TLDR: Wisconsin’s National Duals teams, nine that will compete in total, kicked off the series of events with two impressive top-ten finishes in Greco-Roman wrestling! 14U Greco placed 3rd overall with a record of 5-2; 16U Greco placed 9th overall with a 6-2 record. Both teams went undefeated in their placement pools on the second day of competition. Complete results: 14U GR; 16U GR.
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14U Greco—3rd place overall in Oaks, PA
Wisconsin’s youngest to compete in the age-group duals, 14U, competed in Greco on Wednesday and Thursday.

The team, led by Head Coach Tony Schaaf, opened with a lopsided win over Idaho in preliminary Pool A competition, followed by a narrow victory against California, 40-39. Despite a tough loss to Minnesota in the Pool A finals (49-34) and another to eventual champions Pennsylvania in the opening round of the gold/silver pool, the team rebounded on day two.

“We were making mistakes that we corrected the rest of the tournament,” Schaaf explained. Day two began with a 42-33 win over Iowa, followed by a decisive 50-27 victory over Utah, that led into the medal match against Ohio for 3rd place.

"We’re really stressing team camaraderie, and the kids have fully embraced it," Schaaf said. "They know we’re [the coaches] fighting for them, and they’re fighting for us."

In the medal match, Ohio jumped out to an early lead, but Wisconsin edged their way back in, gaining momentum in each match. "We saw ourselves crawling back little by little, which was huge," Schaaf noted. Tyler Paulson and Aspen Tritz were the first to grab wins, and then Wisconsin won 9 of the last 11 matches in impressive streaks to seal the deal. As always with duals, it’s the team effort. “Every point, even in a match that you might lose is a team point and we really stressed that if somebody gets teched they save the team point,” said Schaaf. “The kids are cheering each other on knowing that everybody is contributing—whether the final outcome is a win or not they’re contributing—and it keeps building and pumping the kids up so that’s huge.”

Mason Moody, Tyler Paulson, and Kade Splinter each went undefeated and earned a place on USA Wrestling’s All-Tournament team. Aspen Tritz and Josiah Beltran had just one loss each putting together outstanding performances.

The 14U team, comprised of athletes that will compete in both styles, rested up and hit the mats again Friday for freestyle.

16U Greco—9th place overall in Herriman, Utah
Competing on the other side of the country, the 16U Greco team, led by Head Coach Tyler Dow, posted an impressive 6-2 record, finishing 9th overall in Utah.

They placed 4th in Pool D which landed them in the bronze/copper pool. Their wins came over Utah Black and an exciting matchup with North Dakota, but they didn’t have enough to top Illinois in the semifinal and were edged out by the Oklahoma Outlaws by a single point for 3rd. Dow said there were a lot of gritty wins and coachable moments that moved the team a step in the right direction in that 2-2 performance. “I think after day one some of the kids were disappointed in their result and wanted to turn that around,” he said. And they did.

Day two brought renewed excitement to compete: “The energy level was right where it needed to be!” said Dow as the team showcased disciplined adjustments in the bronze/copper pool. “The first day some guys were reaching, keeping their butt back, hinging at the waist. In Greco-Roman wrestling you can’t do those things and be successful. I think the guys made that switch very fast and fixed it for day two.”

The team went on to secure the “next best thing” with an undefeated run in the bronze/copper pool with wins over Oregon, Colorado, Kansas, and Idaho in the medal match to clinch a 9th place finish overall. "It was a total team effort," Dow said. "Some matches we found ourselves outmatched, and kids scored points in their individual match to score us a team point. Not getting pinned in some of those matches was big for our team's success in those duals.”

Tristan North, who went 7-0, was named to USA Wrestling’s All-Tournament team.

Dow emphasized the progress made and the room for improvement: "Our state got better at Greco-Roman wrestling this weekend, but there’s still a lot of room to grow."

A special thank you goes out to Wisconsin’s dedicated coaching staff! If you watched the duals (especially with sound on) you know the coaches relentlessly care for the kids, fight for them, and lead the energy matside. The 16U coaches on this trip were 16U Greco Head Coach Tyler Dow, Jordy Crass, Randy Dusing, Scott Arneson, and Randy Ferrell. The 14U coaches on this trip are 14U Head Coach Tony Schaaf, Patrick Spray, Eli Ware, Trevor Potratz and Chris Persike.

Wrestling continues with the 14U and 16U freestyle national dual competition on Friday and Saturday.

14U Greco: 3rd overall with a record of 5-2

• Complete results
• Pool A Quarterfinal: Wisconsin defeated Idaho 73-12
• Pool A Semifinal: Wisconsin defeated California 40-39
• Pool A 1st place match: Minnesota Blue defeated Wisconsin 49-34
• Gold/Silver #1: Pennsylvania Blue defeated Wisconsin 47-29
• Gold/Silver #2: Wisconsin defeated Iowa 42-33
• Gold/Silver #3: Wisconsin defeated Utah 50-27
• Gold/Silver #4 (3rd place): Wisconsin defeated Ohio Red 45-33

16U Greco: 9th overall with a record of 6-2

• Complete results
• Pool D QF: Wisconsin defeated Utah Black 73-8
• Pool D SF: Illinois defeated Wisconsin 54-21
• Pool D Cons. SF: Wisconsin defeated North Dakota 56-22
• Pool D 3rd: Oklahoma Outlaws Red defeated Wisconsin 39-38
• Bronze/Copper #1: Wisconsin defeated Oregon 42-34
• Bronze/Copper #2: Wisconsin defeated Colorado 39-37
• Bronze/Copper #3: Wisconsin defeated Kansas 45-32
• Bronze/Copper #4 (9th place): Wisconsin defeated Idaho 45-31

Helpful Notes
→ Team WI Rosters: https://bit.ly/3VehtHG 
→ Stream live on FloWrestling
→ Brackets posted on TrackWrestling
→ ABOUT: National Duals are age-level USA Wrestling events featuring some of the most talented freestyle and Greco wrestlers on state association teams nationwide.

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