It’s Fargo time baby! There’s a whole lot to get into below, so I won’t waste your time with a boring intro. I’m just going to remind you that USA Wrestling uses separation criteria as their way of seeding. So, don’t freak out when brackets come out.

Separation Criteria for Junior Men's Freestyle and Greco-Roman Nationals

1. UWW Junior World placer in and out of style*

2. Junior/UWW Jr National champion in style OR UWW Cadet World placer in style

3. Cadet UWW World Placer out of style* OR Junior/UWW JR National placer 2-4 in style

4. 16U/UWW Cadet National Champion in style

5. Junior/UWW JR National placer 5-8 in style OR Junior/UWW JR National Champion out of style*

6. 16U/UWW Cadet National placer 2-4 in style

7. 16U/UWW Cadet National placer 5-8 in style OR 16U/UWW Cadet National Champion out of style*

8. Junior/UWW JR National placer 2-4 out of style*

9. Junior/UWW JR National placer 5-8 out of style* OR 16U/UWW Cadet National placer 2-4 out of style* OR Junior Folkstyle National Champion

10. Junior Regional Champion in style OR Junior Folkstyle National 2-4

100 lbs

100 lbs is lower than the lowest high school weight and this is the Junior division, which always shows in the participation in the weight class. However, for the first time in several years, the number of participants in this weight class is going up. Registration is up nearly 100% to 31 from 16 last year. Iowa leads the charge with four wrestlers followed by Illinois with three. However, Ohio’s Javaan Yarbrough is the favorite. He won Fargo at 16U 88 lbs last year and went undefeated at Junior Duals 100 lbs this year.

Picks

Final: Yarbrough over Davis Motyka

106 lbs

With wins in the past year over Dry Ayala and Gage Singleton, Mack Mauger is the man to beat at this weight. Being from Idaho and a 16U Fargo champ in both freestyle and Greco last year, Mauger is already getting Ridge Lovett comparisons. He’s got a ways to go as Lovett was a 10X Fargo AA. Idaho will be well represented with Kolter Burton and Dedrick Navarro likely to get on the podium as well IMO.

Watch Mack Mauger take out Dru Ayala at U17 WTTs below.

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Names To Watch

#7 Mack Mauger, Idaho

#9 Dru Ayala, Iowa

#14 Colyn Limbert, Ohio

#19 Gage Singleton, Oregon

Kolter Burton, Idaho

Dedrick Navarro, Idaho

Blake Beissel, Minnesota

Cadyn Coyle, Nebraska

Jason Goodin, Oklahoma

Luke Koenen, Minnesota

Adam Bilby, Kansas

Picks

Finals: Mauger over Ayala

113 lbs

Sorry 100 and 106 pounders, but 113 is the first weight that really feels like a Fargo weight in the Junior division. You can see it in the number of nationally ranked kids alone (7). 2021 Junior 106 Fargo champ, Hunter Taylor, will have the highest separation criteria and therefore the #1 seed. 

Top-ranked Isaiah Quintero took 3rd at 16U 106 last year, losing to Anthony Knox but beating Nathan Desmond. Desmond is a guy I’m very interested to watch at this weight. He won at PA state title at 106 this year as a freshman, but then went 1-2 at U17s in April at 51 kg (112.4 lbs). I’m not sure if that was weight cut related, but he moved up to 120 for NHSCAs before moving back down for Fargo. Will he be back to form in Fargo at 113 lbs?

Names To Watch

#6 Isaiah Quintero, California

#8 (106) Michael Olson, Minnesota

#14 Hunter Taylor, Missouri

#16 Matthew Dolan, West Virginia

#19 Brandon Morvari, Minnesota

#19 (120) Nathan Desmond, Pennsylvania

#20 Deion Johnson, Illinois

Isiac Paulino, Massachusetts

Wyatt Skebba, Wisconsin

Layne Kleimann, Utah

Jeremy Oani, California

Carter Nogle, Maryland

Tyler Washburn, Florida

Ryan Nuno, Idaho

Carson Wagner, Pennsylvania

Colin Martin, Virginia

Anthony Rossi, New Jersey

Parker Sentipal, Pennsylvania

Reid Spurley, Wisconsin

Teague Strobel, South Carolina

Picks

Finals: Quintero over Desmond

AAs: Taylor, Dolan, Olson, Washburn, Skebba, Wagner

120 lbs

Three wrestlers in the top 16 on the 2023 Big Board at 120 lbs. Nathan Jesuroga will be the odds-on favorite to win, but don’t sleep on the two Michigan men - Braeden Davis and Caden Horwath. A Jesuroga - Davis/Horwath match just might be my most anticipated match of the entire junior tournament. Jesuroga, an Iowa commit, hasn’t had the opportunity to win a Fargo title yet due to the event being canceled in 2020 and Jesuroga competing at the 2021 Cadet World Championships, where he won a bronze medal. Davis, on the other hand, won is already a 2X freestyle champ (2019 and 2021). Horwath made the finals in 2019 but fell to Jore Volk. 

Both being from Michigan, Davis and Horwath have history. Horwatch got the better of Davis this past season going 2-0 against him with wins at DCC and GGI. While to my knowledge Jesuroga hasn’t competed against either Davis or Horwath, Jesuroga and Davis aren’t completely unfamiliar with each other. The two got a workout in at last year’s Who’s Number One. Now that they’re both at the same weight, they could be fighting for a position at this year’s event.

Watch Jesuroga and Davis workout together below.

Cornhusker fans aren’t going to want to this weight as we’ve got a potential future roster battle between class of 2023 big boarders #39 Kael Lauridsen and #43 Alan Koehler.

Lastly, I’d be remiss not to mention Ohio State commit and 2X PA state champion Vinny Kilkeary. Don’t sleep on him just because he’s ranked 15th. The kid is a gunslinger and very skilled.

Names To Watch

#1 Nathanael Jesuroga, Iowa

#3 Braeden Davis, Michigan

#5 (126) Caden Horwath, Michigan

#6 Kael Lauridsen, Nebraska

#14 Alan Koehler, Minnesota

#15 Vinny Kilkeary, Pennsylvania

Daniel Guanajuato, Arizona

Trever Anderson, Iowa

Marcello Milani, Michigan

Noah Nininger, Virginia

Garret Rinken, Iowa

Sergio Vega, Arizona

Miles Anderson, Nebraska

Sulayman Bah, New York

Koufax Christensen, Iowa

Cash Donnell, Oklahoma

Logan Graf, South Dakota

Max Hermes, Ohio

Dean Houser, Pennsylvania

Ashton Jackson, Indiana

Austin McBurney, Ohio

Jack Nelson, Minnesota

Patrick O'Keefe, New Jersey

Brandon Paez, Iowa

Jack Parker, Virginia

Chase Quenault, New Jersey

Cooper Shore, Ohio

Sam Smith, Oklahoma

Luke Stanich, New Jersey

Mason Ziegler, Pennsylvania

Picks

Finals: Jesuroga over Horwath

AAs: Davis, Lauridsen, Koehler, Guanajuato, Smith, O’Keefe

126 lbs

126 lbs will be a lot of fun. Seven nationally ranked wrestlers and it truly feels like any one of them could win. Unfortunately, #5 Kale Peterson of Iowa, who was formally registered, had to withdraw due to injury.

At the top, it’s the battle of the smart kids with Stanford commit Aden Valencia and Cornell commit Mason Gibson. Below them on the names to watch list is opposites on the grade spectrum in rising sophomore Drew Gorman and graduated senior Nicolar Rivera. Gorman had a phenomenal U17s beating Sam Herring, Adrian Meza, and Mason Gibson. With a win over Nathan Jesuroga this high school season, however, Riviera might have the best win of anyone on this list.

Watch Drew Gorman beat Mason Gibson with a last-second takedown below.

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For sure AA contenders and outside title contenders not in the national rankings include Ray Ray Harris, Jaden Pepe, Drew Heethuis, Tyler Ferrara, and Tanner Frothinger.

Names To Watch

#6 Aden Valencia, California

#7 (120) Mason Gibson, Pennsylvania

#7 Drew Gorman, Georgia

#9 Nicolar Rivera, Wisconsin

#10 Gable Porter, Iowa

#13 Dillon Campbell, Ohio

#19 Adrian Meza, Arizona

Ray Ray Harris, California

Drew Heethuis, Michigan

Mitchell Neiner, Washington

Kolby Warren, Missouri

Tanner Frothinger, Idaho

Kyison Garcia, Utah

Derek Guanajuato, Arizona

Jacob Myers, Colorado

Coleman Nogle, Maryland

Jaden Pepe, Pennsylvania

Gylon Sims, Illinois

Anthony Aniciete, Nevada

Tyler Ferrara, New York

Logan Frazier, Indiana

Eli Kirk, Oklahoma

Brandon Cannon, Colorado

Vinnie D'Alessandro, Ohio

Max Gallagher, New York

Blake Gioimo, Iowa

Sean Logue, Pennsylvania

Brady Pruett, Maryland

Brady Roark, Missouri

Gianni Silvestri, New York

Brayden Sonnentag, Wisconsin

Garrett Totten, New Jersey

Jackson Young, New Jersey

Picks

Finals: Valencia over Rivera

AAs: Gibson, Porter, Gorman, Meza, Heethuis, Campbell

132 lbs

Cael Hughes wrestled lights out at Junior Duals and shot up from #8 in the rankings to #2, only behind Junior World Team member Nic Bouzakis. The Oklahoman 10-0d Evan Frost and Omar Ayoub in Tulsa while also knocking off Kannon Webster 5-3.

Watch Cael Hughes take out Kannon Webster at Junior Duals below.

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There’s a decent chance we see that rematch in the FargoDome. A champ last year at 120, Webster is no stranger to success on the big stage. Webster has been wrestling well as of late too. The Illinois native and commit recently beat Vincent Robinson, a Fargo champ himself last year, at Northern Plains.

Don’t sleep on #15 Grigor Cholakyan either. The California native is just a rising junior, but I was impressed with his performance at the Open. With a 9-4 loss to Webster at U20 WTT, he may still have a ways to go before winning it all.

Names To Watch

#2 Cael Hughes, Oklahoma

#3 Kannon Webster, Illinois

#3 (126) Cory Land, Alabama

#4 Vincent Robinson, Illinois

#15 Grigor Cholakyan, California

#16 Evan Frost, Iowa

#18 (138) Nash Singleton, Oregon

#18 Omar Ayoub, Ohio

#19 Greyson Clark, Wisconsin

Cael Keck, Missouri

Jameson Garcia, Illinois

Paul Kelly, California

Kyle Rice, Idaho

Ayson Rice, South Dakota

Isaiah Powe, Alabama

Markel Baker, Illinois

Dyson Dunham, Virginia

Matthew Eberly, Virginia

Justin Gates, Michigan

Hunter Hollingsworth, Oklahoma

Jaxon Joy, Ohio

Garrett McChesney, Texas

Collin Mullins, Georgia

Michael Pizzuto, Maryland

Jace Rhodes, Iowa

Carter Schmidt, Montana

Luke Simcox, Pennsylvania

Joseph Simon, Pennsylvania

Kaden Smith, Oklahoma

Daniel Zepeda, California

Picks

Finals: Hughes over Robinson

AAs: Land, Webster, Singleton, Frost, Clark, Keck

138 lbs

138 is a DEEP weight. At least three nationally-ranked kids won’t AA. Leading the ranked is Nasir Bailey. Bailey own Fargo at 132 last year, taking out the likes of Zeke Seltzer on the way. He’s far from a lock to repeat, however. #10 Ryder Block has actually defeated Bailey two-straight years at Junior Duals.

Watch Ryder Block beat Nasir Bailey at 2022 Junior Duals below.

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With a win over Ryder Block at Cadet WTT last year, Michigan commit Dylan Gilcher is another title contender. Another future Wolverine, Cameron Catrabone, is a young gun to keep an eye on. 

Potential “dark horses” include Jude Swisher and Kole Brower. I put dark horses in quotes because despite not being nationally ranked they proved they can get on the Fargo podium by taking 5th and 8th at this weight last year. It’s not going to be easy to repeat such a performance.

Names To Watch

#3 Nasir Bailey, Illinois

#5 Dylan Gilcher, Michigan

#5 (132) Zeke Seltzer, Indiana

#10 Ryder Block, Iowa

#12 Dario Lemus, California

#13 Tyler Vazquez, New Jersey

#14 (145) Pierson Manville, Pennsylvania

#14 (132) Anthony Santaniello, New Jersey

#15 Cameron Catrabone, New York

#19 (145) Brennan Van Hoecke, Florida

#19 Jacob Frost, Iowa

Kole Brower, Illinois

Jude Swisher, Pennsylvania

Ismael Ayoub, Ohio

Carter McCallister, Missouri

Christopher Martino, Idaho

Smokey McClure, Washington

Keith Smith, Nebraska

DJ Gillett, Oregon

Casper Stewart, New York

Jeremiah Price, North Carolina

Spencer Barnhart, Pennsylvania

Luke Belcher, Tennessee

Tucker Cell, Kansas

Anthony Evanitsky, Pennsylvania

Logan Fowler, Tennessee

Garrett Funk, Iowa

Cooper Haase, Florida

Nathan Jerore, Michigan

Alex Mentzer, South Dakota

Joshua Neiwert, Washington

Cash Raymond, Minnesota

Matthew Repos, Pennsylvania

McKinley Robbins, Iowa

Jakob Romero, Colorado

Cheaney Schoeff, Indiana

Easton Taylor, Kansas

Picks

Finals: Block over Bailey

AAs: Seltzer, Gilcher, Vazquez, Manville, Lemus, Santaniello

145 lbs

A lot of potential champs at this weight. Bracket draw could be very important. Believe it or not, Kaleb Larkin has never All-Americand in freestyle at Fargo. In his final year, it seems unlikely that this trend will continue and he will go out with at least a little stop sign, but in this bracket? Who knows. 

Kyle Dutton, Joel Jesuroga, and Richard Fedalen are three more graduated seniors with title potential. Fedalen is the highest on the senior big board at #58. Dutton, who is one spot behind Fedalen on the big board at #59 and was a finalist at Ironman this season, is arguably the biggest recruit in Little Rock wrestling history. Jesuroga, an Iowa commit, had a rough U20 Nationals, but rebounded by going undefeated at Junior Duals with wins over Sam Cartella and Jace Roller. Plus, Southeast Polk HS loves to perform at Fargo.

Beau Mantanona is the wild card of the bracket. He bumped up to 152 for Junior Duals and had a rough go at it, but he’s got the skill to win it all at 145 lbs.

Names To Watch

#4 Kaleb Larkin, Arizona

#6 Kyle Dutton, Missouri

#8 (138) Koy Buesgens, Minnesota

#10 Joel Jesuroga, Iowa

#11 (152) Beau Mantanona, California

#11 (138) Q'veli Quintanilla, Washington

#13 (152) Richard Fedalen, Maryland

#16 Zach Hanson, Minnesota

#18 Sam Cartella, Ohio

Kimo Leia, California

Jaydon Robinson, Illinois

August Hibler, New Jersey

Jason Mara, Idaho

David Mayora, Illinois

Weston Dalto,     Colorado

Kayd Craig, Idaho

Gavin Drexler, Wisconsin

Cole Brooks, Oklahoma

Maxwell Petersen, Minnesota

Avery Allen, Montana

Francisco Ayala, Washington

Jacob Bostelman, Colorado

Brady Conlin, Florida

Dominic Findora, Pennsylvania

Joe Fongaro, New Jersey

Alexander Gavronsky, Massachusetts

Kelly Kakos, Pennsylvania

Seth Larson, Georgia

Jackson Polo, New York

Tyler Tracy, North Carolina

Griffin Walizer, Pennsylvania

Picks

Finals: Buesgens over Matanona

AAs: Dutton, Larkin, Jesuroga, Fedalen, Hanson, Quintanilla

152 lbs

Can Cody Chittum finally get his Fargo title? For a handful of years now Chittum has been the talk of middle school/high school wrestling. However, he has yet to get it done in the FargoDome. The Tennesse native took 5th in 2018, 3rd in 2019, and was injured in 2021. He recently made the move up 152 lbs/70 kg from 65 kg where he had been competing. He looked good at U20 WTT, taking 3rd and avenging his only loss along the way. If he wrestles like he did in Ohio, he’s my pick to win

Chittum’s main opposition will be Ty Whalen, KJ Evans, Ethan Birden, and Kael Voinovich. Whalen is a graduated senior NJ state finalist, Birden, who is just a rising junior and Ohio state finalist, and Voinovich, the younger brother of Oklahoma State wrestler Victor, is an Oklahoma state champion.

Names To Watch

#2 Cody Chittum, Tennessee

#7 (145) Ty Whalen, New Jersey

#9 KJ Evans, Oklahoma

#9 Ethan Birden, Ohio

#20 Kael Voinovich, Oklahoma

William Henckel, New Jersey

Brett Back, Wisconsin

Dylan Evans, Pennsylvania

Zane Licht, Wisconsin

Charlie Millard, Wisconsin

Laird Root, California

Latrell Schafer, Georgia

Ethan Stiles, Illinois

Cutter Sheets, Oklahoma

Jake Dailey, Pennsylvania

Michael Duggan, Pennsylvania

Moses Espinoza-Owens, Utah

Reed Fullmer, Pennsylvania

Cody Goebel, Wisconsin

Boeden Greenley, North Dakota

Landen Johnson, Minnesota

Keagan Judd, Virginia

Kolten Oborny, Texas

Tyler Sagi, New Jersey

Cade White, Idaho

Picks

Finals: Chittum over Evans

AAs: Whalen, Birden, Evans, Sheets, Stiles, Henckel

160 lbs

160 lbs is really tough to predict. I really like the top-three guys in Nicco Ruiz, Aiden Riggins, and Braden Scoles. Ruiz looked the best at U20 WTT, taking 4th at 74 kg with a win over Riggins on the backside. My Iowa roots are making me pick Riggins, however. It was a 10-8 match in Ohio and Riggins was so close to a Fargo title last summer, losing to Josh Barr on criteria. If Ruiz comes in good shape, Riggins could be in some trouble once again.

Watch Nicco Ruiz and Aiden Riggin’s match from U20 WTT below.

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Scoles is tough. An Askren Wrestling Academy kid, he had been wrestling really tough until he took a weird loss at Junior Duals where got stepped over on a gut wrench and pinned. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him at the top of the podium on Tuesday night.

Can’t count out guys like #10 Brendon Abdon, #16 Thor Michaelson, and #16 Carter Schubert either.

Names To Watch

#4 Nicco Ruiz, California

#5 Aiden Riggins, Iowa

#8 Braeden Scoles, Wisconsin

#10 Brendon Abdon, Florida

#16 (170) Thor Michaelson, Washington

#16 Carter Schubert, New York

Silas Dailey, Wisconsin

Griffin Lundeen, Minnesota

Tyler Secoy, Georgia

Braden Stauffenberg, Illinois

Jed Wester, Minnesota

Jeremy Paradice, Georgia

J Conway, Indiana

Mike Avelar, Arizona

Luke Barker, Kansas

Andrew Christie, Pennsylvania

Mateo de la Pena, Washington

Dominic Frontino, Pennsylvania

Gavin Gust, Minnesota

Andrew Harmon, Pennsylvania

Rafael Hipolito, Virginia

Oliver Howard, Alabama

Rawson Iwanicki, Massachusetts

Derek Johnson, Kansas

Rafael Knapp, Massachusetts

Erik McCown, California

Picks

Finals: Riggins over Scoles

AAs: Ruiz, Abdon, Michaelson, Schubert, Stauffenberg, Conway

170 lbs

I’ve been incredibly impressed with Rocco Welsh since the first time I watched him compete as a freshman at the Ironman and he beat Joey Blaze, Vince Cornella, Dylan Shawver, and others. Similar to Chittum, Welsh has performed well at Fargo but hasn’t gotten his title yet. He’s shown steady progression going from DNP, to 5th, to 3rd. 

There’s only one person who can stop him from getting it done this year, imo: Josh Barr. Barr is Penn State commit from Michigan who won Fargo last year. He’s got a high shot output and is fun to watch, but knows how to win too. A match between him and Welsh is a toss-up.

Trying to upset the two along the way will be New Jersey state champion Simon Ruiz, national prep champion Lorenzo Norman, Ohio state champion Tyler Lillard, and Folkstyle Nationals champion Luke Gayer among others. 

Some nationally lesser-known guys I like at this weight include Nick Fox, Kodiak Cannedy, Lars Michaelson, and Creed Thomas.

Names To Watch

#3 Rocco Welsh, Pennsylvania

#6 Josh Barr, Michigan

#9 (160) Simon Ruiz, New Jersey

#11 (160) Lorenzo Norman, New Jersey

#13 Tyler Lillard, Ohio

#15 Luke Gayer, California

#17 Brody Baumann, Indiana

#20 Noah Mulvaney, Wisconsin

Holden Garcia, Pennsylvania

Sabino Portella, New Jersey

Nicholas Fox, Iowa

Roman Garci,     Florida

Bradley Gillum, Illinois

Zachary Eliszewski, Wisconsin

CJ Hamblin, Washington

Talon McCollom, Oklahoma

Lars Michaelson, Washington

Omaury Alvarez, Georgia

Tyler Eise, Colorado

Dylan Newsome, Ohio

Anders Thompson, Montana

Ryan Badgett, California

Kodiak Cannedy, Tennessee

Justin Crutchmer, Arkansas

Payton Handevidt, Minnesota

Tyler Hanna, California

Christian Moder, Florida

Chris Moore, Illinois

Brett Smith, Missouri

Creed Thomas, Georgia

Picks

Finals: Welsh over Barr

AAs: Ruiz, Norman, Lillard, Baumann, Garcia, Gayer

182 lbs

The 182 lbs title is up for grabs. With a win over Connor Mirasola at the 2021 Minnesota Christmas tournament, Ryder Rogotzke is the highest-ranked wrestler in the bracket. Rogotzke also beat Mirasola at Cadet WTT in 2021. However, Rogotzke has been dealing with injury this spring and Mirasola has looked great. I think Mirasola is able to get it done. 

Watch Ryder Rogotzke’s win over Connor Mirasola at Cadet WTT below.

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Other title contenders include Oklahoma’s AJ Heeg and Iowa’s Tate Naaktgeboren. Heeg went undefeated at Junior Duals, including a 7-5 win over Naaktgeboren in Greco-Roman. Dashcle Lamer, Joseph Martin, and Matthew Furman will be in the mix as well. 

Names To Watch

#3 Ryder Rogotzke, Minnesota

#4 Connor Mirasola, Wisconsin

#7 AJ Heeg, Oklahoma

#8 Tate Naaktgeboren, Iowa

#11 (170) Daschle Lamer, Oregon

#13 Joseph Martin, California

#19 Matthew Furman, Pennsylvania

Justin Rademacher, Oregon

Jared Schoppe, New Jersey

Nathan Taylor, Connecticut

Dominic Thebeau, Illinois

Toby Schoffstall, Virginia

Timothy McDonnell, California

Jordan Soriano, New York

Mark Ayala, California

Henry Baronowski, Pennsylvania

Dillon Bechtold, Pennsylvania

Orlando Cruz, Indiana

Justin Griffith, New Jersey

Codei Khawaja, Indiana

Vincent Lee, New Jersey

Sergio Montoya, California

Cayaen Smith, Utah

Payton Thomas, Oklahoma

Garrett Wells, Oklahoma

Daniel Williams, Florida

Brock Zurawski, New Jersey

Picks

Finals: Mirasola over Rogotzke

AAs: Heeg, Naaktgeboren, Lamer, Martin, Furman, Thebeau

195 lbs

My goodness, this weight. With 13 nationally ranked kids, at least five won’t make the podium. And that’s if someone like Cody Merrill, Cole Mirasola, Soren Herzog, and or Jersey Robb don’t sneak onto the podium, which all of them are more than capable of. 

While this weight is incredibly deep, I think there is a straightforward favorite in Rylan Rogers. The Super 32 champ has been laying a little low since losing to Mac Stout at PWC. However, the Michigan commit is incredibly skilled and beat top contender Gavin Nelson the last time they saw each other, albeit it was at Fargo in 2019. Coming down from 220, what Nelson now has in his favor is size. 

Watch Rylan Rogers and Gavin Nelson’s 2019 Fargo match below.

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Iowa is bringing two studs at this weight in Wyatt Voelker and McCrae Hagarty, both of whom have placed at Fargo in the past. Ohio’s Camden McDanel didn’t just place at Fargo last year, who won the dang thing. That was at 16U, however. Can he get it done in Juniors now?

Names To Watch

#3 Rylan Rogers, Idaho

#6 (220) Gavin Nelson, Minnesota

#6 Wyatt Voelker, Iowa

#10 Jack Darrah, Missouri

#11 Camden McDanel, Ohio

#12 McCrae Hagarty, Iowa

#13 Michael Dellagatta, New Jersey

#14 Sawyer Bartelt, Florida

#15 Hayden Walters, Oregon

#15 (182) Remy Cotton, Michigan

#18 Gabe Sollars, Indiana

#19 Stephen Little, Kentucky

#19 (220) Jacob Meissner, Minnesota

Cody Merrill, California

Cole Mirasola, Wisconsin

Soren Herzog, Minnesota

Jersey Robb, Oklahoma

Oscar Williams, Oklahoma

Connor Barket, Indiana

Kingsley Menifee, Virginia

Luke Cochran, Georgia

Joey Novak, Minnesota

Hudson Skove, New Jersey

Hunter Sonnenberg, Washington

Ben Bomberger, California

William Conlon, Alabama

Thomas Dineen, Minnesota

Leimana Fager, Utah

Aiden Hanning, Massachusetts

Hunter Hutcheson, Ohio

Connor Jacobs, Pennsylvania

Calvin Lachman, Pennsylvania

Uriah Virzi, Kentucky

Wesley Wilson, California

Picks

Finals: Rogers over Nelson

AAs: Voelker, Darrah, Walters, McDanel, Mirasola, Dellagatta

220 lbs

A big drop-off in terms of depth from 182 to 195, but the top is still solid. Kolby Franklin, who was originally from Pennsylvania before moving to Iowa, is moving up from 195 lbs, making him the highest ranked wrestler in the bracket and favorite to win. Size shouldn’t be too much of an issue. He 10-0d Carter Neeves at Junior Duals while splitting time between 220 lbs and 195 lbs.

Neeves leads the Ohio trio of himself, Dylan Russo, and Kyle Snyder. Neeves has the advantage over recent Kent State commit Kyle Snider, who he beat twice at Ironman this year, and won their state bracket. Russo won the D1 215 bracket and is also a Super 32 5th place finisher.

Names To Watch

#8 (195) Kolby Franklin, Iowa

#11 Carter Neves, Ohio

#13 Dylan Russo, Ohio

#14 Kyle Snider, Ohio

Bradley Hill, Iowa

Max Agresti, Delaware

William Clark, Indiana

Zachary Evans, Pennsylvania

Samuel Murphy, Missouri

Max Ramberg, Wisconsin

Zachary Delsanter, Ohio

Ryan Stein, New York

Ryan Arrington, California

Nathan Critchfield, Indiana

Caden Ferris, Michigan

Hampton Kaye-Kuter, Massachusetts

David Ozuna, California

Aidan Schlett, New Jersey

Trent Sibble, New York

Jared Thiry, Iowa

Kail Wynia, Minnesota

Picks

Finals: Franklin over Neeves

AAs: Russo, Snider, Hill, Agresti, Murphy, Ferris

285 lbs

Fargo is never the deepest at heavyweight, and this year is no different. That means it’s a place for someone to make a name for themselves, however. Jamikael Lytle and Ethan Vergara are the two returning Junior AAs who will have level five separation criteria. Holding level six separation criteria as returning 16U 2-4 placers will be Parker Ferrell, Spencer Lanosga, and Jacob Walker.

Nolan Neeves and Dillan Johnson are both coming off of impressive performances at Junior Duals where they went a combined 16-0. For that reason, they’re my pick to make the finals.

Names To Watch

#8 Nolan Neves, Ohio

#11 Aden Attao, Idaho

#12 Dillan Johnson, Illinois

#13 Matthew Moore, Colorado

#15 Parker Ferrell, Virginia

Jamikael Lytle, California

Ethan Vergara, Florida

Spencer Lanosga, Louisiana

Jacob Walker, Iowa

Aidan Fockler, Ohio

Cameron Geuther, Iowa

Sebastian Lopez, Kansas

Aiden Lacoma, Virginia

Samuel Rodriguez, Pennsylvania

Max Acciardi, New Jersey

Matthew Cruise, Pennsylvania

Easton Fleshman, Iowa

Carson Floyd, North Carolina

Noah Linford, Utah

Stephan Monchery, New York

Dirk Morley, Colorado

Chase Nutting, California

Emmanuel Ulrich, Pennsylvania

Cade White, Oklahoma

Picks

Finals: Johnson over Neeves

AAs: Attao, Ferrell, Lytle, Vergara, Walker Fockler