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.
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.
