Fargo 2019: 16U female wrestlers build on freestyle career success
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA—28 contested, 14 walked away National Champions on day two of Fargo. And, believe it or not, some of them are coming back to attempt a second title in the Junior division.
There were 360 participants registered in the 16U women’s freestyle division. Team California came away with its eighth consecutive title and the talent across the U.S. just keeps getting better.
94 pounds — Sterling Dias (Nevada) vpo Isabella Morales (Washington), 8-0.
Now a 2x Fargo champion, Nevada’s Sterling Dias scored offensively and defensively in the finals. There was effort, hustle and solid positional training – her hands stayed near the mat during any break in action. She is totally comfortable moving and scoring from an around the arms position; her right-side over-tie snaps are fluid and create subtle openings that led to her attacks. The first score of the match came off of a beautiful elbow pass on the left, leading to a misdirected single from Dias’ right side of the body. She earned four more points on the mat during the first period.
It was Dias’s quarter final against North Carolina’s Heaven Fitch that gave her the most trouble on day one, and it was grit that got her through. She swept Fitch’s left and right, but had trouble finishing and even got rolled through twice. It was a late exposure call that allowed Dias to win in the last seconds of the match.
100 pounds — Sage Mortimer (Utah) vsu Shea Reisel (Illinois), 13-3, 2:56
Another 2x Fargo champ, Utah’s Sage Mortimer, was all about the hand-fight to gain under-hook control position on her left side—the position is where she wanted to be. She scored offensively with a throw from the over-under position, defensively with a crotch-throw and racked up some extra points via push-outs. Reisel did score on the edge from Mortimer’s hip bump attempt in the first period. On day one, Mortimer opened with a fall and then three superiorities in a row to make the finals.
106 pounds — Faith Cole (Missouri) vpo. Alexis Janiak (Illinois), 8-2
Both of these finalists came from the middle of the 106-pound bracket. Missouri’s Faith Cole showed fans her scramble capabilities in the finals! Talk about great defense and use of continuous movement to win positions. Not even 30 seconds into the finals when Cole stopped Janiak’s double leg attempt by flattening her out leading to the first scramble exchange from Illinois’ transition to an out-the-back single leg position. That was not the last time we saw that same position. Janiak’s only score of the match came from an outstanding double leg at the beginning of the second period. On day one, Cole had one win by fall, superiority and points each.
112 pounds— Amani Jones (Georgia) fall Arieana Arias (California), 1:10
Georgia’s Amani Jones worked her way through the 112-pound bracket with all but one match ending with a superiority or pin—she gave fans the first pin in the finals with a throw from the double-over position where she stepped in front of Arias. On day one, Jones had two superiorities, a fall and a win by points.
117 pounds — Jennifer Soto (California) vpo Katie Gomez (California), 2-0
California’s Jennifer Soto grabbed the state’s first of two individual championship titles—a low-scoring match, but lots of movement. This is not a surprise considering they are teammates and have likely been training together. Soto was strong in the underhook position. She scored her two points from the shot-clock and a push-out on a single leg. On two occasions, Soto really opened up, showing a late arm-spin attempt at the end of the first period and an incredibly fast pre-whistle low-single leg.
122 pounds — Sofia Macaluso (New York) vsu Kelly Escamilla (California) 10-0, 1:04
New York’s Sofia Macaluso opened up right away during the finals with two huge 4-point throws as direct responses to Escamilla’s movement. During her championship interview, she said she, “doesn’t throw,”. . . talk about allowing the occasion to bring out the best in an athlete’s trust in their training process. Macaluso charged her way through the tournament with two superiorities and two falls to make the finals.
127 pounds — Korina Blades (Illinois) vpo Haley Ward (Missouri), 2-2
Korina Blades of Illinois scrambled down to the last whistle with Missour’s Haley Ward on criteria. The Wyoming Seminary Prep wrestler gave up points in the first round when Ward capitalized on Blades double leg attempt. Blades came back during the first 20 seconds of the second period with a strong double leg finish as the last score of the match. Both wrestlers dominated their ends of the bracket before their matchup.
132 pounds — Nonnie Justice (Missouri) vpo Maddie Kubicki (Missouri), 4-4
The second of two teammate match-ups ended in a close final where Missouri’s Nonnie Justice claimed the match by criteria. Justice’s first score came from an arm throw, but she scored defensively as well with a crotch lift in the second period. Justice dominated day one with a pair of pins and superiorities.
138 pounds — Reese Larramendy (Nevada) vpo Sara Sulejmani (Illinois), 10-5
Nevada’s second 16U champ, Reese Larramendy, was the second of three Wyoming Sem ladies to win the tournament. Her first points came from Sulejmani’s single leg attack where she executed a nicely time crotch throw. Firing back right away from the exchange, Sulejmani hit a head pinch before losing the position. There was a lot of action in the match with defensive responses that were well timed. Larramendy’s slide by in the first period was her final scoring exchange for the match, but it resulted in a 4-point, feet-to-back call. Larramendy hit a couple more slick slide by’s that kept the movement going throughout the match. The champion earned two falls and then an 8-0 victory that placed her in the finals.
144 pounds — Destiny Rodriguez (Oregon) fall Kayley Rada (Michigan), 0:50
Oregon’s Destiny Rodriguez ended things quickly in her finals match with a graceful swing single followed up by a fireman’s carry to end with the fall. Rodriguez opened day one with three superiorities to put herself in the finals. She is at the young end of the age group—just heading into her freshman year of high school.
152 pounds — Hannah Ricioli (California) vpo Dakota-Marie Dinielli (Conneticut), 8-7
California’s Hannah Ricioli came out a champion from the middle of the bracket with a big comeback in the second period of the finals. She was down by six and hit a major four on the edge to close the gap before successfully executing a crotch-lift to defend a reattack from Dinielli. In the second period alone, Ricioli hit two crotch lifts and remained solid on defense to take control of the match and come away with the title.
164 pounds— Kennedy Blades (Illinois) fall Dasia Yearby (South Carolina), 0:29
Most recently a UWW Cadet National champ, Kennedy Blades ended her finals match with a 29 second pin via a cradle. She only wrestled 2 minutes and 26 seconds during her two-day tournament, and we are excited to see what she has to offer at the junior division.
180 pounds — Brianna Staebler (Wisconsin) vpo Brittyn Corbishley (Texas), 3-2
Wisconsin champ Brianna Staebler revenged a previous loss to Corbishley by staying in good position and hand-fighting hard! She drove through Corbishley’s snap down to re-capture the lead that ended the match 3-2. Staebler opened the tournament with a 13-0 superiority then edged out Indiana’s Dempewolf, 3-0 punching her way to the finals.
200 pounds — Olivia Brown (Oklahoma) fall Raina Herzog (Oregon), 3:45
The fourth returning Fargo champ is Oklahoma’s Olivia Brown. In the finals, Brown executed a stunning drop single in the first minute that landed Herzog on her back, and then finished another 4-point attack to make it 8-0 going into the second. Brown continued the hand fight and worked to a takedown that led her to the pin. On the first day of competition, Brown came away with a fall and an 8-0 win. Brown will be a junior this year at Broken Arrow high school where OCU women’s wrestling alum Cassidy Jasperson is the head coach.
Most of these ladies are just getting started with their wrestling careers. It’s exciting to watch the growing talent spread across the United States as participation rates increase at such a high level. Fans should expect to see many of the 16U women wrestlers registered and ready to wrestle in the junior division that starts Tuesday, July 16.
16U women’s freestyle Team & All-American results can be found, here.
16U finalist bios provided by USA Wrestling can be found, here.
This tournament is broadcast live by FloWrestling.
Fargo is a place of firsts for Transition Wrestling’s Founder, Gabby Lord-Klein. It’s where she wrestled her first national level freestyle tournament, earned her first All-American status, coached a National Team (WI) and reported on high school women’s wrestling for Transition Wrestling.
Transition Wrestling is a startup covering women’s wrestling news. Our mission is to strengthen the global position of women through stories of effort, excellence and overcoming adversity. Transition Wrestling is looking for 7,000 individuals to pledge $20 as part of their campaign to fund their startup year. You can join the campaign, here.
