St. John gets second chance
at Junior Freestyle title

BY MATT PFIFFNER
One year ago Derek St. John had to deal with the pain of losing in the finals at the Junior Freestyle National Tournament in Fargo, N.D.

After a pair of victories Friday night, the Iowa City West two-time State champ gets a second shot at the title.

St. John finished a perfect 8-0 on his side of the bracket at 160 pounds and will face Robert Kokesh of South Dakota Saturday morning in the FargoDome for the National title.

The future Iowa Hawkeye is ready to make up for falling in the finals last season.

"You don't like to walk out a loser at a tournament like this, especially in the finals," he said. "I'm looking to win it this time."

St. John had to get through a pair of tough battles Friday night to win his half of the draw.

In the first bout of the night, he defeated Dallas Bailey of Oklahoma, 1-0, 3-2. In the first period, he scored an early takedown for the win. St. John drove Bailey out of bounds twice in the second and scored a late counter takedown for a 3-0 lead. Bailey scored a late two-point exposure off a St. John shot, but the Iowan held on for the win.

Later in the night, St. John faced Nick Sulzer of Ohio with a spot in the finals on the line.

St. John used a crotch lift for two points to win the first period, 2-0. He scored a counter takedown and went right into a gut wrench for a 3-0 lead in the second period. Sulzer scored a takedown in the closing seconds, but St. John coasted to the win.

"It's kind of to be expected," St. John said of the tough bouts late in the tournament. "It's a big tournament with a lot of big-time kids."

St. John seemed composed at all times out on the mat, but said he gets nervous just like anyone else.

"I'm pretty sure everyone gets butterflies. That's part of it," he said. "But you have to keep your head and go out there and compete."

St. John will be joined in the finals by another Iowa City West grappler, 105-pounder Jack Hathaway.

Hathaway seemed destined for the third or fifth-place match heading into his final bout of the night. But Hathaway pinned undefeated Caleb Richardson of Virginia and got another wrestler to win a match to help him finish first on his half of the bracket.

Hathaway will face Jade Rauser of Montana in the freestyle finals. Rauser was the Greco-Roman champion earlier this week and defeated Hathaway in the round robin portion of that tournament.

Four other Iowans will battle in medal matches Saturday morning to close out the eight-day tournament.

Jake Ballweg of Waverly-Shell Rock meets Ryen Nieman of Michigan for third at 135, Bart Reiter of Don Bosco faces Chris Villalonga of New Jersey for fifth at 140, Michael Kelly of Cedar falls battles John Guzzo of New Jersey for seventh at 152 and 171-pounder Walt Gillmor of North Scott meets Tyler Beckwith of New York for seventh.