We’ve still got four more tournament finals on the agenda at the US Marine Corps Junior Nationals, but before USA Wrestling crowns new Greco-Roman and girls’ freestyle national champs, we’ve got heaps of boys freestyle results through which to sift.
And the theme of this year’s results was chaos. The results from Fargo essentially picked up the national rankings and shook them up like an Etch A Sketch.
Coming Soon, To A Ranking Near You
National tournaments are the perfect place to wrestle your way into the national rankings, especially national tournaments as deep as Junior Nationals. The formula is simple: beat ranked wrestlers, get ranked.
At 120 lbs, Brayden Wenrich, from the wrestling-rich Lehigh Valley and the storied high school program of Northampton, made his case for a ranking with a dominant semifinal win over the very tough and creatively spelled Brand'n Edstrom, followed by an even more dominant win over #13 Michael Batista in the finals.
Wen will Wenrich be ranked? Soon.
Unranked 175 lb Little Rock commit Zack Aquila had one of the most impressive Fargo runs in recent memory. The Ohio native defeated #10 Bruno Cassioppi 7-4 in the semis and then battled to a 9-8 victory over #2 Mario Carini in a finals slugfest not unlike that of a Major League Baseball Home Run Derby.
Our final unranked junior stop-sign winner is Sam Howard of Indiana. The uncommitted rising senior at Boonville (that’s in the southern part of the state, whose wrestlers have a friendly intra-Hoosier rivalry with their teammates from the northern part of Indiana) teched Oklahoma commit Carter Vannest in the quarters, pinned Becker Bechtold in the semis, and then rallied to defeat #14 Daniel Moylan in the finals, 11-10.
College recruiters in need of a 215 lb high schooler, take note.
We’d also be remiss if we didn’t mention the near-Cinderella run of heavyweight Tyson Martin. The South Dakota State commit out of Wisconsin beat three nearly ranked 285-pounders on his way to the championship bout, where he gave #4 Iowa commit Michael Mocco all he could handle in a 9-6 defeat.
Need A Lightweight Hammer In A Few Years? Try Looking In Jefferson, Iowa
Jefferson, Iowa is the home of the Seabolt Wrestling Academy, which produced not one, not two, but three 16U champs: Kai McDonald at 88 lbs, Johnathan Thompson at 94 lbs, and Cyrus Millage at 100 lbs.
There were more Fargo All-Americans cornered by Coach TJ Seabolt this year than this trio, and there’s no college program in the country that isn’t already familiar with this club (that also produced Drake Ayala, among other NCAA greats), but an astounding run of lightweight champs like that will allow college recruiters to visit a lot of talent concentrated in one place.
The Spirit Of Mahalo Was Strong In Fargo
One of the most noteworthy champions in the Gateway City last week was Hawaii’s #12 Analu Woode, who tore through the 113 lb bracket. The sophomore from Nanakuli High School picked up four techs on his way to the finals, which he won via pinfall over the highly regarded Thales Silva.
Woode becomes Hawaii’s second Junior champ in state history, winning a title 25 years after Aloha State legend Travis Lee in 2001.
Where Can I Enjoy More Awesome Fargo Content?
Excellent question. I will tell you.
You can start by visiting our event page, where you can find all the content, from matches to previews to interviews to recaps and more. It’s where you can find more evidence of the aforementioned bracket chaos.
And if you want to cut to the chase and find out who placed at every weight in the 16U and Junior boys freestyle brackets, we got you covered right here.
And don’t forget to tune in Wednesday evening at 5:30 PM CT for the Greco-Roman finals and then Saturday at 3:30 PM CT for the girls championship bouts.
Rewatch of the Week: Experience Fargo’s ‘Black Market’
Bringing thousands of high school wrestlers from all over the country sounds like a recipe for chaos, and there are certainly massive logistical challenges that the brave men and women of USA Wrestling have found a way to master, or at least manage, over the years.
One peculiar mutation that the Fargodome has spawned in its role as a petri dish of wrestling culture is the infamous Fargo Black Market. Despite the colorful name, this back-alley bazaar lacks any actual criminal activity. It’s more like a community rummage sale, except in this case the community is high school wrestlers trading shoes, singlets, and anything else wrestling-related you can think of.
But rather than me trying to explain it to you, watch our very own Tyler Meisinger walk you through an hour’s worth of anthropological exploration of one of wrestling’s most peculiar informal institutions.