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.

Florida put 6 Junior Women on the podium … tying the most ever for a Florida Women’s team (Florida had 6 Junior AA’s in 2006 also). If I am wrong please let me know. This year’s squad finished 17th as a team. South Carolina had 2 All Americans and finished 22nd. Amani Jones was Georgia’s only All American in 2021 - leading the team to 26th overall.

Kealonie Vega and Sierra Chavez were the highest placing Floridians … finishing 6th (Vega at 100 and Chavez at 180). Juliana Diaz and Clare Booe were 7th - Diaz at 117 and Boe at 100 (after losing to Vega in the consolation quarters). Booe is the only woman in the SE to double All American this week … she was 3rd in 16U and 7th in Juniors. Hannah Hall and Andrea smith capped off a great run by the Florida team - taking 8th (Hall at 112 and Smith at 225).

South Carolina had 14 points - good enough for 22nd in the team race. They were led by All Americans Caitlyn Davis (4th at 138) and Dasia Yearby (8th at 180). Georgia’s Amani Jones took a tough 7-5 loss in the quarters but battled back through the bracket. Jones downed Adrienna Turner of California 4-1 (the same woman she lost to on the front side) to finish 5th.

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Mojena, Bartelt, and Garcia from Florida, Poe-Hogan of Georgia and Forrest of North Carolina in the 16U Greco Semis

Florida’s Ethan Mojena (145), Roman Garcia (160), and Sawyer Bartelt (195) punched their ticket to tomorrow morning’s semifinals. They are joined by Georgia’s Hoke Poe-Hogan at 170 lbs. and Jax Forrest of North Carolina at 120. Forrest, Mojena, Garcia, Poe-Hogan, and Bartelt will each attempt to punch their ticket to tomorrow afternoon’s finals, but first each has work to do in the morning. Forrest will wrestle Tanner Frothinger of Idaho, Mojena gets Pennsylvania’s Pierson Manville who finished 2nd at 145 in Freestyle. Garcia will wrestle Liam Scrivanich of PA, Hoke Poe-Hogan gets Oscar Williams of Oklahoma at 170, and Sawyer Bartlet will face Dai’mont Mucker of Missouri at 195.

Those 5 semifinalists are joined by Brandon Cody of Florida at 138, Drew Gorman (113) and Dominic Bambinelli (152) of Georgia, Will Caneer (195) and Willie Cox (285) of Alabama, and William Jakeway (88) and Yannis Charles (138) of South Carolina. Cody and Charles will wrestle in the consolation quarters so one of the two will wrestle for 7th tomorrow afternoon. It is worth noting that Mojena, Garcia, Bartelt, Forrest, Gorman, and Bambinelli are double 16U All Americans in 2021. I don’t know how rare the feat is … but it quite an accomplishment to make the podium in both styles.

9 SE Junior Women will wrestle for their place on the podium this morning. Each of the 9 are in the consolation bracket and two - Florida’s Kealonie Vega and Calre Booe will wrestle each other at 100 lbs. The other 6 need 3 more wins to claim 3rd. Florida’s Hannah Hall (112), Juliana Diaz (117), Sierra Chavez (180), and Andrea Smith (225) as well as South Carolina’s Caitlyn Davis (138) and Dasia Yearby (180) and Georgia’s Amani Jones (122) will look to climb the podium.

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16U Greco Begins

The final shot for a spot on the podium begins this morning for the 16U men. Alabama has 18 wrestlers competing, Florida (25), Georgia (26), North Carolina (4), South Carolina (6), and Tennessee (9). Action starts bright and early at 8 am and should go through 3 rounds (both championship and consolations) before taking a break to highlight the Junior Women All American matches in the early afternoon.