Diakomihalis tops Retherford to win U.S. Open
LAS VEGAS — Yianni Diakomihalis has won at every level. After winning two Cadet world titles, five state titles and two NCAA championships in two tries, the 20-year-old Cornell sophomore can now add a U.S. Open title to his growing list of wrestling accomplishments. On Saturday, Diakomihalis came through to win the U.S. Open title at 65 kilograms, beating 2017 World Team member Zain Retherford 6-4 in the finals. On Friday, he topped Olympic fifth-place finisher Frank Molinaro in the quarterfinals and returning U.S. Open champion Jordan Oliver in the semifinals.
By winning the U.S. Open title, Diakomihalis now advances to Final X in June where he will await the winner of next month’s U.S. World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. In the finals, Retherford, a three-time NCAA champion for Penn State, went up 4-2 in the second period, but Diakomihalis came back with a takedown in the final minute to grab a criteria lead. He would add a late takedown to win by two. Rest of the story and pictures and video at
https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/21862
Four wrestlers repeat as U.S. Open Greco champs, U.S. Army wins 5 titles
LAS VEGAS — Ryan Mango, Max Nowry, Ellis Coleman and Kamal Bey repeated as U.S. Open champions in Greco-Roman on Friday at South Point Arena in Las Vegas. Mango became the first wrestler to punch a ticket to Final X. He repeated as U.S. Open champion, defeating Sam Jones by 9-1 technical fall in the finals at 63 kilograms. The match was competitive until the final two minutes. After the two wrestlers traded passivity points, Mango blew the match open with a series of turn to earn a technical fall. Nowry topped Dalton Duffield 5-3 in the finals at 55 kilograms. Duffield scored first to take a 2-0, but Nowry controlled the rest of the match to claim the victory. Coleman, a 2012 Olympian, earned a 12-3 technical fall over Hayden Tuma in the finals at 67 kilograms. Bey, a 2017 Junior world champion, held on to defeat Pat Smith 7-5 in the finals at 77 kilograms. Bey raced out to a 5-0 lead and appeared to be in firm control of the match. But Smith battled back in the final 90 seconds, scoring five unanswered points to make the score 5-5, but still trailed on criteria. Bey was able to extend his lead late and hold on for the victory.
The U.S. Army WCAP program crowned five of the 10 champions in Greco-Roman. In addition to Mango, Nowry and Coleman, Army wrestlers Leslie Fuenffinger and Jacob Mitchell won titles. Fuenffinger overcame a 3-0 deficit to defeat Army WCAP teammate Ildar Hafizov 6-4 in the 60-kilogram finals. Hafizov won the previous meeting at the Schultz finals in January. Mitchell scored a 7-0 shutout over Tate Orndorff in the finals at 130 kilograms. He used a takedown and two gut wrenches on help pace him to the victory. Mitchell is the lone U.S. Open Greco-Roman champion who did not earn an automatic berth in Final X. Adam Coon, a returning world silver medalist, will face the winner of the World Team Trials. Rest of the story at
https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/21861
Returning World Team members Conder, Winchester, Molinari win U.S. Open titles in women’s wrestling
LAS VEGAS — Three returning U.S. World Team members in women’s wrestling, Whitney Conder, Jacarra Winchester and Forrest Molinari, punched their tickets to Final X by winning U.S. Open titles on Friday at South Point Arena in Las Vegas. Conder, a four-time World Team member, shut out Erin Golston 7-0 in the finals at 50 kilograms, avenging a loss from earlier this season. Conder used a four-point takedown in the first period to open up the scoring. She would add another takedown with just over a minute and half remaining. Winchester, a world fifth-place finisher last year, cruised to a 10-0 technical fall in the finals over Areana Villaescusa at 55 kilograms. Molinari trailed 1-0 at the break in the 65-kilogram finals against 2017 Junior world champion Maya Nelson before scoring five unanswered points in the second period to claim a 5-1 victory.
Alli Ragan, a two-time world silver medalist, capped a dominant tournament with a 10-0 technical fall over Abigail Nette in the finals at 59 kilograms. Becka Leathers, a 2017 world bronze medalist, came back late to defeat Jenna Burkert to win the title at 57 kilograms. Leathers scored a takedown with 30 seconds left to grab a 4-3 lead. She would extend her lead with a gut wrench turn and hold on to win by two. Another 2018 Final X participant, Kayla Miracle, won her third U.S. Open title in dominant fashion, beating Desiree Zavala 10-0 in the finals at 62 kilograms. Two-time WCWA All-American Precious Bell picked up the lone fall in the finals. Bell built an 8-2 lead on Hannah Gladden in the finals at 76 kilograms before locking up a cradle and getting a fall with just over a minute thirty remaining in the match. Rest of the story at
https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/21860
TDR blog
After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
Takedown Report
Takedown Report 