By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor

FARGO, N.D. — Tyrell Fortune (215) of Portland (Ore.) Parkrose High repeated as a double champion and was one of five double champions in the Accelerade Cadet National Championships, July 22-29.

            Fortune was one of two double champions from Oregon. Ryland Geiger of Scappoose, who attends Blairstown (N.J.) Blair Academy, accomplished the feat at 189. Ryan Mango (84 pounds) of Missouri, David Taylor (98) of Ohio and Romero Cotton (171) of Kansas also won a pair of titles during the week.

            Mango, whose brother Spenser was the University World champion this year, took the Outstanding Wrestler award in the Greco-Roman event — a rarity for a wrestler in his weight class — after putting on an impressive display of lift-and-throw scoring moves. Taylor, a feared mat wrestler who turned his opponents early and often over the course of the week as well, was voted the Outstanding Wrestler of the freestyle competition.

            Perhaps the most intriguing pair of championship finals took place at 119 pounds, where Iowa teammates and club workout partners Nate Moore of Iowa City West High and Matt McDonough of Marion Linn-Mar High, met in both finals, wrestling to a split. Moore, the Class 3A runner-up at 119 last year, dominated McDonough in the Greco-Roman finals, 8-0, 1-1. But McDonough, the 3A champion last year at 112, stunned Moore with two late-period comebacks to win the freestyle crown, 4-3, 0-7, 3-2. A headlock in the final 10 seconds of the first period helped McDonough erase a 3-0 deficit and he also scored late in the third period with a takedown and tilt. The two lost only to each other over the course of the week.

            Iowa and Pennsylvania were the big winners on the team level, the Hawkeye state putting its name on the Acordia Cup with a victory in the Greco-Roman tournament and the Keystoners riding seven finalists to a victory in the freestyle event.

            Easton High nailed a pair of freestyle champions: Asics First Team All-American Jordan Oliver, who edged Josh Kindig of Schuylkill Haven Blue Mountain High in the first of two all-Pennsylvania finals, and Delaware transfer Alex Meade, who dominated the 145-pound class en route to the title. Iowa City West crowned three Cadet Greco champions as Dylan Carew (112) and move-in Grant Gambrall (160) joined Moore at the top of the awards stand.

            Here’s a rundown of each weight.

            84 pounds: It was all Mango, a St. Louis resident who attends The Whitfield School, until double All-American Richy Reihoehl of Pennsylvania gave him a battle in the freestyle final.            

            Mango started off quickly with a big throw for a 5-0 lead before Reihoehl rallied, losing just 6-4. But Mango closed out the second period with a 2-0 win and his double title. Reihoehl was the only wrestler to give Mango a run in the Greco-Roman competition as well, losing the second period by just a 4-3 count after Mango’s 8-0 first-period technical fall. Reihoehl and All-American Weston Johnson of Connecticut, a 5-3, 5-2 loser in the second round of the freestyle meet, were the only wrestlers to score on Mango during the week.                    

            Jeff Vesta of Kansas, Brenan Lyon of Michigan and Jacoby Bergeron of Minnesota also earned double All-America honors, a feat earned by 48 Cadet wrestlers.

            91 pounds: Only a state qualifier in Illinois but a Fargo veteran, Max Nowry of Wheeling High dominated the Greco-Roman tournament. He lost a period to Oregon’s Marcus Morris in the third round, but allowed only two points over the rest of the tournament, beating Utah’s Kade Moss 6-0, 2-1 for the title. Nowry’s third-place finish in freestyle highlighted a strong weight class for Illinois with three All-Americans, including fellow double place-winner Damonte Riley.

            Greco-Roman place-winner Jamie Clark, who will battle for the starting job at 103 as a freshman at Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward High next year, didn’t allow a point en route to the freestyle title, beating Nowry by a technical fall on the way to the finals. Oregon’s Alex Kostenborder was the weight’s fourth double All-American.

            98 pounds: Denied a double title last year at 91 pounds when he was headlocked by Tyler Cox in the Greco-Roman finals, Taylor, a state champion at St. Paris Graham High, left nothing to chance this time around. Taylor had one anxious moment in the Greco-Roman tournament when he lost by technical fall in the opening period to double third-place winner Kyle Dake of New York in the seventh round before rallying with two periods and the win.

            The freestyle competition was a completely different story. Taylor needed just 3 minutes, 42 seconds to score falls in his opening four matches and had it in overdrive from there, including an injury-default win over Dake in the pool final. Cody Tyler of Kansas City (Mo.) Oak Park High, the backup 103-pounder for the Northmen this year, reached the Greco-Roman finals before losing to Taylor. Mark Rappo of Pennsylvania, a 4-0, 3-0 loser to Taylor in the freestyle final, B.J. Futrell of Illinois and Josh Kriemier of Colorado also were double All-Americans.

            105 pounds: The specialists took over starting at this weight, with Greco-Roman champion Mac Bailey of Oak Park the weight’s only double All-American. On performance alone, many considered freestyle champion Logan Stieber of Ohio the class of the tournament, regardless of weight. Stieber, a three-time junior high state champion who will be a freshman at Monroeville High next year, made that clear by winning seven of his eight matches, including the final by technical fall over incoming Blair Academy freshman Chris Villalonga of New Jersey. Pennsylvanian Nicky Gordon, who finished third, was the only wrestler to score against Stieber in a 5-1, 6-0 loss in the fifth round. Bailey lost a period to Utah’s Ryker vanderToolen in the seventh Greco-Roman round but was scored upon in only two other periods as he breezed to the title.

            112 pounds: Oliver and incoming freshman Josh Kindig of Schuylkill Haven Blue Mountain High were on a collision course for the finals from the start, with Class 3A state champion Oliver outlasting Kindig 1-0, 4-2 in the final. Only two of Kindig’s eight pool opponents scored against him as he racked up three pins and four technical falls. Oliver, in the tougher pool, had some closer calls in a 9-0 run that was highlighted by a 2-0, 1-0 victory over FILA Cadet National champion Tony Ramos of Carol Stream (Ill.) Glenbard North High in the ninth round. Ian Paddock of New York, despite losses to both Oliver and Ramos, finished third to go along with a seventh-place finish in Greco-Roman, making him the weight’s only double All-American. State champion Carew outlasted Oregon’s Steven Quesada in three tough matches to claim the Greco-Roman title after a three-period win over Illinois’ Ellis Coleman advanced him to the final.

            119 pounds: It was all Moore and McDonough … except for a fourth-round freestyle classic that matched Moore against Ohio freshman state champion Collin Palmer of St. Edward. Both periods went to the clinch, with Moore winning both tosses and scoring on both clinches, adding a first-period pushout in a 2-0, 1-0 struggle. Palmer finished third, allowing only one other point in pool competition.

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