Tennessee

Dayne Dalrymple ran through the Junior Greco 132 lb. bracket with little problem on his way to claiming a Fargo #stopsign. Tennessee had a very good week in Fargo with the Juniors really stepping up and taking some hardware back home. Cooper Flynn and Hunter Mason placed in Junior Freestyle and Ashton Davis placed in Junior Greco. No Junior women made the podium, but the 16U’s showed out as Genesis Gilmore made the finals at 152 and Maggie Graham finished 3rd at 144. None of the 16U men found the podium, but there were some outstanding performances there as well.

Dalrymple became the first Tennessee Junior Greco Roman champ since 2016 when Tommy Brackett won it at 170 (and just the second ever). Gilmore and Graham became the first ever 16U Women All Americans from Tennessee. Overall it was a really good trip for the Volunteer state. 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 Tennessee 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)

• Mason Jakob (100) - 3-2

• Brody Gobbell (113) - 1-2

• Cash Graziano (113) - 0-2

• Casen Roark (120) - 3-2 - Lost to Jacob Myers of Colorado (6th) and Maddox Shaw of Pennsylvania (5th)

• Jackson Wimsett (120) - 0-2

• Jarvis Little (120) - 3-2

• Hunter Sturgill (126) - 3-2 - Lost to Mason Gibson of Pennsylvania (3rd)

• Noah Creque (126) - 0-2

• Landon Deselle (132) - 3-2

• Taylor Wimsatt (152) - 0-2

• Kaiden Bates (160) - 0-2

• Jensen Schreiber (182) - 3-2

• Nicolas Jenkins (195) - 1-2

• William Parodi (195) - 0-2

16U Greco Roman (No All Americans)

• Mason Jakob (100) - 1-2

• Cash Graziano (113) - 0-2 - Lost to Marcello Milani of Michigan (3rd)

• Jarvis Little (120) - 1-2

• Hunter Sturgill (126) - 3-2 - Lost to Aaron Lucio of Michigan (4th) and Ayden Rice of South Dakota (3rd)

• Noah Creque (126) - 1-2

• Landon Deselle (132) - 1-2 - Lost to Alex Mentzer of South Dakota (8th) and Gabriel Bouyssou of Rhode Island (7th)

• Kaiden Bates (160) - 1-2

• Jensen Schreiber (182) - 0-2

• Nicolas Jenkins (195) - 1-2

16U Women (2 All Americans)

• Ella-lina Gonzalez (112) - 2-2 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Zao Estrada of South Carolina and Joy Cantu of Indiana (8th)

• Melanie Val (117) - 2-2 - Lost to Elena Ivaldi of California (3rd)

• Katelynn Hernandez (122) - 1-2

• Kristen Allsup (122) - 2-2

• Caila Weatherspoon (127) - 0-2

• Maggie Graham (144) - 3rd - All American - 6-1 - Lost to eventual Champion Nebi Tsarni of Maryland; Beat Lizzie Shunn of Utah (4th), Faith Bartoszek of Wisconsin (5th), Kaylie Peterson of Indiana (8th)

• Genesis Gilmore (152) - 2nd - All American - 3-1 - Lost to eventual Champ (and outstanding wrestler) Jasmine Robinson of Texas; Beat Abigail Ervasti of Minnesota (5th) and Gianna Falise of Colorado (8th)

16U Breakdown

Obviously the women took the spotlight for the 16U Tennessee crew. Maggie Graham and Genesis Gilmore both made the podium - marking the first time a 16U woman has made the podium. Gilmore went 3-1 and fell to the eventual Champ - and the tournament’s outstanding wrestler (in both 16U and Juniors) - Jasmine Robinson. Graham’s only loss also came to the eventual champ in Nebi Tsarni of Maryland in the quarters. Hard fought wins over Shunn and Bartoszek put Graham on the podium in 3rd. Ella-lina Gonzalez is another of note … her two losses came to the eventual runner-up and to Cantu who finished 8th.

No boys were able to climb on the podium in 2021 - but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some outstanding performances. Four names stood out to me after a few days of wrestling:

Hunter Sturgill - Sturgill wrestled both styles and finished 3-2 in both … losing to Mason Gibson (3rd in Freestyle) and All Americans Ayden Rice (3rd in Greco) and Aaron Lucio (4th in Greco). You have to find ways to beat those guys, but Sturgill is right on the cusp of breaking through to a spot on the podium.

Casen Roark made a nice run in Freestyle before falling to All Americans Jacob Myers and Maddox Shaw. He is another 16U that is very close to making the podium and pusing his way into the national conversation.

Jarvis Little and Landon Desellle wrestled better in Freestyle than Greco, but finished the week with a .500 record in both styles combined. Little had nice wins over Hudson Waldrop of Alabama and others. Deselle lost to All Americans Mentzer and Bouyssou in Greco. They are two names to keep an eye as we move into 2021-2022.

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Junior Freestyle (2 All Americans)

• Cooper Flynn (120) - 3rd - All American - 8-1 with his only loss coming to eventual Champ Kannon Webster of Illinois on a controversial call (I’ll explain below); Wins over Jett Strickenberger of Colorado (4th); Grigor Cholakyan of California (5th); Sean Seefelt of Ohio (8th); Max Black of Colorado (7th)

• Calvin Eason (126) - 0-2

• Hunter Mason (132) - 7th - All American - 7-2 - Loss to Emilio Ysaguirre Jr of Arizona (2nd) and Danny Nini of Florida (4th). Beat Greyson Clark of Wisconsin (8th).

• Sammy Shires (132) - 3-2

• Brayden Ivy (138) - 5-2

• Dayne Dalrymple (138) - 2-2 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Casey Swiderski of Michigan

• Noah Kang (145) - 0-2

• Sean Pitts (145) - 0-2

• Benjamin Stigmier (152) - 0-2

• Colby Dalon (152) - 3-2

• Finley Jameson (152) - 0-2

• Ian Mcgehee (160) - 2-2

• Kodiak Cannedy (160) - 4-2 - Good win over Gunner Filipowicz of Georgia; Both losses came to wrestlers that lost in the Bloodround.

• Tanner Willett (160) - 1-2

• Gervacio Gonzalez (182) - 0-2

• Connor Milhorn (195) - 0-2

• Jose Suarez-Pereira (195) - 0-2

• Ashton Davis (220) - 3-2 - Loss to Noah Pettigrew of Georgia (3rd) and Andrew Blackburn-Forst of Illinois (7th)

• Richmond Flowers (220) - 0-2

• Ryan Smith (285) - 1-2

Junior Greco Roman (2 All Americans)

• Dayne Dalrymple (132) - National Champ - 6-0 with wins over Anthony Aniciete of Nevada (2nd), Nash Singleton of Oregon (5th), Walker Bents of Minnesota (7th)

• Finley Jameson (152) - 1-2 - Lost to Michael Kilic of Georgia (8th)

• Tanner Willett (160) - 2-2

• Aiden Bowers (170) - 1-2

• Gervacio Gonzalez (182) - 5-2 - Lost to Drake Buchanan of Indiana (7th) and Asher Ruchti of Oregon (8th)

• Connor Milhorn (195) - 0-2

• Jose Suarez-Pereira (195) - 0-2

• Ashton Davis (220) - 4th - All American - 7-2 - Lost to Kalob Runyan of Iowa (3rd) and Gary Powell of Ohio (6th); Wins over Joshua Howell of Indiana (5th) and Ghee Rachal of Illinois (8th)

• Ryan Smith (285) - 0-2

16U Women (No All Americans)

• Avery Kibelbek (106) - 2-2 - Lost to eventual Runner-up Kiely Tabaldo of California and Faith Cole of Missouri (3rd)

• Ella-lina Gonzalez (112) - 2-2 - Lost to Avery Ashley of Texas (4th)

• Grace Elliott (112) - 0-2

• Melanie Val (117) - 1-2

• Katelynn Hernandez (122) - 2-2

• Kristen Allsup (122) - 1-2

• Rontaysia Payne (132) - 3-2 - Lost to Taylor Fierbach-Graveman of South Dakota (6th)

Junior Breakdown

We have to start with Dalrymple. Dayne put together a nice run and claimed the 132 lb. Junior Greco title. He also wrestled well in freestyle - losing to eventual runner-up Swiderski early in the tournament. Go watch Dayne’s matches vs. Walker Bents, Panone, Singleton, and his final vs. Aniciete. He held position and scored points when he needed … put pressure on the other wrestler. Ashton Davis had a nice run in Greco - taking 4th and just missed a spot on the podium in freestyle … losing to Pettigrew and then Blackburn-Forst in the bloodround.

We had fireworks at 120 and 132 in Junior freestyle. First - the Cooper Flynn vs. Kannon Webster match. Flynn leads the entire match, but in reality “shut it down” with 30 seconds remaining and got hit with passivity (after having been warned earlier) with 4 seconds remaining. It rarely gets called and probably shouldn’t have been called in that match, but it was and it was the difference in the match. I love how Cooper bounced back and dominated his next 4 matches to take 3rd. He was there to win it, but after taking the loss he didn’t shut things down - he persevered. Virginia Tech got a good one in my opinion. Hunter Mason lost to eventual runner-up Ysaguirre in the Round fo 16 and then battled back to the consi quarters … where he took what many feel was a controversial 3-3 criteria loss to Florida’s Danny Nini. The Tennessees coaches were screaming about passivity the entire match and Nini was hit twice in the 1st period and then not in the 2nd. These two always go at it … and this one didn’t end up in Mason’s favor. Expect them to cross paths again at the GFC or Super 32 in the next few months.

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

Avery Kibelbek lost to Tabaldo and Cole at 106 - who finished 2nd and 3rd. She looked good on her attacks, but couldn’t get over the hump with 2 of the best 106’s in the tournament.

Gervacio Gonzalez bounced back from a poor freestyle showing to go 5-2 in Greco - losing to two All Americans.

Brayden Ivy went 5-2 in freestyle. Was bloodied and battered but in every match. His biggest challenge was losing his opening match and then having to fight through the backside. Won 5 in a row before falling to a very good James Harrington of Massachusetts.

Kodiak Cannedy - 4-2 in freestyle. Good win over Filipowicz. Both losses came to highly ranked wrestlers that fell in the bloodround. Junior 160 was widely regarded by the college coaches I spoke with - the most difficult bracket in Fargo in 2021.

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’s Sawyer Bartelt capped off a fantastic run in Greco with a dominant 8-2 win over Utah’s William McCleary in the 195 lb. final. Bartelt went 6-0 and outscored his opponents 56-4 … giving up points in just 2 matches. What might be more impressive is that Bartelt earned a spot on the podium in both styles this week in Fargo. He finished 5th in Freestyle as well.

Bartelt was just one of four Floridians to make the podium. He was joined by Brandon Cody (5th at 138), Ethan Mojena (4th at 145), and Roman Garcia (3rd at 160). The four helped Team Florida into the top 10 - actually a tie for 10th with Virginia in 16U Greco. Georgia finished 17th as a team and put 3 on the podium … Drew Gorman (4th at 113), Dominic Bambinelli (6th at 160), and Hoke Poe-Hogan (4th at 170). Jax Forrest helped North Carolina to 31st in the team race with a 6th place finish at 120. South Carolina and Alabama added their first 16U All Americans in 2021. William Jakeway (88) and Yannis Charles (138) made the podium for South Carolina … SC’s first 16U All Americans in Greco since 2016. Will Caneer (195) and Willie Cox (285) made the podium for Alabama.

As mentioned previously, Bartelt earned double All American honors as we placed in the top 8 in both styles. Bartelt wasn’t alone in accomplishing that feat … 4 others from the Southeast also earned double All American this week. Mojena, Garcia, Gorman, and Bambinelli were also able to secure a top 8 finish in both styles … a significant accomplishment.

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Florida’s Ryan Cody and Tennessee’s Dayne Dalrymple into the Junior Semis

Just 2 SE hammers were able to navigate day 1 of Junior Greco without a loss. Cody, a 2019 Greco Runner-up, showed out at 195 … he finished the day 4-0 and outscored his opponents 41-0. He faces Tom Culp of Illinois in the semifinals tomorrow morning. Dayne Dalrymple also finished 4-0 with some really tough wins. He began the day with a 10-9 win over Florida’s Braden Basile (a Freestyle All American) before getting a fall over Brady Hankin of Colorado. He then beat Georgia’s David Panone and Minnesota’s Walker Bents is tough matches to advance to the semis where he faces Oregon’s Nash Singleton.

The Bloodround

The following wrestlers advanced to the Bloodround - 1 match from making the podium - and each will look to win at least one more in the morning to take home some hardware. Each are still hunting for 3rd, but getting one more win is the first order of business in the morning.

• 100 - Vincent Biondoletti (Florida)

• 106 - Tyler Washburn (Florida)

• 152 - Jeremy Paradice (Georgia)

• 152 - Michael Kilic (Georgia)

• 160 - RJ Weston (Georgia)

• 182 - Gervacio Gonazlez (Tennessee)

• 220 - Ashton Davis (Tennessee)