Season one of Real Pro Wrestling culminated with an action packed and dramatic two hour finale shown on PAX TV Sunday afternoon. The Iowa Stalkers took home the national team title with 91 points on the strength of national champion and outstanding wrestler of the tournament Doug Schwab at 145 pounds. The Pennsylvania Hammer finished second with 64 points, followed by the Oklahoma Slam, who finished third with 60 points.
Three of the seven individual national champions were top seeds: Sammie Henson of the Pennsylvania Hammer (121 pounds), Joe Williams of the Chicago Groove (163 pounds) and Daniel Cormier of the Oklahoma Slam (211 pounds).
Schwab, who entered the tournaments as the fourth seed, battled back from an early four point deficit to defeat second-seeded Eric Larkin of the Texas Shooters, 14-10. Larkin led the match 10-8 with less than thirty seconds remaining, before Schwab registered two late takedowns, including a double leg with five seconds left, to win the match. Schwab had wins over the number one, two, and five seeds in arguably the deepest weight class in RPW.
The 34-year-old Henson might be the oldest competitor in RPW, but you would never know it after his dominating performance throughout the tournament. In the finals, after giving up the opening point, Henson cruised to an easy 10-3 victory over second-seeded Teague Moore of the Oklahoma Slam. In his three matches, Henson outscored his opponents by a 38-3 margin.
“I wrestled good on top,” said Henson after defeating Moore. “The last time Teague got to my legs nonstop. This time he couldn’t touch them.”
Williams surrendered the opening takedown of his finals match against second-seeded Joe Heskett of the Iowa Stalkers in the finals, but scored the next six points en route to a 7-4 victory.
“Heskett scored a couple points, so that made me really open up and have to force my scoring positions,” said Williams. “I just had to continue wrestling the entire match.”
The Oklahoma Slam and Pennsylvania Hammer were the only two teams to have multiple national champions. The Slam were led by their two talented upper weight stars, Mo Lawal (184 pounds) and Cormier, while the Hammer were led by national champions Henson and Pat Cummins (264 pounds).
Lawal needed overtime to defeat Brad Vering of the New York Outrage, 11-9, in one of the most exciting matches ever seen in RPW. Lawal led the match 9-5 with less than 40 seconds remaining. But Vering, a 2004 Olympian in Greco-Roman, was able to tie the match with a four-point throw to send into overtime. Lawal scored a double leg takedown just 20 seconds into the overtime period to claim the victory.
“It was the first time that I’ve been behind like that this whole tournament,” said Lawal. “I showed focus and perseverance. There were bad calls and everything for both of us. But, hey, I was the better man. I am the better man.”
Cormier scored two takedowns in the final period against Tommy Rowlands of the New York Outrage to claim a 5-0 victory. With thirty seconds remaining, after Cormier scored the final takedown of the match, he proceeded to slap Rowlands on the butt multiple times. Cormier was later fined by the league for his actions. He talked about the incident after the match.
“I wanted to try and be classy,” said Cormier. “I was kind of giving him a pat on the back. He wrestled hard and he was trying hard. People kind of take it out of context, but I was just kind of wrestling with him. I ended up scoring a takedown at the end of the match and kind of gave him a little pat, ‘Good scramble, good hard work.'”
Cummins scored the biggest upset of the finals by defeating top-seeded Tolly Thompson of the California Claw in the finals. Thompson dominated in his first two matches, winning by fall and technical fall, before losing in the finals. Cummins scored with two impressive throws in the first period of the match to pace him to a 10-3 victory.
“I went out there aggressive,” said Cummins. “He stepped in a couple times and I was able to come out on top on a couple throws “and get the big points. It paid off.”
The lowest seeded wrestler to claim a national title was fifth-seeded Tony DeAnda of the New York Outrage. DeAnda won a close 8-7 match over seventh-seeded Zach Roberson of the Iowa Stalkers in the finals.
Final Individual Results:
121 Pounds: Sammie Henson (Pennsylvania Hammer) decision over Teague Moore (Oklahoma Slam), 10-3
132 Pounds: Tony DeAnda (New York Outrage) decision over Zach Roberson (Iowa Stalkers), 8-7
145 Pounds: Doug Schwab (Iowa Stalkers) decision over Eric Larkin (Texas Shooters), 14-10
163 Pounds: Joe Williams (Chicago Groove) decision over Joe Heskett (Iowa Stalkers), 7-4
184 Pounds: Mo Lawal (Oklahoma Slam) decision over Brad Vering (New York Outrage), 11-9 (OT)
211 Pounds: Daniel Cormier (Oklahoma Slam) decision over Tommy Rowlands (New York Outrage), 5-0
264 Pounds: Pat Cummins (Pennsylvania Hammer) decision over Tolly Thompson (California Claw), 10-3
Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament: Schwab
Final Team Standings:
Iowa Stalkers 91
Pennsylvania Hammer 64
Oklahoma Slam 60
New York Outrage 57
California Claw 47
Chicago Groove 36
Texas Shooters 13
Minnesota Freeze 1
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