Roman Bravo-Young in action at Fargo.
Courtesy photo
When the country's best wrestlers converge at an event like the Cadet/Junior National Championships, trouble is always lurking. All it takes is one misstep, a moment of letup, a second of doubt and a goal can be shattered.
Jason Holmes of
Chandler and Brandon Courtney of
Desert Edge (Goodyear) felt both sides of it, while Roman Bravo-Young of
Sunnyside (Tucson) was able to overcome the pitfall that happens so often at the Fargodome.
It led to the threesome bringing home four national titles to Arizona, while that state finished with a total of 11 All-Americans at the premier wrestling event of the summer.
Bravo, who is heading into his sophomore year, was twice losing early in matches before coming back to knock off ranked and respected opponents on his way to winning the Greco-Roman and freestyle titles at the 113-pound Cadet division.
"I just keep calm and keep composure in matches winning or losing," said Bravo-Young. "You don't stop wrestling until time expires."
Jason Holmes with his title.
Courtesy photo
Holmes, who competed at 100 pounds, and Courtney, who wrestled at 113 pounds, were unable to win the title in the Greco tournament, which started the week, but were able to refocus and get some retribution by winning the national title in the freestyle discipline at the Junior division age group.
Holmes, who is a junior this coming school year, lost a close match in the Greco tournament and was later told by one of his Arizona coaches that the match was scored incorrectly and he should have won.
The news could have thrown Holmes, who ended up being an All-American after finishing fourth, off kilter, but he kept it together to win a Fargo title to go along with his Folkstyle title.
"When I don't reach goals it just makes me work harder," he said. "I didn't win Greco. I didn't win (Arizona) state (losing to Bravo). Those things are motivators."
Courtney, who will be a senior this year, also had moments of struggle when he had to come back before winning it all.
"I am proud in those matches I almost lost, I came back," said Courtney, who has started working with the Arizona-legend Cejudo brothers. "It shows I have heart and the hard work came back."
The big star of the week-long event for Arizona was Bravo-Young, as he came home with two ‘stop signs' – the nickname for the octagon-shaped plaque given to the All-Americans with the championship winners receiving one nearly the size of its red-and-white counterpart.
"I've thought about winning both since I was 9 years old," he said. "It is every wrestler's dream. It's such a prestigious tournament. Those stops signs mean so much."
Bravo-Young, who will take a few weeks off before heading to Pennsylvania for the Who's #1 event at Lehigh University, was named the national wrestler of the week by well-respected Flowrestling.com.
"It feels good," Bravo-Young said. "I feel accomplished but there's more goals now. It's the past now but it will always stick with me."
Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic and current Prep Sports Director for 1013 Communications, is a 20-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com.
