Previewing the 2013 ASICS Junior & Cadet Nationals: 120 pounds

WIN High School Columnist Rob Sherrill is previewing the 2013 ASICS Junior and Cadet Nationals. This week, it’s 120 pounds. Here are a few of the standouts to date, regional by regional.

Northeast Regional

Kyle Bierdumpfel, Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco Preparatory

The world knew about Bierdumpfel before he ever set foot on a high school mat after he advanced to the finals in both styles in the Cadet Nationals last year at 100. The double Cadet regional champion posted a 10-0 record. Four of those wins came in an opening Greco-Roman run which saw him rack up a pin and two technical falls. He added two more technical falls in his six freestyle wins, and the only point he allowed all weekend came in the final period he wrestled, when he scored a 7-0, 2-1 victory over fellow freshman Peter DelGallo of Gardiner (Me.), who had to win six pool matches to advance.

Bierdumpfel finished 34-6 and was the state runner-up at 106, finishing No. 5 in the final WIN rankings at that weight class.

Northern Plains Regional

Skylar Petry, Waterville (Minn.)-W. Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton

Petry didn’t place in the Junior National freestyle last year, but that could change this year as he won the double Junior title. He didn’t always have it easy, losing a period in Greco-Roman and two more in freestyle, but he still went 8-0, including a 5-0 freestyle mark.

The junior finished third in the 2A state tournament at 113 with a 41-1 record, finishing No. 13 in the final WIN rankings at that weight class. He was the 106-pound runner-up as a sophomore.

Central Regional

Collin Kraus, Stoughton (Wis.)

Kraus was the double Cadet champion, building a 10-0 record. His 4-0 Greco-Roman record included a pin — which followed his only lost period — and three technical falls. He added two pins and a technical fall in freestyle.

The sophomore finished third in the Division 1 state tournament at 113, posting a 47-7 record.

Nelson Baker, Byron (Ill.)

Not everybody on our list has it easy. Nor did Baker, once the freestyle tournament began. He made things look plenty easy in Greco-Roman, where he spent just 49 seconds on the mat in pinning all three opponents, including sticks in six and seven seconds.

Baker had to overcome a second-round loss in freestyle, which he did by winning his final three matches. A fifth-round pin of two-time Illinois placewinner Anthony Bosco of Aurora Marmion Academy advanced Baker (4-1) to the finals with the most round-robin points, and he went on to the double Junior title.

Baker’s state history follows a similar script. The Class 1A state champion at 113 as a sophomore in 2012, Baker (41-7) failed to place this year at 120. Among the wrestlers blocking his path: three-time state champion Josh Alber of Dakota.

Southeast Regional

Chris DeBien, Cleveland (Tenn.)

The sophomore was the Cadet double champion, going 4-0 in each style. His Greco-Roman record included a pair of technical falls, and he shut out Florida runner-up Geoff Doback of Brandon, 1-0, 3-0 in the final. He had a pin and a technical fall en route to the freestyle finals, where he prevailed 1-1, 6-1 over Marmion Academy freshman A.J. Jaffe, who got to the finals by pinning all four of his opponents.

The two-time Division 1 state champion pinned his way to the 113-pound title as a sophomore, posting five falls in 10:36 en route to a 37-3 record. He was the 106-pound champion as a freshman.

Sean Russell, Suwanee (Ga.) Collins Hill

Although the junior competed only in the Junior freestyle meet, Russell’s 4-0 record included a pin and two technical falls, and he beat three returning Cadet National All-Americans. That included a first-period pin in the final over Cameron Timok of Richmond (Va.) Hermitage, who had won the Greco-Roman title.

The three-time state champion in the state’s big class won the 6A crown at 113 pounds this year, posting a 54-3 record. He finished the season No. 3 in the WIN rankings at that weight class.