Badger wrestler Andrew Howe finished first at the 2009 FILA Junior World Team Trials Saturday afternoon in Colorado Springs. The Cedar Lake, Ind., native captured the 74 kg/163 lbs. freestyle division and he will be joining fellow sophomore-to-be Travis Rutt on the U.S. FILA Junior World Team. Rutt placed first in the 84 kg/185 lbs. Greco-Roman division Friday and by winning their weight classes, Howe and Rutt earned the opportunity to compete at the FILA Junior World Championships in Ankara, Turkey from Aug. 4-9.
Redshirt freshman Tyler Graff also wrestled in the freestyle competition but was unable to qualify for his third-straight Junior World Team. Graff placed second in the 60 kg/132.25 lbs. division.
Howe received the No. 1 seed for his weight class and did not have to wrestle in the eight-person challenge tournament. Howe met Alex Meade in the best-of-three finals series and won the first two rounds to win the weight class. Howe dropped his first period in round one, 2-0 but bounced back with close 2-1 and 1-0 victories in the second and third periods, respectively. The Badger grappler then shutout Meade, who wrestles for Oklahoma State, 2-0, 1-0 in round two to qualify for his first Junior World Team.
Graff earned a spot in the finals after winning the eight-person challenge tournament. He won three-straight bouts in the challenge tournament and only had one point scored on him. He opened up with a second period pin over Kade Moss, advanced with a 7-0, 3-0 decision against Nick Dardanes and then knocked off Anthony Valles, 4-1, 1-0 in the finals of the challenge tournament.
Graff then met Jordan Oliver, who also wrestles for Oklahoma State, in the finals. Oliver won round one by a 2-0, 1-0 score and then secured the victory with a 2-0, 2-0 decision in round two. Graff was unable to qualify for the U.S. FILA Junior World Team this year but he was a two-time Junior World Team member in 2007 and 2008.
Complete brackets and other information from the 2009 FILA Junior World Team Trials can be found on TheMat.com.
