Colorado Springs, CO – Malcolm Allen won three matches on Thursday at the Dave Schultz Memorial tournament to win his first international competition on the senior level. It was a big win for Allen, who has shown tremendous improvement since joining the Minnesota Storm late last year.
Allen defeated Luciano De Rio of Argentina 9-2 in first match of the day. In the semifinals, he downed another international opponent in Japan’s Arata Sonoda. In the finals, Allen defeated veteran U.S. Greco Roman wrestler, Pete Gounaridis, 4-1 to win the Dave Schultz Memorial.
In an interview after the event, Allen explained that upon completing his collegiate career at Minnesota State in Mankato, he decided he wanted to keep wrestling. He joined the Minnesota Storm shortly thereafter and has been improving ever since.
“This one feels great,” he said. “It just shows me that I can do it.”
Allen finished third at the U.S. Open in December. It was a very respectable result at such an early point in his career. But, he clearly wasn’t satisfied. His win in Colorado is evidence of his hard work and efforts to improve. Allen will continue to represent the Minnesota Storm at 130kg/285lbs.