Blair Grapplers Gear-Up For Summer Wrestling Season

HIGH SCHOOL ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS ANNOUNCED; BACKES, ESPOSITO, MOCCO, NEARLY MAKE USA WORLD TEAM; MARK PERRY TOURS TURKEY AND BULGARIA

On June 21-25 six Blair athletes will head to Kansas City to compete in the Cadet National Duals where they will face off against the nation’s best wrestlers who are 16 years old or younger. These wresters: Robert Deutsch (98 lbs.); “super sophomore” Chris Villalonga (119 lbs.); Austin Ormsbee (130 lbs.); Jesse Shanaman (135 lbs.); Jon Guzzo (140 lbs.); and Adam Hogue at 160 lbs. are training now for the event.

Then, from June 26 through July 1 the senior-level wrestlers head to Oklahoma City to compete in the National Junior Duals. Tony Buxton will go at 119 lbs.; 130-pounder Anthony Valles is back from a year-long injury; Kellen Russell has beefed up to 140 lbs. where he will be joined by teammate Max Shanaman. Mario Mason will go at 145 lbs; Cory Peltier at 171 lbs. and Jared Platt will anchor the team at 215 lbs.

Platt will be coming off the heels of competing for the USA in the Junior Pan American Championships, which are slated for late June Caracas, Venezuela. Platt has been training hard this spring and summer and wants to come home with gold.

“The Cadet and Jr. Duals are a great barometer for us to find out what we need work on. Thus far, I am pretty happy with our work in the room this spring,” said Jeff Buxton, Blair Head Coach. “After the cadet and junior duals we’ll have three weeks before the Asics/Vaughn Jr. Nationals and Cadet Nationals, so I’ll have a chance to evaluate each athlete and make adjustments accordingly.”

The Asics/Vaughn National Freestyle and Cadet Nationals will be held in Fargo, N.D. from July 20-27. Also competing are Blair athletes Joe Stanzione (125 lbs.) and Garrett Frey (130 lbs.) who will both represent their home state of Pennsylvania. Carter Lorant (160 lbs.) will wrestler for Alabama.

BLAIR WRESTLERS EARN ALL-AMERICA HONORS:
In other Blair wrestling news, several Blair athletes have been named to various All-American teams. Kellen Russell and Eric Medina were named first-team All-America by Amateur Wrestling News; Jared Platt and Max Shanaman were named as third-team members of the magazine’s prestigious team (which is comprised of seniors only). Wrestling USA Magazine announced that Kellen Russell and Eric Medina are “Dream Team” members (first-team). Jared Platt and Max Shanaman were named Wrestling USA All-Americans. Mario Mason is a first-team Asics All-American, whose team features underclassmen too. Russell, Medina, Shanaman and Platt were also named Asics All-American. Super freshman Chris Villalonga was named honorable mention Asics All-American.

BLAIR WRESTLERS AND THE WORLD TEAM TRIALS:
Zack Esposito (145 lbs.), Steve Mocco (Hwt.) and Kurt Backes (211.5 lbs.) competed in the World Team Trials this past weekend (June 9 and 10) in Las Vegas. The winner of the trials will represent the USA at the 2007 World Wrestling Championships this September in Baku, Azerbaijan. Esposito went in as the #2 seed but fell to eventual champion Doug Schwab of Iowa. Mocco won the challenge tournament and fell in the finals to long-time nemesis Tommy Rowlands of Ohio State. Kurt Backes, Blair’s latest NCAA finalist, is picking up valuable experience and placed in the top six. Daniel Cormier of Oklahoma State won 211.5 lbs., Backes’s weight.

“All three guys are performing well at the top level and need that breakthrough match to make a world team. Steve finished second, so he will get valuable experience traveling overseas this summer and next year. All are coming close... I think we’ll see one of our guys on an Olympic or world team very soon,” Buxton said.

PERRY TOURS TURKEY/BULGARIA:
2007 NCAA Champion Mark Perry of Iowa is on a 10-day tour of Turkey and Bulgaria where he will face senior competition from both countries. Perry is the lone NCAA champion on the trip which is sponsored by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

Please direct all questions and comments to buxtoj@blair.edu.