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Eight wrestlers repeat at NHSCA National Open Wrestling Championships

Blake Roulo (152) of Ettrick (Va.) Matoaca High won his seventh national championship as more than 1,500 competitors in four age divisions convened at the water’s edge to compete in the 14th annual National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) National Open Wrestling Championships and the fifth annual National Beach Wrestling Championships, July 2-4 at the Wicomico Youth Civic Center in Salisbury, Md.

This picturesque location is located just 30 minutes from scenic Ocean City and the beautiful beaches of the Atlantic Ocean.

The scholastic-style event was contested for wrestlers in three youth age groups: the High School Division (grades 9-12), the Middle School Division (grades 7-9) and the Elementary Division (grades 4-6), as well as the Open Division.

Roulo, a junior who won his first Group 3A Virginia state championship last season at 145 pounds, won five matches to take the title. After opening with a pair of technical falls, Roulo won his final three matches by a combined four points, beating Joe Sheptock of Northampton (Pa.) High 6-4 in the semifinals and Pennsylvania AA state alternate Casey Fuller of Lake Ariel Western Wayne High 5-4 for the title.

Roulo, who also has finished third and second in the state tournament, won his fourth National Open title and his first in the High School Division. With victories in the National High School Freshman, Sophomore and Junior Nationals, he has the chance to become just the second wrestler to sweep all four age divisions next spring.

Keyed by a strong overall performance, Pennsylvania won its sixth consecutive National Open all-division state team championship, taking home a combined 22 individual championships in the four divisions. Virginia took home 11 titles as 11 states crowned at least one champion.

“The wrestling was great in every division,” NHSCA executive director Bob Ferraro Jr. said. “Pennsylvania won the tournament, but the New England states were outstanding, too. That’s what makes the National Open Championships so special and such an important event for wrestlers from across the nation. In just a decade, this event has developed an outstanding tradition.”

A pair of High School Division wrestlers, senior Daniel Ownbey (135) of Enka (N.C.) High and junior Nick Lawrence (171) of Plaistow (N.H.) Timberlane High, claimed their second consecutive High School Division championships. Ownbey, who was 110-1 the past two seasons while winning a pair of 3A state titles, repeated at 135 pounds with a pin and three decisions, edging A.J. Rue of the NY Titans 5-4 in the title match. Lawrence, the 160-pound National Open champion last year, moved up a weight and won four decisions, including a 9-4 finals decision over Jarred Lux of the Ragin Rasins. Lawrence won his second Division 1 state title this year, adding his first Meet of Champions all-class state crown and a third-place finish in the New England Championships.

Two other wrestlers won for the third time. Eric Hong (80) of Pennsylvania won for the third straight year in the Elementary Division, taking the 80-pound title in both the Elementary and Middle School Divisions after winning Elementary crowns at 70 and 75 in 2009 and at 65 in 2008. None of the five matches Hong wrestled went the distance. He followed up a technical fall with two pins to win in the Elementary Division and pinned both his Middle School opponents. Josh Haines, a Northampton (Pa.) native who wrestled at the University of Maryland, won the Open Division for the third time in four years. Haines took the 184-pound title, the same weight class he won in 2007. He also won at 197 in 2008.

Mason Manville of Virginia matched Hong’s feat, winning the Elementary Division at 132 and the Middle School Division at 135.

Three Ragin Rasins teammates also repeated. Kaleb Young (95) and George McGuire (100) made it two crowns in the Middle School Division. Young, the Elementary Division champion at 90 last year, didn’t allow a point in winning three decisions. McGuire pinned both his opponents to add to the Middle School crown he took at 85 last year. Shane Nolan (197) won his second straight in the Open Division.

Wrestlers qualified for the event by finishing in the top four at one of the more than 150 qualifying tournaments held throughout the nation, in the top six in the NHSCA Pre-Season Wrestling Championships last fall, or in the top six in the Ohio Tournament of Champions, the Tulsa Nationals or the Reno World Championships. Wrestlers who have qualified for or competed in the National High School Wrestling Championships – the Senior, Junior or Sophomore Divisions – also were eligible to compete. In addition, all members of teams finishing in the top four at the National Duals also were qualified to enter.

Complete brackets in all divisions can be found at the following link:

 

http://test.escapesports.com/Results/2010/2010NHSCAOpen.pdf