We Own the Dome - 16U Men Freestyle
We, the wrestling community, routinely walk into Fargo (or other events/venues) with a preconceived idea of which are the teams and athletes to watch. Those you should keep an eye on. At the high school level it is Thompson in Alabama or Foard in North Carolina. At the national level we have a tendency to look at state dominance. NHSCA always seems to have tons of Pennsylvania athletes on the podium. Well, in Fargo it varies based on whether we’re talking the men or the women, Freestyle or Greco Roman.
The We Own the Dome Series came out of this … and at a very basic level, whether those long-held perceptions are true. We could have gone back to the beginning, but decided to focus our analysis on the last time the weights changed (that way we could look at each weight in greater detail, as well). For the men, that includes the last 11 years (although just 10 Fargo’s because of COVID). So, for this series, we examine all of the All Americans from 2012 through 2022.
Where did we get all of these results to do the analysis? Great question, and one that is easy to answer. Jason Bryant of Mat Talk Online has done much of the heavy lifting. The Fargo Almanac is a treasure trove of information and data about Fargo, from those NCAA Champions that made the podium in Fargo to the number of “Americans in Europe” (yes, that is an actual designation for one of the competing “states”) that have climbed the podium over the years. If you’re interested in knowing anything (and everything) about Fargo, it is the ultimate resource. As a result, it is where we turned to begin our analysis for this series. Lastly, if there any mistakes below, they’re made by SEWrestle (sometimes we get a bit shaky when we count above 5 or 6).
Who Owns the Dome in 16U Men Freestyle over the last 11 years?
Extremely competitive between Illinois and Pennsylvania with Ohio over 100 All Americans as well.
Illinois (135)
Pennsylvania (134)
Ohio (104)
Minnesota (84)
New Jersey (77)
Iowa (68)
California (60)
Wisconsin (52)
Missouri (51)
SE Status: Georgia is tied with Oregon at #16 with 31 All Americans. Florida comes in #20 with 26 All Americans. Tennessee has 16, Alabama has had 6, North Carolina with 5, and South Carolina with 1.
One thing that is always interesting to take a look at is the distribution across the different weight classes. Again - we have perceptions that the “lightweights” from this school, club, or state are the ones to watch or a state is known for being a state from their bigger guys or girls. So here is a breakdown of the number of All Americans by weight over the last 11 years:
88 lbs.
We OWN 88: Minnesota (8 All Americans. Of the All Americans for Minnesota at 88 - Mason Gehloff was the only to claim a title in 2018. That’s impressive considering the other AA’s include names like Jore Volk, Patrick McKee, Paxton Creese, and others).
Contenders:
Pennsylvania (6)
Idaho (6)
Illinois (5)
Ohio (5)
Iowa (5)
Colorado (5)
3 States with (4)
Alabama (Sam Latona and Dylan Lesueur) has had 2, Tennessee (Tanner Tran last year) 1, and North Carolina (Richard Treanor) 1.
Worth Noting: Pennsylvania’s Devin Schnupp and Gavin Teasdale each claimed titles (in 2012 and 2013). Javaan Yarbrough collected a title for Ohio in 2021. Iowa has had 3 Champs in 10 years at 88 lbs. - Cullan Schriever in 2016, Drake Ayala in 2017, and Mac Crosson in 2022. Colorado has had a pair of Champs as well in Mosha Schwarts in 2015 and Malik Heinselman in 2014.
94 lbs.
We OWN 94: Ohio (8 All Americans. Several hammers and a few finalists (Dillon Campbell in 2019 and Dylan D’Emilio in 2014), but no champs (D’Emilio would win a title, but it would be up at 100) or 2x AA’s at the weight).
Contenders:
Illinois (7)
Pennsylvania (6)
California (6)
Oklahoma (5)
Washington (5)
Minnesota (4)
Florida has had 2 with Tennessee and Georgia having 1 each.
Worth Noting: Austin Gomez and Nick Lukanich each took 2nd for Illinois at 94. Maxximus Martinez and Nic Aguilar each claimed titles for California. Kaden Gfeller and Cael Hughes won titles at 94 for Oklahoma and Kai Owen and Elijah Varona made the podium for Florida. Caden McCrary also made the podium for Georgia in 2016 and Cooper Flynn was on the podium for Tennessee in 2017.
100 lbs.
We OWN 100: Illinois (9 All Americans and none finished lower than 4th. Dylan Ragusin (2017), Miguel Silva (2012), and Seth Mendoza (2021) each claimed titles for Illinois).
Contenders:
Iowa (8)
Ohio (7)
Minnesota (6)
Michigan (5)
New Jersey (5)
Florida has had 3 with Tennessee and Georgia each with 1.
Worth Noting: Lincoln Sledzianowksi was 3rd last year for Florida - he joins Kai Owen and Ty Lucas as AA’s from the Sunshine State. Darrell Rochester made the podium for Georgia in 2019 and Trae McDaniel for Tennessee in 2018. Dylan D’Emilio and Julian Tagg claimed stopsigns for Ohio and Jore Volk claimed the 100 lb. title in 2019 for Minnesota.
106 lbs.
We OWN 106: Illinois (11 All Americans but no Champs at 106. In fact, Illinois has had a 106 lb. All American every year since 2012 except 2016 and 2018.)
Contenders:
Pennsylvania (9)
Ohio (8)
Iowa (6)
New Jersey (6)
Oklahoma (5)
Tennessee has had 2 and Florida 1
Worth Noting: Scott Parker claimed a title for PA in 2012 and Jordan Decatur claimed one for Ohio in 2015. But it is Anthony Knox and Evan Tallmadge that puts Jersey on top in terms of Champs with two (at least from the states listed above). Knox was the champ in 2021 and Tallmadge took the title in 2019. Tre Chalifoux and Michael Murphy made the podium for Tennessee and Ethan Rivera did it for Florida in 2021.
113 lbs.
We OWN 113: Illinois (8 All Americans including two champs in Austin Gomez in 2014 and Noah Surtin in 2017).
Contenders:
New Jersey (7)
California (7)
Pennsylvania (5)
Ohio (5)
Colorado (4)
Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina with 2 each and Florida (Malyke Hines) with 1
Worth Noting: California has had 1 16U Champ at 113 since 2012 … Zahid Valencia in 2012. Colorado’s Colton Yapoujian claimed a title in 2016. Leo Deluca claimed a title for Jersey in 2021. Interestingly … few states have had multiple All Americans at the same weight in 16U (at least through 113). Drew Gorman and Nick Masters made the podium for Georgia, Jax Forrest and Cameron Stinson Jr. did it for North Carolina and Cooper Flynn and Trae McDaniel were on the podium for Tennessee. Gorman and Stinson will be competing in Juniors this summer … Forrest will also but for Team Pennsylvania.
120 lbs.
We OWN 120: Pennsylvania (12 All Americans and some impressive names, but none made the finals at 120 for PA. Bo Bassett was 4th in 2022, Gauge Botero is the only 2xer in the group - placing in both 2021 and 2022, Max Murin, Mike Keremer, Rocco Welsh and others all made the podium at 120 as well).
Contenders:
Illinois (8)
Ohio (8)
New Jersey (5)
4 States with (4)
Tennessee (Noah Horst in 2018) and Florida (Brennan Van Hoecke in 2019) have had 1 each
Worth Noting: Dylan Duncan claimed a title for Illinois in 2014 and Nicholas Raimo took the top step for Jersey in 2015. Ohio has 8 AA’s at 120, but 3 Champs with Matthew Kolodzik in 2012, Jordan Decatur in 2016, and Marcus Blaze last year.
126 lbs.
We OWN 126: Illinois (10 All Americans with Ben Davino claiming a title last summer).
Contenders:
Minnesota (9)
Ohio (8)
Pennsylvania (7)
Colorado (7)
California (6)
3 States with (4)
Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama each have had 1
Worth Noting: No Champs for Ohio at 126, but Corey Shie was a 2x AA in 2013 and 2014. Jaden Enriquez was also a 2x AA … for California in 2013 and 2014 and Zahid Valencia took home the title in 2013. Dominick Serrano claimed a title for Colorado in 2018 and Seth Gross was on the top step for Minnesota in 2012. Landon Robideau was a 2x AA (in fact a 2x Runner-up) for Minnesota in 2021 and 2022. A few familiar faces from the SE … Cody Chittum was 5th at the weight in 2018, Nic Bouzakis won the title for Florida in 2019, and Gabe Hixenbaugh was 5th for Alabama in 2017.
132 lbs.
We OWN 132: Illinois (9 All Americans - lots of talented wrestlers in the group including Austin O’Connor (5th in 2014) and Jaime Hernandez (2nd in 2014), but none that were able to claim a title for Illinois).
Contenders:
Ohio (7)
Minnesota (6)
Pennsylvania (6)
Indiana (6)
4 States with (4)
Florida and Georgia have each had 2. North Carolina (Will Clark) has had 1.
Worth Noting: Carson Manville and Zach Hanson each claimed 132 lb. titles for Minnesota. Nick Lee claimed a title for Indiana in 2014 an Sammy Sasso did it for Pennsylvania in 2015. Frankie TalShahar and Jack Crook made the podium for Florida and Jaxon Smith and Michael Kilic were All Americans for Georgia.
138 lbs.
We OWN 138: Pennsylvania and New Jersey (10 All Americans each. New Jersey had one champ in Travis Mastrogiovanni in 2018 - a few others like Shane Griffith and David McFadden made the podium but came up just short of a title for Jersey. The same could be said for Pennsylvania … 4 Runners-up since 2012, but no champs with Patrick Duggan (2012), Sammy Sasso (2016), Tyler Kasak (2021), and Vince Bouzakis (2022) taking 2nd).
Contenders:
Illinois (8)
Iowa (6)
Ohio (5)
New York (4)
Florida has had 3, Georgia and Tennessee with 2 each
Worth Noting: Fidel Mayora and Isaiah White claimed titles for Illinois, Jacob Woodard was a 2x AA for Iowa at this weight in 2012 and 2013, and PJ Duke took the title back to New York last year. Cody Chittum was 3rd in 2019 and Eli King was 5th in 2015 for Tennessee. Logan Paradice was 4th last year and Jake Adcock was 6th in 2013 for Georgia. Pat Lugo, Ethan Mojena, and EJ Solis each made the podium for Florida at 138.
145 lbs.
We OWN 145: Pennsylvania (16 All Americans. The most of any state in any weight class since 2012. Not only does PA put a ton on the podium at 145 in 16U they also have champs and finalists. Carson Manville and Jared Verkleeren each won a title and Pierson Manville and Kollin Rath took 2nd).
Contenders:
California (9)
Illinois (6)
New Jersey (5)
Georgia (5)
Oklahoma (4)
Florida has had 2.
Worth Noting: Oklahoma has just 4, but that includes 2022 Champ Kody Routledge. New Jersey counters with a champ of their own in Mason Manville who took the top spot in 2013. Dean Hamiti Jr. claimed a title for Illinois in 2019. Matty Singleton, Nick Stonecheck, Latrell Schafer, and Drew Eller have been on the podium at 145 for Georgia with Singleton making the finals in 2019. Florida may have had just 2 since 2012, but both claimed a title … Fox Baldwin in 2012 and Anthony Artlona in 2015.
152 lbs.
We OWN 152: Illinois (9 All Americans including 2015 Champ Trevell Timmons.)
Contenders:
New Jersey (7)
Wisconsin (7)
Ohio (7)
Pennsylvania (5)
6 States with (4)
Georgia with 3, Tennessee with 2, and Florida (CJ Torres) and North Carolina with 1 each.
Worth Noting: In a fairly rare occurrence in 16U Freestyle … Michael O’Malley was a 2x All American at the same (in this case 152) - 4th in 2015 and 2nd in 2016. Carter Starocci claimed a title for Pennsylvania in 2017. Mason Reiniche and Maximus Norman made the podium for Tennessee … Norman in 2022 and should be back in 16U this summer. Dominic Bambinelli, Kamdyn Munro, and RJ Weston have made the podium for Georgia … Munro and Weston in 2019 and Bambinelli in 2021.
160 lbs.
We OWN 160: New Jersey (12 All Americans including 4 that have taken a stopsign back home. Brandon Dallavia (2014), Ryan Karoly (2015), Robert Kanniard (2017), and Louie Cerchio (2021) have all claimed titles).
Contenders:
Pennsylvania (8)
Minnesota (8)
Illinois (6)
Wisconsin (5)
Georgia and Florida have each had 3
Worth Noting: David Key was a runner-up for Georgia in 2017 and Dawson Mathews and Tyler Secoy placed in 2019 and 2021. Julian Ramirez was 2nd for Florida in 2016 with Roman Garcia and Max Wohlabaugh also making the podium for the Sunshine State. Quayin Short won a title for Minnesota in 2018 and Bekhruz Sadriddinov claimed the title last year for Pennsylvania.
170 lbs.
We OWN 170: Illinois (10 All Americans. Jacob Warner claimed a title in 2015 over teammate Jack Jessen (who was a 2x All American at the weight). Kamal Bey took 2nd at the weight in 2014 - a year after taking 2nd at 160).
Contenders:
Pennsylvania (7)
Missouri (7)
Minnesota (6)
New Jersey (5)
Ohio (5)
Georgia with 2 and Florida (Brian Burburija) with 1
Worth Noting: A trio of 3rd’s for New Jersey, but no champs as Jared Schoppe was 3rd in 2021, Ryan Burton was 3rd last year, and William Janzer was 3rd in 2016. Jarrel Miller Jr. claimed a title for Ohio in 2022 and Lenny Pinto and Luke Stout earned titles for Pennsylvania in 2018 and 2019. Georgia’s Gabe Arnold claimed a title in 2021 and Khamari Whimper was 3rd in 2015. Wisconsin may not be amongst the top states at 170, but you can’t overlook Beau Breske who won back to back titles in 2013 and 2014.
182 lbs.
We OWN 182: Pennsylvania (9 All Americans. 9 different individuals and no finalists in the group. PA uses depth at 182 to lead the way.)
Contenders:
Illinois (7)
Minnesota (7)
Missouri (5)
Ohio (5)
Wisconsin (5)
Georgia has had 3 and Florida 1
Worth Noting: Georgia’s Justan Rivera was a beast - taking the title in 2013 and finishing 3rd at this weight in 2012. Chip Ness was 2nd at the weight in 2012 as well for Georgia. Mikey TalShahar was 2nd for Florida in 2019. Illinois mirrors PA at 182 … 7 different wrestlers making the podium at 182 with no champs or finalists. Minnesota counters with 2 Champs in Bennett Berge in 2019 and Keegan Moore in 2014, but it is Missouri that leads the way in terms of those on the top step … 3 of their 5 All Americans at 182 claimed titles. Michael Pixley in 2012, Devin Winston in 2017, and Rocky Elam in 2018. Camden McDanel won a title for Ohio in 2021 and Jacob Raschka (2015) and Aeoden Sinclair last year earned titles for Wisconsin.
195 lbs.
We OWN 195: Ohio and Iowa (9 All Americans each. Ohio not only shares the lead in terms of numbers with Iowa - they also have claimed 3 titles since 2012. Braxton Amos in 2016 (wait I thought Braxton was from West Virginia?), Matt Stencel in 2014, and Seth Shumate in 2019. Dreshaun Ross (who we hope is doing okay after the knee to the face incident at Junior Duals) claimed a title for Iowa last year at this weight.
Contenders:
Pennsylvania (7)
Minnesota (5)
Indiana (5)
Oregon (5)
Georgia has had 4, Florida 3, and Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina with 1 each
Worth Noting: 3 Runners-up for PA, but no champs as Ian Malesiewski, Kolby Franklin, and Sonny Sasso all came up one win short of taking a title. Santos Cantu was a 2x AA for Oregon in 2016 and 2017. Lance Benick and Max Mcenelly claimed titles for Minnesota and Georgia has had a pair of 2x AA’s at this weight in Noah Pettigrew and David Harper. Florida’s Michael Mocco made the podium last year at this weight and should be back looking for the top step at either 195 or 220 this year. Mocco is joined by Robert Enmon and Sawyer Bartlet as Floridians to make the podium at 195. Mason Ellis made the podium at this weight for Alabama last year, BJ Hurst is the only South Carolina wrestler to AA in 16U Freestyle since 2012 - he did so in 2012 at 195, and Ashton Davis made the podium for Tennessee in 2019.
220 lbs.
We OWN 220: Pennsylvania (12 All Americans. And again 12 different wrestlers and quite a run that began in 2013 with Jordan Wood taking 3rd and finished with a Pennsylvanian All American every year except 2018. In 2019, Kolby Franklin downed fellow Pennsylvanian Dustin Swanson to take the title)
Contenders:
Illinois (8)
Oklahoma (6)
Ohio (5)
California (5)
Washington (5)
Alabama has had 2, Georgia with 1.
Worth Noting: Gage Cook was a 2x All American for Washington, Luke Luffman a 2x AA for Illinois, Kyler Childers was also a 2x AA for Oklahoma, and Riley Ucker was a 2x AA for Ohio. Brett Winters and Dalton Campbell were AA’s for Alabama and Chase Horne finished 3rd in 2019 for Georgia.
285 lbs.
We OWN 285: Illinois (11 All Americans. Hayden Copass was a 2x Champ in 2018 and 2019 … otherwise Illinois has had 9 others make the podium. In fact all 9 placed in just 5 consecutive years from 2012 through 2016. Copass won it in 18 and 19, but Illinois hasn’t had an All American at 285 in 16U since 2019)
Contenders:
Ohio (8)
Iowa (8)
Pennsylvania (6)
Minnesota (6)
Oregon (6)
Georgia (George Humphreys) and Tennessee with 2 and Florida (Caleb Rodriguez) with 1
Worth Noting: Jacob Levy was 2nd a year ago for Georgia and returns at this weight looking to claim a title for Georgia in 2023. The last SE 16U 185 lb. Champ was Nicholas Boykin for Tennessee in 2015. James Howard was 3rd for Tennessee in 2019. Colby Whitehill was a 2x AA for PA and Gavin Layton was 2x AA for Minnesota. Osawaru Odighizuwa claimed a title for Oregon in 2014 and Aaron Ries of Ohio downed Levy for the title last year. Jacob Marnin claimed a title for Iowa in 2013 and was also a 2x AA at this weight after taking 5th in 2012.