Junior Nationals champ Smith leads Oklahoma to team freestyle title

FARGO, N.D. — Joe Smith, the son of Oklahoma State coach John Smith, was one of two wrestlers from the state of Oklahoma to win an individual title in the Junior Nationals freestyle tournament today (July 25) in the Fargodome.

Joe Smith, who will compete for is father — the legendary NCAA champion and coach at Oklahoma State and six-time World/Olympic champion, defeated Lucas Jeske of Minnesota, 10-0, to capture the 160-pound championship.

Meanwhile Daton Fix earned Oklahoma’s other title when he also scored a 10-0 technical fall over Jack Mueller of Texas to claim the 120-pound championship. And with the state of Oklahoma team earning 12 Top-8 finishes, they also captured the team championship, ending the state of Illinois’ run.

The state of Arizona also earned two individual titles with Jason Holmes scoring a 14-3 technical fall over Jaret Lane of Pennsylvania at 100 pounds and Brandon Courtney edging Drew Mattin, 11-9, to claim the 113-pound championship.

The following is a look at the highlights of all 15 championship matches.

100 – Jason Holmes (Arizona) won by tech fall over Jaret Lane (Pennsylvania) (TF 14-3) — Holmes scored seven takedowns, including the final one on a snapdown with 1:35 left to end the match. Five of the takedowns helped Holmes lead 10-3 at intermission.

106 – Louie Hayes (Illinois) won by tech fall over Liam Cronin (California) (TF 10-0) — Hayes, the 2015 Greco champion, became a double winner when he scored three takedowns in the first period, the final one coming with nine seconds left in the first frame.

113 – Brandon Courtney (Arizona) won by decision over Drew Mattin (Ohio) (Dec 11-9) — Trailing 6-4 after one period, Courtney built his lead to 11-7 when he opened the second-period with a four-point throw the held off a late attack by Mattin who nearly had throw right at buzzer for the win, but the two mat-side officials said the move came after the buzzer.

120 – Daton Fix (Oklahoma) won by tech fall over Jack Mueller (Texas) (TF 10-0) — Fix scored a third takedown with one second left in the first period to beat the 2014 Junior nationals champ after a pair of gutwrenches helped Fix build an 8-0 lead.

126 – Austin Assad (Ohio) won by tech fall over Navonte Demison (California) (TF 13-2) — Assad, who will wrestle this fall at Michigan, won a second straight Junior Nationals title when he hit an anklelace at the end of the first period to lead 7-2 before starting the second period with a four-point throw.

132 – Taylor Lamont (Utah) won by tech fall over Mitchell McKee (Minnesota) (TF 15-5) — Lamont ended McKee’s run for a triple crown and avenged a loss to McKee in the 2015 Greco final when he threw McKee for four on a belly-to-back suplay with one second left.

138 – Matthew Kolodzik (New Jersey) won by decision over Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) (Dec 7-7) — Kolodzik led 6-1 after the first period before Moore battled back to take a 7-6 lead on a double with a minute left. Kolodzik earned a pushout with four seconds left to win on criteria. Moore, the 2014 champion, was really upset with himself, simply lost focus for a moment it appeared trying not to get taken down, but lost awareness of how close he was to the edge as Kolodzik pursued for a takedown.

145 – Fredy Stroker (Iowa) won by decision over Patricio Lugo (Florida) (Dec 4-3) — Stroker broke open a 2-2 deadlock on a double with 1:11 left, then fought off Lugo, who earned a pushout with 12 seconds left.

152 – Larry Early (Illinois) won by decision over Evan Wick (California) (Dec 12-8) — Early trailed 4-1 in the first period before he twice gutted Wick to take a 7-4 lead at intermission. Wick battled back to tie the match 8-8 with two minutes left before Early prevailed on a double-leg takedown and gut in the final eight seconds.

160 – Joe Smith (Oklahoma) won by tech fall over Lucas Jeske (Minnesota) (TF 10-0) — Smith ended the match in style when he scored his final points off a strong double with 20 seconds left in the first period.

170 – Beau Breske (Wisconsin) won by tech fall over Xavier Montalvo (Illinois) (TF 10-0) — The match ended with 35 seconds left in the second period when Breske scored a double and earned two quick exposure moves.

182 – Nick Reenan (Texas) won by decision over Dylan Wisman (Virginia) (Dec 10-6) — Reenan used a late reversal to lead 8-1 at intermission before the Wyoming Seminary star added a two-point exposure to lead 10-1 before Reenan battled back with a pair of takedowns.

195 – Jacob Seely (Colorado) won by decision over Sam Shields-Colbray (Oregon) (Dec 3-2) — Seely, the future college wrestler at Northern Colorado, used a first-period takedown to lead 3-0 before giving up a pair of pushouts to Shields-Cobray in the second period.

220 – Jordan Wood (Pennsylvania) won by tech fall over Rylee Streifel (Minnesota) (TF 10-0) — Wood used a pair of high crotch takedowns to lead 6-0 before he scored a four-pointer with 2:11 left for the easy victory.

285 – Osawaru Odighizuwa (Oregon) won by tech fall over Kevin Vough (Ohio) (TF 11-0) — The two-time state champ from Oregon, who will play football at UCLA, ended his high school-level career in style when he took Vough to his back with ten seconds left.