Sallisaw wrestler earns Double All-American honors at Fargo tournament

FARGO, N.D. — It was quite a nine-day run for Sallisaw 94-pound wrestler Cason Craft at the 2023 USA Nationals Junior/Age 16-and-Younger Tournament.

After finishing tied for fifth in the Age 16-and-Younger Freestyle Tournament last week, Craft ended the nine-day tournament by placing third in the 16-and-Younger Greco-Roman Tournament this past weekend.

The two top-10 placings earned Craft the honor of Double All-American.

Craft. who got a first-round bye, opened the tournament with a 10-0 win over Ohio’s Joseph Klimenko in the second round and an 8-0 victory over Montana’s Aiden Sweat, but he lost his quarterfinal match 9-1 to Iowa’s Hayden Schwab — who edged him 4-3 in last week’s freestyle third-place semifinal match.

Craft then bounced back with four straight wins to claim third place. He got past Ohio’s Derien Williams 7-5, then recorded three consecutive shutouts — 10-0 over Pennsylvania’s Eli Herring in the consolation quarterfinals, 8-0 over Montana’s Kellen Downing in the consolation semifinals and a 3-0 victory over Tennessee’s Jose Cordero in the third-place match.

Bodie Adams

Sallisaw’s other Greco-Roman competitor, 170-pounder Bodie Adams, went 1-2 in the tournament. Adams opened with an 11-0 win over Ange Badji of Kansas in the opening round but lost 10-0 to Pennsylvania’s Brandon Carr in the second round. Adams then lost his first consolation match 8-0 to Missouri’s Quinten Attebury in his first consolation match to get eliminated from the tournament.