Florida in Fargo
Florida’s 16U’s had a great tournament … Valerie Solorio and Sawyer Bartelt each claimed National Titles - the first in 16U women since 2013 and the first for 16U men in Greco since 2015. The Florida 16U men had 5 Freestyle All Americans (good for 10th) and 4 All Americans in Greco (also good for 10th). The 16U women also cleaned up with 4 All Americans and a 11th place finish. Bartelt, Roman Garcia, and Ethan Mojena earned All American status in both styles.
The Junior Freestyle finished 17th and took turns eliminating their teammates - at least at 126 where Melguizo eliminated Kai Owen and then Basile beat Melguizo to finish higher on the podium. Florida’s Junior Greco group finished 18th as a team and was led by National Runner-up Ryan Cody at 195. Florida’s Junior women brought 6 “stopsigns” back home as Hannah Hall, Clare Booe, Juliana Diaz, Andrea Smith, Kealonie Vega, and Sierra Chavez each found the podium. Overall it was a successful trip for the kids from the Sunshine State. Like every team - there were highs and lows … wrestlers that made the goal and those that didn’t. I am going to go through every wrestler and give their record (and any wins - or losses that really stood out to me). At the bottom of each group - I include a very short summary of who stood out to me over the course of the week.
16U Freestyle (5 All Americans)
David DeArmas (106) - 0-2
Ethan Rivera (106) - All American - 8th - 6-3 - Lost to eventual Champ Anthony Knox of New Jersey and Nathan Desmond of Pennsylvania (7th).
Gabriel Jones (106) - 1-2
Luke Williams (106) - 1-2
Sebastian Degennaro (106) - 2-2 - Lost to Nathan Desmond of Pennsylvania (7th).
Ethan Vugman (113) - 0-2
Anderson Heap (120) - 1-2
Evan Pena (120) - 0-2
Ryan Phillips (120) - 1-2
Titus Herron (120) - 0-2
Daniel Echeverria (126) - 0-2
Frankie Florio (126) - 0-2
Jonathan Hudson (126) - 1-2
Samuel Marvel (126) - 1-2
Reid Noble (132) - 0-2
Brandon Cody (138) - 0-2
Ethan Mojena (138) - All American - 3rd - 8-1 Split with Jaydon Robinson of Illinois (4th); Beat Nicholas Kunstek of Pennsylvania (6th) and Alessio Perentin of New Jersey (7th)
Joshua Boykin (138) - 3-2
Austin Williams (145) - 1-2
Brandon Lehrman (145) - 1-2
Giovanni DeAngeles (145) - 2-2
Dylan Quiroga (152) - 0-2
Kendrick Hodge (152) - 5-2 - Lost to Dominic Bambinelli of Georgia (4th) and KJ Evans of Oklahoma (2nd)
Elijah Penton (160) - 2-2 - Lost to Tyler Secoy of Georgia (8th) and Talon McCollom of Oklahoma (5th)
Omer Barak (160) - 1-2 - Lost to Tyler Secoy of Georgia (8th)
Roman Garcia (160) - All American - 4th - Lost to eventual Champ Louie Cericho of New Jersey and Aeoden Sinclair of Wisconsin (3rd); Beat Talon McCollom of Oklahoma (5th) and Jed Webster of Minnesota (6th)
Brian Burburija (170) - All American - 5th - Lost to eventual Champ Gabe Arnold of Georgia and Jared Schoppe of New Jersey (3rd); Beat Keegan Sell of Ohio (6th)
Rhyley Smith (182) - 0-2 - Lost to eventual Champ Camden McDaniel of Ohio
Sawyer Bartelt (195 - All American - 5th - 8-2 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Sonny Sasso of Pennsylvania early and then won 6 in a row. Wins over William Clark of Indiana (8th) and Adam Haselius of Michigan (6th). Lost to Carter Neves of Ohio (4th).
Cane Fernandez (285) - 1-2
16U Greco Roman (4 All Americans)
Luke Williams (100) - 0-2 - Lost to eventual Champion Layne Kleimann of Utah
David DeArmas (106) - 0-2
Gabriel Jones (106) - 0-2 - Lost to Nathan Desmond of Pennsylvania (6th)
Christian Fretwell (113) - 3-2
Ethan Vugman (113) - 3-2
Evan Pena (113) - 0-2 - Lost to Logan Swenson of Minnesota (5th)
Anderson Heap (120) - 4-2 - Lost to Garrett Reece of Colorado (4th) and Ruben Lorenzana of Ohio (5th)
Titus Herron (120) - 0-2
Daniel Echeverria (126) - 0-2
Frankie Florio (126) - 2-2
Jonathan Hudson (126) - 2-2
Samuel Marvel (126) - 0-2
Ryan Phillips (126) - 2-2
Brandon Cody (138) - All American - 5th - 8-2 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Brady Collins of Colorado on criteria and to Jude Randall of Oklahoma (4th); Beat Yannis Charles of South Carolina (8th) and Cade White of Idaho (6th)
Ethan Mojena (145) - All American - 4th - 5-2 - Lost to eventual Champion Pierson Manville of Pennsylvania and Dylan Evans of Pennsylvania (3rd); Beat Mike Baker of Iows (7th) and Layton Schneider of Oklahoma (6th)
Austin Williams (145) - 2-2
Brandon Lehrman (145) - 2-2
Giovanni DeAngeles (145) - 2-2 - Lost to Mike Baker of Iowa (7th)
Dylan Quiroga (152) - 0-2
Kendrick Hodge (152) - 3-2 - Lost to KJ Evans of Oklahoma (4th) and Gavin Fernandez of California (7th)
Elijah Penton (160) - 0-2 - Lost to Talon McCollom of Oklahoma (5th)
Roman Garcia (160) - All American - 3rd - 6-1 - Only loss to eventual Champion Liam Scrivanich of Pennsylvania; Beat Luis Mendoza of Washington (6th) twice and Travis Smith of Minnesota (4th)
Rhyley Smith (182) - 0-2
Sawyer Bartelt (195) - National Champion - 6-0 - Outscored his opponents 55-4 - only match that was not a fall or superior decision was the final vs. William McCleary of Utah; Also beat Dai’Mont Mucker of Missouri (6th) and Hunter Thibodeau of Washington (7th)
Cane Fernandez (285) - 1-2
16U Women (4 All Americans)
Valarie Solorio (94) - National Champion - 4-0 - Beat Megan Valdez of California (5th), Gigi Bragg of Michigan (6th), and Gabriella Gomez of Illinois (2nd).
Clare Booe (100) - All American - 4th - 4-2 - Lost to Aspen Blasko of Minnesota (5th) and Juliana Alejandro of Nevada (3rd); Beat Angelina Cassioppi of Illinois (6th) and Aubra Krazer of Pennsylvania (8th)
Helena Alcantar (106) - 1-2 - Lost to Rianne Murphy of Indiana (4th)
Destiny Madison (180) - All American - 8th - 1-3 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Kiara Ganey of Illinois, Blthye Cayko of Colorado (4th), and Kiley McClain of California (7th)
Alyssa Favara (200) - All American - 6th - 0-3 - Lost to Taylor Knox of Colorado (3rd), Genesis Carillo of Puerto Rico (4th), and Madisen Pillers of Washington (5th).
16U Breakdown
Crowning 2 National Champs and 2 others that were double All Americans is quite a good showing for the 16U’s from Florida. Solorio became the first 16U Women’s Champ from Florida in nearly a decade and just the second ever. She was joined by 4 of her teammates - Clare Booe, Destiny Madison, and Alyssa Favara. Putting 4 of your 5 on the podium is quite an accomplishment for the Florida ladies. Sawyer Bartelt finished 5th in Freestyle and then dominated in Greco on his way to the top step. And when I say dominated … he outscored his opponents 55-4 and gave up 2 in the finals when he probably could’ve fought out of the position at the end of the match (but didn’t need to). He was joined as a double All American by Ethan Mojena and Roman Garcia - both of whom made the consolation finals in both styles … another outstanding accomplishment. Ethan Rivera and Brian Burburija both claimed All American honors in freestyle and Brandon Cody was an All American in Greco. So those are your obvious choices of who stood out … but they aren’t the only ones. The following wrestlers performed well and just missed their spot on the podium:
Kendrick Hodge is the first name that pops to mind. He was 8-4 and went 5-2 in Freestyle. All 4 losses came to a wrestler that finished on the podium - including losses to KJ Evans in both styles. Hodge made huge jumps even if he didn’t make the podium.
Joshua Boykin was 3-2 in Freestyle and Fretwell and Vugman went 3-2 in Greco. Fretwell didn’t wrestle Freestyle (not sure why).
Anderson Heap is probably not happy with his 1-2 record in Freestyle, but he bounced back and finished 4-2 in Greco with losses to 2 All Americans (Reece and Lorenzana).
Sebastian Degennaro was 2-2 with a tough loss to All American Nathan Desmond of Pennsylvania. Still a ways to go for Degennaro .. gotta win the close matches (lost to Louis Gill 7-5 and was eliminated).
Giovanni DeAngeles finished 4-4 (2-2 in each style) with a loss to Iowa’s Mike Baker in Greco - who finished 7th.
Junior Freestyle (4 All Americans)
Robert Allcroft (100) - 0-2 - Lost to Isaac Stewart of Idaho (8th)
Vincent Biondoletti (100) - 2-2 - Lost to eventual Champ Zane Donley of Oklahoma and Lost to Tyson Roach of Louisiana (4th)
Tyler Washburn (106) - 2-2 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Brandon Morvari of Minnesota on criteria 6-6 and to Tyler Edwards of Illinois (8th) 12-10.
Christian Guzman (113) - 2-2
Blaine Jones (120) - 0-2
Cooper Haase (120) - 5-2 - Lost to Cooper Flynn of Tennessee (3rd)
Jacob Witt (120) - 0-2
Braden Basile (126) - All American - 6th - 7-3 - Lost to eventual Champ (and tournament Outstanding wrestler) Drake Ayala of Iowa, Jore Volk of Minnesota (3rd), and Vincent Robinson of Illinois (5th); Beat Sebastian Melguizo of Florida (8th) and Gabe Whisenhunt of Ohio (4th) as well as a good Logan Frazier of Indiana who didn’t place
Dylan Garcia (126) - 1-2
Jaden Villalobos (126) - 1-2
Kai Owen (126) - 5-2 - Lost to Jore Volk of Minnesota (3rd) 8-6 and Sebastian Melguizo of Florida (8th) 15-13. Beat a very good Nicolar Rivera of Wisconsin who didn’t place.
Sebastian Melguizo (126) - All American - 8th - 5-3 - Lost to Vincent Robinson of Illinois (5th), Braden Basile of Florida (6th), and Nico Provo of Connecticut (8th); Beat a very good Kai Owen of Florida, Brennen Cernus of Ohio, and Nicolar Rivera of Wisconsin who didn’t place
Danny Nini (132) - All American - 4th - 8-2 - Lost to Zeke Seltzer of Indiana (5th) and Nic Bouzakis of Pennsylvania (3rd); Beat Garrett Grice of Nebraska (6th), Hunter Mason of Tennessee (7th) and a very good Jake Niffenegger of Ohio and Nash Singleton of Oregon who didn’t place
Dominic Rubino (132) - 0-2
Eligh Rivera (132) - 3-2
Sean-Michael Gonzalez (132) - 0-2
Alan Diaz (138) - 0-2
Brennan Van Hoecke (138) - 6-2 - Lost to Tom Crook of Florida
Isaac Church (138) - 1-2 - Lost to Jude Swisher of Pennsylvania (5th)
James Marvel (138) - 0-2
Thomas Crook (138) - 5-2 - Lost to Blaine Brenner of Wisconsin (6th) and Jude Swisher of Pennsylvania (5th); Beat a very good Chase DeBlaere of Minnesota and Conor Goucher of Washington who didn’t place.
Tyler Smith (138) - 1-2
Aiden Reichert (145) - 3-2
Carson Miller (145) - 2-2 - Lost to Jackson Arrington of Pennsylvania (4th)
Michael Shannon (145) - 0-2
Myles Griffin (145) - 5-2 - Lost to Nicco Ruiz of California (5th) 10-6 and Henry Porter of California (7th)
Jaurice Seymour (152) - 2-2
Jonathan Ley (152) - 5-2 - Lost to Luka Wick of California (4th) and Dylan Elmore of Kansas (8th)
Lucas Moreno (152) - 0-2 - Lost to Cael Swenson of Minnesota (5th)
Seth Rhodes (152) - 0-2
Anthony Nicolosi (160) - 0-2
Bryce Mancuso (160) - 0-2
Daniel Williams (160) - 3-2
Frank Solorzano (160) - 2-2 - Lost to a very good Vinny Zerban of Illinois that did not make the podium
Logan Simpson (160) - 0-2
Sergio Desiante (160) - 4-2 - Lost to Braeden Scoles of Wisconsin (4th); Split with Holden Garcia of Pennsylvania (7th); Beat a very good RJ Weston of Georgia and Ethan Riddle of Wisconsin who did not place
Dominic Joyce (170) - 2-2
Joseph Nicolosi (182) - 2-2
Ryan Cody (195) - 1-2
Tyre Smith (220) - 2-2 - Lost to Bennett Tabor of Minnesota (5th)
Ethan Vergara (285) - All American - 7th - 5-2 - Lost to eventual Champion Ben Kawczynski of Wisconsin and Tristan Kemp of Massachusetts (6th); Beat Harley Andrews of Oklahoma (8th) and a very good Gage Cook of Washington twice
Junior Greco Roman (3 All Americans)
Robert Allcroft (100) - 1-2 - Lost to Jaymz Young of Illinois (8th)
Vincent Biondoletti (100) - All American - 5th - 5-2 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Jeremy Oani of California and Andrew Fox of Utah (3rd); Beat Ian Werner of Alaska (7th) and Isaac Stewart of Montana (6th)
Tyler Washburn (106) - All American - 8th - 3-3 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Elias Navida of California, Brandon Morvari of Minnesota (5th), and Marco Tocci of Pennsylvania (7th)
Christian Guzman (113) - 2-2
Blaine Jones (120) - 1-2
Jacob Witt (120) - 0-2
Cooper Haase (126) - 1-2 - Lost to Keith Smith of Nebraska (6th)
Dylan Garcia (126) - 0-2
Jaden Villalobos (126) - 0-2
Braden Basile (132) - 0-2 - Lost to eventual Champ Dayne Dalrymple of Tennessee 10-9
Dominic Rubino (132) - 0-2
Sean-Michael Gonzalez (132) - 1-2
Alan Diaz (138) - 0-2
James Marvel (138) - 0-2
Tyler Smith (138) - 0-2
Aiden Reichert (145) - 0-2
Michael Shannon (145) - 3-2
Jaurice Seymour (152) - 1-2
Bryce Mancuso (152) - 0-2
Lucas Moreno (152) - 2-2 - Beat Nicco Ruiz of California 10-9 - Ruiz almost came all the way back to place.
Seth Rhodes (152) - 0-2
Anthony Nicolosi (160) - 0-2
Frank Solorzano (160) - 1-2 - Lost to Erik Gibson of Pennsylvania (6th)
Dominic Joyce (170) - 2-2
Joseph Nicolosi (182) - 2-2 - Lost to eventual Champion Deanthony Parker of Illinois in first match
Ryan Cody (195) - All American - 2nd - 5-1 - Lost to Wyatt Voelker of Iowa 7-5 in the finals; Beat Tom Culp of Illinois (4th)
Ethan Vergara (285) - 3-2 - Lost to Tristan Kemp of Massachusetts (8th)
Junior Women (6 All Americans)
Valarie Solorio (100) - 2-2 - Lost to Kayce Tanimoto of Texas (8th) and Madison Avila (California (5th)
Kealonie Vega (100) - All American - 6th - 7-3 - Lost to Madison Avila (California (5th), Emilie Gonzalez of California (shared 1st with her sister), and Alexandra Szkotnicki of Maryland (3rd); Beat Clare Booe of Florida (7th) 3-3 on criteria
Clare Booe (100) - All American - 7th - 6-2 - Lost to Erin Hikijii of Hawaii (4th) and Kelanoie Vega of Florida (6th); Beat Kayce Tanimoto of Texas (8th)
Helena Alcantar (112) - 1-2
Hannah Hall (112) - All American - 8th - 6-3 - Lost to Kendra Ryan of Michigan (7th) twice and Avery Ashley of Texas (4th)
Cameron Galvin (117) - 4-2 - Lost to Juliana Diaz of Florida (7th) and Shalyna Shotwell of Washington (3rd)
Juliana Diaz (117) - All American - 7th - 5-2 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Jaclyn Dehney of Massachusetts and Torieonna Buchanan of Indiana (6th); Beat Allison Hynes of Oklahoma (8th)
Kailey Rees (122) - 2-2 - Lost to the eventual Champ Shelby Moore of Washington
Riley White (122) - 2-2 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Jennifer Soto of California
Julia Ferreira (132) - 0-2
Madisyn Blackburn (132) - 2-2
Teigan Slauson (132) - 0-2
Destiny Madison (180) - 1-2
Sierra Chavez (180) - All American - 6th - 4-3 - Lost to Alivia White of Washington (4th) and Jaycee Foeller of Missouri (5th); Beat Dasia Yearby of South Carolina (8th) and Beat Tristian Martinez of New Mexico (7th) twice
Alyssa Favara (200) - 1-2 - Lost to Journey Land of Arkansas (8th)
Andrea Smith (225) - All American - 8th - 0-3 - Lost to Hannah Francis of Texas (3rd), Omastewin Foster of Montana (4th), and Stefania Jaramillo of Colorado (7th)
Junior Breakdown
13 Junior All Americans. A good number. Ryan Cody’s runner-up finish in Junior Greco was outstanding and I’m sure a little disappointing for Ryan … still he made a good run and wrestled well. Six Junior women made the podium - including Clare Booe who is the only wrestler to place in both 16U and Juniors (men or women). Hannah Hall had to survive a very tough bloodround match - getting a 7-6 win over Haley Narahara to make the podium. On the men’s side Sebastian Melguizo and Braden Basile had to survive one of the toughest brackets in men’s freestyle … the number of nationally ranked wrestlers that didn’t make the podium was notable. Danny Nini did the same in a very deep 132 lb. bracket. In all - the All Americans each found ways to win tough matches and fight their way back through the consolations to make the podium. Here are some others that stood out …
Tyler Washburn All American’d in Greco, but was close in Freestyle as well - losing to the eventual Runner-up on Criteria early in the tournament.
Brennan Van Hoecke and Tom Crook battled through a crazy 138 lb. bracket - both getting many wins, but weren’t able to punch through and make the podium in one of the deepest weights of the tournament.
The same could be said of Kai Owen at 126 and Sergio Desiante at 160. Both had outstanding wins, but couldn’t find a way to get through (for Owen he had to go 15-13 with Melguizo in the bloodround).
Cooper Haase, Jonathan Ley and Myles Griffin each went 5-2 in Freestyle … Haase drew Cooper Flynn (3rd) in the 2nd round and had to begin his trek back to the podium from deep in the consis. Both Griffin and Ley had only losses to wrestlers that made the podium.
Christian Guzman and Joseph Nicolosi wrestled well in both styles.
Kailey Rees, Cameron Galvin, and Riley White finished 2-2 with Rees and White losing to an eventual finalist and Galvin’s losses coming a teammate (Diaz) who knocked her out of the tournament on the backside.
