Stanwood’s Phillips wins Greco-Roman title at Junior Nationals
Published 1:30 am Saturday, July 22, 2017
FARGO, N.D. — Stanwood wrestling phenom Mason Phillips added another piece of hardware to his impressive title collection, pinning Wisconsin’s Alston Nutter to claim the 138-pound Greco-Roman championship Saturday at the USA Wrestling Junior Nationals.
It was the second consecutive Junior Nationals title for the two-time state champion from Stanwood High School, who won the 132-pound Greco-Roman crown at the cadet level of last year’s event.
Phillips cruised into the final of this year’s 84-wrestler bracket by winning his first five matches by a combined 61-8, with each victory coming by technical fall in the first two minutes.
The Stanwood senior-to-be met his match in Nutter, who built an early 6-1 lead in the final. Phillips battled back to take a 7-6 edge into the second period, but Nutter answered with five consecutive points to build an 11-7 advantage.
Phillips then trimmed the deficit to 11-9 before recording the title-winning pin with 1 minute, 53 seconds left in the six-minute match.
Phillips, who owns a perfect 44-0 record in high-school matches, capped an undefeated junior season this past winter with his second consecutive Class 3A state championship.
Phillips will represent the United States at the United World Wrestling’s Cadet World Championships this September in Athens, Greece. He earned that honor by winning the 139-pound Greco-Roman title at last month’s UWW Cadet and University Nationals.
