University of Minnesota Athletics
Three Gophers Survive First Day of Fargo Freestyle
7/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
USA Wrestling kicked off its Junior National Championships freestyle tournament at the Fargodome on Thursday afternoon and three incoming Gopher wrestlers ââ'¬" Mitch McKee, Hunter Marko and Dylan Anderson ââ'¬" all survived the first day of competition. McKee, just one day removed from winning the Greco junior national title at 138 pounds, remains in the hunt for a freestyle title while Marko and Anderson will look to earn All-America status through the wrestlebacks.
McKee picked up where he left off earlier in the week on the Greco side. After an opening round bye, McKee posted yet another tech fall shutout, 10-0, followed by a pin at 1:04 in the third round to advance to tomorrow's Round of 16, where he'll take on Nate Keim from Oklahoma.
Marko, wrestling at 145 pounds, picked up a 10-0 tech fall in his first match of the day as well before a tough, 7-6 loss in the second round. Bounced over to the backside of the bracket, Marko racked up three straight tech falls without allowing a point to finish the day 4-1. He'll need four more wins tomorrow to reach the podium and he'll start that effort against Justin Ruffin from Georgia.
Anderson won his first two matches competing at 182 pounds, a 15-4 tech fall and a pin at 2:17, respectively, before falling in a 14-9 decision in the third round. A convincing 10-0 victory in his lone wrestleback contest of the day kept his tournament alive. Like his future teammate Marko, Anderson will need to pick up four more wins to finish in the top eight. He'll take on Carless Looney from Wyoming tomorrow morning.
Action at the national tournament resumes at 9 a.m. Central.
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