Brute Scholastic Showcase draws
record numbers for open and duals
The National Wrestling Coaches
Association (NWCA) and the Delaware Wrestling Alliance (DWA) hosted the second
annual Brute US High School Open and Scholastic Duals on April 4-6. This
showcase event brings together the nations top underclassman dual meet
tournament with a national open tournament.
The Brute US Open, which is a USA
Wrestling sanctioned event, is quickly becoming one of the nation’s premier open
tournaments. This year saw the event grow in numbers as over 400 wrestlers from
25 states competed in the event. While the numbers for the event grew so did
the talent level as evidenced by the number of State Champions, place winners
and high school All-Americans in the field. Many of the weight classes featured
multiple State Champions and All-Americans.
Tim Harner from Norristown, PA
was named the tournament outstanding wrestler after capturing the 117lbs title.
Harner had two technical falls and two pins including a fall in 5:42 over
Michael Anderson of Pennsylvania in the finals. He also scored a 1-1tb decision
over one of the top ranked 112lbs sophomores in the nation in Jordan Friskhorn
of Virginia in the semifinals.
Chris Kasten of Indiana earned the
most falls in the least amount of time award. Kasten, who lost his first round
match, won six matches in the consolation round to finish third. He scored
falls in five of those matches in a total time of 7:58 to garner the award.
Individual Brute US Open champions
included: At 108lbs, Cadet National Champion Michael Grey defeated Maryland
State Champion Andrew Gold 8-3. At 124lbs, National Prep runner up Brett
McCurdy from Pennsylvania defeated John Taylor of Virginia in the finals
8-1.
At 130lbs, New York State place
finisher Joe Whitaker defeated Brendan Beasley of Virginia 5-2 in the finals. At
135lbs, four-time New York state place finisher Stephen Sutton defeated New
Jersey State runner-up Jarred Mercado 5-1. At 140lbs, Samuel Alverenga of
Virginia won 12-0 in the finals over Tyree Walton of Nevada.
In one of the best bouts of the
finals, Virginia State place winner Chris Brown defeated Pennsylvania State
Champion Scott Rendos 3-1sv at 145lbs. At 152lbs, Dan Geib of
Pennsylvania was victorious with a fall in 5:44 over two-time Virginia State
Champion Hunter Davenport. The nation’s top ranked junior at 152lbs, Seth
Garvin was the 157lbs champion with a 10-5 win over Alton Lucas of New York in
the finals.
Georgia State Champion Justin Otis
won the 165lbs title with a 9-0 win over Pennsylvania state place finisher Brad
Herman. Matt Riddle of New York was crowned 176lbs champion with a fall in 3:26
over Vermont State Champion Justin Fitzsimmons. In a battle of State Champions
at 194lbs, two-time Virginia State Champion, Patrick Bond won a 5-3 decision
over Heath Vandenventer of Indiana.
Rounding out the 2003 champions
included Pennsylvania state place finisher Adam Parcell who won 3-3tb
over Delaware State Champion Bryan Willis at 220lbs. At 285lbs, Alabama State
runner-up Andre Moulty scored a come from behind pin over Dennis Landlot of New
Jersey in 3:40.
The top-eight place winners in each
weight class are designated Brute US High School Open All-Americans. Complete
brackets for the Brute US Open can be found at
www.nwcaonline.com.
The Brute Scholastic Duals portion
of the event was one of the best ever with 21 state teams competing in dual
competition. The talent at the 2003 Scholastic Duals featured 55 State
Champions, 90 State Finalist and 190 State Place winners. States that were
represented included: Colorado, Oregon, Michigan, Illinois, New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Alabama, Ohio, Indiana, plus
two teams comprised from New England.
Pennsylvania Lightning
dominated the team competition to win the event for the second year. The PA
Lightning defeated New Jersey Red 34-15 in the finals. Pennsylvania advanced to
the finals with a 52-17 win over New York Gold while New Jersey defeated
Illinois 47-12. New York went onto defeat Illinois 41-21 for third.
Colorado finished in fifth place
with a 36-20 win over Virginia Blue while Pennsylvania Thunder finished in
seventh place with a 36-24 win over New England Thunder.
The outstanding wrestler of the
Brute Scholastic Duals was Trevor Chinn of New York. Chinn had four major
decisions, a technical fall, a fall and one regular decision. He paced New York
to a third place team finish. Team Colorado earned the sportsmanship award,
which is voted upon by the coaches.
For complete results of the Brute
Scholastic Duals visit www.nwcaonline.com.
The Brute Scholastic Showcase also
drew a large number of college coaches who were in attendance to see many of the
nation’s top scholastic wrestlers.
For more information on the National
Wrestling Coaches Association, please visit
www.nwcaonline.com.
Pat Tocci
Director of Public
Relations
National Wrestling
Coaches Association
717-653-8009
717-653-8270 (fax)
ptocci@nwca.cc