Post by atlantaal on May 18, 2021 16:39:30 GMT -5
Wow, just 14 months after winning his New England high school championship Coventry grad Mason Clarke placed 7th at 61 kg (134 lbs.) at the UWW Freestyle Junior Nationals in Coralville, IA on May 2. Representing the New York City RTC (he's enrolled at Columbia University which didn't wrestle NCAA this past season) Mason finished 7-2 in the 52 man field. After going 1-1 in the Championship round he reeled off five straight Consolation wins before losing in the cons-quarters then winning by technical fall for 7th place. The UWW Junior Nationals is for wrestlers aged 18-20 in both freestyle and Greco-Roman style in order to qualify not only for the UWW Junior World Championships but also for opportunities to represent the US in the Pan Am Games. Quite an accomplishment for a New England wrestler who has yet to wrestle his first varsity college match. Another notable recent NE grappler, 3X champ Hunter Adrian of Melrose, MA, placed 8th at 57 kg (125 lbs.). Hunter is enrolled at Brown University, and none of the Ivy teams were allowed to compete in sports this past Fall and Winter.
An even more remarkable accomplishment for a former New England wrestler was that of Danbury, CT's Jakob Camacho winning the UWW Senior Freestyle Nationals at 57 kilos. The 2X NE high school champ is a starter at North Carolina State and was one win short of placing in the 2021 NCAA Championships in March. Also, NE and National prep champ and Harvard student Phil Conigliaro placed 3rd at Senior Freestyle 74 kg (163 lbs.). Granted the Senior Nationals weren't quite as stacked as in past years since many of the top competitors had appeared in the recently completed Olympic Team Trials. Still, it's amazing if not unprecedented for four New England wrestlers, with two of them just a year out of high school, to place in a national college undergrad and senior level tournament at the same time.
An even more remarkable accomplishment for a former New England wrestler was that of Danbury, CT's Jakob Camacho winning the UWW Senior Freestyle Nationals at 57 kilos. The 2X NE high school champ is a starter at North Carolina State and was one win short of placing in the 2021 NCAA Championships in March. Also, NE and National prep champ and Harvard student Phil Conigliaro placed 3rd at Senior Freestyle 74 kg (163 lbs.). Granted the Senior Nationals weren't quite as stacked as in past years since many of the top competitors had appeared in the recently completed Olympic Team Trials. Still, it's amazing if not unprecedented for four New England wrestlers, with two of them just a year out of high school, to place in a national college undergrad and senior level tournament at the same time.