Following a successful high school season, San Marino High sophomore Mikel David Uyemura is maintaining his momentum in wrestling and recently finished sixth at the U17 World Team Trials in Las Vegas, on April 25.
The competition is part of the U.S. Open Wrestling tournament held every year at the South Point Hotel. The sophomore competed in the 71-kilogram division, or roughly 156-pound weight class.
Top competitors from across the country compete to either win a World Team roster spot or for the right to compete in their respective trial at a later date and venue. It was Uyemura’s third straight year of competition at the Open.
The sophomore placed sixth out of 60 competitors in his bracket. He went 5-3 overall including matches against a Wisconsin state champ and two other state place winners. Uyemura started out the tournament strong with three straight wins over opponents from Iowa, Virginia and Colorado. The run began with a 10-2 victory over Barrett Mieras of Iowa, followed by a 10-0 win over state runner-up Billy Tyler of Virginia and an 8-4 triumph over Brandon Dean of Colorado.
His first loss was a 9-0 decision and came at the hands of Wisconsin’s Jacob Herm, the reigning state champion at 144 pounds this season. Uyemura rebounded and won his next match against Lucas Boe of Indiana on a last-second throw, and followed that up with a win over his teammate from last season’s California National Dual team, Tigran Greyan, who wrestles for St. John Bosco.
The sophomore finished the tournament with a loss to 2022 U15 US Open champion Owen McMullen of Pennsylvania. McMullen wrestles for the famed Bishop McCort High School team. His final match was another loss to Sullivan Ramos from Askren Wrestling Academy of Wisconsin. Ramos was a fourth-place finisher in this season’s state tournament. The top-eight finishers in each weight class received awards.
Uyemura is in his 10th season of wrestling. He began competition as a second-grader at Carver Elementary. The sophomore reached the “blood rounds” of this season’s CIF State Wrestling Championships, finishing among the top 12 grapplers in California in the 150-pound weight class. Uyemura won titles at the Rio Hondo League finals and the CIF Individual Championships, and was a top finisher at the Masters Meet.
First published in the May 9 issue of the San Marino Tribune
