Young Guns and Dakota win Disney Duals

The first name Josh was a popular and successful name at the Disney Duals, held June 26 to July 1 in Orlando, Fla., where a pair of teammates with that name and from Franklin Regional (Pa.) helped lead the Young Guns Black wrestling team to the District/All-Star Championship … and another Josh from Illinois helped his high school team capture the Community I tourney at the AAU Scholastic Duals.

Josh Maruca and Josh Shields, who will be seniors at Franklin Regional from Murrysville, Pa., and ranked No. 19 and 10 by WIN at 145 and 152 pounds, respectively, helped their club team win five straight matches to lead Young Guns Black to a 37-21 victory over Iowa Black in the championship of the District/All-Star tournament of this annual event, which was held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

With the Young Guns squad holding a 14-12 lead after six matches, Maruca scored an 11-2 major decision over Cole Erickson at 145 pounds. Shields then added another major decision, 15-4, over Danny Bush. By the time the Iowa team won another match, Young Guns Black led 37-12 with only three bouts left.

These victories by nationally-ranked wrestlers were two of only eight earned by the team, coached by Jody Strittmatter, against Iowa Black. But two of those victories by Young Guns Black were pins: by AC Headlee (over Kaz Onoo in 39 seconds at 126 pounds) and by Drew Phipps, who nailed Dillion Chase in 1:23 of their 182-pound match.

Young Guns Black, which also won the District/All-Star division of the Disney Duals in 2013, won all nine duals in Orlando, including all six duals in pool play, and outscored its competition by a 505-78 point margin.

Meanwhile in the Community I Division of the Disney Duals, Josh Alber, the four-time Illinois state champion from Dakota High School, scored one of four pins against the Avon Wrestling Club — with his being the fastest in 52 seconds at 132 pounds— to help his team dominate the team from Indiana, 46-16, in the championship dual of this division.

Overall, the team from northern Illinois, outscored its 10 foes by a 604-97 point margin.

The following is a breakdown of the results from both the Championship Bracket (involving teams that placed first or second in pool action) from both the District/All Star and Community division tournaments.

District/All-Star Division

Championship (1^st and 2^nd place Pool) Bracket

1^st Round

Brawlers Elite def. Team Michigan Blue 32-31

Ohio Grapplers def. Illinois Outsiders, 27-14

Iowa Black def. Ohio Titan, 59-9

Team Prodigy Ohio def. Ohio Raptors, 36-19

Quarterfinals

Young Guns Black def. Brawlers Elite, 45-9

Middle Atlantic Blue def. Ohio Grapplers, 34-21

Iowa Black def. Team Ohio Mafia, 41-15

NY Kong def. Team Prodigy Ohio, 43-18

Semifinals

Young Guns Black def. Middle Atlantic Blue, 42-12

Iowa Black def. NY Kong, 31-23

Seventh Place

Ohio Raptors def. Team Prodigy Ohio, 42-18

Fifth Place

Ohio Grapplers def. Team Ohio Mafia, no score

Third Place

NY Kong def. Middle Atlantic Blue, 30-27

Championship

Young Guns Black def. Iowa Black, 37-21

Community I Division Championship (1^st and 2^nd place pool) Bracket

 1^st round

Flagler Attack def. Penn Xtreme Black, 33-25

Oregon Clay Gold def. Fleming Island, 42-24

Brownsburg Purple def. Stinger WC, 36-29

Brandon def. CFWA Blue, 43-24

Quarterfinals

Falcon Blue def. Flagler Attack WC, 44-20

Dakota Wrestling Nation def. Oregon Clay Gold, 54-13

Avon WC def. Brownsburg Purple, 46-12

Westside WC def. Brandon, 35-3

Semifinals

Dakota WC def. Falcon Blue, 55-4

Avon WC def. Westside WC, 30-25

7th Place Match
Flagler Attack WC defeated Brownsburg Purple, 33-24.
5th Place Match
Westside WC defeated Penn Xtreme Black, 44-21.
3rd Place Match
Oregon Clay Gold defeated Falcon Blue (1), 39-22.
1st Place Match
Dakota Wrestling Nation defeated Avon WC, 46-16.
For additional stories and results from this year’s Disney Duals, check out the next issue of Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine (WIN), which will be mailed Aug. 1, 2014.