By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com
There are plenty of stage shows in Las Vegas, and a young Westfield wrestler put on his own show there a couple weeks ago.
Connor Maddox, a seventh-grader at Westfield Middle School, finished second in the U15 Greco-Roman 38 kilograms division at the U.S. Open, which took place April 26-30 at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas. It was the first time Maddox, 13, had participated at the U.S. Open, which features high-level wrestlers from all across the country.
Maddox was the second seed in the Greco-Roman U15 division at 38 kilograms (83.8 pounds), and was one of three wrestlers seeded in the top eight to represent Contenders Wrestling Academy. His bracket consisted of 27 wrestlers, so Maddox and the other wrestlers seeded in the top five all received first-round byes.
“When I first got there, I was pretty nervous,” said Maddox. “I wrestled my first few matches and all the butterflies went away.”
Maddox breezed through his first match, beating Ryker Pruett of North Bend, Ore. 8-0. Maddox delivered his first career five-point throw in that match. (In Greco-Roman and freestyle, when a wrestler throws his opponent, if the opponent’s feet go above their head and they land on their back, that is a five-point throw.)
That moved Maddox into the quarterfinals, where he beat Jesse Grossman of Billings, Mt., 12-7. Grossman had just placed second in the 83-pound division at the 2023 USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals, which took place in Cedar Falls, Iowa March 31-April 2.
The match between Maddox and Grossman was tied with four seconds to go, but Maddox made a four-point throw with two seconds left to seal the win. With that, Maddox advanced to the semifinals. (A four-point throw is when a wrestler takes his opponent from their feet to their back, but their feet don’t go over their head.) The throw was challenged, but the challenge was not successful, giving Maddox an extra point at the end.
In the semis, Maddox defeated Wyatt Stauffer of Factoryville, Pa., 10-0. Stauffer has won numerous tournaments in his home state of Pennsylvania, and was a runner-up at the Pennsylvania state tournament. That qualified Maddox for the championship match, where he fell to Chase Karenbauer of Mercer, Pa. 8-0; Karenbauer is a two-time winner at the Tulsa Nationals.
“It was pretty cool because all the senior-level guys were there,” said Maddox. “It was pretty cool to wrestle on the same stage as the senior level guys.”
(Photo provided)
Because of his performance at the meet, Maddox qualified for the Pan American Team Trials, which take place in August at Colorado Springs.
“It’s pretty cool,” said Maddox. “If I make the team, we go wrestle in Panama.”
While in Las Vegas, Maddox and his family got a chance to see some of the sights outside of wrestling.
“We stayed for a little bit after and went to the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon,” said Maddox.
Before wrestling in the Greco-Roman bracket, Maddox competed in the U15 Freestyle 38 kilograms division. After a first-round bye, he dropped his first match to Holten Crane of Nampa, Idaho 14-4. But he rebounded in the consolation bracket, defeating Michael Bernabe of Fresno 11-8, and Grossman 6-4 before falling to Thiago Javier Silva of Clovis, Calif. 10-0, giving him a top-24 finish.