MARQUETTE – A pair of Northern Michigan University Olympic Training Site (NMU-OTS) Greco-Roman wrestlers claimed first place finishes Friday at the Minnesota Storm Holiday Cup in Rochester, Minnesota.

Kendrick Sanders and Anthonie Linares took top honors in their respective weight classes. In addition, nine other athletes finished in the top five in their weight divisions.

Winning for the third straight year, Sanders, of Homestead, Florida, went 4-0 in the 66-kilogram/145.5-pound weight class in a five-athlete round-robin.

He won three bouts by technical fall, including an 8-0 decision over runner-up Caleb Smith of Princeton Wrestling and one other bout by injury default.

Linares of San Jose, California, went 2-0 at 71 kg/156.6 lbs., also in a round-robin. He scored a technical fall over Devin Scott of the Minnesota Storm and took a 2-0 decision over teammate Brandon Rice of Washington, Illinois. Rice finished the day in third place.

Finishing second at 75 kg/156 lbs. was Dillon Cowan of Harvard, Illinois. Cowan fell to NMU alumnus Justin Lester of the U.S. Army in the first-place match by a technical fall (12-4).

Alejandro Sancho of Miami won by tech fall over Julian Gunnels, of the Minnesota Storm, at 66 kg/145.5 lbs.; and Khymba Johnson, of Sacramento, California, defeated Tim Stahl, 6-0, of the U.S. Marines, at 85 kg/187.5 lbs. to secure third-place finishes in their respective weight classes.

Fourth place finishers included Dmitry Ryabchinskiy of Brooklyn, New York at 59 kg/130 lbs.; Josh Greer of Birmingham, Alabama, at 80 kg/176 lbs.; Orry Elor of Walnut Creek, California, at 98 kg/216 lbs.; and Parker Betts of St. Michael, Minnesota, at 130 kg/286.5 lbs.

Rounding out the competition was Jack Griggs of downstate Brighton, who finished fifth at 130 kg/286.5 lbs.

Information compiled by Senior Sports Writer Craig Remsburg. He can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 251, or via email at cremsburg@miningjournal.net.