Little Soldier beats another defending champ; Iowa captures first team title in 16U women’s freestyle

Photo: Skylar Little Soldier of Michigan (front) scored a takedown and used a one-point move to beat Cadence Diduch of Illinois for the 127-pound 16U women’s freestyle championship, Sunday afternoon in the Fargodome. (John Johnson photo)

By Mike Finn

Minnesota’s Skylar Little Soldier won a second straight 16U women’s freestyle championships on Sunday at the 2022 U.S. Marines Junior/16U Nationals in Fargo, N.D. But the native of Welch, Minn., and a junior at Hastings High School had to beat another defending champion — Illinois native Cadence Diduch — to capture the 127-pound championship in the Fargodome.

Little Soldier, who also won a 16U title at 127 in 2021, swapped takedowns with Diduch — the 117-pound champion and sophomore from Freeport High school — before clinching the 2022 championship on a stepout with 1:11 left in the match.

These women from Iowa captured the state’s first 16U Fargo team championship by earning eight All-American honors and a solo championship by Molly Alien. (John Johnson photo)

Meanwhile, the Iowa’s 16U team made history by capturing a first-ever Fargo team championship at this age division. This group of women saw eight earn All-American honors and was led by 112-pound Molly Allen, who pinned Arizona’s Karlee Brooks a minute into their match. Allen, a native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and sophomore from Underwood High School, reached the finals when she upset defending 16U national champ Cecilia Williams of Michigan, 7-1, in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, three other returning champs from 2021 left the Fargodome with another “stop sign” trophy:

• Maryland’s Nebi Tsarni defeated Skylar Slade of Iowa, 10-2, at 144;
• Minnesota’s Ella Pagel won by technical fall over Piper Fowler of Tennessee), 10-0 in the 164-pound title bout;
• Michigan Sabrina Nauss was only leading Kali Hayden (Oklahoma), 8-7 before she scored a fall in 2:28 of the 180-pound championship.

This was the first of six separate age-group tournaments that are being held in the week-long event in Fargo, which started on Saturday. The next championship will be 16U men’s freestyle and determined Monday afternoon in the Fargodome. That will be followed Junior men’s freestyle on Tuesday, Junior women freestyle on Wednesday, 16U Greco-Roman on Thursday and Junior Greco-Roman on Friday.

This is the WIN cover from the 2021 Junior/16U Nationals event. Click on the cover to learn how you can subscribe to WIN in time to receive coverage of the 2022 Fargo championships.

WIN Magazine will provide a more comprehensive look at all six tournaments in the upcoming issue, which will be printed on Aug. 2. Click here or call 888-305-0606 to subscribe to WIN Magazine.

2022 16U Women’s Freestyle

Top-10 16U Women’s Freestyle Team Standings

All-American Matches

Championships

94 – Katey Valdez (Colorado) won by TF over Joely Slyter (Idaho), 10-0 1:32

100 – Rianne Murphy (Indiana) pinned Mary Manis (Florida), 8-2 3:20

106 – Ava Ward (Missouri) dec. Heather Crull (Indiana), 10-0 1:34

112 – Molly Allen (Iowa) pinned Karlee Brooks (Arizona), 4-0 1:08

117 – Persaeus Gomez (Colorado) dec. Isabella marie Gonzales (California), 12-2 3:26

122 – Everest Leydecker (Arizona) dec. Carley Ceshker (Wisconsin), 8-4

127 – Skylar Little soldier (Minnesota) dec. Cadence Diduch (Illinois), 3-2

132 – Carina Giangeruso (New Jersey) dec. Lauren Walton (Kentucky), 3-3

138 – Sarah Henckel (Connecticut) dec. Faith Bartoszek (Wisconsin), 3-2

144 – Nebi Tsarni (Maryland) dec. Skylar Slade (Iowa), 10-2

152 – Mishell Rebisch (Michigan) dec. Genevieve An (Georgia), 9-6

164 – Ella Pagel (Minnesota) won by TF over Piper Fowler (Tennessee), 10-0 2:53

180 – Sabrina Nauss (Michigan) pinned Kali Hayden (Oklahoma), 8-7 2:28

200 – Savannah Isaac (Ohio) pinned Mariyah Brumley (Missouri), 4-0 0:20

3^rd-Place Matches

94 – Caley Graber (Minnesota) won by TF over Annalise Maralit (South Carolina), 12-2 2:54

100 – Gigi Bragg (Michigan) won by TF over Lauren Nguyen (California), 10-0 3:17

106 – Angelina Cassioppi (Illinois) dec. Ana Malovich (Pennsylvania), 7-4

112 – Aubre Krazer (Pennsylvania) dec. Cecilia Williams (Michigan), 4-1

117 – Bella Williams (Oklahoma) dec. Ashley Naranjo (Washington), 6-2

122 – Haylie Jaffe (Pennsylvania) dec. Alejandra Valdiviezo (California), 4-2

127 – Alicen Dillard (Texas) pinned Kayla Edwards (California), 6-6 2:56

132 – Isis France (Arizona) won by TF over Morgan Lucio (Arizona), 10-0 3:11

138 – Madison Westerberg (New York) dec. Gianna Dibenedetto (California), 13-2 3:34

144 – Sydney Perry (Illinois) dec. Emma Peach (Iowa), 4-2

152 – Skylur Lewis (Arkansas) dec. Savannah Holderby (Ohio), 2-1

164 – Olivia Stean (Kansas) dec. Naomi Simon (Iowa), 8-7

180 – Aurellia Ramos (Utah) won by TF ov er Tirza Twoteeth (Montana), 10-0 3:02

200 – Blythe Cayko (Colorado) pinned Cheyenne Cruce (Florida), 6-2 2:57

5^th-Place Matches

94 – Zoey Jewett (New York) won by TF ov er Kendall Moe (Indiana), 10-0 1:35

100 – Gabriele Tedesco (Florida) dec. Madison Heinzer (California), 9-9

106 – Aspen Blasko (Minnesota) pinned Mikayla Garcia (California), 4-3 3:02

112 – Reanah Utterback (Iowa) pinned Calli Gilchrist (Connecticut), 4-0 1:04

117 – Kira Cole (Ohio) dec. Evelyn Holmes-smith (Alabama), 2-2

122 – Savannah Witt (Pennsylvania) won by TF over Audrey Rogotzke (Minnesota), 11-0 2:56

127 – Jordyn Fouse (Pennsylvania) pinned Dealya Collins (Wisconsin), 10-1 3:35

132 – Janiah Jones (Missouri) dec. Mackenzie Pratt (Illinois), 6-3

138 – Sofia Delgado (Florida) won by TF over Annabelle Davis (Texas), 10-0 1:24

144 – May Cuyler (Virginia) pinned Jahlia Miguel (Hawaii), 5-4 0:43

152 – Alison Evans (Colorado) dec.  Cali Dupree (Missouri), 3-3

164 – Kylee Lindsley (Montana) pinned Jael Miller (Pennsylvania), 8-2 1:53

180 – Isabella Renfro (Missouri) dec.  Symphony Veloz (Oklahoma), 9-0

200 – Tilisa Matakaiongo (Utah) pinned Kiona Michel (Washington), 4-0 0:26

7^th-Place Matches

94 – Kyler Menza (Washington) dec. Alexandra Sebek (Illinois), 4-4

100 – Mia Galindo (Virginia) pinned Avy Perez (California), 4-0 0:37

106 – Jillian Worthen (Iowa) won by TF over Harlee Hiller (Illinois), 12-2 0:52

112 – Angelina Vargas (Missouri) pinned Bk Martinez (California), 6-0 1:47

117 – Isabella Cepak (Michigan) pinned Jessa Joiner (Missouri), 14-6 2:23

122 – Sophie Bowers (Illinois) dec. Ella Gahl (Indiana), 5-0

127 – Ciara Riner (West Virginia) pinned Regan Rosseter (Nebraska), 5-3 2:24

132-  Isabella Dias (Pennsylvania) dec. Janessa O’connell (Washington), 7-4

138 – Taydem Bylin (Washington) dec. Lena Johannson (Alabama), 9-2

144 – Madeline Haynes (Missouri) dec. Raegan Snider (Pennsylvania), 7-3

152 – Lexi Ritchie (Illinois) pinned Adriana Palumbo (New York), 8-0 1:42

164 – Bella Porcelli (Iowa) dec. Rachel Schauer (Wisconsin), 13-4

180 – Ellie Poulette (Missouri) pinned Taylor Waddy (Virginia), 4-2 1:08

200 – Phoenix Lindseth (North Dakota) pinned Savannah Sistad (Iowa), 4-1 1:57