Fargo Wrestling Quarterfinals: High-Stakes Showdowns Set at Junior Nationals

Top-ranked stars, defending champs and rising underdogs battle for All-American honors at the Fargodome

Tennessee state champ Christopher Swann has knocked off two nationally ranked wrestlers to reach the quarterfinals of the Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Quarterfinal Stakes: One Win From All-American Status

After two intense days of wrestling engagement, the field at the Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota is down to the quarterfinals, with those participants needing one more win to gain All-American status. Wrestlers still alive in the consolation bracket need to post two more wins to reach the promised land.

Defending National Champs Still in Contention

The Fargodome will be rocking on Wednesday morning with a slate of start studded quarterfinals. We will highlight some of the more notable of those from our perspective. Two defending Junior National Champs, Georgia’s Christopher Swann (113 pounds) and Pennsylvania’s Melvin Miller (165), are still in the running to repeat as is former Junior National Champ, Haakon Peterson (Wisconsin, 144 pounds).

Swann came into Fargo unranked by High School on SI and took out two ranked wrestlers to advance to his quarterfinal with Honorable Mention Kaleb Pratt (Illinois). Swann downed No. 22 Camden Rugg (Wisconsin), 9-3, and No. 28 Layne Martin of Michigan, 7-4.

Miller, who is ranked fourth and is the highest ranked grappler in the 165-pound brackets, will face Honorable Mention Liam Crook (Wisconsin). Crook placed fourth in 16U Freestyle a year ago.

Peterson was placed in the number fourteen spot of our rankings and used two mild upsets to move forward starting with Florida’s No. 11 Jayce Paridon, 2-1, and continuing with New Jersey’s No. 13 Camden Baum, 4-2. Peterson will see Honorable Mention Jet Brown, who used a shocking 4-3 decision of No. 9 Jesse Grajeda (California), to make his appearance.

Bo Bassett and World Champs Eye the Podium

A former World Champion, one of four in the collective, No. 1 Bo Bassett of Pennsylvania lurks for the victor of Peterson/Brown. Bassett will stare down No. 12 Ryan Kennedy of Ohio in his quarter. New Jersey’s Paul Kenny (126 pounds), Kentucky’s Jordyn Raney (138), and Florida’s Michael Mocco (heavyweight) are the other defending or former World Champs.

Kenny’s meeting with No. 3 Antonio Mills of Georgia is a battle of the two highest ranked guys left in contention for gold at 126 pounds. Mills defeated Kenny, 5-4, at the U.S. Open in the Spring. Raney’s foe will be the unranked Valentine Popadiuc (New Mexico), who upset No. 19 Drake Hooiman (Nevada), 5-3, in the round of 16.

Mocco, a 2024 World Champion, will participate in a battle for Florida supremacy with No. 8 Jacob Levy. Mocco, who currently sits in the No. 3 spot of our ratings, won Ironman where Levy was third, but the two have not met head-to-head. The winner will likely encounter No. 2 Coby Merrill of California. Merrill beat Mocco in the U20 Freestyle Bronze Medal match, 9-0.

Key Rematches Highlight the Quarterfinals

Three other rematches of recent times are scheduled in the quarters. Florida’s No. 9 Zeno Moore put a major decision on No. 11 Wyatt Medlin (Illinois), 12-3, at Ironman when they were 150-pounders. Both are returning All-Americans that have migrated up to 157 pounds for Fargo.  

Rankings on the Line in Redemption Matches

Michigan’s No. 18 JayDen Williams was on quite an impressive run that started with a runner-up finish in 16U Freestyle last year and continued through a stellar high school campaign. At the Central Region Freestyle Tournament, Williams was tripped up by No. 23 Sullivan Ramos (Wisconsin). Williams’ previous track record kept him above Ramos in the rankings; their Wednesday morning meeting could be the deciding factor in their ranking’s relationship. Ramos handled No. 19 Kalob Ybarra (Colorado), 15-4.

Unfinished Business From Past Seasons

On this very stage a year ago, California’s No. 9 Moses Mendoza eked by No. 15 Timothy Koester of Iowa on the way to a sixth-place finish, while Koster did not place. They meet again this year in one of the 132-pound quarters.

Quarterfinal Matchups With History

At the 2024 National Prep Tournament, No. 9 Julian Rios (Massachusetts) handed No. 18 Justin Farnsworth (Pennsylvania) a 5-3 loss. They were in separate weight classes at this year’s prep tournament. Their 113-pound quarterfinal will show if the tide has changed with time. Farnsworth, who was a 16U champion in 2024, shocked No. 5 Jarrett Smith of Michigan, 4-2, in the round of 16.

Pennsylvanians Meet Again With High Stakes

Staying in our way-back time machine showed us a snapshot from when two Pennsylvanians met as sophomores at the Pennsylvania Freestyle State Tournament with No. 7 Sam Herring winning by a 10-0 technical superiority over No. 14 Tyler DeKraker. They meet here at 138 pounds after both were in the same U.S. Open bracket where Herring finished second and DeKraker did not reach the podium.

Premier Showdown: Uhorchuk vs. Zinkin at 120

A high-powered showdown will occur at 120 pounds with No. 2 JoJo Uhorchuk of Tennessee facing No. 4 Rocklin Zinkin from California. The two have not met previously but share Ohio’s Grey Burnett as a common opponent with Uhorchuk defeating Burnett at Super 32, and Burnett beating Zinkin at the U.S. Open.

Rising Stars and Close Rankings Collide

There are six other intriguing quarterfinal matchups spread out over the brackets with closely ranked guys meeting. At 113 pounds, No.11 Oumar Tounkara (New York) opposes No. 19 Loc Webber from Ohio. Tounkara authored a mild upset of Florida’s No. 8 Liam Davis, by tech fall, 10-0 (4:36), to advance.

Indiana’s No. 16 Case Bell will wrestle his 120-pound quarter versus No. 18 Brock Rothermel of Pennsylvania. A bout at 132 pounds will put forth No. 25 Justyce Zuniga (Washington) and No. 29 Dale Corbin (Pennsylvania). Corbin teched No. 16 Liam Neitzel (Wisconsin), 13-3, in his travels. Zuniga beat No. 22 Deven Casy (Illinois), 7-6.

National Prep Tournament grapplers will be adversaries at 165 pounds with No. 16 Lucas Boe of Florida testing his meddle up in weight and age group from his 16U Freestyle Championship run of a year ago facing No. 20 Liam Carlin (New York), who placed third at preps. Boe won the 157-pound National Prep Title.

Heavyweight Brackets Full of Firepower

In the upper weights, No. 2 Adam Waters of Pennsylvania will be opposing No. 9 Michael White (Indiana) at 190 pounds. No. 6 Levi Bussey of California has a 215-pound quarterfinal with Indiana’s No. 10 Noah Weaver. Weaver avenged two losses to Minnesota’s No. 7 Evan McGuire.

Bracket-Busting Underdogs Continue to Climb

An unexpected quarterfinalist emerged at 126 pounds when Honorable Mention Nicholas Garcia (Illinois) blanked No. 2 Ignacio Villasenor (Oklahoma), 6-0, and will now battle fellow honorable mention entry, Siraj Sidhu of California. Garcia also took out No. 28 Sean Willcox (California), 7-5.

Cinderella Runs Define the 150-Pound Bracket

Upsets paved the way for four to reach the 150-pound quarters. Colorado’s Brandon Dean was an unlikely All-American a year ago and needs just one more win to pull it off again. Dean won a 10-6 decision with Nebraska’s Mason Petersen (honorable mention) and now gets No. 5 Davis Parrow (Minnesota).

Minnesota’s Grayson Eggum’s early win over No.16 Austin Paris (Utah) propelled him into a meeting with No. 15 Dallas Russell of Georgia, who used a huge upset in the beginning rounds of No. 2 Blake Cosby (Michigan) to power his climb. Indiana’s Tommy Gibbs got the best of No. 22 Justin Wardlow of Illinois in the early going and will stand across from No. 8 Matthew Martino (Idaho), who relegated No. 6 Blasé Mele (New Jersey) to the consolation rounds to make the quarters.

Illinois’ Maksim Mukhamedaliyev hung a 16-10 loss on Ohio’s Joseph Sanderfer as he worked his way to the quarters to be greeted by No. 3 Logan Paradice of Georgia. Mukhamedaliyev stuck Alaska’s Jacob Morris in 3:50, after Morris won a wild one by 20-10 tech over No. 20 Jason Worthley (Utah).

Wisconsin’s Cole Dummer surprised two ranked wrestlers on his voyage to the 157-pound quarters, No. 19 Gabriel Delgado (Nevada) and No. 23 Silas Stits (Indiana). Dummer gets No. 17 Reagan Milheim of Pennsylvania. Chris Dennis of Pennsylvania faces a tall order versus No. 22 Maximus Dhabolt (Iowa) but just took out No. 17 Tucker Roybal (Utah), 10-0, to get there.

A similar pattern is at play with Iowa’s Lincoln Jipp at 175 pounds as the honorable mention grappler upended a higher ranked opponent first, No. 12 Travis Grace of California, and now faces Indiana’s No. 14 Waylon Cressell.

Madness was also prevalent at 190 pounds with upsets shaking up the bottom of the bracket. No. 15 Victor Marks-Jenkins (Maryland) was edged by Honorable Mention Trey Craig of Missouri, 5-4. Craig was discarded by No. 30 Alex Reyes (New Jersey). Reyes steps up to see No. 10 John Murphy (Minnesota) next.

Honorable Mention Lucas Ricketts of Kentucky was part of a chain that toppled No. 8 Gunner Henry of Indiana. Maryland’s No. 22 Peter Snyder defeated Henry, 4-2, and then dropped his bout with Ricketts by the same score. Ricketts and No. 7 Jimmy Mastny are lined up on the brackets.

Quarterfinal Schedule and How to Watch

The quarterfinals start at 10 a.m. (CDT) with wrestling going until the placement bouts are slotted. At 3 p.m. the third, fifth, and seventh place matches are scheduled with the championship finals for both Junior and 16U starting at 5:30 p.m.

Full Brackets can be found here: (you need to create an account but it’s free)