2014 Junior and Youth Open Action Begins in Reno – by Julie Goldsticker

USA Boxing officially opened 2014 national competition on Tuesday with two action-packed sessions on the first day of the Junior and Youth Open at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nev. Following an extensive general weigh-in and the tournament draw, 48 preliminary contests took place in the junior and youth men’s divisions.

The men’s youth division opened tournament action with 24 bouts in the early session as the athletes in the light flyweight, flyweight, bantamweight, lightweight, light welterweight and welterweight divisions all competed in first round bouts. Familiar faces from 2013 national championship competition highlighted the day’s action in several weight divisions. Both boxers from the 2013 Junior Olympic National Championships light middleweight finals recorded first round wins on Tuesday afternoon. 2013 champion Ferdinand Kerobyan (N. Hollywood, Calif.) won a unanimous decision victory over Michaiah Soares (Kaunakai, Hawaii) while silver medalist Edgar Berlanga (Brooklyn, N.Y.) took a split decision over Marcus Davidson (Kansas City, Kansas) in welterweight action. 2013 Junior Olympic featherweight champion Isidro Ochoa (Fresno, Calif.) earned his first victory in the youth lightweight class in the early session as well, taking a 3-0 decision over Pablo Rubio (Whittier, Calif.).

The junior men took center stage in Tuesday’s evening action with 22 of the 24 evening bouts being contested in the 15 and 16-year-old class. 2013 Junior Olympic flyweight titlist Vergil Ortiz (Grand Prairie, Texas) moved up to the bantamweight class for his 2014 opener and he continued his winning ways in the new division. Ortiz won a unanimous decision over Zachery Bartrum (Huntington, W. Va.) in his 2014 Junior and Youth Open debut to advance in the tournament.

Wednesday’s action will showcase over 70 bouts in two sessions with two rings running simultaneously at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nev. The sessions will begin at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., on Wednesday with young boxers from all over the United States vying for a national title. 2014 Junior and Youth Open competition will continue with one daily session beginning at 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Championship round action will be contested at noon on Saturday as national champions are crowned in all of the weight divisions.

Several Olympians are in attendance in Reno supporting the young athletes looking to follow in their footsteps. 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas) and her London teammates Queen Underwood (Seattle, Wash.) and Jose Ramirez (Avenal, Calif.) are all in Reno for the event as well as 1992 Olympian and former professional world champion Raul Marquez.

Admission for the first three days of the 2014 Junior and Youth Open will be free of charge and 5$ on Friday and Saturday for any spectators interested in catching the high level Olympic-style boxing action.

USA Boxing’s junior and youth programs are critical to the organization’s developmental pipeline and have consistently produced Olympians and World Champions, including the United States’ last two Olympic gold medalists Andre Ward (2004) and Claressa Shields (2012).

Tuesday’s Preliminary Results

5 p.m.
101 lbs/junior male: Jessie Mandapat, Bakersfield, Calif., dec. Jose Perez, Arlington, Texas, 3-0
101 lbs/junior male: Keyshawn Davis, Norfolk, Va., dec. Kawelo Alcos, Waipahu, Hawaii, 3-0
101 lbs/junior male: Kelli Alcos, Lihue, Hawaii, dec. David Ivaniv, Los Angeles, Calif., 2-1
101 lbs/junior male: Braulio Trejo, Fallon, Nev., dec. Joe Angel Martinez, Victoria, Texas, 2-1
106 lbs/junior male: Emmanuel Rojas, Fallon, Nev., dec. Joe Angel Martinez, Victoria, Texas, 2-1
106 lbs/junior male: Jovany Carrillo, Dallas, Texas, dec. Josue Rosa, Philadelphia, Pa., 3-0
106 lbs/junior male: Fernando Martinez, Phoenix, Ariz., dec. Szel Martinez, Nyssa, Ore., 3-0
110 lbs/junior male: Jose Guevara, Nampa, Idaho, dec. Thomas Wu, Arcadia, Calif., 2-1
110 lbs/junior male: Ruben Robles, Los Angeles, Calif., dec. Allen Medina, Fresno, Calif., 3-0
110 lbs/junior male: Nicholas Sullivan, Portsmouth, Va., dec. Marquez Rhodes, Holbrook, N.Y., 3-0
119 lbs/junior male: Dominic Serna, Indio, Calif., dec. Blake Brown, Sperry, Okla., 3-0
119 lbs/junior male: Vergil Ortiz, Grand Prairie, Texas, dec. Zachery Bartrum, Huntington, W. Va.,
119 lbs/junior male: Luis Coria, Coachella, Calif., dec. Nathan Gonzales, Palmdale, Calif., 2-1
119 lbs/junior male: Freudis Rojas, Fallon, Nev., dec. Sergio Madrid, Santa Cruz, N.M., 3-0
119 lbs/junior male: Wesley Diana, Las Vegas, Nev., dec. Gabriel Quijada, Phoenix, Ariz., 3-0
119 lbs/junior male: Victor Morales, Vancouver, Wash, dec. Adan Ochoa, Downey, Calif., 2-1
125 lbs/junior male: Alejandro Campa, Phoenix, Ariz., dec. Fabian Camarena, Las Vegas, Nev., 3-0
125 lbs/junior male: Ryan Garcia, Adelanto, Calif., dec. Alejandro Guerrero, Irving, Texas, 3-0
125 lbs/junior male: Adolfo Alanis, Edinburg, Texas, dec. Ameer Brown, Upper Marlboro, Md., 2-1
132 lbs/junior male: Kenny Coronel, Los Angeles, Calif., dec. Noel Temores, Gilroy, Calif., 2-1
165 lbs/youth male: Ricky Frausto, Santa Ana, Calif., dec. Abel Gonzalez, Hialeah Gardens, Fla., 2-1
176 lbs/junior male: Mario Hernandez, Sparks, Nev., dec. Kashif Muhammad-Brown, Upper Marlboro, Md., 3-0
178 lbs/youth male: Joshua Juarez, Laredo, Texas dec. Joey Gonzalez, Watsonville, Calif., 3-0

1 p.m
108 lbs/youth male: Adrian Servian, Phoenix, Ariz., dec. Kristopher Alcos, Lihue, Hawaii, 3-0
114 lbs/youth male: Luis Delgado, San Antonio, Texas dec. Bruce Carrington, Brooklyn, N.Y., 2-1
114 lbs/youth male: Christopher Colbert, Brooklyn, N.Y., dec. Andrew Strode, Denver, Colo., 2-1
114 lbs/youth male: Jose Solorio, Harvey, Ill., dec. Eric Barron, Long Beach, Calif., 3-0
123 lbs/youth male: Rudy Garcia, Los Angeles, Calif., dec. Jacob Ponce, Phoenix, Ariz.
123 lbs/youth male: Arnold Alejandro, Phoenix, Ariz., dec. Gonzalo Rodriguez, Edinburg, Texas, 2-1
123 lbs/youth male: Hector Tanajara, San Antonio, Texas dec. Elijah Pierce, Lawrenceville, Ga., 3-0
132 lbs/youth male: Isidro Ochoa, Fresno, Calif., dec. Pablo Rubio, Whittier, Calif., 3-0
132 lbs/youth male: Kelvin Davis, Norfolk, Va., dec. George Vargas, Mesquite, Texas, 3-0
132 lbs/youth male: Eduardo Garcia, Houston, Texas, dec. Jonathan Rodriguez, McKinney, Texas, 3-0
132 lbs/youth male: Andres Cortes, Henderson, Nev., dec. Daniel Silva, Sparks, Nev., 2-1
141 lbs/youth male: Alexis Martinez, Dallas, Texas, dec. Jose Barrera, Mesa, Ariz., 3-0
141 lbs/youth male: Richardson Hitchins, Brooklyn, N.Y., dec. Emiliano Gutierrez, Milwaukee, Wis., 2-1
141 lbs/youth male: Jonathan Navarro, Los Angeles, Calif., dec. Brandon Trejo, Napa, Calif., 2-1
152 lbs/youth male: Zakery Rollins, Zanesville, Ohio dec. Kevin Torres, 3-0
152 lbs/youth male: Gilbert Vasquez, Brownfield, Texas dec. Elmer Pedraza, Houston, Texas, 3-0
152 lbs/youth male: Anthony Lerma-Ruelas, Janesville, Wis., dec. Charles Naone, Waianae, Hawaii, 2-1
152 lbs/youth: Fabian Alvarado, Irving, Texas, won on TKO over Jerick Bagay, Pearl City, Hawaii, TKO-3
152 lbs/youth male: Edgar Berlanga, Brooklyn, N.Y., dec. Marcus Davidson, Kansas City, Kansas, 2-1
152 lbs/youth male: Hans Perez, Staten Island, N.Y., dec. Adan Reyes, Farmington, N.M., 3-0
152 lbs/youth male: Robby Gonzales, Sylmar, Calif., dec. David Rodriguez, Hialeah, Hawaii, 2-1
152 lbs/youth male: Ferdinand Kerobyan, N. Hollywood, Calif., dec. Michaiah Soares, Kaunakai, Hawaii, 3-0
152 lbs/youth male: Jovani Valenzuela, Phoenix, Ariz., dec. Christopher Gonzalez, Tucson Ariz., 2-1
152 lbs/youth male: John Williams, Baton Rouge, La., dec. Armando Gaytan, Phoenix, Ariz., 3-0