MADISON, Wis. — Michigan freshman Adam Coon dominated his opposition at the FILA Junior World Team Trials, sweeping the freestyle and Greco-Roman titles at 120kg/264 pounds to qualify for the U.S. junior world team in both styles, on Friday afternoon (May 30) at the Alliant Energy Center.
The Junior World Championships is scheduled for August 5-10, in Zagreb, Croatia, and the Greco and freestyle heavyweight brackets will be contested four days apart. Coon previously wrestled both styles at the 2011 FILA Cadet World Championships, winning a freestyle world title at 100 kg/220 pounds.
Already locked into the final championship series after winning both styles at April’s U.S. Open, Coon alternated between the two, posting a 4-0 record on the day and outscoring his opponents, 31-5.
Coon dominated Illinois’ Brooks Black in the freestyle final, earning an 11-0 technical fall in the first match before pinning him at 3:12 in the second. Black struggled to stay on the mat with Coon, who earned three pushouts in the first match before breaking it open with a pair of takedowns and a two-point leglace midway through the second. He scored on five pushouts and a counter takedown in the first frame of the subsequent bout before using a bodylock to launch Black and pin him early in the second.
His route to the Greco was similar as Coon shut out Sam Stoll, 5-0, in the first match before rallying from a second-period deficit to earn a late pin at the 5:47 mark. He scored on a first-period bodylock and second-period gut wrench in the first match and lead, 2-1, at the break in the second when Stoll stole the lead on a takedown and pushout midway through the second period. Coon earned two pushouts in the final 32 seconds to retake the advantage and countered a late Stoll throw attempt to secure his second pin of the afternoon.
Coon has won all five tournament appearances since the conclusion of the collegiate seasons. He claimed the 125kg/275 pounds at University Nationals less than a week ago and is in prime position to make the University world team. The highest eligible placer within the top six at the U.S. Senior World Team Trials can challenge the University champion at the same weight.
Three additional CKWC representatives placed at the FILA Junior World Team Trials.
Logan Massa wrestled to a true third-place finish at 74kg/163 pounds, posting a 4-1 record to finish just a match shy of making the best-of-three championship final. Massa, who captured the 70kg/154-pound title at FILA Juniors, had to come back from early deficits in three of his wins, including an eight-point gap against Army’s Brian Harvey after getting caught in a trap-arm gut in his first bout. Massa scored four takedowns, including a late four-pointer, and three pushouts to win 16-11. He ended the afternoon with a 13-6 decision over incoming Oklahoma State freshman Chandler Rogers, scoring three takedowns and a late gut to ice the win.
George Fisher posted a 2-2 record, earning wins over Old Dominion’s Brandon Jeske and Wisconsin’s Gabriel Grahek. He cruised to a 10-0 technical fall in the latter, scoring five takedowns in the opening 52 seconds of the bout.
Zac Hall went 3-2, rebounding from a first-round loss with three straight lopsided wins in the wrestlebacks — two technical falls and a pin. He rallied to defeat Oregon State’s Devin Reynolds; after giving up three straight takedowns midway through the bout, Hall scored on four of his own, including a pair of four-pointers, and a leg turk for two exposure points.
The Cliff Keen Wrestling Club’s Brandon Precin and Kellen Russell will compete in the U.S. World Team Trials, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday (May 31-June 1) at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis. Precin will wrestle in the 57/125-pound challenge tournament on Saturday, while Russell will compete in the 65kg/143-pound challenge tournament on Sunday.
