Photo by Sam Janicki

Michigan/Cliff Keen had an outstanding U20 tournament, putting 4 future and current Wolverines on the podium. Two Wolverines, Botero and Aslikyan, made it to the 3rd place match at 57kg. Botero would win that one by forfeit. Haakon Peterson, a Michigan commit out of Wisconsin, had perhaps the most impressive performance. He beat guys like William Denny, Kody Routledge, and Bruno Cassioppi en route to a runner-up finish at 74kg. Perhaps not surprisingly, Brock Mantanona made the finals at 86kg, following up on his NCAA All American performance from last month. His only loss would come to Aeoden Sinclair (Missouri) in the finals.

61kg was another big weight for Michigan Grapplers, where we had two 8x state champs (4 team and 4 individual) reach the podium. Jackson Blum was impressive, now wrestling for Indiana, as he battled to a 5th place finish. Nicholas Sorrow, who just finished his career at Hudson, followed up making the Greco World Team with a 7th place finish in freestyle.

In U17 freestyle, Michigan Premier put another on the podium, following up on VanValkenburg’s U15 All American performance. Brody Compau (Rockford) had a solid tournament, only dropping matches to the 2nd, 4th, and 5th place finishers. He ended the tournament with a 6th place finish at 48kg.

U20 Freestyle Placewinners

57kg – Gauge Botero (Cliff Keen WC), 3rd
57kg – Henry Aslikyan (Cliff Keen WC), 4th
61kg – Jackson Blum (Indiana RTC), 5th
61kg – Nicholas Sorrow (SAW), 7th
74kg – Haakon Peterson (AWA), 2nd
86kg – Brock Mantanona (Cliff Keen WC), 2nd

U17 Freestyle Placewinners

48kg – Brody Compau (Michigan Premier), 6th