5-4
7th: Carson Wagner (Pennsylvania) dec. Joey Showalter (Wisconsin), 9-6

100:
1st: Jore Volk (Minnesota) dec. Benjamin Aranda (Illinois), 4-1
3rd: Kannon Webster (Illinois) dec. Beau Mantanona (California), 4-3
5th: Kai Owen (Florida) tech. Keith Smith (Nebraska), 12-12
7th: Brayden Sonnentag (Wisconsin) dec. Trason Oehme (South Dakota), 5-3

106:
1st: Christian Tanefeu (North Dakota) dec. Kyle Rice (Idaho), 7-4
3rd: Zeth Romney (California) dec. Greyson Clark (Wisconsin), 11-9
5th: Horacio Godinez (Washington) dec. Joseph Fernau (Illinois), 4-0
7th: Jacob Van dee (Pennsylvania) tech. Marlon Yarbrough (Ohio), 14-4 1:40

113:
1st: Brock Bobzien (California) tech. Isaiah kainoa Medina (California), 10-0 0:40
3rd: Stevie Barnes (Iowa) dec. Trae Mcdaniel (Tennessee), 6-3
5th: Gabe Whisenhunt (Oregon) by forfeit over Dante Rigal (New York)
7th: Damian Mendez (Kansas) dec. Abraham Hinrichsen (Illinois), 8-6

120:
1st: Nicolar Rivera (Wisconsin) tech. Kayd Craig (Idaho), 12-2 3:13
3rd: Joey Cape (Illinois) dec. Hunter Garvin (Iowa), 11-8
5th: Richard Fedalen (Maryland) dec. David Panone (Georgia), 9-6
7th: Q'veli Quintanilla (Washington) tech. AJ Smith (Minnesota), 15-4 2:00

126:
1st: Ramon Ramos (Arizona) tech. Gavin Drexler (Wisconsin), 13-2 2:53
3rd: Colin Roberts (Ohio) dec. Kaleb Larkin (Arizona), 4-3
5th: Conor Goucher (Washington) pinned Ethan Fernandez (New Jersey), 12-2 3:58
7th: Nicco Ruiz (California) dec. Maximilian Leete (Massachusetts), 3-2

132:
1st: Michael Kilic (Georgia) dec. Jack Milos (Illinois), 8-5
3rd: Ivan Morris (Colorado) pinned Jaden New (Alabama), 4-1 1:57
5th: Kyle Boeke (Minnesota) tech. Kyle Dutton (Missouri), 12-2 1:18
7th: Robert Avila (Iowa) tech. Mateo De la pena (Washington), 11-1 3:37

138:
1st: John Wiley (Oklahoma) dec. Cody Chittum (Tennessee), 4-1
3rd: Garrison Dendy (Georgia) dec. Nick Hamilton (Iowa), 5-3
5th: Matthew Bianchi (Wisconsin) dec. James Johnston (Michigan), 12-11
7th: Daniel Cardenas (Colorado) tech. Preston Owens (Idaho), 11-0 1:33

145:
1st: Robert Perez III (California) dec. Matthew Singleton (Georgia), 7-2
3rd: Paniro Johnson (Pennsylvania) dec. CJ Hamblin (Washington), 8-6
5th: Matthew Rodriguez (California) dec. Jared Stricker (Wisconsin), 7-3
7th: Cael Berg (Minnesota) tech. David Capron (Illinois), 11-0 1:19

152:
1st: Robert Weston (Georgia) tech. Jared Simma (Kansas), 11-0 1:42
3rd: Kamdyn Munro (Georgia) dec. Caden Ernd (Illinois), 9-5
5th: David Brooks (Missouri) pinned Ryder Rogotzke (Minnesota), 4-0 0:36
7th: Derek Matthews (Idaho) tech. Robert Major (Illinois), 12-1 2:34

160:
1st: Bradley Gillum (Illinois) dec. Adam Ahrendsen (Iowa), 6-3
3rd: Nicholas Hall (Delaware) pinned Colton Lindquist (Alaska), 6-2 1:59
5th: Fernando Villaescusa (Arizona) dec. Kaleb Smith (Idaho), 12-3
7th: Dawson Mathews (Georgia) pinned Gunner Endicott (Ohio), 5-4 1:35

170:
1st: Gavin Nelson (Minnesota) dec. Tate Picklo (Oklahoma), 7-6
3rd: Leonard Pinto (Pennsylvania) dec. Evan Canoyer (Nebraska), 14-7
5th: Damion Schunke (South Dakota) dec. Andrew Wenzel (Illinois), 2-1
7th: Michael Altomer (New York) pinned Thomas Stewart (Maryland), 4-4 1:25

182:
1st: Nicholas Feldman (Pennsylvania) dec. Jack Darrah (Missouri), 4-1
3rd: Owen Warren (South Dakota) dec. Wyatt Voelker (Iowa), 16-12
5th: Michael Tal-shahar (Florida) tech. Branson Britten (Texas), 10-0 1:26
7th: Isaiah Huus (North Dakota) tech. Maxwell Gourley (Pennsylvania), 12-0 2:31

195:
1st: Seth Shumate (Ohio) tech. Isaiah Anderson (Washington), 10-0 1:10
3rd: Evan Bates (Indiana) dec. Tom Culp (Illinois), 14-10
5th: Andrew Blackburn-forst (Illinois) dec. Jordan Hilford (California), 12-8
7th: Leighton Jones (Indiana) dec. Corbin Phelps (Texas), 11-4

220:
1st: Gage Cook (Washington) dec. Kolby Franklin (Pennsylvania), 6-4
3rd: Chase Horne (Georgia) dec. Dustin Swanson (Pennsylvania), 9-0
5th: Jaren Rohde (Wisconsin) pinned Riley Ucker (Ohio), 8-0 3:06
7th: Juan Mora (California) dec. Chase Thompson (Florida), 3-1

88:
1st: Jacob Barnes (Oregon) pinned Hayden Copass (Illinois), 4-0 0:31
3rd: James Howard (Tennessee) dec. Griffin Liddle (Iowa), 11-1 2:38
5th: Michael Fanz (Missouri) FOR Gavin Layton (Minnesota)
7th: Jacob Moore (Arizona) dec. Ryan Elrod (Ohio), 4-2

Outstanding Wrestler: Robert Weston (Georgia), 152 lbs.
Most Falls: Mendez (Kansas) 4 falls at 113 lbs.

Team Standings (Top Five)

1. Illinois 64
2. California 59
3. Georgia 46
4. Minnesota 42
5. Pennsylvania 37