Michigan claims three titles at Junior Freestyle in Fargo

Photo: Joshua Barr (bottom) drove in against Aiden Riggins and eventually won the 160-pound title at the 2021 Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D. (Mike Finn photo)

FARGO, N.D. — Michigan natives Braeden Davis, Joshua Barr and Manuel Rojas all competed in the 16U Nationals the last time they competed in this North Dakota community in 2019 after the annual national event was cancelled because of the pandemic.

Two years later, they are older and even better as the trio all captured Junior National championships Tuesday afternoon in the Fargodome.
Davis, a junior state champion from Dundee High School, duplicated his effort from two years ago when won a 16U title. This year, he needed a little over three minutes to score an 11-1 technical fall over Benjamin Aranda of Illinois for the 113-pound championship.

Both Barr and Rojas improved on 16U All-American honors from two years ago when Barr finished fourth and Rojas claimed second place. Barr, a junior state champion from Davison High School scored late and rallied for a 4-4 criteria win over Aiden Riggins of Iowa at 160 pounds, while Rojas from Detroit Catholic Central held off Brayden Thompson of Illinois, 5-2, in the 170-pound final.

This was the most individual titles by any state among the 14 Junior men’s freestyle matches that we held on the fourth day of the week-long tournament. This also wraps up the men’s freestyle competition in either 16U or Junior level.

Junior women’s freestyle tournament will conclude with its finals tomorrow when Greco-Roman competition begins. The 16U Greco finals will be held on Thursday before the 50th annual event ends on Friday with Junior Greco finals.

WIN Magazine will provide more detailed results and features about the 2021 Junior/16U Nationals in the next issue of WIN, which will be published July 27. CLICK HERE OR CALL 888-305-0606 to subscribe to the magazine.

Drake Ayala, an Iowa state champ from Fort Dodge (Iowa) High School was named the Junior Freestyle OW, after the future Iowa Hawkeye needed just 52 seconds to beat Sergio Lemley of Indiana for the 126-pound championship.
The state of Illinois claimed the team championship as Kannon Webster (120) and Nasir Bailey (132) won individual titles and were among 11 All-Americans from the state.

Junior Freestyle
Top 20 State Standings

JR FREESTYLE
FINALS
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