The Breakdown - Episode 22 - Caleb Henson Wins a Junior National Title
Georgia’s Caleb Henson won a barnburner to claim the 152 lb. title over Danny Wask of New Jersey. Henson downed Wask 9-9 on criteria (most 2 point takedowns) to claim the title. Henson was superb over the last two days with wins over Cael Swenson, Luka Wick, and others. Henson was joined in the finals by “Minions” teammate Chase Horne, but Horne couldn’t make it two in a row for Georgia as he fell to Wisconsin’s Ben Kawczynski. Joining Henson and Horne on the podium were Cole Hunt (6th at 113) and Noah Pettigrew (3rd at 220). Pettigrew’s only loss came in the semis to eventual Champ Christian Carroll of Indiana. Hunt lost a tough one for 5th - 11-10 back and forth battle with Ohio’s Codie Cuerbo. Georgia as a team took 12th overall and Henson became the first Junior National Champ for the state since 1999 when Chris Rodrigues claimed the 114.5 pound title.
Florida matched Georgia in terms of All Americans - putting 4 on the podium, but a little further down (and finished 17th as a team). Lake Highland Prep’s Danny Nini lost in the consolation finals to former teammate Nic Bouzakis at 132 lbs. Florida had 2 All Americans at 126 in Braden Basile (6th) and Sebastian Melguizo (8th) - Kai Owen lost to Melguizo in the bloodround or Florida might have added another at 126. Ethan Vergara was the final Floridian on the podium - finishing 7th at 285. Vergara had a huge 5-3 win in the bloodround over Gage Cook of Washington to make the podium … he lost to Tristan Kemp of Massachusetts before taking a forfeit for 7th. Tennessee had 4 go deep into the consolations, but just 2 ended up on the podium. Cooper Flynn finished 3rd - with his only loss coming on a controversial passivity call as time expired to eventual champ Kannon Webster in the quarters. Hunter Mason battled through one of the deepest weights at 132 to finish 7th.
There was tons to talk about from the 2 days of Junior Freestyle, but like the rest we will hold that for a post tournament blog post … there were several wrestlers that wrestled well, but came up just short of the podium.
Junior Women Take the Mat
Florida puts 6 on the podium. Overall it was a tough day for the Junior Women from the SE as none advanced to tomorrow morning’s semifinal round. But not all was lost as the SE put on 9 on the podium including 6 from the Sunshine State.
Clare Booe and Kealonie Vega will wrestle in the 100 lb. consi quarters in the morning … meaning one of the two will wrestle for 7th later in the afternoon. Booe is a double All American as she finished 4th in the 16U bracket earlier in the week. Hannah Hall (112), Juliana Diaz (117), Sierra Chavez (180), and Andrea Smith (225) will also wrestle in the consi quarters tomorrow to determine their spot on the podium. South Carolina will have 2 Junior Women All Americans as they head back to the Palmetto state at the end of the week. Caitlyn Davis (138) and Dasia Yearby (180) will wrestle in the consi quarters starting at 9 am (Fargo time). The final SE hammer in the consis is Amani Jones of Georgia. Amani lost a close one to Adrienna Jones of California 7-5 in the quarters. Jones rebounded with a tech fall in the bloodround to assure her spot on the podium.
