Featured photo by Sarah Dailey.

Milwaukee, Wis. — Team Wisconsin closed out the Junior Greco National Duals on Thursday afternoon with a 4th-place finish in the Bronze/Copper pool. The Greco squad finished with a 4-4 dual record, placing 12th in the final standings at the two-day event.

Wisconsin found more rhythm and cohesion in each round. “We tried to work on a couple of basic things with everybody,” said Head Coach Ty Pelot. “We wanted them to consider, after last night, something they did that was good, bad, and something they could improve on.”

After a mixed day one, Wisconsin moved into the Bronze/Copper bracket and split four duals on Thursday. They dropped the opener to Pennsylvania (48-20), then responded with back-to-back wins over Georgia (39-29) and neighboring Minnesota (40-29)—a dual that featured clutch performances and key comebacks to swing the momentum. That energy carried into a back-and-forth battle with Colorado in the placement match, but Wisconsin came up just short, falling 38-26.

Wisconsin mainstays Sullivan Ramos (6-0) and Hunter Vander Heiden (8-0) will be selected to USA Wrestling’s All-Tournament Team for the second consecutive year—a recognition reserved for wrestlers who go undefeated with five or more wins for their state. Ramos earned all six victories by technical superiority with powerhouse Greco skills—lots of lifts, throws and guts. Vander Heiden, a steady force at heavyweight, picked up a mix of techs and falls to cap off his perfect run.

His brother, Henry, wasn’t far behind. Henry went 7-1 and was another key anchor in the upperweights. Both brothers trained at each of the WWF Greco camps throughout the spring. “It was clear the development they had, and it showed for the wrestlers who attended how important it was to implement small things over the series versus crunched into a three-day experience,” Pelot said.

The other wrestler giving up just one loss was William Christoper. The 16U Fargo All-American wrestled to an impressive 5-1 performance over the course of two days. Also winning five matches was Landen Bogard (5-3), who let it fly. Not all victories are earned on the scoreboard. Some of the wins from this national event were seen in wrestlers competing with full heart and effort time and time again, young wrestlers stepping up to the Junior level, and the growth that happens in adversity.

“One of the big things we talked about is that even with the ups and downs, everyone had fun, everyone on this team grew and found ways to improve,” Pelot said. “We’re going to use this as a stepping stone for Fargo.” Fargo, the Junior and 16U National Championships, is July 18-19 for the Greco athletes. Pelot said the key from now until then is to focus on the basics—hips in, making first contact, knowing and working on your turn, and making sure you have something in each of the key positions.

Also Happening:

• Women’s Freestyle: All three Wisconsin teams kicked off competition in Indiana on Thursday—and each team has advanced to finals of their preliminary pool as of Thursday afternoon.
• Men’s Freestyle: The Junior Red and Blue men’s freestyle teams are weighed in and ready to go. Action starts Friday at 8:30 a.m. back at the Baird Center in Milwaukee.

Helpful Notes
→ Result - Junior Greco PDF
→ Team WI Rosters: https://bit.ly/43zCkts
→ Stream on FloWrestling
→ Brackets posted on USA Bracketing
→ 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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The Wisconsin Wrestling Federation, guided by USA Wrestling, provides quality opportunities for its members to achieve their full human and athletic potential. Wisconsin Wrestling Federation will strive to be USA Wrestling’s best state organization.