U16 Boys Greco-Roman Team Goes 2-2 at National Duals
Team Virginia finishes in third in their initial pool
The 16U National Duals got underway today from Salt Lake City, Utah and Team Virginia went 2-2 on the day in Greco-Roman competition. They downed Michigan and Missouri to make the Pool C finals but lost to Washington and again to Minnesota in a true second place dual.
The third-place finish in Pool C will set Team Virginia up for the Bronze/Copper pool. They will start with a dual against Kansas before taking on New Jersey and Texas.
The squad was led by 113 lber Royce Wetzler and 138 lber Reza Massjouni who were the only Virginia wrestlers to go 4-0 on day one. Massjouni started the day with two techs and a fall, before posting a 12-5 win over Minnesota’s Kane Johnson in the final dual of the day. Wetzler had three 8-0 techs and had to grind out a 5-2 victory against Washington’s Audon Clark.
First Colonial’s Reid Stoddard was unbeaten at 3-0, but did not wrestle in the true second-place dual against Minnesota. A handful of wrestlers went 3-1 on the day.
A special thanks to coach Zach Olson for keeping me up to date on some of the happenings plus the pictures for this article.
Virginia 58 Michigan Blue 16
94 lbs - Gavin Boller (Michigan) over Rei Pate 5-1
100 lbs - Liam Mauch over Jacob Holley (Michigan) 8-0
106 lbs - Dylan Nieuwenhuis (Michigan) over Trent Carter 12-1
113 lbs - Royce Wetzler over Brody Ashley (Michigan) 8-0
120 lbs - Graydon Martin over Bryson Coyer (Michigan) 12-4
126 lbs - Henry Jones over Bronson Shinkonis (Michigan) 15-6
132 lbs - Reid Stoddard over Wesley Honiss (Michigan) 13-2
138 lbs - Reza Massjouni over Kieran Beach (Michigan) 8-0
144 lbs - Tharin Svetanant over Jaxon Workman (Michigan) 8-3
150 lbs - Tristen Dood (Michigan) over Dennis Barker 8-0
157 lbs - Colten Jones over Wyatt Kimble (Michigan) Fall :34
165 lbs - Lawson Ayers over Anh Nguyen (Michigan) 9-0
175 lbs - William Etu over Cael Tyler (Michigan) 8-0
190 lbs - Ibrahim Zaky over Zayne Zeeuw (Michigan) 8-0
215 lbs - Zach Leftwich over Michael Carter (Michigan) Fall 1:37
285 lbs - Josiah Bolme over Braylen Meeuwsen (Michigan) 10-8
88 lbs - Benton Williams over Austin Witt (Michigan) 8-0
After dropping two of the first three matches of the dual, Royce Wetzler’s 8-0 tech started a six-match winning streak that helped the team distance themselves from Michigan.
In the final two bouts of the dual, Josiah Bolme and Benton Williams each picked up their first wins over out-of-state opponents.
Brenton Williams against Team Michigan
Josiah Bolme against Team Michigan
Virginia 41 Missouri 35
106 lbs - Parker Hansen (Missouri) over Trent Carter 9-0
113 lbs - Royce Wetzler over Rowdy Angst (Missouri) 8-0
120 lbs - Graydon Martin over Cruz Enderle (Missouri) 8-0
126 lbs - Jaxon Shute (Missouri) over Henry Jones 11-4
132 lbs - Reid Stoddard over Carson Owens (Missouri) Fall 2:17
138 lbs - Reza Massjouni over Michael Poulette (Missouri) Fall 3:49
144 lbs - Colton Wilson (Missouri) over Tharin Svetanant 15-6
150 lbs - Colin Rutlin (Missouri) over Dennis Barker 9-0
157 lbs - Mason Todd (Missouri) over Colten Jones Fall 2:31
165 lbs - Cole Sackett (Missouri) over Lawson Ayers 8-0
175 lbs - William Etu over Dominic Stinson (Missouri) 8-0
190 lbs - Ibrahim Zaky over Talon Worden (Missouri) 9-0
215 lbs - Zach Leftwich over Hunter Long (Missouri) Fall :19
285 lbs - Josiah Bolme over Tucker Miller (Missouri) Fall 2:55
88 lbs - Max Lindquist (Missouri) over Benton Williams Fall :47
94 lbs - Rei Pate over Tevor Cole (Missouri) 8-2
100 lbs - Wyatt Dannegger (Missouri) over Liam Mauch Fall 1:48
After a back-and-forth start to the dual, the big men took control of the contest and pushed the team score toward Virginia. They would end up winning four straight matches between 175-285. In every win, the Virginia wrestler either ended things with a fall or a tech and a shutout, which prevented Missouri from garnering any team points.
Rising freshman Zach Leftwich contributed a : 19-second fall - one of his three wins on the day. It was another soon-to-be freshman, Rei Pate, who sealed the deal for Team Virginia. His win in the penultimate match made it mathematically impossible for Missouri to have a chance at 100 lbs.
Zach Leftwich with a :19 second fall against Missouri
Washington 53 Virginia 21
120 lbs - Ryder Owen (Washington) over Graydon Martin 10-7
126 lbs - Easton Bylin (Washington) over Henry Jones 8-0
132 lbs - Reid Stoddard over Trandyn Landquist (Washington) 10-2
138 lbs - Reza Massjouni over Bum-Erdene Boldsukh (Washington) 8-0
144 lbs - Connor Crum (Washington) over Carter Straight 8-0
150 lbs - Dayton Fitzgibbon (Washington) over Dennis Barker 14-4
157 lbs - Colten Jones over Dakota Anderson (Washington) 5-1
165 lbs - Magnus Michaelson (Washington) over Lawson Ayers 8-0
175 lbs - Duane Leslie (Washington) over William Etu 15-6
190 lbs - Ibrahim Zaky over Kannon Freschette (Washington) 8-0
215 lbs - Eli Anderson (Washington) over Zach Leftwich Fall 2:00
285 lbs - Jacob Najera (Washington) over Josiah Bolme 9-0
88 lbs - Elijah Jensen (Washington) over Benton Williams 8-0
94 lbs - Miro Parr-Coffin (Washington) over Rei Pate 9-0
100 lbs - Dillon Regis (Washington) over Liam Mauch Fall 1:34
106 lbs - Elijah Governor (Washington) over Trent Carter Fall :51
113 lbs - Royce Wetzler over Audon Clark (Washington) 5-2
Though they would end up suffering a loss against Minnesota, Woodgrove High School teammates Colten Jones and Ibrahim Zaky both got their hands raised against Washington, which pushed Zaky’s individual record on the day to 3-0 and Jones to 2-1. Things started to snowball in Washington’s favor after Jones’ win. Washington took eight of the next nine bouts to run away with the dual. Wetzler’s win in the final bout gave Team Virginia some positivity after a tough loss.
190 lber Ibrahim Zaky
True Second Place - Pool C Minnesota 52 Virginia 25
126 lbs - Brayden Hawes (Minnesota) over Henry Jones 12-4
132 lbs - Gage Bjerga (Minnesota) over Emmitt Henley 10-2
138 lbs - Reza Massjouni over Kane Johnson (Minnesota) 12-5
144 lbs - Lincoln Robideau (Minnesota) over Carter Straight 8-0
150 lbs - Caden Staab (Minnesota) over Dennis Barker 8-0
157 lbs - Dalton Humeniuk (Minnesota) over Colten Jones 13-5
165 lbs - Zach Engels (Minnesota) over Lawson Ayers 8-0
175 lbs - William Etu over Elliott Karol (Minnesota) Fall :28
190 lbs - Owen Johnson (Minnesota) over Ibrahim Zaky 13-5
215 lbs - Zach Leftwich over Adrian Fuchs (Minnesota) 9-1
285 lbs - Sawyer Schendel (Minnesota) over Josiah Bolme Fall 2:43
88 lbs - Grayson Schroeder (Minnesota) over Benton Williams Fall :12
94 lbs - Evann Linn (Minnesota) over Rei Pate 7-0
100 lbs - Trey Kraemer (Minnesota) over Liam Mauch 12-2
106 lbs - Bodie Lawrence (Minnesota) over Trent Carter 8-0
113 lbs - Royce Wetzler over Caiden Kassel (Minnesota) 8-0
120 lbs - Graydon Martin over Beckett Edstrom (Minnesota) 13-5
Minnesota is always one of the best states in the nation for Greco-Roman and they showed it in a 52-25 victory to take true second place. In addition to the duo that went 4-0 (Wetzler/Massjouni), there were a couple of other standouts. William Etu (175) and Leftwich (215) both lost to opponents from Washington but rebounded to go 3-1 on the day with wins over Minnesota. If you blinked, you might have missed his throw that occurred within the first five seconds of the first period and he ended up with a fall only a few seconds later. Leftwich set the tone with a four-point arm throw and never looked back in his 9-1 tech.
After Leftwich’s win, Minnesota took the next five bouts. That run was stopped by Wetzler and in the final match of the day, freshman state champion Graydon Martin posted a 13-5 tech. Martin’s only blemish on the day was a three-point loss in the Washington dual.