Fargo’s Junior Freestyle features returning duo champs from Michigan & Ohio
Photos: Braeden Davis (left) is one of two wrestlers from Michigan to have won Junior men’s freestyle championships last summer, while Camden McDanel (right) is one of two Ohio 16U champs from 2021 who will contend for Junior titles next week at USA Wrestling’s Junior/16U Nationals in Fargo, N.D.
By Mike Finn
A pair of young wrestlers from the states of Michigan and Ohio will be among seven young men who won Fargo “stop sign” in 2021 and hope to earn another championship in the 2022 Junior Men’s Freestyle tournament that runs July 17-19 in Fargo, N.D.
Braeden Davis of Dundee, Mich., and Joshua Barr of Davison, Mich., respectively won titles at 113 and 160 pounds in last summer’s Junior men’s freestyle tournament and will compete at 120 and 170 this summer in the Fargodome. They will be joined by Hunter Taylor from Liberty, Mo., who will wrestle at 113 pounds this July after winning a Junior men’s freestyle title at 106 in 2021.
Meanwhile, there are four wrestlers who won 16U championships in this style last summer, who are moving up to the Junior Nationals in 2022.
That includes Javaan Yarbrough of Copley, Ohio, and Camden McDanel of Ashville, Ohio, who won 16U titles at 88 and 182 pounds, respectively, last summer and now will contend for Junior crowns next week at 100 and 195 pounds.
Other 2021 16U champs looking for 2022 Junior titles are Adrian Meza of Laveen, Ariz., and Zach Hanson from Lakeville, Minn. Last year Meza won the 120-pound 16U championship and will wrestle at 126 this July. Hanson is moving up to 145 pounds in the Junior men’s freestyle tournament after claiming a championship at 132 pounds in 16U in 2021.
Preliminary numbers suggest that 1,641 Junior wrestlers will compete in the men’s freestyle tournament in the Fargodome on the campus of North Dakota State University. That would break the record of 1,585 freestyle wrestlers who competed in the 2021 Junior Nationals. The source for these numbers can be found in Jason Bryant’s MatTalk Online Fargo Almanac. (https://mattalkonline.gumroad.com/l/fargoguide)
The following is a schedule for all six tournaments in 2022. Click on tourney to view preview of that event. Junior Greco will be featured on July 14.
| Tourney | First-round | Quarters/Semis | Finals |
| 16U women’s FS | July 16, 8 a.m. | July 16, 3 p.m. | July 17, 1:30 p.m. |
| 16U men’s FS | July 16, 8 a.m. | July 17, 4:30 p.m. | July 18, 1:30 p.m. |
| Junior men’s FS | July 17, 4:30 p.m. | July 18, 9 a.m./4:30 p.m. | July 19, 1 p.m. |
| Junior women’s FS | July 19, 9 a.m. | July 19, 4 p.m./July 20 9 a.m. | July 20, 2 p.m. |
| 16U Greco | July 20, 8 a.m. | July 20, 5 p.m./July 21, 8:30 a.m. | July 21, 2 p.m. |
| Junior Greco | July 21, 8:30 a.m. | July 21, 4:30 p.m./July 22, 9 a.m. | July 22, 2 p.m. |
The following are the All-American matches from the 2021 Junior Nationals in men’s freestyle.
Championship Matches
100 – Zane Donley (Oklahoma) won by TF over Nate Smith (Indiana), 13-2 2:29
106 – Hunter Taylor (Missouri) won by TF over Brandon Morvari (Minnesota), 10-0 4:21
113 – Braeden Davis (Michigan) won by TF over Benjamin Aranda (Illinois), 11-1 3:37
120 – Kannon Webster (Illinois) won by TF over Yusief Lillie (Washington), 12-1 4:22
126 – Drake Ayala (Iowa) won by TF over Sergio Lemley (Indiana), 10-0 0:52
132 – Nasir Bailey (Illinois) dec. Emilio Ysaguirre, jr. (Arizona), 4-4
138 – Tagen Jamison (Texas) dec. Casey Swiderski (Michigan), 7-2
145 – Jordan Williams (Oklahoma) dec. Caleb Rathjen (Iowa), 4-3
152 – Caleb Henson (Georgia) dec. Daniel Wask (New Jersey), 9-9
160 – Joshua Barr (Michigan) dec. Aiden Riggins (Iowa), 4-4
170 – Manuel Rojas (Michigan) dec. Brayden Thompson (Illinois), 5-2
182 – Thomas Stewart (Maryland) dec. Brian Soldano (New Jersey), 8-4
195 – Dylan Fishback (Ohio) pinned Seth Shumate (Ohio), 8-3 5:25
220 – Christian Carroll (Indiana) won by TF over Ben Kueter (Iowa), 12-0 3:24
285 – Ben Kawczynski (Wisconsin) dec. Chase Horne (Georgia), 12-4
3rd-Place Matches
100 – Treshaun Tecson (Oklahoma) won by TF over Tyson Roach (Louisiana), 10-0 1:17
106 – Daniel Guanajuato (Arizona) dec. Christian Forbes (Oklahoma), 10-9
113 – Alan Koehler (Minnesota) won by TF over Dominic Mendez (California), 11-1 3:42
120 – Cooper Flynn (Tennessee) dec. Jett Strickenberger (Colorado), 10-2
126 – Jore Volk (Minnesota) dec. Gabe Whisenhunt (Oregon), 11-7
132 – Nic Bouzakis (Pennsylvania) won by TF over Danny Nini (Florida), 11-0 1:29
138 – Ty Whalen (New Jersey) won by injury default over Kimo Leia (California)
145 – Matthew Bianchi (Wisconsin) dec. Jackson Arrington (Pennsylvania), 14-6
152 – Paniro Johnson (Pennsylvania) dec.. Luka Wick (California), 12-12
160 – Rocco Welsh (Pennsylvania) dec. Braeden Scoles (Wisconsin), 6-3
170 – Luke Geog (Ohio) won by TF over Jared Stricker (Wisconsin), 11-0 1:07
182 – Hayden Walters (Oregon) won by injury default Bennett Berge (Minnesota)
195 – Rylan Rogers (Washington) dec. Kolby Franklin (Pennsylvania), 10-2
220 – Noah Pettigrew (Georgia) dec. Martin Cosgrove (New Jersey), 8-3
285 – Ryan Boersma (Illinois) won by TF over Charles Crews iii (Pennsylvania), 13-1 4:35
5th-Place Matches
100 – Kolter Burton (Idaho) won by TF over Hank Kriegler (Nebraska), 12-1 2:00
106 – Connor Fiser (Iowa) dec. Wyatt Skebba (Wisconsin), 11-4
113 – Codie Cuerbo (Ohio) dec. Cole Hunt (Georgia), 11-10
120 – Grigor Cholakyan (California) dec. Dillon Campbell (Ohio), 8-1
126 – Vincent Robinson (Illinois) won by TF over Braden Basile (Florida), 10-0 1:00
132 – Zeke Seltzer (Indiana) won by forfeit over Garrett Grice (Nebraska)
138 – Jude Swisher (Pennsylvania) dec. Blaine Brenner (Wisconsin), 7-6
145 – Nicco Ruiz (California) won by TF over Richard Fedalen (Maryland), 15-5 6:00
152 – Cael Swensen (Minnesota) won by TF over Erik Gibson (Pennsylvania), 14-3 2:57
160 – Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) won by forfeit over Luke Mechler (Wisconsin)
170 – Brody Baumann (Indiana) won by TF over Codei Khawaja (Indiana), 12-2 1:55
182 – Whiting (Wisconsin) won by TF over Jared Simma (Kansas), 15-2 2:35
195 – Caden Rogers (Pennsylvania) won by TF over John Gunderson (Wisconsin), 11-0 2:13
220 – Bennett Tabor (Minnesota) won by TF over Logan Shephard (Ohio), 10-0 3:32
285 – Jamikael Lytle (California) pinned Tristan Kemp (Massachusetts), 9-8 4:14
7th-Place Matches
100 – Tucker Bowen (Idaho) pinned Isaac Stewart (Montana), 6-4 3:44
106 – Isiac Paulino (Massachusetts) won by TF over Ty Edwards (Illinois), 10-0 1:06
113 – Drew Heethuis (Michigan) won by forfeit over Caden Horwath (Michigan)
120 – Max Black (Colorado) won by forfeit over Sean Seefeldt (Ohio)
126 – Nico Provo (Connecticut) won by TF over Sebastian Melguizo (Florida), 10-0 2:09
132 – Hunter Mason (Tennessee) won by forfeit obver Greyson Clark (Wisconsin)
138 – Rocco Camillaci (New York) dec. Kole Brower (Illinois), 10-8
145 – Henry Porter (California) won by TF over Benjamin Alanis (Arizona), 12-1 4:17
152 – Jacob Gonzales (Michigan) won by TF over Dylan d. Elmore (Kansas), 16-6 3:56
160 – Holden Garcia (Pennsylvania) won by forfeit over Adam Thebeau (Illinois)
170 – Sabino Portella (New Jersey) dec. Derek Matthews (Idaho), 11-10
182 – Deanthony Parker (Illinois) won by TF over Griffin Gammell (Iowa), 10-0 2:44
195 – Evan Bates (Indiana) dec. Wyatt Voelker (Iowa), 2-2
220 – Andrew Blackburn-forst (Illinois) won by forfeit over Ben Vanadia (Ohio)
285 – Ethan Vergara (Florida) won by forfeit over Harley Andrews (Oklahoma), 0-0
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