Who will be the Top Two Juniors & Cadets in July?

By Rob Sherrill, WIN High School Columnist

It’s time for our annual fearless forecast. You know…the one where we hang ourselves out to dry. Who will make the Cadet and Junior National finals at Fargo in July?

As is our usual rule, everybody who makes our predictions has participated in at least one USA Wrestling event this year. In some years, that has limited the available talent pool significantly (though we’re not using that as an excuse). No Fargo walk-ins on this list, regardless of ability. Still, plenty of the nation’s elite wrestlers have come out for one or more events this year.

The Cadet National Duals were available to us at press time, so with fewer other Cadet results available than in previous years, we decided to take advantage of them. Dual-meet wrestling, though, regardless of the venue, is a sport of momentum. A lot of upsets take place after your teammates have won four or five matches in a row (an upset win) or after a similar losing streak (an upset loss). That’s where the mental toughness aspect of the sport comes in. As we’ve seen, however, a lot of those results get turned around a few weeks later under the Dome.

So, with apologies to blind squirrels everywhere, here are what the Cadet and Junior National finals could look like with 13 preps picked to make the finals in both Greco-Roman and freestyle:

Cadet Nationals (Greco-Roman finals, July 18/ Freestyle finals, July 22)

84: GR, Luke Karam (PA) vs. Jabari Moody (IL); FS, Moody vs. Brandon Staley (FL)

91: GR, Isaac Jimenez (TX) vs. Gannon Volk (MN); FS, Miguel Silva (IL) vs. Volk

98: GR, Ronnie Bresser (OR) vs. Ethan Lizak (PA); FS, Bresser vs. Vincenzo Joseph (PA)

105: GR, Darian Cruz (PA) vs. Michael Cook (ID); FS, Cruz vs. Tommy Thorn (MN)

112: GR, Joey McKenna (NJ) vs. Josh Newberg (WA); FS, Sebastian Pique (IL) vs. Joe Smith (OK)

119: GR, James Flint (FL) vs. Darius Henry (IL); FS, Gary Wayne Harding (OK) vs. Justin Oliver (MI)

125: GR, Anthony Gonzales (MI) vs. Michael Sepke (IL); FS, Anthony Ashnault (NJ) vs. Edgar Bright (OH)

130: GR, Joseph Nelson (MN) vs. Hayden Tuma (ID); FS, Bo Nickal (TX) vs. Daniel Sanchez (MD)

135: GR, Fox Baldwin (FL) vs. Grant LaMont (UT); FS, Bryce Brill (IL) vs. Chris Wilkes (MO)

140: GR, Mitchell Alexander (IL) vs. Devin Vasquez (TX); FS, Toby Hague (NJ) vs. Colin Holler (IL)

145: GR, Seth Liegel (WI) vs. Tucker Simonton (WA); FS, Aaron Hartman (FL) vs. Austin Hughes (MI)

152: GR, Andrew Garcia (MI) vs. Chance Marsteller (PA); FS, Marsteller vs. Keilan Torres (OK)

160: GR, Troy Hembury (PA) vs. Ricky Robertson (IL); FS, Zach Beard (OK) vs. Jake Stilling (WI)

171: GR, Jadean Bernstein (NJ) vs. Raymond O’Donnell (PA); FS, Zachary Martinez (VA) vs. Troy Seymour (NY)

189: GR, Tyler DeNova (GA) vs. Sage Hecox (IL); FS, Tyler Andreason (FL) vs. DeNova

215: GR, J’Den Cox (MO) vs. Edgar Ruano (IL); FS, Nick Cobb (TX) vs. Cox

285: GR, Nazar Mirenenko (PA) vs. Sam Stoll (MN); FS, Jake Scanlan (IA) vs. Stoll

Junior Nationals (Greco-Roman finals, July 19/ Freestyle finals, July 23)

98: GR, Nkosi Moody (IL) vs. Lincoln Olson (MI); FS, Gabriel Martinez (WA) vs. Olson

105: GR, Dylan Lucas (FL) vs. Jarred Oftedahl (MN); FS, Matt Garelli (IL) vs. Tommy Thorn (MN)

112: GR, Colton Howell (MO) vs. Ruben Navejas (WA); FS, Phillip Laux (IA) vs. Darshawn Sharp (GA)

119: GR, Dylan Peters (IA) vs. Freddie Rodriguez (MI); FS, Thomas Gilman (NE) vs. Rodriguez

125: GR, Mitch Bengtson (MN) vs. Fabian Garcia (CA); FS, Cory Clark (IA) vs. Hunter Weber (WI)

130: GR, Zane Richards (IL) vs. Jade Rauser (MT); FS, Richards vs. Rauser

135: GR, Ben Morgan (MN) vs. Valyen Rauser (MT); FS, John Meeks (IA) vs. Todd Preston (NJ)

140: GR, Joey LaVallee (NV) vs. Hayden Zillmer (MN); FS, Jake Short (MN) vs. Brandon Sorensen (IA)

145: GR, Dillon Cowan (IL) vs. Rylan Lubeck (WI); FS, Gabriel Moreno (IA) vs. Jake Sueflohn (WI)

152: GR, Kory DeBerry (AZ) vs. Ryan Gartner (WI); FS, Destin McCauley (MN) vs. Oliver Pierce (TX)

160: GR, Seth Thomas (OR) vs. Dylan Reel (IL); FS, Zach Brunson (OR) vs. Eric Morris (PA)

171: GR, Tyler Coates (WA) vs. Jordan Rogers (WA); FS, Jahwon Akui (IL) vs. Rogers

189: GR, Sam Brooks (IL) vs. Jack Dechow (IL); FS, Curtis Berger (OR) vs. Gage Harrah (IL)

215: GR, Tanner Hall (ID) vs. Michael Sojka (IL); FS, Hall vs. Austin Marsden (IL)

285: GR, Parker Betts (MN) vs. Brooks Black (PA); FS, Cody Krumwiede (IA) vs. Doug Vollaro (FL)