Blair Athletes Dominate New Jersey Freestyle State Championships

TONY BUXTON STEALS THE SHOW

It’s spring time…it’s not official wrestling season…but if you want to be the best you have to outwork the rest. And trust me, the Blair wrestlers are hard at work to become the best. And, the hard work paid off for several Blair Bucs at the New Jersey State Freestyle Championships where six Blair student-athletes captured first place. These athletes earned the right to compete in the Asics Vaughn Junior Nationals, which will be held in Fargo, N.D. in July of 2008.

Leading the way for the Bucs was Tony Buxton who captured a strong 130-pound field by dominating St. Benedicts’ Patrick Hunter in the finals 1-0, 6-0. Fellow Buccaneer Chris Villalonga placed third at 130 lbs. Also winning gold medals were Sean Boyle at 119 lbs.; Austin Ormsbee at 140 lbs.; Mario Mason (152 lbs.); Jesse Shanaman at 160 lbs.; and Kyle Hanson at HWT. Maryland-bound Cory Peltier finished runner-up at 171 lbs. and Ben Krakower placed third at 189 lbs.

“In all, it was a strong showing. We will use this tournament as a building block for the Junior Nationals where I’d like to see every Blair student-athlete become an All-American. Moreover, I want to set the bar high and challenge our athletes and see at least three capture national titles,” Jeff Buxton said. “If we keep working on what we need to work on and train hard through Fargo we can achieve the goals I have set forth.”

CADET STATES:
Leading the way in the cadet division was John Guzzo at 152 lbs. who defeated New Jersey state champion Anthony Baldasaro in the finals. Mark Grey won the 98 lb. division and Todd Preston placed second at 112 lbs. All three cadet-division Bucs will compete in the Cadet National Championships in Fargo in July.

FILA JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Meanwhile, Mario Mason and Kellen Russell (Blair 2007) were busy competing in the FILA Junior National Championships, which were held in Las Vegas from April 23-26. Mario Mason captured third place at 145.5 lbs and Kellen Russell placed seventh in the same weight class. Both athletes are competing in the FILA Jr. World Team Trials in Colorado Springs this weekend to earn the right to compete in the FILA World Championships later this summer. Their results will be posted next week.

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