OMAHA, Neb. – South Dakota State University wrestlers Tanner Sloan and Spencer Trenary each won age-group titles during competition at the 2020 United World Wrestling Junior and U23 Nationals held over the weekend at the Convention Center at CHI Health Center.
With their victories, Sloan and Trenary, who were competing as members of the Jackrabbit Wrestling Club, earned bids to the 2021 Senior World Team Trials and 2021 Junior World Team Trials, respectively.
Sloan, a native of Alburnett, Iowa, posted a 3-0 record to win the 97-kilogram weight class in the U23 Freestyle division. He opened the tournament with a 9-6 victory over Jacob Boyd and advanced to the championship bout with a 15-4 win over Duncan Lee.
In the title match, Sloan faced Noah Adams of the West Virginia Regional Training Center, who defeated Sloan in the 197-pound championship match at the 2020 Big 12 Wrestling Championship. This time, However, Sloan came out on top, recording a 10-9 decision.
In the spring of 2019, Sloan earned a spot on Team USA for the Junior World Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, by winning the United World Wrestling World Team Trials. He also earned gold at the UWW Pan American Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala
Trenary pulled double duty over the three-day event, winning the 130-kilogram Junior Greco-Roman title on Friday and placing third in the 125-kilogram Junior Freestyle division later in the weekend. A native of Rolfe, Iowa, Trenary outscored his three Greco-Roman opponents, 24-3, including notching a 4-0 victory over Josiah Hill of the Arkansas Regional Training Center in the championship match.
En route to his third-place finish in freestyle at 125 kilograms, Trenary turned in a 4-1 record.
Also wrestling in championship matches for the Jackrabbits were Danny Vega and Cade DeVos. Vega posted back-to-back 10-0 shutouts in his first two matches in the 57-kilogram weight class of the U23 Freestyle competition, then ran his record to 4-0 with a 9-6 victory over Brandon Courtney (Sunkist Kids) and an 8-7 win over Joseph Manchio (New York City RTC). In the title bout, Vega dropped an 8-6 decision to Ramazan Attasauov of the Cyclone Regional Training Center.
DeVos breezed into the 74-kilogram finals of the Junior Freestyle division, outscoring his first five opponents by a combined 56-3, shutting out each of his first three opponents. After a 12-2 victory over Baylor Fernandes of the Gopher Wrestling Club in the semifinals, DeVos fell 8-3 to Bernie Truax of Central Coast RTC in the finals.
Besides Trenary, Clay Carlson recorded top-eight finishes in both the freestyle and Greco-Roman competitions. The Willmar, Minnesota, native placed fifth in the 63-kilogram division of U23 Greco-Roman and took sixth at 65 kilograms in U23 Freestyle.
Teammate Rylee Molitor placed third at 63 kilograms in U23 Greco-Roman.
Other Jackrabbits to record All-America recognition with top-eight finishes in the Junior division were Cade King, sixth in 79-kilogram Freestyle, Caleb Gross, seventh in 60-kilogram Greco-Roman, and Daniel Kimball, eighth in 61-kilogram Freestyle.
