16U Fargo Girls Wrestling: Riley Karwowski, McKenna Wilson Lead Championship Highlights

Pennsylvania walked away with the 16U girls team wrestling championship at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals, but the tournament's biggest individual performance belonged to Pennsylvania's Riley Karwowski.

Karwowski earned Outstanding Wrestler honors after capping an impressive run with a dominant victory over highly regarded Texas standout Audrey Cunningham in the 110-pound championship match. Oklahoma's McKenna Wilson authored the tournament's biggest surprise, knocking off two higher ranked opponents to claim the 120-pound crown.

The team race, which has held side-by-side with the Junior Nationals, offered little drama as Pennsylvania doubled down, winning big over Oklahoma, 172-113.

Kansas was a close third with 110 points, followed by Illinois in fourth with 105 points, barely edging out California (104). Of those, Kansas’ three champs were the most of any state, Oklahoma had two, and surprisingly, just one for Pennsylvania.

Karwowski Named Outstanding Wrestler

There is a mean crop of heavy duty, battle tested middle school girls coming into high school this fall and one of them, Texas’ Audrey Cunningham, happens to own a win from this year’s 16U National Duals over Arizona’s by way of New Jersey, Bella Manno, who captured the 105-pound 16U crown on Saturday.

Using that as a barometer, and the fact there was a loss to Manno on Riley Karwowski’s docket, the No. 16 ranked girl had her hands full on paper opposite the Texan at 110 pounds. But that did not derail her from putting on a tournament ending capper that won her the Outstanding Wrestler designation.

Karwowski used a cradle to get started and a cradle to end it. In between, there was a sweet low single for two. Cunningham was able to work out of the cradle the first go round but did not fare as well when Karwowski hit it again and had her lights turned out in 1:28.

The win that propelled Karwowski, who was a runner-up last year, came in the quarters over No. 14 Peggy Susan Dean (Colorado), 10-0.

Wilson Delivers Biggest Upset

Oklahoma’s No. 29 McKenna Wilson was, by rankings, the most unlikely champion of the finalists and needed an upset of Pennsylvania’s No. 21 Olivia Kearns on a one-minute fall to gain access to the 120-pound finals, where she would face off against No. 23 Elle Changaris out of New Jersey.

It was a tale of three thirds, as Changaris was in the driver’s seat with a 4-0 lead at the start of the second period and added two more points on step-outs to go up, 6-0. The final third of the bout was when it went sideways for Changaris as Wilson rallied hard and threw up eight points on two takedowns and a four-point sequence to secure an 8-6 victory.

Changaris took out the highest rated girl on the board, No. 17 Mikayla Perkins (Indiana), 16-10, in her semifinal. Oklahoma’s second champ was Rachel Garcia, who we will touch on in the middle school section.

Guilmette Becomes a Big Star

New York’s Ava Guilmette was top seeded and ranked 17th in our latest report. The only basis for that was a 2025 win by No. 16 Camilla Hathaway (Pennsylvania) at Women’s Nationals. It was the only separator we had on our sheets.

They met in the 155-pound finals and Guilmette had her way with Hathaway in the title bout, compiling an 11-2 tally and making us take a close look at why we were favoring Hathaway. It was that easy for Guilmette.

In the quarters, it was Hathaway taking revenge on a foe when she reversed a National Duals loss to No. 15 Brynlee Vaughan (Wisconsin) with an 8-2 decision.

Kansas Produces Three Champions

The Sunflower State Champs had some of the most difficult bouts of the 16U Final Round. Two of them were absolutely favored, No. 4 Gray Joyce (145 pounds) and No. 3 Siobhan Flanner (170). The third was a promising middle schooler, Kaylee Thompson, who we’ll revisit later.

Joyce and Oregon’s No. 7 Audrey Robinson were the favorites to meet after the brackets were drawn and it worked out that way with them delivering a doozy of a match.

Robinson took the first lead after popping her head out of a tight predicament for a takedown. Joyce jumped into action and got her own takedown but added two exposure points on a leg lace to take the 4-2 lead. They would trade two points and end at a 6-4 final favoring Joyce.

Flanner’s bout was tighter according to the rankings as she held the number three ranking based on a win over No. 4 Alexis Penley of Illinois at USA Wrestling’s 16U Folkstyle National Finals. That score was 11-7, this version ended with a 13-4 tally, benefiting Flanner.

Penley showed fight and was actually tied, and holding criteria, at 4-4, before the wheels fell off. Flanner caught Penley in a bad spot and turned that into four points, from there she countered a shot for two exposure points to make it 10-4. A lost challenge from Penley’s camp, coupled with another takedown, gave us the final count.

Peterson Doubles Up on AA accolades

Abigail Peterson out of Iowa came into Fargo hoping to replicate Maryland’s Taina Fernandez’s feat of a year ago and win titles in both age groups. Truth be told, she was favored to do so with No. 1 Madison Healey (Pennsylvania) off doing World Championship Training.

Peterson, who carries the number two ranking at 100 pounds, took care of the 16U part, but was already eliminated from contention on the junior circuit. Peterson’s final foe was one of those pesky middle school girls, Oregon’s Olivia Hernandez, who was fifth at Super 32 and is an U15 Women’s National Champ.

Hernandez defeated No. 5 Maisie Elliott (Washington), 10-7, in the semis to generally show where she will fall in the August rankings. Peterson put up a 6-0 blanking for the 16U title.

The junior pursuit went off the rails to the eventual champ, No. 3 Lillee Denson (Michigan), who beat No. 4 Justice Gutierrez in those finals. Peterson holds a recent, as in this rankings period, 3-1 edge over Gutierrez.

Favorites Come Through

California’s No. 13 Taya Maumausolo Matagi walked into Fargo as the favorite to win the 16U 235-pound crown. She was given a tough early test and passed it with flying colors after dispersing No. 16 Caylee Rivera (New Mexico) to the consolation rounds on an 11-1 tech. Maumausolo Matagi faced No. 17 Maycee Hales (Utah) in the gold bout and took care of that with a 9-4 count.

There was an evenly matched 115-pound final made possible by No. 22 Auriana Wakinekona picking off No. 5 Sophia Gonzales (California) in the quarters with a 42 second pin. Upon arriving in the finals, Wakinekona was set to see No. 20 Kylee Vera (Ohio). It did not go well for the Hawaiian as she fell by a 9-4 score.

Washington’s No. 15 Winter West had a big disparity between her ranking and that of her 125-pond finals opponent, No. 29 Presley Beard (Kansas). West made that ring true with an 11-0 tech fall, in which the score was 7-0 at the half. Beard edged California’s No. 8 Alei Apostol, 7-6, to reach the title bout.

The 135-pound final had a feisty No. 45 Noli Paddock of New York on the cusp of upsetting No. 27 Rain Scott (Illinois). Scott did enough to keep Paddock at bay on the scorecard and walked off the victor with a 6-4 ending.

Maryland’s No. 20 Kesi Tsarni placed third here in 2025. To win her first Fargo Championship, Tsarni would have to slay another one of those eight grade finalists, who are more than ready for high school, Oklahoma’s Ki’Morah Cathey. Tsarni was up 6-0 after the first period and opened the second with a Fireman’s Dump and put Cathey away 14 seconds into the frame, 2:14.

Middle School Stars Make Their Mark

Five of the 16U Titles were won by girls we presume are in eight-grade. We’ve been tracking all these girls and some made appearances in our rankings until we learned they were still in middle school.

The best-known of these girls to us is Bella Manno. Last fall, Manno placed second at Super 32 and beat Michigan’s Denson there. Her prowess isn’t a joke. Backing up that assertion is a 10-0 tech fall of No. 6 Ella Neibert (Indiana) in 2:26 of their 105-pound final.

Michigan’s Lyla Hensen came into Fargo last year and placed third at 190 pounds. Back in 2026, Hensen is now the 207-pound champ after winning a 4-2 knuckle scrapper with No. 7 Abigail Lacy (Oklahoma) who was third at this weight in 2025.

The 2026 190-pound champ, Kansas’ Thompson, handled Hensen at the USA Folkstyle Nationals en route to winning it all. Thompson was looking across at last year’s eighth place finisher, Pennsylvania’s No. 37 Ashley Hoffman. It was a wild first period that our notes indicate Thompson went from close to being pinned to doing the pinning, which came at the 1:42 mark of the first period.

Oklahoma’s Garcia was given the number one seed at 130 pounds, so her track record is top notch with a fourth-place finish at Super 32 and having placed at both the U17 (5th) and U15 (3rd) Women’s Nationals. Garcia ran into Illinois’ Anastasia Rodnikova in the finals and pulled out a 4-1 decision.

Some crazy upsets were laid down by the two 95-pound finalists, both from the middle school ranks – Massachusetts’s Brooklyn Murray and Colorado’s Sophia Valdez.

Valdez won a 40-kilogram U17 PanAm Championship and won Women’s Nationals and will be on the World Team. Valdez knocked off No. 2 Brooklyn Henry (Pennsylvania) to reach the finals. Murray, who we don’t have a whole lot on was fourth at 46 kilograms at Nationals and took down No. 11 Lanaia Selig (Washington), 8-4, in the semis.

This one was undeniably about who had the best half with Valdez accruing six points in the first period and looking like a tech was possible to getting shutdown in the second while Murray piled up seven to take the lead and win it 7-6.

Full results and brackets

Team Scores (Top 10):

1-Pennsylvania 172

2-Oklahoma 113

3-Kansas 110

4-Illinois 105

5-California 104

6-New York 79

7-Arizona 64

8-Florida 61

9-Washington 61

10-Wisconsin 57

16U Girls Medal Match Results

95

1st - Brooklyn Murray (Massachusetts) Dec. Sophia Valdez (Colorado), 7-6

3rd - Brooklyn Henry (Pennsylvania) F. Lanaia Selig (Washington), 3:10

5th - Mia Pardo (North Carolina) F. Mia Nesbitt (Pennsylvania), 1:26

7th - Piper Phillips (Iowa) F. McKenzie Astorino (Pennsylvania), 0:58

100

1st - Abigail Peterson (Iowa) Dec. Olivia Hernandez (Oregon), 6-0

3rd - Paola Perez (Florida) F. Maisie Elliott (Washington), 0:23

5th - Timi Coles (Pennsylvania) T.F. Kylee Ooton (Oklahoma), 11-0 (0:57)

7th - Mya Beckett (Wisconsin) Dec. Sophia Lazaro (California), 3-2

105

1st - Bella Manno (Arizona) T.F. Ella Neibert (Indiana), 10-0 (2:26)

3rd - Olivia Munson (California) Dec. Kennedy Hogan (Illinois), 7-2

5th - Kayne-Lin Chun (Hawaii) Med. For. Cameron Hodge (Texas),

7th - Vivienne Popadiuc (New Mexico) Disq. Tatianna Castillo (Michigan),

110

1st - Riley Karwowski (Pennsylvania) F. Audrey Cunningham (Texas), 1:28

3rd - Daphney Gomez (Arizona) Dec. Kirra Mitchell (Georgia), 10-6

5th - Chloe Medlock (Oklahoma) Med. For. Charlotte Nold (Illinois),

7th - Zolah Williams (Missouri) Dec. Peggy Susan Dean (Colorado), 6-2

115

1st - Kaylee Vera (Ohio) Dec. Auriana Wakinekona (Hawaii), 9-4

3rd - Alexandria Barskiy (New Jersey) T.F. Isabella Fodera (California), 12-2 (3:05)

5th - Mabel Rogers (Missouri) Inj. Lillian Fonceca (California), 1:46

7th - Emma Baker (Michigan) Dec. Ember Zupanc (Wisconsin), 6-3

120

1st - McKenna Wilson (Oklahoma) Dec. Elle Changaris (New Jersey), 8-6

3rd - Olivia Kearns (Pennsylvania) T.F. Mikayla Perkins (Indiana), 10-0 (1:08)

5th - Alexa Smith (California) F. Khole Perez (Illinois), 0:59

7th - Rio Rening (California) Dec. Xuan Graham (Pennsylvania), 4-2

125

1st - Winter West (Washington) T.F. Presley Beard (Kansas), 11-0 (3:42)

3rd - Aleia Apostol (California) F. Hannah Naccarati-Cholo (Arizona), 1:19

5th - Hailey Worden (Nevada) T.F. McKinzee Mills (Ohio), 11-1 (3:39)

7th - Morgan Johnson (Wisconsin) Dec. Kaydence Golding (North Dakota), 6-2

130

1st - Rachel Garcia (Oklahoma) Dec. Anastasia Rodnikova (Illinois), 4-1

3rd - Gail Sullivan (New York) Dec. Daelin Cody (Wisconsin), 7-3

5th - Zaylyn Woods (Texas) Dec. Finley Evjen (South Dakota), 8-4

7th - Corabella Wesley (Indiana) Dec. Kyah Leyba (Oklahoma), 9-2

135

1st - Rain Scott (Illinois) Dec. Noli Paddock (New York), 6-4

3rd - Giavonna Good (Utah) T.F. Madelyn Medrano (Arkansas), 13-0 (1:10)

5th - Shannon Logue (Pennsylvania) Dec. Eila Schultz (Colorado), 8-4

7th - Annabella Nelson (Wisconsin) F. Aryanna Geiger (Illinois), 3:00

140

1st - Kesi Tsarni (Maryland) F. Ki'Morah Cathey (Oklahoma), 2:14

3rd - Paisley Morrison (Oregon) F. Katie Davidson (Wisconsin), 3:06

5th - Ava Turner (West Virginia) F. Jenny Gautreau (Pennsylvania), 1:13

7th - Sasha Williams (Oklahoma) Dec. Avery Colvin (Utah), 11-8

145

1st - Gray Joyce (Kansas) Dec. Audrey Robinson (Oregon), 6-4

3rd - Emma Antoni (Minnesota) F. Yamilett Cortez (Arizona), 1:47

5th - Kimberly Munoz (Pennsylvania) Med. For. Zoe Delgado (Florida),

7th - Layla Risler (Wisconsin) T.F. Delaney Dixon (New York), 12-1 (3:01)

155

1st - Ava Guilmette (New York) Dec. Camilla Hathaway (Pennsylvania), 11-2

3rd - Scarlett Yeager (Kansas) T.F. Maddison Miller (Pennsylvania), 11-0 (1:40)

5th - Ennis Coakley (Florida) Disq. Leolyn Karnowski (Kansas),

7th - Eleanor Robertson (Indiana) F. Josylyn Glass (California), 3:39

170

1st - Siobhan Flanner (Kansas) Dec. Alexis Penley (Illinois), 13-4

3rd - Remington LaFlamme (Pennsylvania) F. Regan Jensen (Iowa), 1:54

5th - Reghan Koch (Ohio) T.F. Emmyjane Bragg (California), 10-0 (1:04)

7th - Hayden Manning (Pennsylvania) F. Aaliyah Miller (Wisconsin), 3:40

190

1st - Kaylee Thompson (Kansas) F. Ashley Hoffman (Pennsylvania), 1:42

3rd - Zeinab Mourad (Florida) F. Princess Saili (Washington), 3:16

5th - Bentley Betts (Alabama) Med. For. Brianna Sandoval (New Jersey),

7th - Tasi Maumausolo Matagi (California) Med. For. Olivia Martinez (Minnesota),

207

1st - Lyla Hensen (Michigan) Dec. Abagail Lacy (Oklahoma), 4-2

3rd - Kenzie Barrett (Florida) Dec. Ava Gregg (New York), 6-6

5th - Mercedes Kruse (Wisconsin) F. Keleigh Russell-Smith (Idaho), 3:19

7th - Brianna White (Colorado) F. Kaydence Sander (Wyoming), 2:25

235

1st - Taya Maumausolo Matagi (California) Dec. Maycee Hales (Utah), 9-4

3rd - Caylee Rivera (New Mexico) F. Anastasia Crum (Illinois), 0:54

5th - Malena Borja (Missouri) F. Jacey Peterson (North Dakota), 1:57

7th - Zavanna Evans (New York) F. Ellie Drennon (Missouri), 1:10

Add us as a preferred source on Google