LAS VEGAS, Nevada – A day after Linfield wrestling coach Frank Johnson won a master's level national title at the U.S. Open Championships this week, Wildcat freshman Camden Roofener notched an All-America finish in the U20 Greco-Roman bracket. 

Roofener, who posted a 17-8 record at heavyweight this season for Linfield, wrestled through a gauntlet of NCAA Division I opponents on his way to an 8th-place finish Thursday in Las Vegas. 

In his opener, Roofener made quick work of Noah Butler from the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program, registering an 8-0 tech fall in 39 seconds. He had to work harder in the second round, finally pinning William Ward in 5:01. Ward is a two-time Minnesota state champion who signed to wrestle at Arizona State.

The sledding became more difficult in the quarterfinals, where Roofener dropped a 7-1 match to Northern Michigan's Jayden Tadeo-Gosal.

"I'm super proud of him," Coach Johnson said of Roofener. "This is the kind of competition you want to be facing, getting better all the time." 

A business major from Glencoe High School in North Plains, Roofener bounced back from the loss when he dropped to the consolation side of the bracket, where he notched an 11-1 tech fall win over Julian Burgett, who has signed to wrestle at Mercyhurst University (Penn.) next fall.

After that, it was a trek through the Big 10 for Roofener. He dropped an 8-0 tech fall loss to U17 world team member David Calkins Jr., who has signed to wrestle at Iowa next year. And then, in the 7th-place final, lost by the same score to Alexander Smith, who posted a 9-14 record as a starter at Northwestern this season.

Roofener's finish is the second consecutive season that Linfield had an All-American student-athlete at the U.S. Open. A year ago, Jonathon Fagen placed 6th in the Greco-Roman brackets.