Returning champion Bravo-Young reaches semifinals at Cadet Greco-Roman Nationals
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By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling | July 19, 2015, 7:21 p.m. (ET)
Returning champion Roman Bravo-Young of Arizona controls Brody Lamb of Colorado on the way to a fourth-round technical fall at 113 pounds. Photo by John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com

FARGO, N.D. - The Cadet Nationals is often an event where young wrestlers begin to make a name for themselves on the national level. This year’s Cadet Greco-Roman tournament does not have many returning finalists from last year, offering a new group of athletes a chance to step up and fill the void.

Day one of Cadet Greco-Roman went through the quarterfinals on the championship side, with semifinalists determined in all weight classes. There are a host of “new name” wrestlers who have put themselves in the national spotlight.

Only one returning Cadet Nationals champion is in the field, Roman Bravo-Young of Arizona, who won both Greco-Roman and freestyle last year. He reached Monday morning’s semifinals with four straight wins, including a major scare in the quarterfinals.

He breezed through his first three matches with a pin and two technical falls. In the quarters, he drew Jet Taylor of Oklahoma. Taylor scored two points late in the second period to lead 3-1. With about 10 seconds left, Bravo-Young secured a bodylock and threw Taylor for four points, to win the match 5-3. He draws Brock Bergelin of Wisconsin in the semifinals.

There are six wrestlers who still remain alive for the coveted Cadet Triple Crown, which is given to a wrestler who wins folkstyle, Greco-Roman and freestyle national titles in the same year: Mosha Schwartz of Colorado (88), Jason Renteria of Illinois (126), Travis Wittlake of Oregon (160), Jack Jessen of Illinois (170), Andrew Davison of Indiana (182) and Zach Muller of Illinois (285).

Wittlake is a first-year Cadet and was a four-time Kids Triple Crown winner, including two at the Schoolboy level. Wittlake won four matches, including three technical falls. He battles Cameron Caffey of Illinois in the semifinal round.

A Cadet Greco-Roman runner-up last year, Patrick McKee of Minnesota, has reached the semifinals at 100, with three technical fall wins, including a 10-0 win over Josh Blatt of North Carolina in the quarterfinals. McKee has drawn tough Illinois wrestler Peter Ogunsanya in the semifinals.

Another returning Cadet Nationals runner-up, Anthony Sherry of Iowa suffered a loss in the first round, falling to Clay Lautt of Kansas, 8-9 at 160 pounds. He has since rebounded with five straight consolation wins, with third place as the best he can finish this year.

There is one 2014 Cadet National freestyle champion who is entered in Greco-Roman this year, Malik Heinselman of Colorado at 88 pounds, and he is a semifinalist. He won all four of his matches by technical fall, outscoring his rivals by a 41-0 margin. He draws Kansas star Cody Phippen in the semifinals, who was a Cadet Greco-Roman All-American last year.

2015 UWW Cadet Nationals Greco-Roman champion Eric Barnett of Wisconsin was upset in the quarterfinals at 94 pounds, losing to Jace Koelzer of Kansas, 6-4.

Two of the 2015 UWW Cadet Nationals runners-up are semifinalists in Fargo, Peyton Robb of Minnesota at 113 and Alston Nutter of Wisconsin at 120.

Robb powered through four opponents, his last three matches were technical falls. His closest battle was a 15-12 win in his first match against Brian Stuart of Maryland. He will face Brandon Lucas of Ohio in the semifinals.

Nutter reached the semifinals with five wins, the first four by technical fall. He won a wild quarterfinal bout, edging Jack Davis of Pennsylvania in a 16-16 criteria win. He will wrestle Collin Valdivez of Missouri in the semifinals.

On the team side, Illinois was the Cadet National Greco-Roman champions in 2014, and followed up with a victory earlier this summer at the 2015 Cadet National Greco-Roman Duals. Illinois leads all teams with nine semifinalists.

Missouri has six semifinalists, and five states have five semifinalists: Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, California, New Jersey.

CADET NATIONAL GRECO-ROMAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Fargo, N.D., July 19, 2015

Semifinal pairings

88 lbs.
Mosha Schwartz (CO) vs. Ridge Lovett (ID)
Chase Tebbets (WA) vs. Derek Ramos (ID)

94 lbs.
Jace Koelzer (KS) vs. Cevion Severado (MO)
Malik Heinselman (CO) vs. Cody Phippen (KS)

100 lbs.
Benji Peak (WI) vs. Joey Melendez (IL)
Peter Ogunsanya (IL) vs. Patrick McKee (MN)

106 lbs.
Riley Gurr (WA) vs. Charles Faber (IL)
Izzak Olejnik (CA) vs. Malik Johnson (MO)

113 lbs.
Roman Bravo-Young (AZ) vs. Brock Bergelin (WI)
Brandon Lucas (OH) vs. Peyton Robb (MN)

120 lbs.
Alston Nutter (WI) vs. Collin Valdivez (MO)
Nicholas Ralmo (NJ) vs. Clai Quintanilla (WA)

126 lbs.
Jason Renteria (IL) vs. Patrick Ramirez (CA)
Blane Martinez (TX) vs. Kyran Hagan (MO)

132 lbs.
Alexander Lloyd (MN) vs. We Rachal (IL)
Alec Hagan (MO) vs. Brock Hardy (UT)

138
Jose Acosta (WI) vs. Andrew Merola (NJ)
Sergio Chavez (CO) vs. Mason Hall (MN)

145
Peyton Omanta (CA) vs. Jake Hendricks (PA)
Aidan Monteverdi (NJ) vs. Anthony Artalona (FL)

152
Andrew Johnson (KS) vs. Dale Tiongson (MD)
Michael O’Malley (NJ) vs. Max Wohlabaugh (FL)

160 lbs.
Ryan Karoly (NJ) vs. Victor Marcelli (OH)
Cameron Caffey (IL) vs. Travis Wittlake (OR)

170 lbs.
Jack Jessen (IL) vs. Jacob Gray (IN)
Jacob Warner (IL) vs. Dylan Servis (KS)

182 lbs.
Jared Florell (MN) vs. Anthony Walters (PA)
Brandon Whitman (MI) vs. Andrew Davison (IN)

195 lbs.
Jake Boyd (MO) vs. Dan Baker (OK)
Bonifacio Escobar (CA) vs. Brady Daniel (MD)

220 lbs.
Cohlton Schultz (CO) vs. Ricardo Aguirre (GA)
Colin Lawler (TX) vs. Kayne Hutchison (KS)

285 lbs.
Zach Muller (IL) vs. Gavin Nye (CA)
Sammy DeSeriere (CO) vs. Nicholas Boykin (TN)

Semifinalists, by state
9 – Illinois
6 – Missouri
5 – Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, California, New Jersey
4 – Wisconsin
3 - Washington
2 – Idaho, Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Maryland, Indiana
1 – Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Michigan, Oklahoma, Georgia, Tennessee