A two-time fifth-place finisher in the state high school tournament, Gray battles his way to a fifth-place finish at 132 pounds (60 kilos) with two victories and two losses.
View full sizeJamel Johnson, top, tries to turn Jay Hildreth during their 138.75-pound Junior Greco-Roman match Thursday at Public Hall. Johnson won the match and went on to win the division title.CLEVELAND, Ohio — Their numbers are small but their skills are mighty and they will tell you it takes a man to wrestle Greco-Roman.
In terms of the number of competitors and number of spectators, Greco-Roman wrestling -- in which all moves take place above the waist -- is like the stepchild to the more popular freestyle and that was the case Thursday when the ASICS FILA Junior Nationals kicked off four days of wrestling at Public Hall in front of about 100 witnesses.
By contrast, officials said more than 2,000 tickets have been sold for the U.S. Open portion of the tournament, which begins today.
The Junior Greco-Roman competition had 98 wrestlers in the field, the fewest of the five levels that will wrestle through Sunday. Approximately 300 are expected to compete in the Open, which is Olympic-level wrestling.
At this level of competition, wrestlers must win two of three periods.
That did not detour Wadsworth's Alfredo Gray, who views the Junior Nationals as a second chance to enhance his wrestling career.
View full sizeWadsworth's Alfredo Gray.A two-time fifth-place finisher in the state high school tournament, Gray battled his way to a fifth-place finish at 132 pounds (60 kilos) with two victories and two losses.
"That's a lot better than I did last year," said Gray, who will attend Kent State on a partial scholarship. "Last year I was two-and-out."
The fifth-place finish means Gray, who was 44-7 last season, qualified to compete in the FILA Junior World Team Trials in Franklin, Ind., next month.
"I wasn't real happy with the fifth [place] at state so this is kind of like a second chance for me," said Gray, whose family moved to Ohio from California when he was in seventh grade. "That made me more hungry for this event. I need the experience."
Gray will join his older brother, Oliver, a two-time state runner-up, in the freestyle competition.
No one can say Gray didn't earn his medal. He was pinned in his first match by veteran Justin Lavalle, who wrestles for Old Dominion University. He came back to beat Rodrick Smith, of Berkeley, Ill., 1-0, 1-0. He was handed a 1-0, 2-1 loss by Sammy Jones, of Baton Rouge, La., but earned his spot in the Junior World by defeating Greg Rinker, of Bath, Pa., 6-0, 4-3.
His last match was not without an anxious moment. Leading comfortably, he made a mistake and Rinker put him on his back.
"I got too high on his back and almost got pinned," he said. "That was close."
Wisconsin's Jesse Thielke won the 132-pound weight class and was named the tournament's outstanding performer.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: trogers@plaind.com, 216-999-5169
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2011/04/asics_fila_junior_nationals_wr.html
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