By Byron Beers/Staff Writer

Hanna Martin and Cory Dauphin were among the best wrestlers in their respective weight classes last week during the Accelerade Cadet & ASICS/Vaughan Junior National Championships at the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D.

It was former El Reno head coach Bobby Miller’s last go-round with Indian wrestlers. Miller, who is going back home to Perry to become an assistant coach, is being replaced by Shane Head. Head took over as El Reno head coach after being promoted as the new Mustang head coach just two months prior.

But Miller stayed committed to the El Reno squad throughout the summer and leaves very pleased with the progress that was made, especially for the younger Martin and Dauphin.

Martin stormed the field in the 95-pound weight class of the women’s division where she claimed a national championship.

Martin went 4-0 with a pair of pins, including a fall in the title match against Janexis Rodriguez of Florida.

Martin upended Rodriguez with a pin at the 1:04 mark. She won her first match of the tournament via forfeit. She followed that with a pin just 37 seconds into her second-round match against Wisconsin’s Patricia Hill. In the semifinals she defeated Michigan’s Kristi Garr with 13-1 technical fall.

“Hanna really dominated throughout,” Miller said. “I was very happy for Hanna and now she gets three more chances to repeat as a national champion. She has accomplished a goal she worked so hard to achieve.
“She beat a girl that has beat her twice before so it was nice for her to get some revenge.”

Dauphin didn’t sweep through the 140-pound weight class of the cadet freestyle tournament like Martin did in her class, but he did become an All-American with a seventh-place finish.

Dauphin won his first five matches before tasting defeat in his next two matches against Florida’s Tucker Raich and New Jersey’s John Guzzo. He did bounce back by defeating Trey Adamson of Utah with a 10-1 decision in the seven-th-place match.

“Anytime you make the top eight in the toughest tournament in the country you’ve had a great week and Cory did just that,” Miller said.
“I always expect Cory to win every time he goes out there. He started off fast by winning his first five matches, then struggled in his next two. But he bounced back and won his medal match.

“Cory will have a great shot at a national championship next year. This is a great step for him for what he will accomplish in the future.”
Colton Gallo also competed in the cadet freestyle tournament where he went 1-2 in the 130-pound division. Gallo’s lone win came with a 8-1 decision over Georgia’s Matthew Schneider.

Ethan Martin, Adam DeLong, Derek Thompson and Cody Dauphin each participated in the junior freestyle tournament.

Martin dropped both of his matches at 112 pounds. He lost to Sean Boyle (Mass.) 11-0 in his first outing, before falling to Bhavik Patel of Illinois 9-0 in his final match.

“Ethan was upset with himself,” Miller said. “He trained hard all summer long going into nationals, but he will become better next year and really help El Reno in the future.”

DeLong, an all-state selection, had a disappointing tournament with a pair of losses and no victories at 130 pounds. The Oklahoma City University signee was pinned by Jimmy Chase of Illinois in the opening match, and then lost 10-9 to Maryland’s Josh Fitch in his final outing.

“Adam just didn’t have a very good tournament,” Miller said. “He continues to prepare himself for the next level and gets better and better. I’m confident he will turn it around once he gets to OCU and trains every day under Archie (Rand).”