DePrez wins 2018 UWW Freestyle Junior Nationals Championship
April 29, 2018

 


LAS VEGAS, NV - True freshman Lou DePrez of Binghamton wrestling went 6-0 this weekend at the UWW Freestyle Junior Nationals, storming his way to the finals to be named champion at 86 kg. DePrez knocked off ASU national qualifier Kordell Norfleet in the semifinal match Saturday morning before handling Nino Bonaccorsi, a powerhouse freshman from Pitt, by a 12-2 score. The championship match was business as usual for DePrez, exposing Bonaccorsi for the third time this year to secure an automatic qualification into the Junior World Team Trials this May.

In only his third freestyle tournament of his career, Lou dominated the 86 kg bracket with three tech falls en route to his championship. The freshman won his first two matches by VSU, 11-0 in just over a minute on the mat, taking care of J. Stein and Zac Baker early on in the tournament. DePrez then went up against Jackson Hemauer in the round of 16, advancing to the quarters with a 7-6 win. Facing Purdue's freshman Max Lyon in the quarters, DePrez wrestled a close match, earning the win by a 4-4 score and securing his spot in the World Team Trials and day two of Junior Nationals.

Redshirt freshman Parker Kropman joined DePrez at the tournament, going 3-2 on day one of competition. Kropman ran through his first two matches at 70 kg before falling in the round of 16 to Jaden Van Maanen. The native of Rochester, N.Y. bounced back in his first round of consolations with a dominating 14-4 tech over Zachary Axmear, but fell 10-0 to Jared Franek in the first consolation round of eight.

As the champion at 86 kg, DePrez earns an automatic berth to the best-of-three wrestle-off against the challenge tournament champion at Junior World Team Trials in Rochester, MN.





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