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)
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.
