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)

I’m going to start with the 16U women in this post and will follow it up with Episode 20 where we talk about both the 16U and Junior men. There is a ton to get to in this post (and we’ve got 3 interviews plus the All American results) - so I decided to break it into 2 episodes. It is also important to note that when everything is said and done from Fargo, we will do a full recap of the action (including all of the wrestlers that competed). But given how late it is in much of the Southeast and the amount of work still in front of me … this will only focus on the 16U All Americans.

We begin - at the beginning. 94 lbs. - the smallest weight in the field and Florida’s first National Champion since 2013. Valerie Solorio used her underhooks to control the action and really bullied Gabriella Gomez of Illinois around to claim the title. Gomez scored the first points on a takedown in the 1st period, but Solorio took control from there … scoring 2 takedowns plus a step-out point to lead 5-2 at the break. She controlled the action in the 2nd period - giving up just one more point and won 6-3.

Solorio was one of 4 All Americans from Florida. She was joined on the podium by Clare Booe (4th at 100), Alyssa Favara (6th at 200), and Destiny Madison (8th at 180). With 4 All Americans, Florida finished 11th in the team race (which California won with ease - they had 1 champ, 3 other finalists, and another 9 All Americans). I got an opportunity to speak with 3 of the Florida All Americans …

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Estrada and Gillmore come up just short of a National Title

South Carolina’s Zao Estrada wrestled superb to reach the finals at 112, but couldn’t figure out a way to get past Cecilia Williams of Michigan. Williams got a takedown in the 1st period and took a 2-0 lead to the break. Estrada evened the score 2-2 in the 2nd, but Williams was able to get another and seal the 4-2 win. Tennessee’s Genesis Gillmore ran into the an absolute hammer in Jasmine Robinson of Texas in the 152 lb. finals. Robinson earned the fall in just over a minute … she didn’t give up a point in the tournament and was voted the 16U outstanding wrestler. Tennessee had another All American in Maggie Graham at 144. Graham bounced back from her semifinal match to down Lizzie Shunn of Utah 10-4 to finish 3rd. Georgia’s Genevieve An and North Carolina’s Hallie Misplay round out our Southeast All Americans. An finished 5th at 138 and Misplay was 8th at 132. I got the chance to talk with both of them briefly after their tournaments …