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MARY KELLY, Jr. (16-8 last yr.)
1999 Cadet World Woman's Champion
2000 Junior World Woman's Runner-Up
1999 Cadet National Qualifier
2000 Junior National Qualifier
2X IESA State Placewinner
On Saturday, January 13th the Mahomet-Seymour Wrestling team won the 21st annual Bulldog Invitational. MSHS won the tournament for the first time since Chicago Marist entered the tournament in 1988. With the win, the Bulldogs have completed an incredible run of four straight regular season tournament victories this year. It wasn't easy. Marist came to within two team points in the exciting final round before the Dawgs pulled away with the victory. The championship was certainly earned as all 14 M-S wrestlers placed in the top 6. Mary Kelly won a tough bout in the quarterfinals to earn 4th place at 103 pounds. Michael Slade returned to the line-up and wrestled in the quarterfinals to earn 4th place as well. Michael defaulted the rest of his matches but he will be back in full strength soon. Brent Johnson continues to improve and impress at 119 pounds. Brent picked up a key pin in his 3rd and 4th place match that helped keep the Bulldogs on top (in team points). Josh Jeffers wrestled back to 6th place at 125 with two nail-biting overtime victories. Josh might have to be renamed "blood and guts" Jeffers due to his exciting matches. At 130, Bobby dropped a close, hard-fought match in the quarterfinals to the eventuals champion 3-4 but came back with three important pins in the wrestle-backs to really keep the team effort alive. In one of the most thrilling matches of the night, senior Chris Nowak defeated highly ranked Joe Rujawitz of Bellville West in the championship match to claim his first Bulldog Open gold. Chris came on stong in the last two periods scoring 3 takedowns and a nearfall to win 11-4. Jason Johnston went 3-1 for the day to take 3rd place at 140. Once again in one of the strongest weight classes, Jason has established himself as one of the best with tight matches against highly regarded opponents. The top competition that Jason has faced all year will surely help him succeed down the road. At 145 pounds Brandon Arnold defeated the top seed to advance to the semifinals and eventually took 4th. Brandon look much improved and continues to get better each time out. Matt Nowak ended up 6th at 152 pounds. Matt finished the day 3-2. The sophomore showed improvement over last outing and is starting to become more aggressive. Ryan Stites took 3rd for the day with two very tight matches against Edwardsville and Belleville West. Ryan gave up a 5 point throw but came back to tie his Edwardsville opponent. After allowing an escape, Ryan looked for the winning takedown before falling short in the final seconds. Yet against B-W, Ryan came up on top for another key final round victory for the Bulldogs. That set up the Championship match for Ryan Armetta at 171 to win the tournament. Ryan did not disappoint. With an impressive 15-2 championship victory, Ryan proves he should be mentioned as one of the best in the state. Mike White broke out for the Dawgs with three top-notch victories at 189. Mike defeated a national qualifier in the wrestle-backs in route to his 6th place finish. Mike ended the day 3-2 in matches. Joe Sapp made the finals for the fourth time this year but fell short in his bid to win all regular tournament. Joe won two key matches to get to the finals where he had to face top ranked-(A) Jeremy Menacher of Monticello. Joe gave up a late first period takedown and could not catch up. Joe finished second. In the final match of the night, Chris Little won his third tournament of the year with a big 12-1 decision in the finals. This was Chris's first Bulldog Invitational championship.
On Thursday, January 11th the MSHS wrestling team defeated Bloomington 46-12 and Decatur Eisenhower 74-6 at home. Against highly ranked Bloomington the Bulldogs won 9 of 13 actual matches and scored four pins. M-S also picked up a win by forfeit. Key performances were Mary Kelly holding on to win at 112, Brent Johnson wrestling aggressively to win at 119, Jason Johnston scoring a key pin at 140, and Andrew White winning by fall in his first varsity match. Ryan Stites and Joe Sapp each won with exciting last-second finishes. Josh Dallas stepped in the line-up at 130. He worked hard but fell short 4-10. Other winners were Josh Jeffers, Chris Nowak and Ryan Armetta. Against Decatur Eisenhower M-S won 10 of 11 actual matches. Winners were Chris Kelly, Josh Dallas, Josh Jeffers, Bobby Hill, Jason Johnston, Derek Halfar, Craig Lindsey, Cole Smith, Mike White and Nick Jones.
On Saturday, January 6th the Bulldogs won the 16 team Morton Invitational. Teams at the tournament included Bloomington, Moline, and Olympia. The Bulldogs were defeated by Moline last year at Dual State and beat by Olympia this year in their only lost. The Dawgs certainly had a lot to shoot for, but they faced stiff opponents all day. The very competitive tournament was highlighted by a strong final round. Ahead by two points to Bloomington going into the place matches, the Bulldogs had to have a strong finish to win their third tournament in as many tries. At 103 pounds, Mary Kelly won her fifth place match to her Bloomington opponent to increase M-S lead to 3 points. M-S maintained its lead after 112 pounds but Bloomington moved to within 1 point after Brent Johnson lost a battle with his Bloomington opponent to finish at 4th place. Josh Jeffers completed a very successful tournament by winning in come-from-behind fashion to take 5th place. That put Mahomet-Seymour back up by 3. Bobby Hill drew a Bloomington opponent as well and won his third place match with a major decision. Bobby stayed aggressive the entire match and helped the Bulldogs pull ahead by 6 points. At 135 pounds, Chris Nowak fell to his top ranked opponent in the finals to finish 2nd. Chris looked good in the tournament however, avenging an earlier lost to his Olympia opponent in the semifinals 13-3. The 140 pound weight class was one of the most competitive brackets in the tournament. Jason won two matches before falling to his top ranked opponent from East Moline. In the third place match, Jason, down by one point in the waning seconds, used a quick duck-under takedown to score the winning takedown for third. Jason's well earned victory help carry the team the rest of the way. M-S was still up by 6 as Bloomington's 140 pounder also won. After Bloomington's major decision in the 145 pound finals, M-S found itself only up by 1 point. Matt Nowak nearly missed a match-winning takedown in the final seconds to end the day at 4th place at 152. M-S was still up by 1. At 160, Ryan Stites lost to the eventual Outstanding Wrestler (of the tournament) Nathen McMillian of Mt. Zion in the finals. Ryan completed a fantastic tournament to end in 2nd place. M-S still kept a 1 point lead. Ryan Armetta won his second tournament of the year by defeating his Bloomington opponent in the finals by a major decision. Armetta's 1st place finish put the Bulldogs back up by 6 team points. After the 189 pound match, M-S needed a victory from either Joe Sapp or Chris Little to win the tournament. Both wrestlers had Bloomington opponents in the finals. Joe Sapp won his third tournament of the year and remained undefeated for the season with a great championship performance. Joe's victory assured the Bulldogs a tournament championship. Chris Little then battled the defending state champion in the finals to overtime before succumbing in a throw attempt. Chris ended in second place. Mahomet-Seymour will wrestle Bloomington in a dual meet at Mahomet next Thursday in the fieldhouse. The action starts at 6:30. Also don't miss the Bulldog Invitational Saturday, January 13th. The action begins at 9:30am.
On Thursday, January 4th M-S improved to 13-1 with a win over conference rival Prairie Central. The Bulldogs defeated the Hawks 59-5 wrestling in the gym for the first time this year. Scoring pins for Mahomet-Seymour were Chris Kelly, Mary Kelly, Chris Nowak, Jason Johnston, and Chris Little. M-S won 12 of 14 matches and outscored PC 35-3 in takedowns. The Bulldogs will compete at the very competitive Morton Invitational tomorrow.
On Thursday and Friday, December 28 and 29 M-S wins the 40th Annual Granite City Holiday Wrestling Tournament in impressive fashion. There were 16 teams from both Illinois and Missouri in competition at the two day event. Individually, the Bulldogs had three champions, Senior 171 pounder Ryan Armetta, Sophomore 215 pounder Joe Sapp and Senior 275 pounder Chris Little. Little pinned all six of his opponent to win the Most Falls award in the tournament. M-S had six finalists. To qualify for the second day, wrestlers must win two out of three on the first day. The Bulldogs had 12 of their 14 wrestlers qualify. On the first day, Mahomet-Seymour and Bellville West went back and forth for the team lead. But on the second day, the Dawgs pulled ahead for good in the semifinal round. At 103 pounds, Mary Kelly qualified for the second day with solid wins and a tough lost with the eventual champion. At 112 pounds, Mike Slade had a impressive first day winning all three matches by technical fall. On the second day Mike made the semifinals with a pin but lost in the semifinals by injury default. Luckily the X-rays proved negative and Mike should be back into the line-up quickly. Mike defaulted to sixth. Brent Johnson wrestled well to take 5th place. Brent was in every match and is really starting to come around. The sophomore won the place match with a major decision. At 125 pounds Josh Jeffers stayed aggressive all day and ended 3rd. Josh avenged an earlier lost in his place match. Josh ended the day 5-2 for the tournament. Bobby Hill defeated a Missouri place winner on the first day of competition and fought for his place in the finals. Bobby stayed focused despite losing a tough match on the first day. Bobby went 4-2. At 135 pounds Chris Nowak took second place. Chris defeated a three time champion of the tournament in the semifinals in a very exciting 13-8 victory. Chris is beginning to pull the trigger and is looking toward February. At 140, Jason Johnston also took second. Jason avenged a lost to a wrestler he was defeated by last year. Jason ended the day 5-1. At 152 pounds, Matt Nowak took 3rd place. The sophomore is starting to look like a veteran by being more aggressive and more controlled. At 160 pounds, Ryan Stites battle to a 4th place. Ryan looks stronger and stronger each time he wrestles. Ryan Armetta won the 171 pound weight class. Ryan looked tough in his first competition since spraining his ankle in November. At 215 pounds, Joe Sapp stayed undefeated by winning the championship. Joe also avenged a lost from last year by winning in double overtime in the finals. Joe had to ride his opponent out in the 30 second tie-breaker. At heavyweight Chris Little continues to dominate. The senior won all of his matches by fall. Chris did not qualify for the second day last year.
On Saturday, December 16th the Mahomet-Seymour wrestling team won the Joe Bee Springfield Invitational. With bad weather continuing, the 17 team tournament became a 12 team dogfight. Champions for the Bulldogs were Chris Nowak, Sr. 135, Jason Johnston, Sr. 140, Chris Little, Sr. 275, and Joe Sapp, So., 215. Finalists were Mary Kelly, Michael Slade, and Bobby Hill. Brent Johnson, Ryan Stites, and Brandon Arnold took 3rd, Matt Nowak took 4th, and Josh Jeffers took 5th. With LaSalle Peru close behind, the Dawgs hand to have a great final round, and they didn't disappoint. After Mary Kelly, Michael Slade and Bobby Hill all fell to L-P opponents, the Bulldogs won 8 of their last 9 matches. Brent Johnson started things off with a tough third period pin. Brent ended the day 2-1 and looked much improved. Josh Jeffers completed his wrestle-back effort with a victory for 5th. Captain Chris Nowak won in the finals with a major decision. Jason Johnston held on well to finish 3-0 and won his second straight Springfield championship. Brandon Arnold wrestled smartly with a key victory at 145 for third. Matt Nowak fell just short of a comeback effort in his third place match. At 160, Ryan Stites continued to impress everyone with a solid 3rd place triumph. At 215, Joe Sapp scored a double overtime escape to win what was regarded as the toughest weight class at the tournament. To get to the finals, Joe defeated state place winner Matt Fletcher of L-P. At heavyweight, top ranked Chris Little controlled his opponent throughout to finish the tournament. M-S will next compete at the two-day Granite City holiday tournament December 27-28. Happy Holidays and GREAT JOB BULLDOGS!
On Thursday, December 14th the Bulldogs beat Pontiac 57-15 but lost to conference foe Olympia 25-29. Wrestling in the new field house, the Bulldogs had plenty to be proud of. Mary Kelly scored two impressive pins in just 2:00 total time to improve to 10-2 for the year. Mike Slade scored 20 takedowns in route to two more victories. Mike is still undefeated. Ryan Stites came away with two victories in impressive fashion and is continuing to improve. Ryan is still undefeated at 160 pounds. Our two anchors, Joe Sapp and Chris Little remain undefeated as well. Joe scored a technical fall and a pin in his two outings. Chris won a hard battle with top-ranked Bradshaw of Olympia before pinning his last opponent. Mahomet-Seymour is now 12-1 for the year. Next the Dawgs will compete at the Springfield Tournament on Saturday where they are the defending champions
On Saturday, December 9th the Bulldog wrestling team improved to 11-0 after three impressive wins at Unity. In the first dual, M-S defeated conference foe Normal University High School 68-6. In actual matches, the Bulldogs won six matches and lost two. In the six wins, M-S won 2 by pin and four by technical fall. The Orange and Blue scored 22 takedowns to 4 against the Pioneers. In the second dual, Mahomet-Seymour defeated Unity 63-3 in a very exciting dual. In actual matches the Bulldogs won 10 matches and lost one. Josh Jeffers won in overtime 5-4 in one of the most exciting matches of the day and Jason Johnston returned to the line-up in good fashion by defeated top ranked Josh Blackburn 7-2. Six of the 10 victories were by pin or technical fall. In the final dual of the night, the Dawgs defeated Gibson City MS 55-18. Brent Johnson defeated top ranked Lucas Gardner 8-0 and Jason Johnston hung on to defeat Tyler Brucker 5-4. For the day, Mary Kelly pinned two opponents in just :31 total time. Michael Slade scored 30 takedowns in 3 matches. Josh Jeffers won two matches. Bobby Hill pinned two opponents in just 97 seconds. Derek Halfar won three impressive victories for the day and really gave the team a boost. Matt Nowak lost a close match to top ranked Josh Phillips before winning two good victories. Ryan Stites continued to look impressive for the year with 3 more wins. Joe Sapp stayed undefeated by winning three matches either by pin or technical fall and Chris Little scored two technical falls and really looked good offensively. Special thanks to the Johnston's for having us over for films on Sunday. Also, special thanks to Tom Porter for handling the merchandise order forms and Bulldog athletic wear for the team. The Bulldogs will continue in conference competition at home on Tuesday and Thursday against Prairie Central (Tue.) and Olympia with Pontiac (Thurs.) Come support the Bulldogs at home!
On Thursday, November 30th the Dawgs improve to 3-0 with a victory over class A top ranked Clinton 39-29. Wearing their new orange uniforms, M-S won 8 of 14 matches in a dual that featured five lead changes. Mary Kelly stared the dual off right with a technical fall. Michael Slade followed with a key 4-2 victory. Clinton recovered though. Brent Johnson lost a hard fought battle by a regular decision and Josh Jeffers was pinned offensively (on top). Bobby Hill majored his opponent with good work on top and smart wrestling. Chris Nowak dropped his first match of the year and Seth Schutte was pinned by top ranked Jacob Fatherlee. The bulldogs battled back. Brandon Arnold scored a key pin and Matt Nowak battled to a major victory. Ryan Stites kept the ball rolling with a big pin as well. In one of the key match-ups of the night, Tyrone Byrd of Clinton defeated Ryan Armetta by injury default. Ryan will be recovering from a badly sprained ankle for the next few weeks. Mike White fought hard but dropped a major decision. Down by one in the team score, Joe Sapp worked hard and scored a pin. Chris Little iced the dual for the Bulldogs with a fall in the second period.
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USA Wrestling Selects New York City 2012 To Host World Freestyle Wrestling Championships
provided by USA Wrestling
USA Wrestling, the national governing body for amateur wrestling, has selected New York City 2012 to serve as the host organizer for the 2001 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships.
The United States has been named to host the 2001 World Championships by FILA, the international wrestling federation. USA Wrestling' s selection of the New York-New Jersey Metropolitan area is pending final approval by FILA.
New York-New Jersey Metropolitan leaders are excited about the opportunity to host the competition.
"We are proud that the New York/New Jersey region has been selected to host the World Championships for Wrestling in September 2001," said New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. "Wrestling has a long, glorious history in New York, dating back to the nation's first amateur competition in 1888. The 2001 World Championships will be an integral part of NYC2012's campaign to bring the 2012 Olympic Games to New York City. Holding the 2001 World Championships finals in Madison Square Garden, in the media capital of the world, will ensure that it will not only be an exciting competive event, but a world-wide celebration of one of the greatest and oldest Olympic sports."
"On behalf of Governor Christie Whitman and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority we are proud to partner with NYC2012 in bringing the 2001 World Championships for Wrestling to the NJ/NYC region," said Raymond H. Bateman, Chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. "Continental Airlines Arena promises to be a great venue for the preliminary matches in September 2001."
"NYC2012 is excited to have been awarded the right to host the World Championships for Wrestling in September 2001 in the New York/New Jersey region," said Daniel L. Doctoroff, President of NYC2012. "We look forward to partnering with USA Wrestling and FILA, its international federation, and with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and Madison Square Garden in making this a premier event in one of the most important and thrilling Olympic sports. This will also be one of the showcase activities of our bid to bring the 2012 Olympic Games here."
The wrestling community is also excited about hosting the event in the region.
"USA Wrestling is excited to partner with New York City 2012 to host the 2001 World Wrestling Championships in the New York-New Jersey Metropolitan area," said Jim Scherr, Executive Director of USA Wrestling. "New York is considered the world's biggest stage, and we are pleased to bring the best wrestlers in the world to compete there. The local organizers and community have put together a strong bid package, which should allow us to host the most successful World Championships ever."
"As a native of the New York-New Jersey region, I am very excited that USA Wrestling has the opportunity to host the most important wrestling event in the world in New York and New Jersey," said Bruce Baumgartner, president of USA Wrestling. "I am confident that the citizens of the Metropolitan area will support this event, and that the international sports community will have an outstanding experience while attending the event."
Baumgartner, a four-time Olympic medalist and one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time, is a native of Haledon, N.J.
Assisting in the organization of the competition is the Metropolitan Wrestling Association, a major regional wrestling group that has conducted successful international wrestling events in the past, led by its president Setrak Agonian of New York City.
The New York-New Jersey Metropolitan area was selected to host the championships through a bid process, which included interest from a number of major cities and organizing committees.
The proposed dates for the competition are September 26-30, 2001. The proposal includes hosting competition at two major area venues, the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands Sports Arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey, and Madison Square Garden in New York City.
For the first time since 1989, World Championships in all three styles of international wrestling will be held side-by-side in one exciting week of action - men's freestyle, men's Greco-Roman and women's freestyle wrestling.
Wrestling is one of the most popular sports in the world, and over 70 nations are expected to send teams to compete in the 2001 World Championships. Men's freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling are contested in the Olympic Games, and women's wrestling is expected to be added to the Olympic program for the 2004 Olympic Games.
The United States has hosted four previous Senior World Wrestling Championships. The U.S. most recently hosted the World Freestyle Wrestling Championships in 1995 at the Omni Arena in Atlanta, Ga. The 1979 World Championships in freestyle and Greco-Roman were held in San Diego, Calif. Previous World Wrestling Championships were held in Toledo, Ohio in 1962 and 1966.