The champs and finalists get all the love. But with so much going on at during US Open Week, a number of strong performances get overshadowed.

Below we'll highlight the surprising (and disappointing) performances from the loaded Junior Division.

Overperformers

57KG -  Justin Cardani - 7th

A redshirt at Illinois, Cardani went 16-6 this year. But he came out of nowhere to place in a loaded bracket where numerous blue chippers didn't. He beat Kai Orine, Cevion Severado, and the nation's #1 120lber, Eric Barnett.

61KG - Jevon Parrish - 3rd

Pressed into action at 133 for Nebraska as a true freshman, Parrish finished a respectable 20-12 this year. But he was on fire in Vegas. After losing in the first round, he rattled off eight straight wins including a pin over last year's finalist, Jordan Decatur, a tech of Teague Travis, a forfeit from Patrick Glory, and a win over UNC's Jaime Hernandez.

61KG - Jarrett Trombley - 6th

A kid who flirted with Top 100 status in HS, this Wolfpack redshirt won his first three bouts, then lost his last three. He beat Cornell recruit Phil Moomey and pinned Jordan Decatur. 

65KG - Peter Ogunsanya - 6th

Coming out of Illinois and now at West Point, Ogunsanya was never ranked in high school. But he turned in an amazing performance in Vegas, teching FloNats finalist Angelo Martinoni, NJ State Champ Lucas Revano, beat Cole Matthews, teched Top 10 recruit Jaden Abas, and then the #1 145lber Keegan O'Toole. 

70KG - Peyton Robb - 3rd

Robb was a major recruit (#31) last year, but his 3rd place finish is still notable when you consider just how deep this field was. He finished ahead of Jacori Teemer, Quincy Monday, Anthony Artalona, and Kendall Coleman in a bracket where 2x Fargo Runner-Up Jared Franek, Kevon Davenport, Jace Luchau, Sonny Santiago, Travis Mastrogiovanni, Bryce Andonian, Matt Lee and Isaac Wilcox dnp'd. His only loss was by fall in a scoreless match to eventual champ Sasso. And he beat Mastro, Van Maanen, Monday, and Teemer head to head.

74KG - Nelson Brands - 3rd

For Brands it's the second straight strong performance at a major freestyle event. Last year he was 3rd at Fargo where his only loss was to Braunagel (who was 2nd here). Brands' only loss here was to Carr, the champ. He had quality wins over Kasper McIntosh, Julian Ramirez, Phil Conigliaro, and Travis Wittlake.

74KG - Phil Conigliaro & Josh Kim 

The Harvard pair placed 7th and 8th, but more impressive than their place was their wins. Conigliaro beat Colt Yinger, Joe Lee, and Kim. Kim beat Peyton Mocco, Yinger, Andrew Merola, and Paddy Gallagher.

86KG - Abe Assad - 3rd

A Cadet World Medalist last year. Assad made the move to the Junior Division. His only loss came to Trent Hidlay and he beat 2017 Cadet World Teamer Gavin Hoffman along with Jack Jessen. A great performance by a first year UWW Junior in at an upperweight.

97KG - Sam Schuyler - 1st

Who? I mean, seriously. Who? Two years into his college career, Schuyler is 29-23 for Buffalo. One-time state 3rd placers don't win tournaments of this caliber. But Schuyler did, and he did it by beating Midlands Runner-Up Tanner Sloan.

Underperformers

Alex Thomsen, 57KG

Thomsen, a Top 30 recruit last year, went 0-2. He placed here before and while one of his losses (to Jakob Camacho) wasn't a 'bad' loss, going winless as a former placer certainly was.

Jakob Camacho, 57KG

So he started off strong - a win over Thomsen. But he finished just 2-2, losing to Brody Teske and high school Junior, Julian Tagg.

Jordan Decatur, 61KG

I picked Decatur to win this, and though the bracket was tough, it probably wasn't as star studded as it was a year ago when Decatur took 2nd. Even more surprising was that he was pinned 2x's, by Jarrett Trombley and Jevon Parrish - neither of whom were Top 100 recruits.

Jaden Abas, 65KG

He started off good - with a tech of former Fargo Runner-Up Jeremy Schoneherr. But then was teched by Josh Saunders and Peter Ogunsanya to go home at just 2-2.

Jackson Hemauer, 79kg

As a sophomore at Fresno State this year, Hemauer went 23-12. He did better at Midlands (4-2) then he did here (1-2).

Jarred Krattiger, 79kg

It was interesting to see Krattiger down at 79kg. But even though he didn't have that much freestyle experience, it was also interesting to see him go just 1-2.