Paul Bianchi wasn’t able to duplicate his success from UWW Junior Nationals last month.  The Bison redshirt freshman from Wisconsin finished fourth in the World Team Trials mini tournament after finishing second in a much bigger bracket last May.  Seeded first on the strength of that May performance, Bianchi received a bye before falling in the semifinal round 10-10 to Liam Cronin of the Hoosier Wrestling Club. Bianchi started fast in that match, scoring a quick takedown and gut wrench combo to grab an early 4-0 lead.  Up 6-2 near the end of the first period, Bianchi was caught off balance and tossed to his back.  It was an important four point move for Cronin that proved to be the difference in tie breaking criteria.  Bianchi and Cronin traded takedowns in the third period, but Bianchi was unable to break the 10-10 tie in the final 1:30 of the bout.

Bianchi won a consolation semifinal bout and was then defeated for third By Alex Thomsen 11-1.

Incoming freshman Brandon Metz also had a disappointing first bout of the tournament. Seeded third at 120 KG, Metz fell to Carter Isley of the Panther Wrestling Regional Training Center by 4-0 decision.  In the first period, Metz defended an Isley shot into and advantageous front headlock position, but gave up two exposure points on an errant front headlock roll attempt.  To make matters worse, Metz also gave up a gut wrench during the same exchange that gave Isley a 4-0 lead.  That would be the only scoring in the match.  Metz pushed action throughout, but was unable to get Isley charged with even a single passivity warning.

Metz won two matched in the consolation bracket before falling in the third place match to Shawn Streck of the Boilermaker RegionalTraining Center 10-0.