Wade named All-American

Wasilla junior grappler Jed Wade recently placed third in the Reno Tournament of Champions. The third-place finish earned Wade high school All-American status.

"I am very happy about it," Wade said. "The tournament went well and the trip was an overall success."

Wade wrestled seven matches during the two-day event. The Wasilla junior won four straight matches to open the tourney, pinning his first three opponents.

According to Wade, his toughest match of the tournament came in the quarterfinals round where he defeated Mike Williams of California 6+5.

"He took me down at the beginning and I was a little shocked," Wade said. "I just kept wrestling.

"I was behind in the third but got an escape and a takedown with 30 seconds left to win."

In the semifinals Wade was matched against Joel Flaggert, one of the top ranked grapplers out of Oklahoma. Wade lost a tough 9-6 decision to Flaggert, who is ranked second in the nation in his weight class and was recently named a junior national All-American.

"He is good on his feet," Wade said. "In the third I took him down, but let him get at my legs."

Wade's loss in the semifinals would be his only loss in the tournament.

Wade rebounded to win two consecutive decisions to notch his bronze medal.

Wade defeated Rusty Northern of California 9-3 and beat Branden Halsey of California 5-1 in the third-place match.

"It was a good match; he was a tough kid," Wade said of Halsey. "He had a good upper body and was tough to wrestle. I wrestled a tad bit conservative.

"I was able to control the tempo of the match and wear on him."

The tournament provided numerous tests for Wade. The grappler wrestled nearly a third of the amount of matches in two days that he has participated in this season in Alaska.

"I learned that in terms of strength, I am in pretty good shape," Wade said.

The tournament was a definite test of conditioning for Wade, wrestling seven matches in two days. Wade wrestled three matches on the final day of the tourney, his last at 11 p.m.

Wade's first loss of the season also came in Reno.

Currently Wade is 25-0 in the state of Alaska and the state's top-ranked wrestler in the 189-pound class.

The Reno Tournament of Champions is known as one of the premier high school wrestling events in the country.

"I probably improved quite a bit," Wade said. "It should really help in my hopes for another state title."