Ohio's Dylan D'Emilio was a Fargo champion last summer in the Cadet freestyle competition (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Fargo. One word that means so much within the scholastic age wrestling community. The ASICS/Vaughan Junior and Cadet Nationals return yet again to Fargo, North Dakota, starting this coming weekend. Competing in Greco-Roman and freestyle will be the nation's top high school aged wrestlers, both boys and girls.
The event starts on Saturday with the Cadet Women's freestyle tournament. The first session will commence at 2 p.m. CT, while the medal matches are slated for a second session starting at 7 p.m.
Male wrestlers make their debut in the FARGODOME on Sunday with the Cadet Greco-Roman tournament. Two sessions of wrestling will take place, one at 9 a.m. and the other at 3 p.m. By then, there will be semifinal matches set up on the front side of the bracket, which will take place in a Monday morning session starting at 9 a.m. The Cadet Greco-Roman medal matches are slated for 2 p.m. Cadet level wrestlers have birth dates in either 2000 or 2001.
Also competing on Monday will be Junior level wrestlers. Males will be competing in the opening day of Greco-Roman, with two sessions, one at 9 a.m. and the other at 6 p.m. Female wrestlers will compete in freestyle, their opening session at 6 p.m. Junior level wrestlers were in 9th through 12th grade during the 2015-16 school year. Quarterfinal and semifinal matches, along with consolation matches to determine All-American honors will take place on Tuesday starting at 9 a.m. with medal matches in Greco-Roman at 2:15 p.m., and the Women's freestyle at 5:45 p.m.
One week from today starts the rather high profile Cadet (male) freestyle event, along with the complete contesting of the Junior Women's Duals. Both events will have two sessions on July 20 starting at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. CT. Cadet freestyle will continue with two rounds on Thursday, July 21, one that includes the quarterfinals at 9:30 a.m. and one that includes the semifinals at 3:30 p.m.
It is at that time, one week from Thursday morning when the Junior freestyle event commences. This three-day event is as important a trio of days as any on the scholastic wrestling calendar. The assemblage of talent that is present in this field is impressive, as are the matchups of high-end talent that happen throughout the tournament. Day one in Junior freestyle sets up the round of 16 on the front side of the draw, with wrestling on Thursday taking place in sessions at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
As previously mentioned, the quarterfinals in Cadet freestyle take place on Thursday morning, with semifinals and consolation matches to set up the medal round taking place Thursday afternoon. Those medal matches will take place on week from Friday starting at 2 p.m.
With the core rounds of the Junior freestyle event sandwiching the Cadet freestyle medal matches on in the afternoon, Fargo Friday is arguably the biggest single day on the scholastic wrestling calendar in a given year. Junior freestyle sessions on Friday start at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Round of sixteen and quarterfinals take place in the morning, while semifinals take place in the evening. The final session of the Fargo extravaganza is one week from Saturday, July 23, starting at 10 a.m. CT.
Now that we all know the chronology of the upcoming competition, let's take a look at what will actually happen during the course of the events.
Line bracketing
For the third straight year, traditional double-elimination brackets will be used in Fargo, after many years of vertical pairing.
UWW Cadet and Junior World Championships
The Cadet and Junior World Championships are going to be held later in the calendar year then they were last year due to the Olympic Games being held in early-through-mid August. The Junior World event will be held in late August, while the Cadet World event is slated for early-to-mid September.
There are many Fargo eligible wrestlers slated to participate on those teams. By virtue of the calendar, it is reasonable and plausible to see those wrestlers participate next week in Fargo. However, those decisions will have to be made in context of considering the upcoming World Championships -- relative training cycles, etc.
The following UWW Cadet World Championships participants are Cadet eligible for Fargo:
Kurt McHenry (Virginia) -- freestyle at 42 kilos
Jalen Spuhler (Wisconsin) -- Greco-Roman at 42 kilos
Aaron Cashman (Minnesota) -- freestyle at 50 kilos
Malik Johnson (Missouri) -- Greco-Roman at 50 kilos
Travis Wittlake (Oregon) -- freestyle at 76 kilos
Gable Steveson (Minnesota) -- freestyle at 100 kilos
Cohlton Schultz (Colorado) -- Greco-Roman at 100 kilos
The following UWW Cadet World Championships participants are Junior eligible for Fargo:
Malik Heinselman (Colorado) -- freestyle at 46 kilos
Mosha Schwartz (Colorado) -- Greco-Roman at 46 kilos
Roman Bravo-Young (Arizona) -- freestyle at 54 kilos
Real Woods (Illinois) -- Greco-Roman at 54 kilos
Vitali Arujau (New York) -- freestyle at 58 kilos
Jack Davis (Pennsylvania) -- Greco-Roman at 58 kilos
Yianni Diakomihalis (New York) -- freestyle at 63 kilos
Peyton Omania (California) -- Greco-Roman at 63 kilos
David Carr (Ohio) -- freestyle at 69 kilos
Max Wohlabaugh (Florida) -- Greco-Roman at 69 kilos
Clay Lautt (Kansas) -- Greco-Roman at 76 kilos
Jacob Warner (Illinois) -- freestyle at 85 kilos
Brandon Whitman (Michigan) -- Greco-Roman at 85 kilos (runner-up, but Warner is freestyle only at Worlds)
The following UWW Junior World Championships participants are Junior eligible for Fargo:
Spencer Lee (Pennsylvania) -- freestyle at 50 kilos
Daton Fix (Oklahoma) -- freestyle at 55 kilos
Taylor Lamont (Utah) -- Greco-Roman at 60 kilos
Mark Hall (Minnesota) -- freestyle at 74 kilos
Kamal Bey (Illinois) -- Greco-Roman at 74 kilos
Nick Reenan (Texas) -- Greco-Roman at 84 kilos
Jordan Wood (Pennsylvania) -- freestyle at 120 kilos
Returning Fargo champions
Many wrestlers that won weight class titles in last year's Junior and Cadet Nationals can return for this year's event, though the vast majority of the Cadet champions will be moving up to the Junior level in next week's competitions. As a result, the Cadet National tournaments become a breeding ground for emerging stars and names to watch for in the upcoming seasons of scholastic wrestling.
Cadet champions who can repeat at the Cadet level this coming year (listed by weight class in which they won their title last year):
Jordan Decatur (Ohio) -- 106 pounds, freestyle
Malik Johnson (Missouri) -- 106 pounds, Greco-Roman
Nick Raimo (New Jersey) -- 120 pounds, double (both Greco-Roman and freestyle)
Sammy Sasso (Pennsylvania) -- 132 pounds, freestyle
Ryan Karoly (New Jersey) -- 160 pounds, freestyle
Travis Wittlake (Oregon) -- 160 pounds, Greco-Roman
Gable Steveson (Minnesota) -- 220 pounds, freestyle
Cohlton Schultz (Colorado) -- 220 pounds, Greco-Roman
Cadet champions that move up to the Junior level:
Mosha Schwartz (Colorado) -- 88 pounds, double
Malik Heinselman (Colorado) -- 94 pounds, double
Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio) -- 100 pounds, freestyle
Peter Ogunsanya (Illinois) -- 100 pounds, Greco-Roman
Roman Bravo-Young (Arizona) -- 113 pounds, double
Vitali Arujau (New York) -- 126 pounds, freestyle
Patrick Ramirez (California) -- 126 pounds, Greco-Roman
Alex Lloyd (Minnesota) -- 132 pounds, Greco-Roman
Joe Lee (Indiana) -- 138 pounds, freestyle
Andrew Merola (New Jersey) -- 138 pounds, Greco-Roman
Anthony Artalona (Florida) -- 145 pounds, double
Trevell Timmons (Illinois) -- 152 pounds, freestyle
Max Wohlabaugh (Florida) -- 152 pounds, Greco-Roman
Jacob Warner (Illinois) -- 170 pounds, double
Jacob Raschka (Wisconsin) -- 182 pounds, freestyle
Andrew Davison (Indiana) -- 182 pounds, Greco-Roman
Jake Boyd (Missouri) -- 195 pounds, freestyle
Brady Daniel (Maryland) -- 195 pounds, Greco-Roman
Nick Boykin (Tennessee) -- 285 pounds, double
Junior champions eligible to compete again:
Jason Holmes (Arizona) -- 100 pounds, freestyle
Jaret Lane (Pennsylvania) -- 100 pounds, Greco-Roman
Louie Hayes (Illinois) -- 106 pounds, double
Brandon Courtney (Arizona) -- 113 pounds freestyle
Dack Punke (Illinois) -- 113 pounds, Greco-Roman
Daton Fix (Oklahoma) -- 120 pounds, freestyle
Dalton Duffield (Oklahoma) -- 120 pounds, Greco-Roman
Gabe Townsell (Illinois) -- 126 pounds, Greco-Roman
Taylor Lamont (Utah) -- 132 pounds, freestyle
Mitch McKee (Minnesota) -- 132 pounds, Greco-Roman
Hayden Hidlay (Pennsylvania) -- 152 pounds, Greco-Roman
Beau Breske (Wisconsin) -- 170 pounds, freestyle
Kamal Bey (Illinois) -- 170 pounds, Greco-Roman
Nick Reenan (Texas) -- 182 pounds, double
Wyatt Koelling (Utah) -- 195 pounds, Greco-Roman
Jordan Wood (Pennsylvania) -- 220 pounds, freestyle
Osawaru Odighizuwa (Oregon) -- 285 pounds, freestyle (do not expect him to participate, as he is going to be playing football at UCLA)
Dante Jiovanetta (Florida) -- 285 pounds, Greco-Roman
Rising freshmen to watch in Cadet Nationals
As mentioned earlier in this article, the Cadet Nationals serve as proving ground for many an emerging star. Yes, that does include incoming freshmen. Last summer, five wrestlers combined to win seven stop signs at the Cadet Nationals before stepping on the high school mats.
Among the top Class of 2020 wrestlers, some of the more likely to capture a stop sign include:
No. 1 Beau Bartlett (Pennsylvania): Even though the 126-pound weight class in which he is most likely to compete will be a tough weight class, Bartlett has already shown to be more than competitive. He was champion at the Cadet Folkstyle tournament in early April, the first leg of the Cadet triple crown, and was a UWW Cadet freestyle All-American at 58 kilos (127.75 pounds) in early June. Bartlett will most likely be an underdog to returning double champion Nick Raimo at minimum.
No. 2 Joshua Saunders (Missouri): He was runner-up to Bartlett at 126 pounds in Cadet folkstyle during the spring. Then he was one match from All-American honors at UWW Cadet freestyle competing at 54 kilos (119 pounds), with both losses coming to wrestlers not eligible to compete at the Cadet level in Fargo. Look for him to be in the hunt at 120 pounds, where he was a double champion at the Central Regional in May.
No. 4 Jesse Vasquez (California): He was champion in Cadet folkstyle competing up at 120 pounds, during the first leg of the Cadet Triple Crown in early April. Vasquez then placed seventh in the 50 kilo (110 pound) weight class at the UWW Cadet freestyle tournament in early June, with both losses coming by a single point including one to defending Fargo freestyle champion D'Emilio; also with two wins over past Cadet All-Americans in Fargo. Look for him at 113 pounds, and to be among those in the mix (included in there would be Coltan Yapoujian, to whom he lost at the UWW Cadet freestyle tournament 2-1).
No. 5 Braxton Amos (West Virginia): The very talented upper-weight went 11-2 between Greco-Roman and freestyle in contested matches at the Cadet Duals last month, with the loss in Greco-Roman being an unexpected outcome; the loss in freestyle was 8-2 against one of the nation's best rising juniors in Gavin Hoffman of Pennsylvania. Amos was undefeated in eleven contested matches at the Schoolboy Duals across the two styles in June of 2015. Though rising frosh in upper weights tend to struggle, look for Amos to make significant noise, even if it isn't in the form of that giant golden stop sign.
No. 6 Jeremiah Reno (Missouri): Look for Reno to be among those in the hunt at 94 pounds, after a runner-up finish in the UWW Cadet freestyle tournament at 42 kilos (92 pounds) and winning a Roller World of Wrestling Triple Crown this year at 89 pounds in the 15-U division. His championship series loss at UWW Cadets came against the very talented Kurt McHenry of Virginia, though he did nab one of the three bouts; however, Reno would project to be the clear favorite excluding McHenry.
Fargo coverage
Keep your eye glued onto InterMat for Fargo coverage throughout the coming week including some event-specific previews and recaps, and well as a broad recap of the whole group of tournaments after the festivities are complete.
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