Georgia

A Breakdown of Team Georgia in Fargo 2021

Georgia many handfuls of wrestlers - each had varying degrees of success. On the top end you had Gabe Arnold and Caleb Henson claiming Freestyle National Titles … a feat that is extremely difficult. On the other end you had several wrestlers go 0-2 or 1-2. I think it is important to remind everyone that having the same expectations for every wrestler is ridiculous. Much of the growth of being part of Team Georgia - as they have gone to the duals and to Fargo - is simply being in the room with other athletes you may not normally drill with and to receive guidance from an outstanding coaching staff. No need to “sugar coat” it though - there are wrestlers that didn’t find the podium that have the ability to do so and came up short for any number of reasons. There are also a number of wrestlers that were on the “cusp” of making the podium … and those individuals knocked the door down and decided to bring some hardware back to Georgia.

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 from Georgia stood out to me over the course of the week. The goal of everyone in Fargo is to make the podium … so talking about that in reference to the number of All Americans for the state is important context.

16U Freestyle (5 All Americans)

• Antonio Mills (100) - 2-2

• Cael Kusky (100) - 0-2 - Lost to Layne Kleimann of Utah (5th)

• Braydon Mitchell (106) - 0-2

• Kieron McCormack (106) - 0-2

• Drew Gorman (113) - 7th - All American - 6-2 - Lost to Brock Mantanona of California (2nd) and Daegen Orine of Missouri (5th); Win over Nick Treaster of Kansas (8th); Very good win over Michigan’s Marcello Milani 10-8 in the Round of 16.

• Maddox McArthur (113) - 4-2 - Lost to eventual Champ Leo DeLuca of New Jersey

• William Chambers (120) - 0-2

• Collin Mullins (126) - 3-2 - Lost to Daniel Aranda of Illinois and had a nice win over Michigan’s Aaron Lucio

• Logan Paradice (126) - 0-2 - Lost to Vince Bouzakis of Pennsylvania (6th)

• Cade Parent (132) - 4-2 - Lost to Kollin Rath of Pennsylvania 8-4

• Ian Stephens (132) - 0-2 - Lost to Smokey McClure of Washington (8th)

• Josh Denson (132) - 3-2

• Emil Necula (138) - 2-2 - Lost to Renso Montalvo of New York in opening match

• Jason Clark (138) - 0-2 - Lost to eventual Champ Joel Adams of Nebraska in his opening match

• Terry Moore (138) - 2-2

• Latrell Schafer (145) - 8th - All American - 5-3 - Lost to Dylan Evans of Pennsylvania (3rd), Brett Back of Wisconsin (4th), and Isaias Jimenez of Arizona (7th).

• Creed Thomas (152) - 2-2

• Dominic Bambinelli (152) - 4th - All American - 6-2 - Lost to eventual Champ Zach Ryder of New York in quarters and to Nicholas Fox of Iowa (3rd). Beat Zachary Eliszewski of Wisconsin (8th) and Griffin Lundeen of Minnesota (6th).

• Micah Wood (152) - 0-2

• Hoke Poe Hogan (160) - 2-2

• Kelvin Reyes (160) - 0-2

• Tyler Secoy (160) - 8th - All American - 6-3 - Lost first match of the tournament and then won 6 in row. Lost to Peyton Westpfahl of Missouri (7th) and Jed Webster of Minnesota (6th).

• Gabe Arnold (170) - National Champ - Wins over Cody Merrill of California (2nd) and Brian Burburija of Florida (5th).

• Matthew Waddell (182) - 0-2

• Omaury Alvarez (182) - 4-2 - Lost to Dominic Thebeau of Illinois (5th) and De’alcapon Veazy of Indiana (6th)

• Albert Butler (220) - 2-2 - Lost to Nicholas Sahakian of California (6th)

16 Greco Roman (3 All Americans)

• Antonio Mills (100) - 1-2 - Lost 1-0 to Colin Martin of Virginia (8th)

• Cael Kusky (100) - 2-2 - Lost first match to Trey Wagner of Pennsylvania (2nd)

• Braydon Mitchell (106) - 2-2 - Lost to Nathan Desmond of Pennsylvania (6th)

• Kieron McCormack (106) - 2-2 - Lost to Matthew Martino of Idaho (2nd)

• Drew Gorman (113) - 4th - All American - 8-2 - Lost 2nd match to Billy Townson of California (DNP) and then won 7 in a row to make the consolation finals. Lost to Marcello Milani of Michigan (3rd). Beat Treygen Martin of Idaho (7th) and Logan Swenson of Minnesota (5th).

• Maddox McArthur (120) - 1-2 - Lost Phoenix Contos of Ohio (7th)

• Caden Pollard (120) - 0-2

• William Chambers (120) - 2-2

• Collin Mullins (126) - 5-2 - Lost to Daniel Zepeda of California (5th) and Aaron Lucio of Michigan (4th). Nice win over Ayson Rice of South Dakota who finished 3rd.

• Ian Stephens (126) - 1-2

• Sebastian Melendez (126) - 1-2 - Lost Adrian Meza of Arizona (6th)

• Josh Denson (132) - 3-2

• Cade Parent (138) - 0-2 - Lost to Brandon Cody of Florida (5th)

• Emil Necula (138) - 1-2 - Lost to Jude Randall of Oklahoma (4th) and Justin Avila of Iowa (8th) - loss to Avila was 7-6 where Avila scored 6 unanswered in the last 30 seconds of the match.

• Jason Clark (138) - 0-2

• Terry Moore (138) - 0-2

• Crisjaneil Martinez-Antonetty (145) - 2-2

• Creed Thomas (152) - 3-2 - Beat Braxton Strick of Missouri who would end up 8th; Lost to Nicholas Fox of Iowa (2nd) and Zachary Eliszewski at Wisconsin (3rd).

• Dominic Bambinelli (152) - 6th - All American - 5-3 - Lost to eventual Champ Arvin Khosravy of California in the quarters, KJ Evans of Oklahoma (4th), Lars Michaelson of Washington (5th). Beat Braxton Strick of Missouri (8th) and Gavin Fernandez of California (7th).

• Micah Wood (152) - 0-2

• Kelvin Reyes (152) - 0-2

• Tyler Secoy (160) - 1-2 - Lost to Gavin Ricketts of Kentucky (7th) by Injury default early in the tournament

• Adam Gromatzky (160) - 0-2

• Hoke Poe Hogan (170) - 4th - All American - 4-2 - Lost to eventual Champ Oscar Williams of Oklahoma in the semis and to Noah Poe-Hatten of Montana (3rd); Win over Harvey Ludington of New Jersey (5th)

• Matthew Waddell (182) - 3-2

• Albert Butler (220) - 0-2

16U Women Freestyle (1 All Americans)

• Jordan Epstein (94) - 0-2 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Gabriella Gomez of Illinois in her first match.

• Callie Payton (112) - 3-2 - Lost to Calli Gilchrist of Connecticut (3rd) and Emily Frost of New York (6th).

• Brooke French (117) - 1-2 - Lost to Valerie Hamilton of Illinois (2nd)

• Jasmine Jenkins-Bey (127) - 1-2 - Lost to Julia Fongaro of New Jersey (8th)

• May Prado (132) - 2-2 - Lost 6-2 to eventual runner-up Sydney Perry of Illinois and Hallie Misplay of North Carolina (8th)

• Genevieve An (138) - 5th - All American - 3-2 - Lost to Lydia Roope of Michigan (2nd) in the semis, Attalia Watson of Illinois (4th); Beat Taylor Miess of Colorado (6th)

• Arieana Bacon (152) - 1-2 - Lost to Alison Evans of Colorado (4th) and Abbigail Smith of Colorado (3rd)

• Jayde Massa (164) - 1-2 - Lost to Archer Jones of Arkansas (8th)

16U Breakdown

Nine All Americans including the 170 lb. Freestyle National Champ in Gabe Arnold. Two double All Americans in Drew Gorman and Dominic Bambinelli … Gorman finished the week 14-4 and Bambinelli was 11-5. Outstanding run in both styles by Gorman and Bambinelli - two rising freshmen in Georgia that will look to add a state title in 2022 to their collection from Fargo. Tyler Secoy put on a show in Freestyle … losing his first match and then winning 6 in a row to make the podium. The backside of the bracket is no joke and the ability to go on a run like that isn’t see often (although we will see that Secoy was topped by his teammate in Junior Greco, but that’s for later). Latrell Schafer finished freestyle 5-3 and all 3 losses came to wrestlers on the podium (3rd, 4th, and 7th) … in a very deep 145 lb. bracket. Jefferson’s Hoke Poe Hogan bounced back from a frustrating 2-2 in freestyle to make a run in Greco - making the semis at 170 before losing to the eventual Champ Oscar Williams and finishing 4th. The final 16U All American is Genevieve An. An won two in a row to make the semis before dropping her next two matches … she finished off her tournament with a win to take 5th.

So who … didn’t make the podium, but still stood out:

Cade Parent was 4-2 in freestyle, but went 0-2 in Greco. Nice run in Freestyle with a tough 8-4 loss to a very tough Kollin Rath of PA.

Creed Thomas was 2-2 in freestyle and 3-2 in Greco … in fact Thomas was one of the few to not place, but to have a wins over someone that did - beating Braxton Strick and Gavin Fernandez.

Josh Denson was 3-2 in both styles.

Collin Mullins was 3-2 in freestyle and 5-2 in Greco … beating Ayson Rice of South Dakota who finished 3rd.

Callie Payton’s two losses came to wrestlers that made the podium at 112.

Maddox McArthur was tough in freestyle - going 4-2 with one of those losses to the eventual National Champ in Leo DeLuca.

Omaury Alvarez was 4-2 in freestyle (didn’t wrestle Greco). His losses came to wrestlers that finished 5th and 6th. If you watch the matches - you know that Alvarez is as good or better than each (he was beating Thebeau 9-0 when he gave up 4 and then the fall). But wins didn’t happen this past week and that’s the way things go sometimes.

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Junior Freestyle (4 All Americans)

• Cole Hunt (113) - 6th - All American - 7-3 - Lost to Alan Koehler of Minnesota (3rd) twice - the last match was 16-16 on criteria and Codie Cuerbo of Ohio (5th). Beat Drew Heethuis of Michigan (7th).

• Hunter McCullough (113) - 2-2 - Lost to Drew Heethuis of Michigan (7th)

• Dominic Ditomasso (120) - 1-2

• Ethan McCullough (120) - 1-2

• Jacob Galindez (120) - 0-2

• Mac Bowen (120) - 0-2

• Carson Chalk (126) - 0-2

• Robert Austin Westbrook (126) - 4-2

• Art Martinez (132) - 0-2

• David Panone (132) - 2-2

• Reese Jones (132) - 1-2 - Lost opening match to Koy Buesgens of Minnesota

• Connor Powell (138) - 0-2

• Dakota Williamson (138) - 0-2

• Hunter Price (138) - 0-2

• Sam Harris (145) - 0-2 - injury defaulted after first round match

• Caleb Henson (152) - National Champ - 7-0 - Beat Dylan Elmore of Kansas (8th), Luka Wick of California (4th), Cael Swenson of Minnesota (5th), and Daniel Wask of New Jersey (2nd).

• Jarrod Pominville (152) - 2-2

• Michael Kilic (152) - 3-2

• Canyon Hebb (160) - 1-2 - Lost to Adam Thebeau of Illinois (8th)

• Gunner Filipowicz (160) - 3-2

• Miles Watts (160) - 1-2

• RJ Weston (160) - 5-2

• Zyan Hall (160) - 1-2 - Lost to Rocco Welsh of Pennsylvania (3rd)

• Grady Tisdale (170) - 1-2

• Hunter Adams (182) - 2-2

• Kian Hauser (182) - 0-2

• Nolan Pozzobon (182) - 2-2

• Soren Dresch (182) - 0-2

• Logan Webster (220) - 1-2 - Lost to Logan Shepard of Ohio (6th)

• Noah Pettigrew (220) - 3rd - All American - 7-1 - only loss to eventual Champ Christian Carroll of Indiana; Wins over Logan Shepard of Ohio (6th), Martin Cosgrove of New Jersey (4th), Ben Vanadia of Ohio (8th)

• Chase Horne (285) - 2nd - All American - 5-1 lost in the finals to Ben Kawczynski of Wisconsin; Beat Harley Andrew of Oklahoma (8th), Charles Crews III of Pennsylvania (4th)

• Daniel Nunez (285) - 0-2 - Lost to Ryan Boersma of Illinois (3rd)

Junior Greco Roman (2 All Americans)

• Conner Marsh (113) - 1-2

• Hunter McCullough (113) - 0-2 - Lost first match to Nolan Wertanen of Michigan (7th)

• Jacob Galindez (113) - 1-2

• Dominic Ditomasso (120) - 2-2 - Lost to Christian Tanefau of North Dakota (5th)

• Carson Chalk (120) - 3-2

• Ethan McCullough (120) - 1-2 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Jett Strickenberger of Colorado

• Tyson McCullough (126) - 2-2

• Robert Austin Westbrook (126) - 1-2

• Art Martinez (132) - 3-2 - Lost to Elijah Paulson of Minnesota (7th)

• Christian Gordon (132) - 1-2

• David Panone (132) - 3-2 - Lost to eventual Champ Dayne Dalrymple of Tennessee in Round fo 16.

• Reese Jones (132) - 0-2

• Tyler Barb (132) - 1-2

• William Thigpen (132) - 0-2 - Lost to Nash Singleton of Oregon (5th)

• Connor Powell (138) - 2-2

• Dakota Williamson (138) - 0-2

• Hunter Price (138) - 1-2 - Lost to Alex Peralta of California (8th)

• Jarrod Pominville (152) - 1-2

• Jeremy Paradice (152) - 4-2 - Excellent win over Paniro Johnson Pennsylvania (3rd); Lost to eventual Champ Nick Hamilton of Nebraska and Derek Raike of West Virginia (4th)

• Michael Kilic (152) - 8th - All American - 6-3 - Lost to Paniro Johnson of Pennsylvania (3rd) and Daniel Wask of New Jersey (7th)

• Canyon Hebb (160) - 2-2 - Lost to Alaa Elkerm of New Jersey (4th)

• Miles Watts (160) - 1-2

• RJ Weston (160) - 3rd - All American - Lost first match to eventual Champ and then won 10 in a row to take 3rd. Wins over Alaa Elkerm of New Jersey (4th), Aaron Dobbs of Wisconsin (5th), and Matthew Rogge of Wisconsin (7th).

• Zyan Hall (160) - 2-2 - Lost to Erik Gibson of Pennsylvania (6th)

• Grady Tisdale (170) - 2-2

• Kian Hauser (182) - 1-2

Junior Women Freestyle (1 All Americans)

• Jordan Epstein (100) - 0-2

• Callie Payton (112) - 0-2

• Sierra Williamson (112) - 0-2 - ran into eventual National Champ Sage Mortimer of Utah in the first round

• Brooke French (117) - 0-2

• Amani Jones (122) - 5th - All American - Split with California’s Adrienna Turner (6th); Lost to Montana DeLawder of Pennsylvania (3rd); Beat Ally Fitzgerald of New York (7th) and Sara Sterner of California (4th)

• Jasmine Jenkins-Bey (127) - 1-2

• May Prado (132) - 1-2

• Genevieve An (138) - 1-2

• Mia Buckner (138) - 1-2 - Lost in first round to eventual National Champ Savannah Gomez of California

• Arieana Bacon (152) - 1-2 - Lost to Amarisa Manuel of Michigan (3rd)

• Cecily Livingston (152) - 2-2

• Jayde Massa (164) - 0-2

Junior Breakdown

Some interesting stories in Juniors … but in order to not “bury the lead” - let’s focus on the run that Caleb Henson put together at 152. Henson became the first Georgia wrestler to claim a Junior Freestyle title in more than 20 years (last time was Chris Rodrigues in 1999). Henson had some tough battles throughout, but seemed to hot the gas when necessary and always seemed to be in control of where the match was headed. Wins over Swenson, Wick, Wask, and Elmore - each made the podium is outstanding. Few wrestlers beat 4 All Americans in a single tournament. In addition to Henson, Georgia had 6 other All Americans.

Chase Horne looked superb at heavyweight on his way to the finals … he was close with Ben Kawczynski of Wisconsin in the firts period, but struggled to stop Kawczynski’s double legs in the second period and came up just short in his bid for a national title. Noah Pettigrew ran through everyone at 220 - until he ran into eventual Champ Christian Carroll of Indiana in the semifinals. A takedown and a few guts later and Pettigrew would have to rebound on the backside. He did just that in taking 3rd - beating Logan Shepard and Martin Cosgrove. The final freestyle All American was Cole Hunt of Cass. Hunt won 3 in a row to get to the Round of 16 where he lost to Alan Koehler of Minnesota … 4 wins in a row in the backside put him on the podium in the consi quarters and in a rematch with Koehler. Same result, but a wild match that eventually went to Koehler on criteria 16-16. Hunt finished his tournament with a tough 11-10 loss to Cuerbo of Ohio to take 8th.

RJ Weston and Michael Kilic both found the podium in Greco. Weston dropped his opening match to eventual Champ MJ Gaitan of California before reelign off 10 in a row to finish 3rd. Weston rolled through his first 6 wins on the backside before grinding wins over Graham Gambrall of Iowa (5-1), Matthew Rogge of Wisconsin (5-3), Aaron Dobbs of Wisconsin (7-0), and Alaa Elkerm of New Jersey (5-5 criteria). Kilic won 3 in a row before losing to Jacob Gonzales of Michigan 3-1 in the Round of 16. Kilic rebounded with wins over Penchi and New before getting Illinois hammer Vinny Zerban in the bloodround. A nice 8-1 win over Zerban and losses to Paniro Johnson and Danny Wask put Kilic on the podium in 8th.

Amani Jones came in with high expectations after claiming a Pan Am Gold a little more than a month earlier. Jones rolled through he first 3 matches - giving up just 1 point to eventual All American Sara Sterner of California in an 11-1 tech fall. Jones then dropped her quarterfinal match to Turner of California 7-5. Wins over Redwine and Ally Fitzgerald of New York (who ended up 7th) put Jones in the consi semis. She dropped that match to Montana DeLawder, but rebounded to avenge her earlier loss to Turner to take 5th.

Juniors were deep in 2021 - many weight had matches in the round of 256 - meaning some weight classes had more than 128 wrestlers in the bracket. So who else stood out to me …

Robert Austin Westbrook had a nice run in Freestyle

Jeremy Paradice should have made the podium in Greco - beat Paniro Johnson who ended up 3rd and lost to eventual Champ Nick Hamilton who put him into the consis and then to Derek Raike who finished 4th. Would have been interesting to see where he would have ended up with Kilic and the others that finished 5th through 7th.

I spoke about Weston in Greco, but he was also 5-2 in freestyle in what might have been the toughest brackets in the tournament. Horne, Pettigrew, Hunt, Henson didn’t wrestle Greco.

Gunner Filipowicz was 3-2 in freestyle (didn’t wrestle Greco) and lost a 1 point match to Kodiak Cannedy of Tennessee.

South Carolina

A Breakdown of Team South Carolina in Fargo 2021

South Carolina brought just 6 16U men - each wrestled both styles … those numbers are up from 2019, but still amounts to a very small number as compared to most other states. The South Carolina 16U women had 3 … which again was an increase from their numbers in 2019, but still few as compared to many other states (for example; California brought 60+ - not a fair comparison, but still it is important for context). Zao Estrada for the women and Yannis Charles and William Jakeway for the men made the podium - which is an accomplishment given the small number of entries. But the differences between Estrada, Charles, and Jakeway and some of their teammates was stark … and not surprising since Fargo isn’t your “run of the mill” tournament.

South Carolina had 6 Junior men compete in Freestyle - 5 of which wrestled Greco as well. Junior men Freestyle is by far the deepest and most talented tournament in Fargo. So the path to a spot on the podium was anything but easy. The Junior women finished 22nd in the team race - led by All Americans Caitlyn Davis and Dasia Yearby. 16U competitor - Caroline Gilstrap stepped up an age group and decided to scrap at 144 in her second tournament of the week.

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 from South Carolina stood out to me over the course of the week. The goal of everyone in Fargo is to make the podium … so talking about that in reference to the number of All Americans for the state is important context.

16U Freestyle (No All Americans)

• William Jakeway (88) - 2-2 - Lost to Nathan Rioux of Indiana (7th) and Lawson Eller of Minnesota (8th)

• Hassan Williams (126) - 0-2

• Yannis Charles (132) - 4-2

• Gavin Wilson (138) - 0-2

• Anderson Hall (145) - 0-2

• Mason Parsons (160) - 0-2

16 Greco Roman (2 All Americans)

• William Jakeway (88) - 8th - All American - 2-3 - Lost to Griffin Rial of Colorado (3rd), Lawson Eller of Minnesota (4th), and Kole Davidheiser of Pennsylvania (7th)

• Hassan Williams (126) - 0-2

• Yannis Charles (138) - 8th - All American - 5-3 - Win over Coby Merrill of California; Lost to Cade White of Idaho (6th), Brandon Cody of Florida (5th), and Justin Avila of Iowa (7th)

• Gavin Wilson (138) - 1-2

• Anderson Hall (145) - 1-2

• Mason Parsons (170) - 0-2

16U Women Freestyle (1 All Americans)

• Annalise Maralit (94) - 2-2 - Lost to the eventual National Champ Valerie Solorio of Florida

• Zao Estrada (112) - 2nd - All American - 4-1 - Win over Calli Gilchrist of Connecticut (3rd), Win over Presley Anderson of California (7th), Win over Emily Frost of New York (6th), Lost to National Champ Cecilia Williams of Michigan

• Caroline Gilstrap (138) - 2-2 - Lost to Genevieve An of Georgia (5th), Lost to Taylor Johnson of Missouri (8th)

16U Breakdown

Having a national finalist is a big deal … so although Zao came up just short and is probably replaying that match in her head - it is a huge accomplishment for her and for Team South Carolina. Estrada beat 3 All Americans on her way to the 112 lb. final before losing to Cecilia Williams of Michigan in a close 4-2 decision. Estrada couldn’t ever really get to her strength - being on top and the ability to turn people from the top position. Williams fought to stay in a position that was more of her advantage - on her feet. It proved the difference. Yannis Charles and William Jakeway both made top 8 - All American - in Greco and both had good tournaments in Freestyle. Charles had to win a tough opening match to Coby Merrill of California on criteria to get the ball rolling in Greco. All 5 of Jakeway’s losses this week were to someone that made the podium. 88 wasn’t a particularly deep weight, but that shouldn’t take away from Jakeway’s ability to win some close matches and make the podium.

One other 16U that stood out was Caroline Gilstrap at 138. Gilstrap lost a close 10-7 decision to eventual All American Genevieve An of Georgia and then dropped her next match to eventual All American Taylor Johnson of Missouri. Gilstrap was so close to making the podium herself.

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Junior Freestyle (No All Americans)

• Bryson Harper (120) - 0-2 - Lost to Cooper Flynn of Tennessee (3rd) - drawing Flynn in your first match was a tough assignment.

• Ryu Brown (120) - 1-2

• Justin Hayes (152) - 0-2

• Zachary Hornsby (182) - 1-2

• Patrick Brophy (195) - 0-2 - Lost to Caden Rogers of Pennsylvania (5th) - another tough draw to get Rogers in first match.

• Dontavius Daniels (285) - 0-2 -

Junior Greco Roman (No All Americans)

• Bryson Harper (120) - 0-2

• Ryu Brown (120) - 1-2

• Justin Hayes (160) - 2-2

• Zachary Hornsby (182) - 0-2

• Dontavius Daniels (285) - 0-2 - Lost to Aiden Lacoma of Virginia (6th)

Junior Women Freestyle (2 All Americans)

• Isabella Hoffman (112) - 3-2

• April Kelly (127) - 1-2

• Caitlyn Davis (138) - 4th - All American - 6-2 - Lost to Mariah Wahl of Montana (6th) and Nina Makem of Minnesota (3rd); Wins over Madison Sandquist of Texas (5th) and Alondra Morales of Washington (8th)

• Caroline Gilstrap (144) - 1-2 - Lost to Katerina Lange of Minnesota (3rd)

• Emma Burk (152) - 0-2

• Dasia Yearby (180) - 8th - All American - 4-3 - Lost to Sierra Chavez of Florida (6th), Sabrina Nauss of Michigan (3rd), and Tristian Martinez of New Mexico (7th)

Junior Breakdown

Junior men struggled. Junior women faired much better. The men got some tough draws - Harper drew Cooper Flynn and Brophy drew Rogers as their first matches in freestyle. That means you are on the backside of the bracket and needing to win 6 or 7 matches to make the podium. Daniels also got a tough draw in getting Lacoma of Virginia in his first round match in Greco. Ryu Brown had a couple of wins - one in freestyle and one in greco - and Justin Hayes went 2-2 in Greco, but none threatened a spot on the podium.

The Junior women were a different story. Each wrestled tough. Burk lost a barnburner (19-10) in her opening match and struggled to get on track … same with April Kelly who lost her first match 11-11 on criteria. Gilstrap stepped up and went 1-2 as a 16U. Besides the two All Americans - which we will get to in a minute - the one Junior that stood out was Isabella Hoffman. She lost her opening match to Haley Narahara of Hawaii (who lost in the bloodround by a point) and then won 3 in a row to put herself in the mix. Hoffman lost to Trinity Malave of Indiana to finish her tournament, but wrestled well.

Caitlyn Davis and Dasia Yearby both made the podium in Junior women. Yearby won matches she needed to win to make the podium, but couldn’t get the wins over Chavez or others to climb higher on the podium. Davis was a double-leg machine at 138. She won her first 3 matches before losing to Wahl of Montana. Davis then won her next 3 to make the consolation finals before losing to Makem. She had some really good wins - most notably over Madison Sandquist of Texas.

Alabama

A Breakdown of Team Alabama in Fargo 2021

Not sure Alabama could have assembled a better staff (and I’m not going to name everyone because I will forget someone and no need to go down that path). The boys (and girls - and I put girls in parenthesis because I said how important it was to continue the momentum of the high school season with the girls and although none were registered according to what was released by USA Wrestling …. Team Alabama had 2 girls compete this past week) looked poised and ready to go. This is a tough tournament (and that is not an understatement … many of these kids have won state titles in their home states and are very accomplished … for those that don’t know) and the moment looked a little big for some of the 16U’s on the opening day of Freestyle. That isn’t a criticism - it is a fact. Fargo is a tough pond to jump into … reigning Fargo Champs (and All Americans) finished either down the podium or off the podium in 2021. The main reason for that is … this is was by far the most wrestlers this tournament has ever had (probably because we didn’t get to have it a year ago and everyone was looking to make their mark).

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 list of who from Alabama stood out to me over the course of the week. The goal of everyone in Fargo is to make the podium … so talking about that in reference to the number of All Americans for the state is important context.

16U Freestyle (No All Americans)

• Clark Box (88) - 0-2 - Lost to Dickman of Indiana (5th) and Nathan Rioux of Indiana (7th)

• Wallace Blue (88) - 1-2 - Lost to Peterson of Wisconsin (2nd) and Nathan Rioux of Indiana (7th)

• Cale Tucker (100) - 0-2

• Brodie Christmas (106) - 3-2 - Lost on criteria to Blum of Michigan (6th)

• Caleb Wright (106) - 0-2

• Noah Smith (113) - 0-2

• Hudson Waldrop (120) - 0-2

• Kristian Seals (132) - 0-2 - Lost to Jason Mara of Idaho (6th)

• Bryce Alli (138) - 0-2 - Lost to Jaydon Robinson of Illinois (4th)

• Brady Goodwin (145) - 0-2

• Clay Johnston (145) - 0-2

• Jacob Wheeler (145) - 0-2 - Lost to Latrell Schafer of Georgia (8th)

• Collin Burroughs (152) - 0-2

• Grayson Gulde (182) - 1-2

• Ian Osbourn (182) - 0-2

• William Conlon (182) - 3-2

• Cole Carter (195) - 1-2

• William Caneer (195) - 2-2

• Willie Cox (285) - 1-2 - Lost to Maddux Borcherding-Johnson of Iowa (4th)

16 Greco Roman (2 All Americans)

• Clark Box (88) - 1-2 - Lost to Kole Davidheiser of Pennsylvania (7th)

• Wallace Blue (88) - 2-2 - Lost to Griffin Rial of Colorado (4th) and Lawson Eller of Minnesota (3rd)

• Brodie Christmas (106) - 4-2 - Lost to Adam Butler of Ohio (7th) and Carter Nogle of Maryland (4th)

• Caleb Wright (106) - 2-2

• Noah Smith (120) - 0-2

• Hudson Waldrop (120) - 3-2

• Kristian Seals (138) - 0-2

• Bryce Alli (138) - 0-2

• Brady Goodwin (145) - 0-2

• Clay Johnston (145) - 2-2 - Lost to Mike Baker of Iowa (7th)

• Jacob Wheeler (145) - 0-2

• Collin Burroughs (152) - 2-2

• Grayson Gulde (182) - 0-2

• Ian Osbourn (182) - 0-2

• William Conlon (182) - 1-2 - Lost to Hudson Davis (6th)

• Cole Carter (195) - 1-2 - Lost to teammate Caneer

• William Caneer (195) - 8th - All American - 4-3 - Lost to Dai’Mont Rucker of Missouri (6th), Lost to Richard Thomas of Oklahoma (5th), and Hunter Tibodeau of Washington (7th)

• Willie Cox (285) - 8th - All American - 4-3 - Lost to Aidan Fockler of Ohio (4th), Lost to Aidan Trujillo of Colorado (5th), Lost to Cameron Groncki of New York (7th).

16U Women Freestyle (No All Americans)

• Kalee Holder (164) - 2-2 - Lost Jael Miller of Pennsylvania (4th) and Bella Porcelli of Iowa (5th).

16U Breakdown

As a whole, the 16U’s struggled in Fargo. Which isn’t surprising. There are only a few that have national-level experience from what I know and moving from wrestling in Alabama to the national stage is a big jump. Still several 16U’s stood out and wrestled well this week. Obviously we begin with Alabama’s two All Americans. Will Caneer and Willie Cox both had to bounce back from early losses to string to together several wins in a row to make the podium. Both lost their opening match (to an eventual All American) and then won 4 in a row to make the podium.

Several 16U’s wrestled well and with a win here or there, might have made the podium. Wallace Blue lost in the Bloodround to Eller and his only two losses in Greco were to wrestlers that finished 3rd and 4th. Will Conlon went 3-2 in Freestyle and with another win or two could have made a run. The one wrestler that really was on the cusp of making the podium was Brodie Christmas. Christmas lost a tough one on criteria to Jackson Blum of Michigan in his first match in Freestyle. He gave up the last two points at the very end … Blum ended up 6th and on the podium. Christmas’s only two losses in Greco were to All Americans - again in matches he has to feel like he should have won (particularly the loss to Butler of Ohio). Losing 13-10 on a 4 point move at the end of the match is tough. Kalee Holder lost her opening match and then won two in a row to get to the bloodround (one match for the podium) before losing to Porcelli of Iowa.

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Junior Freestyle (No All Americans)

• Marcus Wright (113) - 0-2

• Yanni Vines (120) - 3-2 - good win over Arizona’s Davian Guanajuato

• Lindrix Cooper (126) - 0-2 - Lost to eventual Champ Drake Ayala of Iowa in first match

• Bryce Wanagat (132) - 1-2 - Lost to Illinois Nasir Bailey (2nd)

• Devin Stone (132) - 1-2

• James Latona (138) - 2-2 - Lost to Casey Swiderski of Michigan (2nd)

• Logan Reaves (138) - 1-2

• River Scruggs (138) - 0-2

• Carson Reaves (145) - 1-2

• Jaden New (145) - 2-2

• Gray Ortis (152) - 2-2

• Jakob Chisolm (152) - 3-2 - Lost to Luka Wick of California (4th)

• Keenan Wyatt (160) - 1-2

• Will Miller (160) - 2-2 - Lost to Holden Garcia of Pennsylvania (7th)

• Aiden Knight (170) - 2-2 - Lost to Brayden Thompson of Illinois (2nd)

• Carson Freeman (170) - 3-2 - Lost to Derek Matthews of Idaho (8th)

• Joshua Kirby (170) - 1-2 - Lost to eventual Champ Manny Rojas of Michigan

• Kalob Johnstone (182) - 2-2

• Levi Miller (182) - 0-2

• Warren Hoyt (182) - 1-2 - Injury defaulted two losses

• Timbrook Hodge (220) - 0-2

Junior Greco Roman (No All Americans)

• Marcus Wright (120) - 1-2 - Lost to Mitchell Neiner of Washington (8th)

• Yanni Vines (120) - 2-2 - Lost to Yusief Lillie of Washington (7th)

• Lindrix Cooper (132) - 0-2

• Bryce Wanagat (132) - 4-2

• Devin Stone (132) - 2-2 - Lost to Walker Bents of Minnesota (7th)

• Logan Reaves (138) - 1-2

• River Scruggs (138) - 0-2

• James Latona (145) - 2-2 - Lost to Richard Fedalen of Maryland (7th)

• Carson Reaves (145) - 0-2

• Jaden New (152) - 4-2 - Lost to Thor Michaelson of Washington (5th) and Michael Kilic of Georgia (8th)

• Jakob Chisolm (152) - 2-2 - Lost to Jordan Williams of Oklahoma (6th)

• Gray Ortis (160) - 0-2

• Keenan Wyatt (160) - 3-2 - Lost to RJ Weston of Georgia (3rd)

• Will Miller (170) - 4-2 - Lost to Adrien Artsisheuskiy of New York (8th)

• Aiden Knight (170) - 2-2

• Carson Freeman (170) - 1-2

• Kalob Johnstone (182) - 1-2

• Levi Miller (182) - 3-2 - Lost to Drake Buchanan of Indiana (7th)

• Timbrook Hodge (220) - 0-2 - Lost to Ashton Davis of Tennessee (4th)

Junior Women Freestyle (No All Americans)

• Yasmine Oliveira (138) - 3-2

As a whole - the Juniors wrestled well, but I’m certain there are some that are disappointed about not making the podium. Jaden New came the closest in Greco and several others had good runs and tough losses in both styles, but ultimately the group came away empty. Sixty one women were in the 138 lb. bracket and Yasmine Oliveira fought back from an opening round loss to win 3 in a row - unfortunately a loss in her 5th match ended her run for a spot on the podium as well.

In Freestyle … Grissom’s Warren Hoyt was wrestling well before suffering an injury that took him out of the competition early. Vines, Latona, Knight, and Freeman each had multiple wins, but fell to a placer (except Vines) and had a really tough road back to the podium. It is rare to see Rounds of 256 in a bracket - even at Fargo, but that existed at multiple weights in Junior Freestyle. Winning 2, 3, or 4 matches is an accomplishment, but is nowhere near enough to make the podium in such a large bracket. For example - Hunter Mason finished 7th at 132 and had to win 6 (or 7) to make the podium.

In Greco … Jaden New had a good run through the bracket - losing to 5th place finisher Thor Michaelson of Washington 10-8 in the round of 16 and then to Kilic of Georgia 10-2 in the round before the Bloodround. What separated the top 8 at each weight and the next 8 was a small margin, but Michaelson’s win over New was enough to get him into the semi’s and a spot on the podium. Keenan Wyatt also had a good run - beating Zyan Hall of Georgia before losing to Arian Khosravy of California in the Round of 16 and a red hot RJ Weston of Georgia (who lost his first match and then won 10 in a row to take 3rd) on the backside. Will Miller also made a good run but lost two close matches and fell just short of the podium. Levi Miller went 3-2 and lost in the round of 16 to Drake Buchanan of Indiana who finished 7th.