2019 Junior World Team Set for Men's Freestyle, Featuring a Wealth of Young Talent
The 2019 junior world team has been decided after a long weekend of wrestling in Raleigh, North Carolina. At 10 weights, we now know which under-21 years old wrestlers are competing this year for junior world gold, on a team that traditionally wins or places very high in the team competition. The team is headlined by Elite Accelerator Program athletes Gabe Tagg and Aaron Brooks, with NCAA All-American Vito Arujau also among our most impressive athletes of the weekend.
Vito won his spot over Ohio State wrestler Malik Heinselmann in two straight matches. Vito, son of a two-time world champion from Russia, has plenty of world experience and looks to win his first age-level gold. Other standouts included EAP athletes Gabe Tagg and Aaron Brooks, who outscored their finals opponents by 41-4 in their victories. Brooks is a returning world silver at the junior level, and a PSU athlete who is looking to convert his OTC time into gold, along with his teammate Gabe Tagg.
Other interesting prospects on the team (though all these athletes are incredible) include Minnesota freshman Brayton Lee, who used slick reshots and an unreal motor to beat Sammy Sasso in the finals. Sasso and Lee are among some of the most promising new faces at the NCAA level, and are sure to clash many times in the future. Mason Parris, who is coming off of a good freshman season at Michigan, will represent us at heavyweight, where his unique blend of size and speed will serve him well. David Carr, of the famous Carr wrestling family, is our rep at 74kg, and he carries one of the best lineages in wrestling behind him as support.
Finals Results
57 kilograms: Vito Arujau over Malik Heinselman, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Arujau dec. Heinselman, 13-5
Match 2: Arujau tech. fall Heinselman, 11-1
61 kilograms: Gabe Tagg over Jaime Hernandez, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Tagg tech. fall Hernandez, 10-0
Match 2: Tagg dec. Hernandez, 12-3
65 kilograms: Yahya Thomas over Keegan O'Toole, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Thomas dec. O'Toole, 7-0
Match 2: Thomas dec. O' Toole 7-0
70 kilograms: Brayton Lee over Sammy Sasso, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Lee dec. Sasso 11-8
Match 2: Lee dec. Sasso 8-1
74 kilograms: David Carr over Shane Griffith, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Carr dec. Griffith 6-3
Match 2: Carr dec. Griffith 6-4
79 kilograms: Aaron Brooks over Parker Keckeisen, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Brooks tech. fall Keckeisen 10-0
Match 2: Brooks dec. Keckeisen 9-1
86 kilograms: Trent Hidlay over Vincent Marcelli, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Hidlay dec. Marcelli, 12-7
Match 2: Hidlay dec. Marcelli, 11-4
92 kilograms: Lucas Davison over Brandon Whitman, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Davison dec. Whitman, 9-0
Match 2: Davison dec. Whitman, 5-0
97 kilograms: Tanner Sloan over Sam Schuyler, 2 matches to 0
Match 1: Sloan dec. Schuyler, 7-6
Match 2: Sloan dec. Schuyler, 6-4
125 kilograms: Mason Parris over Trent Hillger, 2 matches to 1
Match 1: Hillger dec. Parris, 7-6
Match 2: Parris tech. fall Hillger, 10-0
Match 3: Parris pinned Hillger, 0:39