Brackets
OMAHA, Neb. - Four Boilermakers earned spots on the podium at the USA Wrestling U23 and UWW Junior National Freestyle Championships this weekend, held at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Senior Max Lyon headlined the group, competing on behalf of the Boilermaker Regional Training Center, taking second in the U23 division at 86 kg, while sophomore Thomas Penola, junior Parker Filius and true freshman Gerrit Nijenhuis earned placing spots as well.
Lyon rolled to the finals with four consecutive wins, including technical falls in the first two rounds Saturday. He needed only 1:22 for a 10-0 win over Barrett Blakely of Appalachia State, and then rolled up Stanford's Antonio Andrade 13-1 in 5:01. He opened Sunday with a 7-3 victory over Northern Iowa's Keegan Moore, and then held off Michigan State All-American Cameron Caffey in the semifinals 8-7. Lyon finally fell in the championship match at the hands of the nation's No. 1 wrestler in 2019-20 at 184 pounds, Taylor Lujan, formerly of Northern Iowa.
Penola had an outstanding tournament, putting huge scores on the board on his way to a fourth-place finish at 92 kg in the U23 division. He rolled up Shenandoah's Joseph Williams in his only match on Saturday, 10-0 in 1:41, and was bounced from the championship side of the bracket by Pittsburgh's Nino Bonaccorsi to open Sunday. Penola came back strong on the consolation side, posting a 13-2 technical fall over Wyoming's Tucker Tomlinson, and following up with a 13-6 win over Stanford All-American Nathan Traxler. Penola advanced to the third-place match with another dominant showing over a 2020 All-American, scoring a 12-2 technical fall over Virginia's Jay Aiello in 5:23. Both of Penola's losses Sunday came to the same opponent as he fell in the third-place match to Bonaccorsi 8-2.
Filius finished fifth at 65 kg of the U23 division, rallying from a first-round loss to post a 6-2 record on the weekend. He fell on criteria 2-2 in his opening match of the tournament to Iowa's Carter Happel, which forced Filius to need four straight wins to earn his place on the podium. He posted a 14-4 technical fall over South Dakota State's Rylee Molitor, defeated Illinois' Andrew Cohen 7-2, edged out teammate Alec White on criteria 5-5 and came from behind in a 14-9 victory over Missouri's Allan Hart. Filius was awarded a shot at redemption in the consolation quarterfinals and took full advantage, defeating Happel in the rematch 10-5 before falling in the consolation semifinals to Iowa All-American Max Murin. Filius finished the tournament with his hand raised, earning a 7-5 win over South Dakota State's Clay Carlson in the fifth-place match.
Boilermaker true freshman Gerrit Nijenhuis posted a podium finish in the UWW Junior division, taking seventh place at 79 kg with a 5-2 tournament record. The Pennsylvania native posted three straight wins Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals, edging Wyoming's Gage Hockett 12-10 in the opening round, rolling up Emmanuel College's Kristian Steed 10-0 in just 41 seconds, and topping Missouri's Sean Harmon 6-5. After falling to Wisconsin's Jared Krattinger in the quarterfinals, Nijenhuis responded with a 10-0 technical fall over Penn's Neil Antrassian to earn a spot on the podium. The Purdue rookie fell in the closing seconds 11-10 to South Dakota State's Cade King in the consolation quarterfinals, but finished strong with a 12-0 technical fall over CSU Bakersfield's Albert Urias in 1:09.
Senior Devin Schroder just missed placing in the U23 division at 57 kg, advancing to the quarterfinals before back-to-back losses to finish one win shy of the podium.
The weekend finish gives the Boilermakers 29 national freestyle All-Americans in six seasons under head coach Tony Ersland, posting at least four in each of the last five seasons.
OMAHA, Neb. - Four Boilermakers earned spots on the podium at the USA Wrestling U23 and UWW Junior National Freestyle Championships this weekend, held at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Senior Max Lyon headlined the group, competing on behalf of the Boilermaker Regional Training Center, taking second in the U23 division at 86 kg, while sophomore Thomas Penola, junior Parker Filius and true freshman Gerrit Nijenhuis earned placing spots as well.
Lyon rolled to the finals with four consecutive wins, including technical falls in the first two rounds Saturday. He needed only 1:22 for a 10-0 win over Barrett Blakely of Appalachia State, and then rolled up Stanford's Antonio Andrade 13-1 in 5:01. He opened Sunday with a 7-3 victory over Northern Iowa's Keegan Moore, and then held off Michigan State All-American Cameron Caffey in the semifinals 8-7. Lyon finally fell in the championship match at the hands of the nation's No. 1 wrestler in 2019-20 at 184 pounds, Taylor Lujan, formerly of Northern Iowa.
Penola had an outstanding tournament, putting huge scores on the board on his way to a fourth-place finish at 92 kg in the U23 division. He rolled up Shenandoah's Joseph Williams in his only match on Saturday, 10-0 in 1:41, and was bounced from the championship side of the bracket by Pittsburgh's Nino Bonaccorsi to open Sunday. Penola came back strong on the consolation side, posting a 13-2 technical fall over Wyoming's Tucker Tomlinson, and following up with a 13-6 win over Stanford All-American Nathan Traxler. Penola advanced to the third-place match with another dominant showing over a 2020 All-American, scoring a 12-2 technical fall over Virginia's Jay Aiello in 5:23. Both of Penola's losses Sunday came to the same opponent as he fell in the third-place match to Bonaccorsi 8-2.
Filius finished fifth at 65 kg of the U23 division, rallying from a first-round loss to post a 6-2 record on the weekend. He fell on criteria 2-2 in his opening match of the tournament to Iowa's Carter Happel, which forced Filius to need four straight wins to earn his place on the podium. He posted a 14-4 technical fall over South Dakota State's Rylee Molitor, defeated Illinois' Andrew Cohen 7-2, edged out teammate Alec White on criteria 5-5 and came from behind in a 14-9 victory over Missouri's Allan Hart. Filius was awarded a shot at redemption in the consolation quarterfinals and took full advantage, defeating Happel in the rematch 10-5 before falling in the consolation semifinals to Iowa All-American Max Murin. Filius finished the tournament with his hand raised, earning a 7-5 win over South Dakota State's Clay Carlson in the fifth-place match.
Boilermaker true freshman Gerrit Nijenhuis posted a podium finish in the UWW Junior division, taking seventh place at 79 kg with a 5-2 tournament record. The Pennsylvania native posted three straight wins Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals, edging Wyoming's Gage Hockett 12-10 in the opening round, rolling up Emmanuel College's Kristian Steed 10-0 in just 41 seconds, and topping Missouri's Sean Harmon 6-5. After falling to Wisconsin's Jared Krattinger in the quarterfinals, Nijenhuis responded with a 10-0 technical fall over Penn's Neil Antrassian to earn a spot on the podium. The Purdue rookie fell in the closing seconds 11-10 to South Dakota State's Cade King in the consolation quarterfinals, but finished strong with a 12-0 technical fall over CSU Bakersfield's Albert Urias in 1:09.
Senior Devin Schroder just missed placing in the U23 division at 57 kg, advancing to the quarterfinals before back-to-back losses to finish one win shy of the podium.
The weekend finish gives the Boilermakers 29 national freestyle All-Americans in six seasons under head coach Tony Ersland, posting at least four in each of the last five seasons.