I wanna talk to Samson: Platt, hair finally win Junior Freestyle Title

by InterMat

It’s actually quite ugly. Uneven, some shaggy, some short – a disheveled mess. But there’s significance to the streak hair that’s become an overgrown Mohawk.

It’s Jared Platt’s hair. And it’s his winning “streak.”

The Blair Academy (N.J.) graduate picked up his first USA Wrestling Junior National Freestyle Championship in the finals on Thursday night at the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D., on the campus of North Dakota State University.

Platt scored a dominant 4-0, 6-0 victory over Minnesota’s Patrick Mahan at 215 pounds to cap off his prep wrestling career.

“…. Finally,” said Platt emphatically after walking down the steps from the raised mat and into the arms of Blair coach Jeff Buxton. Well, that’s most of what he said.

“It’s like Samson, it’s the source of all my power,” said Platt. Since a trip to the Junior Pan Am Games in Venezuela and a haircut on the trip, the Penn State-bound wrestler has reeled off 26 consecutive wins in FILA Junior and Junior level competition.

“The streak on the top of my head is a metaphor for my wrestling style,” said Platt.

He won six matches, along with two gold medals in Venezuela, went 10-0 at the Junior Duals in Oklahoma earlier this month and went 10-0 in Junior Freestyle.

This year in Fargo, he didn't give up a point.

Platt fell in the finals last year to Virginia’s Cody Gardner and was relieved to finally pick up a championship.

“I’ve been nipping at the bud and could never turn it into what I wanted it to turn into,” said Platt. “Although I’m sad Cody’s not here. I finally won, you know. I’ve been second place for the last two years and it’s good to finally get that first place.”

Buxton received much of the praise.

“I’ve been at the level, but the way I am now, I was good but he’s made me great,” said Platt. “It’s just the little things he can add to my wrestling has helped me so much.”

Washington’s Michael Mangrum won his second Junior Freestyle title, beating another returning champion, New Jersey’s Kellen Russell, in the finals at 140 pounds.

It was the third straight year Mangrum’s won a Freestyle championship in Fargo – going back-to-back in the Junior Division and the year prior, winning the Cadet Freestyle title.

“Everything is different, but everything is the same,” said Mangrum. “I took a nap before the finals, that might have helped.”

Mangrum had a reason to be motivated.

“I was really mad that I only placed fifth in Greco, so I decided I was going to come out here and try to beat my opponents into a pulp and score as much as I could and win it.”

As Mangrum had his hand raised, he again wowed the crowd with a display of acrobatics that traditionally follow his Fargo championships – complete with backflip and back hand-spring.

Mangrum found motivation in his Greco loss, but 145-pound champion Mario Mason of New Jersey found motivation in another loss – his high school teammate – Russell.

“(Russell’s loss) got me more excited, he’s my teammate, I’ve been with him for three years,” said Mason. “Seeing one of my good friends lose got me excited to go out and wrestle, but I didn’t wrestle the way I planned, but I got it done.”

Mason won a three-period bout over returning finalist Jake Deitchler of Minnesota. Mason was strong in the first period, scoring two takedowns to take the first period 2-0, but fell 5-2 in the second.

He rebounded to with a 2-1 win in the third finalized by a late double leg that led to a pushout or a takedown, depending on how you look at it, or how the referee scored it.

“I’ve wrestled (Deitchler) three times and that’s the best he’s wrestled against me,” said Mason. “It’s the first time he’s won a period against me in four matches.”

While Mason and Mangrum are two of the most prized recruits for the Class of 2008, it was a graduated senior that provided the best finals fireworks.

Massachusetts’ Sean Bilodeau rallied from a first period loss and a 3-0 deficit in the second period to stack up Illinois’ Conrad Polz and pick up the fall at 1:47 in the second period to give Bilodeau the championship at 152 pounds.

It was Bilodeau’s eighth fall in 10 matches and it was good enough to get him the nod for Outstanding Wrestler.

“You can be behind as long as you want, but everyone’s got shoulders,” said Bilodeau. “Everybody’s got shoulders, you just have to put them to the mat and get the fall.”

“I wasn’t worried, because you can’t get worried in big matches,” said Bilodeau. “It’s like a little stack and run to his head. Jared Frayer, one of my coaches, taught me that move. After he hit it on me like 20 times, after a couple of times, I started to hit it.”

Bilodeau’s soon-to-be assistant coach at Lehigh, Tim Dernlan, eluded that this might not have happened.

“He decided two weeks ago to come,” said Dernlan.

Illinois crowned its third champion of the night as Mike Benefiel trounced Colorado’s Cody Yohn 6-0, 7-0 at 171 pounds as both periods took a combined 60 seconds.

“I was just ready to go, excited to get out there, bring the match to him and not hold anything back,” said Benefiel.

Coupled with wins by Max Nowry at 98 pounds and Jon Morrison at 105 pounds, the three titles helped lift Illinois to the team title.

Nowry of Illinois won his second tournament of the weekend, matching his Junior Greco-Roman championship with the Junior Freestyle one he won by defeating California’s Cody Pack 1-0, 1-0.

Morrison followed with a tight three-period win over Missouri’s Donte Butler at 112 pounds. With the score tied at 1-1 with the time winding down, Morrison snatched a single leg and ended up in a flurry with Butler. He was awarded one, it wasn’t confirmed and the mat chairman elected to go to the video. The point was awarded and Morrison took the first period 2-1.

The pair again went to video at the end of the second, this time Butler being the benefactor of the video and a 1-0 second period win.

Butler scored a third period takedown, but Morrison scored the last point, hitting a high crotch, lifting the leg and driving Butler out of pounds for the pushout point.

Along with Nowry, Ohio’s David Taylor picked up his second title of the weekend, beating Pennsylvania’s Mark Rappo at 105 pounds in a re-match of last year’s Cadet Freestyle final.

Taylor won the first 4-0, but then had to fight off his back to avoid being pinned in a headlock and eventually lost the period 4-2.

“I just got lazy, he shot in and I left my head out there,” said Taylor of the second-period headlock that nearly saw him pinned. “If you leave your head out there, someone can go out there and grab it. It was a stupid error on my part.”

Taylor rebounded to win the third period 4-3.

“That wasn’t my best performance by far, but I’ll take it.”

Pennsylvania won its first title of the night at 119 pounds as Jordan Oliver hit a double-leg takedown in the waning seconds to edge Washington’s Brian Owen.

“I was losing, I had to do something,” said Oliver. “I can’t just sit around and not do nothing. I don’t score, I lose the match.”

Owen won the first period on the leg clinch, Oliver the second with a late double. He emerged out of a tough A Pool which included Minnesota’s Zach Sanders and California’s Nikko Triggas.

Oliver beat Triggas handily, but had a similar match to his final with Owen – slow and with little scoring.

“I’ve wrestled Triggas twice before this; I knew his style and how to wrestle him. He’s got a different style than Sanders and Owen.”

The rising senior at Easton Area High School didn’t feel he was the favorite at all, especially since he’d previously lost to Triggas this season.

“I look at it like I was the underdog, because there’s all these seniors and Junior National champs and I just came in with a mindset to try to get this title and I did,” said Oliver.

Jason Chamberlain of Utah avenged his loss to Norman Richmond of Oregon in the Greco-Roman finals by beating Richmond 5-1, 5-0 in the finals at 135 pounds.

The win was a breakthrough for Chamberlain, who enters his senior season at Springville High School.

“I beat him the very first time I wrestled him in Greco, but I’d never beaten him in freestyle,” said Chamberlain. “My coach said he might be the quickest guy in the tournament.”

“I think I had more confidence this time, just went after it and kinda broke him there at the end,” said Chamberlain.

New Jersey’s Scott Winston topped North Carolina’s Chris Bullins 1-0, 1-0 in the finals at 160 pounds.

Iowa’s Nate Moore picked up the championship at 125 pounds after a 1-0, 1-0 victory over California’s Boris Novachkov. Moore scored his first period point on a sweep single and scored the second period point on a takedown from the overtime leg clinch.

At 98 pounds, Max Nowry of Illinois won his second tournament of the weekend, matching his Junior Greco-Roman championship with the Junior Freestyle one he won by defeating California’s Cody Pack 1-0, 1-0.

Nowry scored the winning point in overtime from the leg clinch to take the first period and it was a snap and spin with 30 seconds to go in the second period that gave him the title to become a double champion.

Jon Morrison gave Illinois its first champion of the night in

Pennsylvania’s Colin Johnston gave the Keystone State its second championship of the night, taking the 130-pound championship with a 2-0, 0-1, 2-0 victory over another surprise finalist – Mark Weber of Michigan.

“I just took the win over (Colorado’s Tyler) Graff and built on it,” said Johnston.

Colorado’s Sonny Yohn won a 1-0, 1-0 final over surprise finalist Brodie Ambrose of Iowa at 189 pounds. Yohn won the first period on the leg clinch, one of five such clinches in Thursday’s finals, and then scored a takedown in the second period.

Missouri’s Dom Bradley finished this year’s event by winning his second straight Junior Freestyle title at heavyweight, beating Iowa’s Eric Thompson 2-0, 3-0.