CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The champions have been crowned in the 2015 Cliff Keen USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals in the Schoolboy/girl, Novice, Intermediate, Bantam and Veterans divisions and Washburn’s James Chico Hernandez was one of them.
The event was held at the UNI Dome on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa and Hernandez was competing in Div. E (open to those born before 1959) in the 286 lb. weight class. He weighed in at 225 lbs. and was the second oldest competitor at the competition which drew 2,400 entries from 40 states.
He was the only delegate representing Maine and scored the state’s only points, which was good enough to finish tied for 68th place as a club out of 343 clubs represented in all of the divisions.
Hernandez said one of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the Dan Gable Hall of Fame Wrestling Museum and seeing his 2002 box of Wheaties that he was featured on displayed. He also spotted his name plate on AAU Wall of Fame among some of the nation’s greatest wrestlers.
“Competing in the 17,000-seat UNI Dome, which featured 28 wrestling mats covering the entire football field and seeing myself on the Jumbotron was a surreal treat,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez, who serves as the wrestling coach at Caribou High School, now owns 44 international titles and 34 national titles in Freestyle, Greco Roman, American Folkstyle, Submission Grappling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Combat Sambo and Sport Sambo.
The next stop for Hernandez will be at the 2015 Open Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, Nev.
United States of America Wrestling is the national governing body for wrestling in the United States and is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and a member of the Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA).
