Returning Junior Nationals freestyle champion Mason Manville of Virginia takes a shot in against Kyle Kaminski of Ohio on the way to a technical fall at 152 pounds. Photo by John Sachs, Tech-Fall.comFARGO, N.D. – All six of the returning Junior National champions in freestyle were dominant in their early matches on the first day of men’s freestyle.
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The returning champions are Randon Miranda of California at 113, Danny Vega of Arizona at 113, Jack Mueller of Texas at 120, Austin Assad of Ohio at 126, Mitchell McKee of Minnesota at 132 and Mason Manville of Virginia at 152.
Combined, these athletes scored 14 wins, with 13 technical falls and a pin.
McKee remains the only Junior wrestler who remains eligible for the Junior Triple Crown, after winning USA Wrestling folkstyle and Greco-Roman titles at the Junior level this year.
The only returning Junior Nationals freestyle runner-up is Drew Hildebrandt of Indiana, who remains unbeaten at 113 pounds. With both Vega and Miranda in his weight class, this will be a very challenging division as the tournament progresses.
Two members of the 2014 UWW Cadet World freestyle team have also had a strong opening day. Daton Fix of Oklahoma, who is at 120 pounds in Fargo, and Owen Webster of Minnesota, who is competing at 182 pounds here, both won two matches, all by technical fall.
There were 1,140 entries at this year’s Junior Nationals in freestyle, an increase of 76 wrestlers from last year.
The Junior freestyle competition continues on Friday, with sessions at 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. The tournament will be completed on Friday, except for the medal matches in each weight class, which are scheduled for Saturday at 10:00 a.m.
