2018 UWW Cadet and U23 World Team Trial Qualifier

Most Impressive Cadet World Team Trials Performances

As we take a look at our final results there were some of our youngsters that put on a quite a show.

Jun 4, 2018 by Ryan Holmes

Most Impressive Cadet World Team Trials Performances

There was some serious competition this weekend in Akron, Ohio, as we filled in the blanks on which Cadets will represent Team USA at this year's World Championships.

As we take a look at the final results from 2018 UWW Cadet World Team Trials, there were a number of our youngsters who put on a quite a show.

Results | Brackets | Archived Matches

Howard Flexed At 55kg

Before the tournament, I said that Robert Howard is the guy at 55kg. He won the spot a year ago, and until someone beats him, that still holds true. On the first day, he proved that he feels the same way as he took out Nic Bouzakis in the quarters, then followed it up with a 5-1 win over #1 (at 113) Trevor Mastrogiovanni. Howard closed out by claiming the spot once again with a dominant finish over fellow 2017 world team member Julian Tagg in two straight matches.

Watch Howard dominate Tagg in match 1:

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48kg: Red-Hot Richie Figs

Richard Figueroa was as hot as a summer day in Cali. The FloNational champion lit up the scoreboard with three tech falls to cruise to the semifinals, where he faced returning world team member Cole Skinner. But there was no slowing Figueroa down. Although he gave up his first point of the tournament, he rolled to a 9-1 win over Skinner before claiming the 48kg spot with a combined score of 18-2 as he won two straight over Kyle Rowan.

92kg Was Fire

Jacob Cardenas, AJ Ferrari, and Braxton Amos—a trio of the best in the country—were all on the same side of the bracket and it proved to be one of the most entertaining sights of the weekend. Cardenas took out Amos in the round of 16, then Ferrari took care of Cardenas in the semis. Amos eventually got revenge over Cardenas on the back side but watching these three highly sought after big guys clash was very entertaining. Ultimately, Ferrari was the champion and will represent Team USA at Worlds.

Watch Ferrari vs. Cardenas:

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Daniel Kerkvliet aka Mr. 2 Teams

Confirmed: this man-child is a beast. He wrestled six matches and spent a total of 2:36 on the mat. If you make it out of the first minute against him, consider yourself lucky. With another dominant showing, he’s made his second world team within the last three weeks. He will represent Team USA at 97kg at Junior Worlds and 110kg at Cadet Worlds. If all this doesn’t impress you, then consider this: Kerkvliet's combined score against all opponents at the U.S. Open, JR WTT, and Cadet WTT is 113-0.

Don't blink or you'll miss Kerkvliet's domination in this one:

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60kg: Josh Saunders Continues To Impress

He may not have come out on top in his previous two tournaments, but he has proved to be the real deal at the U.S. Open in the Junior division among college competition. Most notably he defeated U23 world team member Vito Arujau en route to a third-place finish at the U.S. Open. This weekend Saunders kept proving himself with wins over #2 Beau Bartlett, Fargo runner-up Ryan Franco, and Frankie Tal-shahar to claim the spot at 60kg.

Assad’s Double-Up

Abe Assad goes back-to-back to claim both 80kg spots. It was a grind of a weekend but he finished it off flawlessly to make the Cadet freestyle and Greco world teams. After clawing his way to wins in Greco, he set his sights on the freestyle spot and took out Pennsylvania state champ and double Fargo champ Carter Starocci, who's ranked ninth (at 160), then claimed the spot with wins over National prep champ and fifth-ranked Julian Ramirez.

Watch Assad go clutch against Starocci: