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)

Georgia’s Gabe Arnold pushed it to the final seconds, but came out on top to claim the 16U 170 lb. Freestyle National Title. Gabe ran through the 170 lb. bracket until the finals where he had to fend off a very good Chad Merrill of California 3-1 in the finals. It was actually 2-1 at the end and Merrill’s coaches (former UFC Champ Daniel Cormier and current UFC fighter Deron Winn) challenged a step out at the end … time had run out before Gabe stepped out - giving him another point and the title

Arnold was joined on the podium by 4 fellow Georgia hammers as well as 5 Florida hammers and NC hammer Jax Forrest. Florida and Georgia both finished with 5 All Americans, but Florida edged their northern rivals by a single point to take 10th (actually tied Oregon for 10th) - Georgia was 12th in the team race. Pennsylvania put up 223 points and had 21 All Americans (but no champs - 4 runners-up) to lead all teams - I believe Jason Bryant said that 21 All Americans was either the most ever for one state or tied Illinois for the most ever. Here is a quick rundown of the other 9 SE All Americans …

Ethan Rivera (Florida) - 8th at 106 - Rivera won 3 matches before losing to eventual Champ Anthony Knox in the round fo 16. He bounced back with 3 wins including 2 hard fought wins over Gabriel Ramirez of Arizona and Carter nogle of Maryland to make the podium. He finished the tournament wil a 3-2 loss to Jameson Carter of Illinois and a 6-2 loss to Nathan Drummond of Pennsylvania.

Jax Forrest (North Carolina) - 4th at 113 - Forrest’s two losses came to the eventual 113 lb. National Champ Leo Deluca of New Jersey in the semis and Vincent Kilkeary of Pennsylvania in the consolation finals. Jax finished the tournament 6-2 with some wild wins including a 17-14 back and forth battle with Jack Consiglio of Pennsylvania in the quarters.

Drew Gorman (Georgia) - 7th at 113 - Gorman with 4 wins including a battle with Michigan’s Marcello Milani in the round of 16. Gorman lost his quarterfinal match to Brock Mantanona of California (the eventual runner-up at 113), but won his next match vs. Kale Peterson of Minnesota 15-8 to make the podium. A loss to Draegen Orine of Missouri in a wild consi quarters match (14-13 final score for Orine) and a dominant 8-0 decision of Nick Treaster of Kansas finished out Gorman’s tournament.

Ethan Mojena (Florida) - 3rd at 138 - Mojena finished his tournament 8-1 and avenged his only loss - a 6-3 quarterfinal loss to Jaydon Robinson of Illinois (he won their rematch in the consi finals 2-1). Mojena was superb all tournament - he outscored his opponents 79-8.

Latrell Schafer (Georgia) - 8th at 145 - Schafer finished his tournament 5-3. He lost to eventual 3rd place finisher Dylan Evans of PA as well as 4th place finisher Brett Back of Wisconsin. He had to beat Oklahoma’s Landyn Sommer twice … once early in the tournament and once in the bloodround to make the podium.

Dominic Bambinelli (Georgia) - 4th at 152 - Few wrestled as well as Dominic Bambinelli over the last two days. Bambinelli won 3 in a row before losing to the eventual Champ Zack Ryder of New York in the quarters. He rebounded from that loss to win two close matches (7-5 over Kendrick Hodge of Florida and 4-2 over Griffen Lundeen of Minnesota) as well as a fall over Eliszewski of Wisconsin to make the consolation finals. He lost his last match to Iowa’s Nick Fox, but finished 6-2 with his only losses coming to wrestlers that finished 1st and 3rd.

Roman Garcia (Florida) - 4th at 160 - If there was one wrestler that matched Bambinelli - in terms of a real breakout performance - it was Roman Garcia of Florida. Garcia won 4 in a row without giving up a point before losing to eventual Champ Louis Cericho of New Jersey in the semis. Garcia then pinned Talon McCollom of Oklahoma before dropping his consi finals match to Sinclair of Wisconsin. Another SE hammer that finished 4th - only losing to the eventual champ and 3rd place finisher in his weight.

Tyler Secoy (Georgia) - 8th at 160 - Georgia’s Secoy had quite the tournament. He lost his first match to Travis Smith of Minnesota (who wouldn’t end up placing), but won six in a row to make the podium. Tyler lost his final two matches, but has to be one of just a few wrestlers to lose their first match and then battle all the way back to make the podium (I haven’t looked, but it doesn’t happen often - no clue if another accomplished the same feat in 16U’s this year).

Brian Burburija (Florida) - 5th at 170 - Burburija won 4 in a row before losing to eventual Champ Gabe Arnold in the semis. Brian lost his next match to Schoppe of New Jersey (you guessed it - another example of two losses to the eventual champ and 3rd place finisher at the weight), but rebounded to win his last match of the tournament and finish 5th.

Sawyer Bartelt (Florida) - 5th at 195 - Bartelt lost early - to eventual runner-up Sonny Sasso in the 2nd round and then won six in a row to make the podium. He finished his tournament with a loss to Carter Neves of Ohio and win over Adam Haselius of Michigan.

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Georgia’s Chase Horne and Caleb Henson Advance to the Junior Finals

Horne and Henson took two different paths, but both are in the Junior finals which will air on Flowrestling tomorrow afternoon. Henson won six in a row to make the finals … blitzing the first four opponents (outscoring them 42-1) to make the quarters. He then had a wild back and forth battle with California’s Luka Wick before he got a leglace in the 2nd period and reeled off 12 straight points to put the match out of reach (Henson won 20-13). Henson then used a two slick takedowns to down Minnesota’s Cael Swenson 6-3 and book his ticket to the finals.

Horne was dominating everyone in the 285 lb. bracket until he tweaked his hamstring in the quarters vs. Oklahoma’s Harley Andrews (FYI … Horne was the 2020 Knockout Champ at 285 and Andrews was the Knockout Champ at 220). Horne was leading until that point, but had to find a way to grind out the win (he eventually got the fall late in the match after leading 13-10). Other than that one challenge - Horne was clearly better than everyone else (getting three tech falls and a fall including an 11-0 win over Charles Crews III of Pennsylvania in the semis).

Georgia have two other All Americans … Noah Pettigrew who will wrestle for 3rd at 220 and Cole Hunt who will wrestle for 5th at 113. We will get to the other Juniors from Georgia in another post, but not tonight. Florida matched Georgia in terms of All Americans with 4 - but none made the finals. Danny Nini will wrestle for 3rd at 132 and Braden Basile will wrestle for 5th at 126. Sebastian Melguizo (who beat fellow Floridian Kai Owen in the bloodround and then lost to Basile in the consi quarters) will wrestle for 7th at 126 and Ethan Vergara will wrestle for 7th at 285. Tennessee has 2 All Americans in Cooper Flynn and Hunter Mason, but only Flynn will wrestle tomorrow afternoon. Mason will take a forfeit over Greyson Clark of Wisconsin. Flynn lost on a controversial call in the quarters to Kannon Webster of Illinois, but fought back and will wrestle for 3rd.

NOTE: Flowrestling (who has the rights for broadcast) will only allow 5 10 second videos to be posted online) … that is why the videos are so short.

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.