Arizona's DeBerry breaks through with Greco gold

by InterMat

By Jason Bryant
jbryant@intermatwrestle.com

He raised his arms, looked to the stands with his face grimacing with joy and shouted “I WON!”

It was emotional for 160-pound Junior Greco-Roman National Champion Kyle DeBerry of Arizona. He’s been wrestling at the USA Wrestling Cadet and Junior Nationals for the past five years and now the Arizona State-bound graduate of Sunnyside High School can hoist his first championship trophy.

DeBerry topped Oregon’s Alec Ortiz 6-5, 6-0 to claim his seventh medal in the Fargodome at North Dakota State University’s Fargo, N.D., campus.

“It’s like waiting, finally, after five years,” said DeBerry. “This is my seventh medal, and I want medal number eight in freestyle.”

It wasn’t an easy ride for DeBerry, who had to navigate through a brutally tough A Pool.

“Getting there (the finals) was hard at first,” explained DeBerry. “Every kid you wrestle on the way is national caliber. We all made it here, we’re the best in our states.

“You have to wrestle guys like (Michael) Chaires from New York and (Ben) Provisor from Wisconsin who are very top-notch caliber kids for sure,” he said.

DeBerry beat them both en route to the finals, but while he’s elated to bring home the big “stop sign” from Fargo, he just loves to battle.

I like freestyle a lot. I love freestyle. It’s by far my better style,” said DeBerry. “In Greco, I like competition. I love competition. If it was the world’s greatest ballerina contest, I would try to win. It’s competition in general that drives me and Greco is a lot of fun.”

But it was the elusive title that DeBerry had been missing and coming back after his senior year, there was still work to be done.

“For me, I thought I had a lot to prove and show myself,” said DeBerry. “Personally, this is the icing on the cake. Biggest tournament in the world, that’s what I’m here for.”

The rest of Monday’s finals were just as exciting. Max Nowry of Illinois, David Taylor of Ohio and Ryland Geiger of Oregon made successful jumps up to the Junior level. All three won Cadet Greco titles last year and in 2007, took home Junior Greco titles.

Taylor won the first period 3-1, then dropped the second to Illinois’ B.J. Futrell, giving up a three point throw to force the winner-take-all third period.

In the third, Taylor hipped into Futrell on a lift attempt and put Futrell to his back and nearly got the fall. He finished the period with a three point throw as Futrell rushed in quickly as time ran down for a desperation finish.

“The first period I got lifted, it was a mental mistake, but in the second period, he pulled me up and I tried a fancy thing and hip in and try to knock him over because he was getting close to lifting me again, so it worked out,” said Taylor.

The fireworks continued at 119 pounds where Nikko Triggas of California and Zach Sanders renewed their rivalry. Last time the two met in a tournament final, it was at the NHSCA Senior Nationals in Virginia Beach and Sanders won a 7-6 match in folkstyle.

Both had losses in the main draw, but due to more classification points, reached the final.

“I came out the first day and was wrestling probably the best I was wrestling in a long time,” said Triggas. “I come back through some guys that were pretty good and then I come out against Brian Owen and that didn’t go the way I wanted, but I kept my head up and found out I was still in the finals and had to straighten it out against Sanders.”

This time Triggas got the “W,” and didn’t think too much about senior nationals.

“I mean the nationals was a big tournament and I’d liked to have won it, but there’s always tournaments there are always more to come,” said Triggas. “Kids get better, they improve. Even at my state tournament … the next weekend, it’s always about getting better.”

Geiger stepped up to the Junior level outlasted Minnesota’s Zac Nielson, but it was a three point throw from the reverse lock late in the third period that resonated through the Fargodome, much like his explosive throws from mat one have done in the past.

“I love the sound. The podium makes it sound three times louder,” said Geiger. “Everyone’s going to look at you, see what you’re doing. I just like the attention I guess.”

Geiger had to dig deep to pull the winning three-pointer out.

“I knew he was going to hold my hands, so I tried to make him think I was going to get a different lock and switched to my finger lock, raised him up and see how high I could get him, step out and just arch,” said Geiger, who at the time was down 1-0. “I knew I’d at least get one point. Either way, I was just trying to get some points.”

Geiger’s Peninsula Wrestling Club teammate Norman Richmond made the most of his first Junior Greco-Roman venture.

Richmond topped Utah’s Jason Chamberlain in three periods in the finals at 135 pounds.

“I was close to coming last year, and thought I could do this again,” said Richmond. “I just had to go out with a bang. I wrestled him two times in Vegas recently. I beat him both styles in the finals there, and the year before that, I beat him in freestyle.

“I’m going to give him all the credit, he’s a really good wrestler,” continued Richmond. “He’s the good wrestler you want to beat. I don’t try to focus on that. I just co out and focus and train for my match.”

Richmond was an enigma to many outside of the Pacific Northwest before this weekend.

“I came here my freshman year, I didn’t do so good,” said Richmond. “I think I was a match or two away from placing. I was supposed to be here last year, but I went to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to wrestle in a cultural exchange tournament over there.”

Geiger, Richmond and Tyrell Fortune all represented the Peninsula Wrestling Club in the finals, but Fortune couldn’t match Geiger’s feat, running into a very determined Marcel Dubose of Michigan in the finals, falling 5-4, 4-3.

It could have happened last year, which was Dubose’s second year as a Cadet, but he had some travel mishaps that forced him to bump up an age group.

“I missed the Cadet bus last year to wrestle Greco and had to bump up to Juniors and took seventh,” said Dubose. “It feels great, I made it out here on time this year and I took what was mine.”

Fortune and Dubose met in the Freestyle finals two years ago and the match was full of throws and excitement, much like this year’s Greco version.

“I got him though, I just can’t even express it right now,” said Dubose. “This kid never lost at Fargo. He’ll never forget me and I’ll never forget him.”

“I’m so hyped right now, I’m not even thinking. I want that stop sign man, I’ve been thinking about that for the last three or four days, actually longer, but since I’ve been out here, it’s been crazy, it’s been real nuts,” he said.

The win was that much more special for Dubose, who has a deep respect for his foe.

“I beat a national champ, so you just think about how you would feel if you beat a four-time national champ,” he said. “It’s really incredible in front of all these people.”

Nowry, the third of the champs to move up an age group and win a Greco title, took the title at 98 pounds with a 2-0, 3-0 victory over Cody Pack of California. Nowry used a two-point gut-wrench from his lock in the first period and in the second, defended Pack’s lock and then used another two-point gut from his lock to win in two period.

California’s Boris Novachkov won the title after winning with a 5-2, 1-1 decision over New Jersey’s John Trumbetti at 125. Novachkov, bound for Cal Poly, trailed 2-0 in the first, but ended the period with a five-point throw from the reverse lock position. There was no scoring in the second period and both traded points for defending the lock position, but Novachkov took the decisive point by scoring last.

At 130, Iowa’s Dalton Jensen gave his state delegation the second title of the night in a two-period victory over Washington’s Kelly Kubec. Jensen, who will wrestle for Cael Sanderson at Iowa State next year, used a two-point gut-wrench and one-point pushout in the last 30 seconds to take a 1-1, 4-1 win.

Florida’s Kendrick Sanders won his first Junior Greco title with an exciting 4-0, 0-6, 4-4 victory over Iowa’s Esai Dominguez at 140 pounds. After dropping the first period, Dominguez picked up the equalizer with a big three-point heave that gave him the tech. In the third, Sanders jumped out to a 3-0 lead defending a throw attempt that resulted in Dominguez landing on his back out of bounds. Dominguez took a 4-3 lead but gave up the final point for not turning Sanders, who was awarded the period because of his three-point move.

Minnesota’s Jake Deitchler picked up a solid victory over New York’s Don Vinson at 145 pounds. Vinson won the first period with a reversal and defense point, but Deitchler then opened up, earning a 4-1 second period win and then scored a takedown and three straight gut-wrenches to take the title with a 7-1 win in the decisive third period.

Colorado’s Kevin LeValley survived a dangerous Jon Drendel of Illinois to take home the championship at 152 pounds. LeValley, who will jettison to Pennsylvania in the fall and wrestle for Bucknell, won the first period 3-0 before getting launched for five in a 5-0 second period loss. LeValley then settled, scored a third period takedown and built a 5-0 lead on two more gut-wrenches before eventually coming away with the 6-2 third period.

Montana’s Ty Vinson won the title at 171 pounds over Nate Graham of New York despite being outscored 8-3. Vinson won the first period 2-1, then got fived in a 7-0 second period loss but it was his lock defense in a 1-1 third period victory that gave him the last point and the title.

Illinois Peter Kowalczuk pulled a modest upset in knocking off Missouri’s Elijah Madison at heavyeight. Kowalzcuk, who will head to St. Louis-Meramec CC in the fall, picked up a 3-0, 2-2 victory.