OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea – Beneath Nile C. Kinnick’s wrestling success this year – 12-0 dual-meet record, champion in every tournament the Red Devils entered – was another figure that might make that gleaming mark somewhat misleading.
In the Kanto Plain finals last Saturday at St. Mary’s school, the Red Devils had all 13 of their wrestlers score … and still won the tournament by only three points.
For that reason, coach Gary Wilson feels the chase for top honors in the Division I portion of this week’s Far East meet are “up in the air.”
“We’ve had some success this year, but we have our work cut out for us,” said Wilson, who’s won two of Kinnick’s eight total Far East team banners in his five seasons, including last year’s dual-meet title.
“It’s an even field, kind of anyone’s Far East. I don’t know who has a huge advantage. It’s hard to say.”
That’s not to say the Red Devils don’t stand a decent chance, given their record over the course of the season. Lucas Wirth (101 pounds), Darius Swenson (141), Dre Paylor (168), Nicholas Alvarez (215) and Chris Deibel (heavyweight) each won titles at Kanto and were frequent visitors to the tops of tournament podiums throughout the season.
The team that Kinnick held off last Saturday, St. Mary’s, the reigning individual freestyle team champion, is “formidable,” Wilson said, pointing to a pair of former Far East medalists Chang Young Lee (108) and Ryan Vasconcellos (135).
“You can’t sleep on them,” Wilson said. “It wouldn’t surprise me to see them get five or six gold medals and that’s hard to overcome. They’re darned good. They’re a handful.”
Wilson also pointed to Seoul American, which sent just six wrestlers to Kinnick’s “Beast” invitational last month, including 158-pound winner Jarek Bartel, and placed third.
Then there’s Kubasaki, which holds the record Far East team banners with 23, and Kadena, winner of six Far East titles under coach Steve Schrock, back after a four-year hiatus.
“They always seem to peak at Far East,” Wilson said of the Okinawa powers. Schrock, in particular, “will have those kids dialed in and ready for battle.”
While Schrock and the Panthers have the first full lineup in his tenure and had 40 wrestlers in the room, they also had far less mat time than Kinnick – four dual meets and one tournament.
And their only opposition this season was Kubasaki, as was the case last year.
“We’re going to have to overcome the lack of matches, but that’s just a function of where we live and the scheduling,” Schrock said. “We have to overcome that kind of adversity and the kids will have to perform.”
Giving Kadena an edge this season is Ricky Salinas (168) transferring from E.J. King early in the season. “That provided more competition during practices at (middle) weights,” Schrock said.
This is the third time Osan is hosting the Far East meet, but the first time it’s being held on Osan Air Base. In 2010 and 2011, it was held at the Super Gym at Camp Humphreys, which back then sent its dependent students to Osan.
While the Division I title chase appears to be a wide-open scrum, the Division II battles appear to be down to defending champion Robert D. Edgren and runner-up Osan.
Aside from having Cory Harding (115) and Sam Kim (122) bolstering the host Cougars’ ranks, “they’ll have the home crowd,” Seoul American coach Ben Pak said. “That will be a huge advantage for them. It seems like they’re hungry and it’s Far East, so anything can happen.”
No D-II teams in Japan matched Edgren this season, so it’s “just a question of what awaits us” in Korea, said Eagles coach Justin Edmonds, who has rising stars Sky Phillips (135) and Patrick Sledge (180) in tow. “We are strong. They’re not just going to take it from us.”
