Antigo Wrestling Ends Successful Season With Nationals In Fargo, ND
FOR ANTIGO TIMES
The Antigo Wrestling Club sent two individuals to the Junior National Tournament in Fargo, ND this past week. Competing were Logan Edwards at 132 pounds and Nick Roller at 220 pounds.
Nick Roller started the tournament off with an impressive first match. Merely three seconds into the first period, Roller used an overhook to transition to a lateral to put his opponent, Colin Baker of Illinois, on his back. Roller would not lose this position, and achieved the victory via pin fall in only 58 seconds.
In his second match, Roller lost via technical fall to Dillyn Miller of Nebraska, 10-0 at 2:25 of the first round. Nick started the match off strong, using an overhook to set up a Japanese Whizzer into a front headlock, but was unable to score. Miller got the first points on the board with a duck under and a gut wrench to go up 4-0 with 2:20 left in the first period. Miller was able to score again with a duck under with 1:40 to go, and with another takedown at the one-minute mark. Miller was able to counter a takedown attempt by Roller for the final takedown and a 10-0 victory.
In his third match of the tournament, Nick Roller matched up with Adam Wilmore of Virginia. After ceding an early takedown 17 seconds into the match, Roller was able to reverse the position and hit six front head locks to win by tech fall, 12-2, 53 seconds into the match.
The fourth match for Roller was one of the most exciting of the tournament. Competing against Peter Schlater of Wyoming, Roller gave up an arm spin to find himself in a 4-0 deficit at the beginning of the match. Roller countered with a bear hug body lock for 4 points, as well as two gut wrenches to take the lead 8-4. Roller then hit another feet to back throw to make it 12-4. Schlater hit a body lock of his own for 4, and was awarded an additional 2 points for a caution, shrinking Roller’s lead to 2, 12-10. Schlater ended the first period with a feet to back head throw to end the period with the score 12 for Roller, and 14 for Schlater.
The second period started where the first period ended, with Roller evening the score with a perfectly executed arm drag takedown. Schlater scored a pair of takedowns to take a 18-14 lead, before Roller was able to hit a reversal for a point and another two point gut wrench to cut the deficit to 1. Schlater then scored another takedown to back exposure for 4 points, and pushed Roller out of the circle for another point to increase Schlater’s lead to 23-17. Schlater was then able to secure another takedown to increase his lead to 25-17. Roller then hit a takedown of his own, and in the closing seconds of the match, hit a beautiful head steal for 4. The final score was 25-23 in favor of Schlater, it was a highly contested, highly entertaining match.
Competing at 132 pounds, Logan Edwards faced a very difficult first match. His opponent was, Haiden Drury of Washington, the defending cadet national champion at 120 pounds. Drury scored first with a push out, and then used an arm drag off of a 2 on 1 to take Logan’s back and execute a suplex to make the score 6-0. Drury finished with two turns to finish with the tech fall. Drury would go on to win the tournament, successfully defending his championship from a year ago.
In his second match, Logan Edwards matched up with Eli Blackwell of California. Edwards was able to get some nice positioning, but was unable to score in the beginning of the match. At the :45 mark, Eli Blackwell was able to secure a throw out of bounds for 4. Back on the feet, Edwards missed with a headlock and Blackwell was able to capitalize with a suplex for the fall at 1:31.
Both wrestlers showed incredible amounts of determination, fighting out of difficult positions and setting themselves up for future success. As this is the end of the Greco and Freestyle season, Nick and Logan will now begin to prepare for the upcoming High School Folkstyle season, which will begin in mid-November.
Additional pictures and information on the Antigo Wrestling Club can be found on our facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/antigowrestling/