FARGO: Freestyle Edition

The Freestyle competition for both 16U and Juniors at Fargo started on Friday and concluded with Sunday afternoon and evening’s placement matches. Team Maryland placed four junior grapplers on the podium at USA Wrestling’s Fargo National Championships at the Fargodome in North Dakota.

The hardware hunters were Tyler Verceles (120 pounds), Brooklyn Pickett (157), Noah Tucker (175 pounds), and Victor Marks-Jenkins (190). Pickett finished seventh, the others landed in the number eight spot. All four outperformed their expectations.

High School on SI updated their national rankings after Fargo brackets were released on Thursday night and all four found themselves in that report.

Tucker and Marks-Jenkins were the ninth highest nationally ranked guys in their brackets, so they were not projected to reach All-American status. Same for Verceles, who was the 12th highest, and Pickett, who was the tenth ranked guy at 157 pounds.

VERCELES’ BIG UPSET OF GARZA PROPELS HIS RUN

Of the four, Verceles was the lowest ranked at No. 32 and he authored the biggest upset when he took out California’s No. 3 Anthony Garza, 8-4, in the round of 16. The Don opened with two tech falls, beat Garza, then faced the eventual champ, Pennsylvania’s No. 7 Brayden Wenrich in the quarterfinals and fell, 10-6.

“I knew this match was going to be a tough one as I’ve seen Garza in many national tournaments and rankings before,” remarked Verceles. “I kept the same mentality, being confident in my leg attacks. But in the second period of the match, I knew I would win the match by continuing to get to my ties and leg attacks. The win felt great and boosted my moral going into my quarterfinals match.”

Once in the consolation realm, Verceles faced New Jersey’s Anthony Curlo and dropped a 10-0 tech on his foe in 1:48. That would be the soon to be junior’s last victory as Minnesota’s No. 33 Landon Thoennes won a 3-3 decision on criteria. At the NHSCA Duals over Memorial Day Weekend, Verceles beat Thoennes, 7-5.

In his placement match, Verceles was handed a 10-0 tech fall loss from California’s unranked Aiden Garcia. Garcia was nationally ranked prior to the California State Tournament where he placed fifth.

At Fargo, the Junior Division is where the big boys roam. It is not for the faint of heart. State champs walk out there and die with regularity, going 0-2, and back home to lick their wounds. The 16U Division is for the upstarts, the young bucks, and while it is a difficult gauntlet in its own way, it is not anywhere close to being as challenging. Verceles was a 16U Freestyle runner-up as an eighth grader. This is his first time on the junior podium.

“Becoming a Junior AA is a goal I’ve been training for months, and it feels incredibly fulfilling to achieve it,” said Verceles. “However, this is just a step in fulfilling my ultimate goal of becoming a national champion, so I just have to keep working and improving. Wrestling in the junior division is definitely a step up from 16u, as many junior competitors are not really teenagers, but rather men with some committed to wrestle D1."

“My mindset coming into Freestyle was similar to any other tournament - I had trained and put in countless hours of work refining my attacks and techniques for this tournament and I felt confident in my abilities. I understand that many people think of me as a Greco guy but that leads to many overlooking my Freestyle abilities and when match time comes, they underestimate my leg attacks.”

PICKETTS SLAYS A BIG DOG, TOO

The catalyst for Pickett’s journey to the awards stand was a round of 32 win over No. 6 Bentley Sly of North Carolina, 12-5. Two tech falls came before the meeting with Sly, which was a rematch from last fall’s Super 32.

“Sly tech pinned me in folkstyle first time we wrestled, so the biggest difference this outing was mental,” offered Pickett. “I knew going into this weekend, I wasn’t just the same wrestler, but I wasn’t the same person - my mind was so much sharper.

“I knew my training would allow me to show who was the better wrestler, so after he got the first score, I wasn’t worried. I trusted my offense and got to it and didn’t stop. Lots of respect and credit to Sly, and he will do great things at App State (Appalachian State), but I knew that day my goals of winning Fargo and All-American status were too close and I was too good to let it slip away.”

Following the Sly time, the number 25 Pickett faced No. 9 Jake Miller (Oklahoma) in the round of 16 and was shutout 9-0. Instead of running it back in their placement match, Miller chose to forfeit to Pickett, conceding seventh place to the Gael.

After Miller dropped the loss on the rising junior, Pickett decked Colorado’s David Burchette in 5:04 and teched No. 29 Tommy Holguin (California), 13-2. Pickett’s blood round foe was a familiar one in West Virginia’s No. 36 Dominic Way, a wrestler Pickett defeated at last fall’s Grappler Fall Classic.

“Dom Way, incredible wrestler and I noticed he improved a ton since Grappler Fall Classic,” observed Pickett. “But despite it being a blood round match, I wasn’t nervous. I was relaxed. I was just having fun out there and I felt that allowed me to get to my offense and big throws in the match as well.

“It’s Fargo, it’s grueling. I felt him get tired and when I felt him let up, I knew to keep going even with the lead. I loved how me and Dom wrestled, letting it fly, both of us getting to our attacks and putting on a show.”

Pickett put a 9-5 loss on Way then succumbed to No. 3 Wyatt Medlin of Illinois, 10-0, before receiving the forfeit from Miller.

“(I’m) super blessed and grateful,” Pickett said. “I have to give God, the most highest, all the credit. Without him, I am inadequate, I would be nothing. He has blessed me with so many opportunities. Being fueled by my ambition, I know I can do so many great things like this and more thanks to coach Harry (Barnabae), coach Elijah Oliver, coach Jay (LaValley), and Ryan Reyes for all the help and support.

“My Maryland teammates, Noah Tucker and Tyler Stephens, gave me endless support and motivation through this run. I came into Fargo with a MCL-tear from April I was battling and still rehabbing at Fargo. On top of that, at Fargo, I popped my ankle so without all the support and my faith, I wouldn’t be able overcome any of these obstacles or get close to All-American status.

“With that said, I could not be more dissatisfied with the result. I know while All-American status is great, I still had so much more to show and give and that will be shown with the help of my amazing support group in due time; thank you Capital (Wrestling Club), thank you MSJ. All glory to God and none of us know who we are until we fail. So, this missed goal is just another lesson and step in the process of greater things.”

TUCKER TOPS FORTIER, TWICE

With each of these guys sitting on the outside looking in at the All-American picture, an unexpected win was needed from them to gain their positions on the podium. For No. 24 Tucker, that came in the form of two wins over No. 8 Maximus Fortier of West Virginia.

The Bullis grappler got started with a 10-0 technical fall then ran into Fortier in the round of 64 where he dished a 12-1 tech to his rival in 1:43. A 10-0 tech versus Idaho’s Brock Armstrong, a guy who sits just outside the rankings, led to a round of 16 meeting with Iowa’s No. 5 Maximus Dhabolt.

Dhabolt came out ahead 13-10, leaving Tucker to toil away in the consolation rounds where his first bout would be another versus Fortier, with this one ending in another tech, 12-2 (4:23). Two decisions were placed on the bracket next by Tucker including a 6-4 outcome versus Illinois’ No. 33 Brody Sendele and a 13-5 count against Wisconsin’s Nolan Owen.

Ohio’s No. 51 Jakob Hoke handed Tucker an upset loss and a ticket to the seventh-place match where he would encounter Dhabolt for a second time with the same ending, albeit by a different score, an 11-1 tech fall.

VMJ GETS IT DONE IN FINAL FARGO TRIP

Marks-Jenkins came into Fargo ranked 23rd, and after falling in the Freestyle Blood Round in 2025, Marks-Jenkins was able to gain All-American status this year. A year ago, the Gator hit paydirt in Greco Roman with a seventh place showing. With the “hard part” out of the way for VMJ, who considers himself a Greco Specialist, could a Double AA stay be on tap?

“It's great to get over that hump,” Marks-Jenkins said. “But my goal is always to win everything, so I know I still have areas I need to improve upon. My thoughts were the same for all of the matches. I needed to win and put 100% of my effort into it. Seeing as I was an All-American last year, my goal is to win it this year.”

Marks-Jenkins received the number one seed based on his PIN Rating. The seeding at the USA Wrestling events uses a point system akin to the MPSSAA’s regional one and you know how frustrating that can be. The point of this is, while VMJ was top seeded, from a national rankings’ perspective (and not just SI’s), he was not the title favorite.

VMJ Tumbling to eighth was still better than his excepted outcome, so the Freestyle Journey was certainly considered successful and not disappointing.

The graduating senior from Perry Hall kicked off the action with consecutive tech falls of 11-0 and 10-0 before squaring off with No. 27 Braeden Simoneaux of Louisiana, who was a National Prep placer for the New York Military Academy. A tight bout came next as VMJ edged No. 40 Maximus Purdy from Illinois who competed in Iowa during the high school season.

In the quarters, Marks-Jenkins saw himself matched up with No. 21 Nicholas Singer of Pennsylvania, who was a Junior 175-pound FS Champ in 2025 and recently migrated to 190, where he suffered a surprising loss at the U.S. Open to push him down the ranks.

Singer got by VMJ on a 4-2 count and reached the finals, finishing second to Iowa’s No. 2 Waylon Cressell, who he beat at last year’s Fargo. VMJ, on the other hand, won his blood round bout, 15-6, over Ohio’s Carter Lester.

Two close losses closed out VMJ’s Freestyle experience as No. 14 Jaxon Penovich (Illinois) beat him 4-3 and Wisconsin’s No. 8 Eli Leonard won a 3-3 tie bout on criteria in the placement round.

OTHER JUNIORS SHINING BRIGHT

Tyler Stephens was close to giving Mt. Saint Joseph a second All-American as he came up two wins shy of the blood round with both of his losses coming to nationally recognized opponents, No. 6 Dale Corbin (Pennsylvania) and No. 27 Cole Speer of Ohio.

Stephens pocketed two high quality wins when he downed New Mexico’s Lorenzo Gallegos, 16-5, and eked by Pennsylvania’s Gavin Green, 12-11. Stephens previously beat Green, 4-3 at the NHSCA Junior Nationals in March.

Archbishop Spalding’s Charlie Mutschler came three wins short of the blood round. Mutschler’s losses were not to guys in the national rankings, but he placed two nice wins on his resume over Oregon’s Jorge De La Rosa, 12-3, and Ohio’s Bradley Bauman, 12-2.

Lorenzo Torralba gave Sly all he could handle in an 8-8 loss on criteria. Torralba ultimately finished four matches shy of the blood round and if he gained two more wins would have met Pickett in the consolation rounds.

Posting 2-2 records were Miles Molina (120 pounds), Joao Victor Guerra (165), Max Birth (190 pounds), and Payton Green (285).

VERCELES AND WARM ARE 16U BLOOD ROUNDERS

Unfortunately for Team Maryland, none of their 16U Freestyle Grapplers were able to find their way to the podium. Two of theirs, both at 88 pounds, reached the blood round before falling by the wayside – Dylan Verceles and Chase Warm.

They were on different sides of the bracket, so they were undone by uncommon foes. Verceles AA hopes were dashed by Wisconsin’s Cole Train Vanderwerff, 9-4. Verceles reached the round of 16 on a tech and a pin before dropping an 8-2 decision to Cali’s Zander Melendez.

Warm’s path was similar, but he put up two techs to advance to the round of 16 where he weas tripped up by Pennsylvania’s Garrett Whalen, 10-0. Two wins left warm in a blood round showdown with Nevada’s Ryker Rollans, who discarded him, 11-1.

ADDITIONAL SUCCESS FOR THE YOUNGSTERS

Three of the 16U Freestylers came up two wins from reaching the blood round – Jacob Naylor (120 pounds), Nathan Matthis (126), and Soshiant Ahanj-Elias (165 pounds).

Three more were three victories from the blood round – Chad Votta (132 pounds), Isaac Cicchetti (138), and Kadyn Tyler (157 pounds).

There were four 16U grapplers who were 2-2 – Kyle Link (94 pounds), Damian DuChez (113), Will McMurtrie (113 pounds), and Weston Baumgartner (138).

Link to Brackets:

https://www.usabracketing.com/events/c971e3ce-7cc9-44f2-badc-b2edca088c89