Perry and Walizer advance in the Fargo Nationals

By Joe Walker

FARGO, ND- Central Mountain Wildcats Dalton Perry and Griffin Walizer both won their first two bouts and advanced into the Round of 32 in the National Junior Freestyle Tournament at the Fargodome at North Dakota University. 

Perry is the 10th seed at 138 pounds and he opened with a 10-0 tech fall over Bradley Williams (Alabama) and then posted a 6-2 decision over Tyler Turzinski (Minnesota) in the round of 64. In the round of 32 on Tuesday he will face #23 seed Elvis Solis of Florida. A tech fall in Freestyle wrestling is a margin of 10 points. 

Walizer is unseeded in the tournament at 144 pounds and he opened with a 6-4 decision over #30 seed Cole Evans (Ohio) in the round of 128. In the round of 64, Walizer posted a 7-0 decision over Maddox Herrera of California. In the round of 32, Walizer will face #3 seeded Kyrel Leavell of Indiana. Leavelle is a four-time Indiana state place winner, as he has two state championships and two third place finishes on his resume and is heading to the Citadel for his college wrestling. 

The three Wildcats in the 16U Freestyle tournament have not fared as well, as Aiden Kunes is the only one still alive at 132 pounds. The unseeded Kunes opened with a 10-0 tech fall loss to #9 seeded Clinton Shepard (Indiana) in the round of 128. 

In the first round of 64 consolations, Kunes posted a 11-0 tech fall over unseeded Carver Wieland (Iowa). In the second round of 64 consolations he posted a 10-0 tech fall over unseeded Benjamin Owens (Virginia). In the first round of 32 consolations he will face unseeded Conner Allison of Maryland. 

Unseeded Gavin Heverly won his opening round of 128 bout over Conner Anderson (Missouri) by a 4-0 decision at 120 pounds.. In the round of 64 he dropped a 17-6 tech fall to #24 seeded Van Smith (Oklahoma) and then in his first consolation bout he lost a 16-8 decision to Landen Bogard of Wisconsin and was eliminated.. 

Unseeded Patrick Tarantella dropped his opening round bout to Ames-Michael Hoevker of California by a 14-4 tech fall. He received a bye in the first round of consolations and then dropped a10-1 decision to Donald Jackson of Kansas and was eliminated. 

As far as state bragging rights go, Pennsylvania leads the way in both men freestyle tournaments, as they have 55 wrestlers still alive in the championship rounds of the 16U tournament, while Illinois is second with 39 and Iowa is third with 34. In the Junior Freestyle tournament, the Keystone state leads with 44 in the championship rounds, while Illinois is again second with 36, white Iowa again is third with 32 still alive.