Leydecker Back At 3rd WNO To Face Fargo Champ James
Leydecker Back At 3rd WNO To Face Fargo Champ James
Everest Leydecker is attempting to win her unprecedented third Who's Number One match against 2024 Fargo champ Me'Kala James at 125 pounds.
Everest Leydecker is back at Who's Number One looking for a record-setting third consecutive win at this prestigious event. Her opponent will be the recently minted 16U national champ Me'Kala James at 125 pounds.
Leydecker is attempting to become the first women's wrestler to collect a third win at Who's Number One. In 2022 Leydecker defeated Cadence Diduch. In 2023 she beat Aubre Krazer. Both Diduch and Krazer have multiple invites to WNO if you need a quick reference for the caliber of Everest's wins.
Leydecker, a rising junior at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, Arizona (that's correct, Everest is eligible to compete in 2025's Who's Number One) has won quite a few other important bouts outside of WNO. She's a 2022 16U National Champ and a 2023 and 2024 U17 world teamer. Over the summer she also won gold at both the U17 and U20 PanAm Championships.
Watch Leydecker win WNO in 2023:
Me'Kala James doesn't have quite the resume of her opponent, but she's also just getting started. The 16 year-old James attends Central East High School in Fresno, California, a major hub of wrestling talent in America. She had her breakout performance in Fargo last July, running the gauntlet in the 124-pound 16U national championship bracket.
James blitzed through the #8, #4, #2 and #1 seeded opponent in her division, which included multiple ranked wrestlers. James took out the #2 ranked wrestler in the nation, Emma Bacon, in the round of 16, and never looked back.
Watch James win a stop sign in Fargo:
And while James wasn't ranked headed into Fargo, it should be noted Leydecker was also not ranked when she won a title in Fargo in 2022, a title which preceded her 2022 Who's Number One victory.
Will James continue her tear and go from unranked to number one? Or will Leydecker make history in Johnstown, PA with her third win at the event? We'll find out on Sunday, September 29!
And if you want to watch the match in person, click here to purchase tickets!