Georgia’s Caleb Henson won a barnburner to claim the 152 lb. title over Danny Wask of New Jersey. Henson downed Wask 9-9 on criteria (most 2 point takedowns) to claim the title. Henson was superb over the last two days with wins over Cael Swenson, Luka Wick, and others. Henson was joined in the finals by “Minions” teammate Chase Horne, but Horne couldn’t make it two in a row for Georgia as he fell to Wisconsin’s Ben Kawczynski. Joining Henson and Horne on the podium were Cole Hunt (6th at 113) and Noah Pettigrew (3rd at 220). Pettigrew’s only loss came in the semis to eventual Champ Christian Carroll of Indiana. Hunt lost a tough one for 5th - 11-10 back and forth battle with Ohio’s Codie Cuerbo. Georgia as a team took 12th overall and Henson became the first Junior National Champ for the state since 1999 when Chris Rodrigues claimed the 114.5 pound title.

Florida matched Georgia in terms of All Americans - putting 4 on the podium, but a little further down (and finished 17th as a team). Lake Highland Prep’s Danny Nini lost in the consolation finals to former teammate Nic Bouzakis at 132 lbs. Florida had 2 All Americans at 126 in Braden Basile (6th) and Sebastian Melguizo (8th) - Kai Owen lost to Melguizo in the bloodround or Florida might have added another at 126. Ethan Vergara was the final Floridian on the podium - finishing 7th at 285. Vergara had a huge 5-3 win in the bloodround over Gage Cook of Washington to make the podium … he lost to Tristan Kemp of Massachusetts before taking a forfeit for 7th. Tennessee had 4 go deep into the consolations, but just 2 ended up on the podium. Cooper Flynn finished 3rd - with his only loss coming on a controversial passivity call as time expired to eventual champ Kannon Webster in the quarters. Hunter Mason battled through one of the deepest weights at 132 to finish 7th.

There was tons to talk about from the 2 days of Junior Freestyle, but like the rest we will hold that for a post tournament blog post … there were several wrestlers that wrestled well, but came up just short of the podium.

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Junior Women Take the Mat

Florida puts 6 on the podium. Overall it was a tough day for the Junior Women from the SE as none advanced to tomorrow morning’s semifinal round. But not all was lost as the SE put on 9 on the podium including 6 from the Sunshine State.

Clare Booe and Kealonie Vega will wrestle in the 100 lb. consi quarters in the morning … meaning one of the two will wrestle for 7th later in the afternoon. Booe is a double All American as she finished 4th in the 16U bracket earlier in the week. Hannah Hall (112), Juliana Diaz (117), Sierra Chavez (180), and Andrea Smith (225) will also wrestle in the consi quarters tomorrow to determine their spot on the podium. South Carolina will have 2 Junior Women All Americans as they head back to the Palmetto state at the end of the week. Caitlyn Davis (138) and Dasia Yearby (180) will wrestle in the consi quarters starting at 9 am (Fargo time). The final SE hammer in the consis is Amani Jones of Georgia. Amani lost a close one to Adrienna Jones of California 7-5 in the quarters. Jones rebounded with a tech fall in the bloodround to assure her spot on the podium.

The Juniors take centerstage, both literally and figuratively.

Junior Finals

Junior Men will wrestle for their spots on the podium. Georgia’s Chase Horne and Caleb Henson will each step onto the elevated stage and look to win a Junior title (Horne at 285 and Henson at 152). Noah Pettigrew will wrestle for 3rd at 220 and Cole Hunt for 5th at 113. Florida will have 4 wrestling under the spotlights … Danny Nini for 3rd at 132, Braden Basile for 5th at 126, Sebastian Melguizo for 7th at 126, and Ethan Vergara for 7th at 285. Tennessee has 2 Junior All Americans (Cooper Flynn and Hunter Mason), but only Flynn will wrestle tomorrow (Mason has already received a forfeit for 7th). Flynn will wrestle for 3rd at 120.

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Junior Women take the mats

The Junior women will begin their quest for a stopsign on Tuesday … action is scheduled to begin at 9 am. The Southeast has many women competing for a place on the podium, but no state comes close to the 60 that California will have on the mats. These are the women to watch …

Alabama (1):

• Yasmine Oliveira (138)

Florida (16):

• Clare Booe (100)

• Kealonie Vega (100)

• Valarie Solorio (100) - the 94 16U Champ bumps up for Juniors

• Hannah Hall (112)

• Helena Alcantar (112)

• Cameron Galvin (117)

• Juliana Diaz (117)

• Kailey Rees (122)

• Riley White (122)

• Julia Ferreira (132)

• Madisyn Blackburn (132)

• Teigan Slauson (132)

• Destiny Madison (180)

• Sierra Chavez (180)

• Alyssa Favara (200)

• Andrea Smith (225)

Georgia (12):

• Jordan Epstein (100)

• Callie Payton (112)

• Sierra Williamson (112)

• Brooke French (117)

• Amani Jones (122)

• Jasmine Jenkins-Bey (127)

• May Prado (132)

• Genevieve An (138)

• Mia Buckner (138)

• Arieana Bacon (152)

• Cecily Livingston (152)

• Jayde Massa (164)

North Carolina (4)

• Reagan Riddick (117)

• Jo-Ellen Hutto (127)

• Aaliyah Milligan (164)

• Ella Beam (200)

South Carolina (6)

• Isabella Hoffman (112)

• April Kelly (127)

• Caitlyn Davis (138)

• Caroline Gilstrap (144)

• Emma Burk (152)

• Dasia Yearby (180)

Tennessee (7)

• Avery Kibelbek (106)

• Ella-Lina Gonzalez (112)

• Grace Eliott (112)

• Melanie Val (117)

• Katelynn Hernandez (122)

• Kristen Allsup (122)

• Rontaysia Payne (132)

One of the most entertaining days in Fargo begins this morning at 9am. We finish up the 16U’s with Finals and All American matches in the afternoon, but much of the day belongs to the Juniors in Freestyle. Getting to the Round of 16 is a significant accomplishment, but the road only gets tougher from here. The morning session will separate the men from the boys and the evening session (approximately 4-5 pm) will be lights out some of the best matches of the week as we wrestle the quarters and semis with the consolations going on around them.

Don’t be surprised to see some wrestlers that are sitting in the Round of 16 lose their next two matches and get eliminated. You should also not be surprised to see some of those grinding their way back through the consolations right now make their way high on the podium.

Here are the names to watch … but jump to the bottom of the list for some context.

Alabama (1 Championship; 1 Consolations)

• Championship

  • Carson Freeman (170)

• Consolation

  • Yanni Vines (120)

Florida (12 Championship; 6 Consolations)

• Championship

  • Vincent Biondoletti (100)

  • Tyler Washburn (106)

  • Braden Basile (126)

  • Kai Owen (126)

  • Sebastian Melguizo (126)

  • Danny Nini (132)

  • Thomas Crook (138)

  • Myles Griffin (145)

  • Jonathan Ley (152)

  • Sergio Desiante (160)

  • Tyre Smith (220)

  • Ethan Vergara (285)

• Consolation

  • Robert Allcroft (100)

  • Cooper Haase (120)

  • Eligh Rivera (132)

  • Brennan Van Hoecke (138)

  • Daniel Williams (160)

  • Ryan Cody (195)

Georgia (5 Championship; 4 Consolations)

• Championship

  • Cole Hunt (113)

  • Caleb Henson (152)

  • Michael Kilic (152)

  • Noah Pettigrew (220)

  • Chase Horne (285)

• Consolation

  • Robert Austin Westbrook (126)

  • RJ Weston (160)

  • Nolan Pozzobon (182)

  • Logan Webster (220)

North Carolina (0 Championship; 3 Consolations)

• Consolation

  • Joseph Baisley (106)

  • Matthew Vindigni (106)

  • Carson Floyd (195)

Tennessee (4 Championship; 2 Consolations)

• Championship

  • Cooper Flynn (120)

  • Hunter Mason (132)

  • Kodiak Cannedy (160)

  • Ashton Davis (220)

• Consolations

  • Brayden Ivy (138)

  • Ryan Smith (285)

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Every wrestler on the front side has a shot to work their way through the bracket and make the podium, but some look like they are “readier” than others. Cooper Flynn of Tennessee is a proven commodity - a double All American at Junior 120 in 2019. He isn’t unbeatable, but he is 3-0 and has outscored his opponents 31-0 thus far. His Round of 16 matchup is Max Black of Colorado. Others to watch:

Kai Owen of Florida (126). Owen is a double 16U All American from 2019. He has also been on a tear thus far, but gets a familiar foe in Minnesota’s Jore Volk in the next round. We will see if one has jumped more levels in the last 18 months than the other. Owen shares the 126 lb. bracket with fellow Floridians Sebastian Melguizo and Braden Basile. Both should have very tough Round of 16 matches.

Two other Florida wrestlers to watch are Danny Nini (132) and Thomas Crook (138). Nini will face Ohio’s Garrett Lautzenheiser in the Round of 16 and Crook gets Blaine Brenner of Wisconsin.

Georgia has Kilic, Hunt, Henson, Pettigrew, and Horne still alive on the front side. You will hear their names again the future - especially if you watch ACC Wrestling (Hunt and Pettigrew are committed to UNC, Horne to NC State, Henson to Virginia Tech, and Kilic is committed to PAC 12 power Arizona State). I expect all 5 will be on the podium at the end … tomorrow will determine where.

Tennessee’s Hunter Mason, Ashton Davis, and Kodiak Cannedy join Flynn on the front side of the bracket. Mason survived a tough 9-8 battle with Carter McCallister of Missouri. He now draws Emilio Ysaguirre, JR. of Arizona (who downed Jackson Polo of New York. The winner of Mason/Ysaguire will likely get the unenviable task of trying to take out Nic Bouzakis in the quarters. Cannedy is playing with house money after downing Georgia’s Filipowicz in the round of 32 … Filipowicz had beaten him most recently at Junior duals. Next up for Cannedy is Segura of Colorado. Davis needs to focus on his next opponent - Max Ballow of Minnesota - before looking to lay claim to the top 220 spot in the SE (his potential quarterfinal opponent is GA’s Pettigrew).

There are others on the front side (and the backside) of the bracket that will make a run, but looking at each “potential” matchup would take some time. These are the matches I will be watching as the Juniors work their way through Day 3 in Fargo. Expect some more Big Mama foot sweeps in Day 3.