Pennsylvania Wins Second Straight Fargo Cadet Freestyle Nationals; Pinto & Franklin Champions

For the second straight year Team Pennsylvania will leave Fargo, ND with the Cadet National Championship in Freestyle. With a total of 12 All-Americans, including two Champions, the Keystone State pulled away late as they locked up 61 team points, ten ahead of second place Minnesota, on Monday afternoon.

At 94 pounds incoming rookie Jaden Pepe (Wyoming Area) won his fifth place bout by tech-fall 12-2 while 2019 PIAA State Finalist Levi Haines (Biglerville) lost 10-0 in the third place match at 113 pounds to finish in fourth. Rocco Welsh (Waynesburg Central), a 2018 Surge Finalist and incoming freshman, earned a tech-fall at 120 pounds in the fifth place match and 2-time PIAA State Champion Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (Seneca Valley) won 10-5 in the seventh place match at 126 pounds.

One of the most impressive performances of the medal round for Team Pennsylvania came at 145 pounds when 2-time Pennsylvania State Medalist Paniro Johnson (Cathedral Prep) came back to take third against Cael Berg (Minnesota). Johnson was knocked down into the consolations by Berg, falling to him 6-6 on criteria in the round of 32. Johnson went on a roll winning eight straight including a dominating tech-fall of Berg (13-0) to finish in third place.


Joining Johnson at 145 pounds was Forest Hills rising sophomore Erik Gibson who won his seventh place match 10-6. 

The first of four Pennsylvania finalists came at 160 pounds where rising sophomore Mac Stout (Mount Lebanon) took on Maryland’s TJ Stewart. Stout was unable to get into his offense or par-terre falling 5-0 to Stewart. At 170 pounds rising junior and 2019 PIAA State third place medalist Lenny Pinto (Stroudsburg) capped off his impressive run to a 2019 Fargo Cadet National Freestyle Championship in the finals against Rylan Rogers (Washington). It was the third time this season that Rogers and Pinto competed in Freestyle with the Stroudsburg grappler scoring early off a low-single and later in the first period a roll through exposure. In the second period Pinto scored again on a takedown and a failed challenge by Rogers made it 7-1 in favor of Pinto when the clock ran out.

Malvern Prep’s Nick Feldman showed his strength in a dominating fall in the third place match at 182 pounds against New York’s Michael Altomer. It was an all Pennsylvania final at 220 pounds and it didn’t last long as 2019 PIAA State Finalist Kolby Franklin (Saint Joseph’s Catholic) needed just under two minutes to tech-fall Dustin Swanson (Garden Spot) and earn his first Fargo National title. Last season Franklin was a double Cadet Finalist but came up short. This time around he left no doubt. Also placing at 220 pounds was Nathan Taylor (Brookville) who won by forfeit in the seventh place match.

In addition to the Cadet Freestyle tournament on Monday – the Cadet Women’s tournament concluded and three Keystone State wrestlers earned All-American honors. Wyoming Seminary teammates Ava Bayless and Abbygale Duke both earned All-American honors at 106 pounds. Bayless, a returning Cadet Women’s Finalist took sixth while Duke with seventh. Lily Sherer (Delaware Valley), also a returning Cadet Women’s Finalist from 2018, took third at 132 pounds. 

 

Final Results Cadet Freestyle

 

88 Pounds

1st Braeden Davis (Michigan) VSU Alan Koehler (Minnesota), 10-0 2:23
3rd Kolby Warren (Missouri) VPO Grigor Cholakyan (California), 4-0
5th Caleb Thoennes (Minnesota) VSU Hunter Taylor (Kansas), 10-0 0:37
7th Kyison Garcia (Utah) VSU Benjamin Bast (Wisconsin), 10-0 0:43

 

94 Pounds

1st Cael Hughes (Oklahoma) VSU1 Dillon Campbell (Ohio), 12-2 3:43
3rd Tristan Stafford (Arkansas) VPO1 Codie Cuerbo (Ohio), 10-8
5th Jaden Pepe (Wyoming Area) VSU1 Paul Kelly (Arizona), 12-2 2:53
7th Coleman Nogle (Maryland) VSU1 Christopher Martino (Idaho), 14-3 3:16

 

100 Pounds

1st Jore Volk (Minnesota) VPO1 Caden Horwath (Michigan), 12-5
3rd Kannon Webster (Illinois) VPO1 Kai Owen (Florida), 10-1
5th Beau Mantanona (California) VPO1 Christian Forbes (Oklahoma), 3-1
7th Darrell Rochester (Georgia) VPO1 Koy Buesgens (Minnesota), 5-2

 

106 Pounds

1st Evan Tallmadge (New Jersey) VPO1 Mitchell Neiner (Washington), 10-8
3rd Carter McCallister (Missouri) VSU Sean Seefeldt (Ohio), 10-0 1:17
5th Charlie Farmer (Illinois) VPO1 Joseph Fernau (Illinois), 5-4
7th Greyson Clark (Wisconsin) VSU Trever Anderson (Iowa), 10-0 2:27

 

113 Pounds

1st Wilfried Tanefeu (North Dakota) VSU Gabe Whisenhunt (Oregon), 10-0 1:29
3rd Nash Singleton (Oregon) VSU Levi Haines (Biglerville), 10-0 2:00
5th Brady Hankin (Colorado) VFA Brock Bobzien (California), 6-2 1:30
7th Damian Mendez (Kansas) VPO1 Trae McDaniel (Tennessee), 7-4

 

120 Pounds

1st Jordan Williams (Oklahoma) VPO1 Zeke Seltzer (Indiana), 6-5
3rd Brennan Van Hoecke (Florida) VSU Nicolar Rivera (Wisconsin), 10-0 0:33
5th Rocco Welsh (Waynesburg) VSU1 Garrett Grice (Nebraska), 12-2 3:20
7th Jacob Mann (Missouri) VFO Zachary Espalin (Arizona)

 

126 Pounds

1st Nic Bouzakis (Florida) VFA Ramon Ramos (Arizona), 12-9 4:00
3rd Kyren Butler (Ohio) VPO1 Ismael Ayoub (Ohio), 8-4
5th Derrick Cardinal (Minnesota) VSU Ethan Stiles (Illinois), 10-0 2:53
7th Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (Seneca Valley) VPO1 Eli Rocha (Missouri), 10-5

 

132 Pounds

1st Daniel Cardenas (Colorado) VPO1 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska), 10-8
3rd Matthew Bianchi (Wisconsin) VPO1 Michael Kilic (Georgia), 7-2
5th Mitchell Mesenbrink (Wisconsin) VPO1 Jack Crook (Florida), 6-2
7th Jack Milos (Illinois) VPO1 Kage Lenger (Missouri), 9-5

 

138 Pounds

1st John Wiley (Oklahoma) VPO1 Nicholas Vafiadis (Virginia), 10-4
3rd Cody Chittum (Tennessee) VFA Joshua Barr (Michigan), 4-2 1:46
5th Nick Hamilton (Iowa) VPO1 Thor Michaelson (Washington), 2-1
7th Preston Owens (Idaho) VPO Cole Becker (Minnesota), 7-0

 

145 Pounds

1st Dean Hamiti Jr (Illinois) VFA Matthew Singleton (Georgia), 6-2 1:25
3rd Paniro Johnson (Cathedral Prep) VSU Cael Berg (Minnesota), 13-0 3:19
5th Gavin Brown (Ohio) VPO1 CJ Hamblin (Washington), 11-2
7th Erik Gibson (Forst Hills) VPO1 Travis Ragland (Virginia), 10-6

 

152 Pounds

1st Stoney Buell (Michigan) VPO1 Manuel Rojas (Michigan), 5-4
3rd Robert Weston (Georgia) VPO1 Tyler Lillard (Ohio), 9-5
5th Kamdyn Munro (Georgia) VFO Hunter Lyden (Minnesota)
7th Jared Simma (Kansas) VIN Brayden Thompson (Illinois), 4-0 0:39

 

160 Pounds

1st Thomas Stewart (Maryland) VPO Mac Stout (Mount Lebanon), 5-0
3rd Clayton Whiting (Wisconsin) VPO1 Bradley Gillum (Illinois), 2-2
5th Cayleb Atkins (Kansas) VPO1 Drake Buchanan (Indiana), 7-6
7th Nicholas Hall (Delaware) VSU1 Dawson Mathews (Georgia), 19-9 4:00

 

170 Pounds

1st Leonard Pinto (Stroudsburg) VPO1 Rylan Rogers (Washington), 7-1
3rd Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) VPO1 Branson Britten (Texas), 9-4
5th Gavin Nelson (Minnesota) VPO1 Evan Canoyer (Nebraska), 3-2
7th Brian Soldano (New Jersey) VSU Damion Schunke (South Dakota), 10-0 0:36

 

182 Pounds

1st Bennett Berge (Minnesota) VSU Michael Tal-shahar (Florida), 10-0 3:00
3rd Nicholas Feldman (Malvern Prep) VFA Michael Altomer (New York), 6-0 1:46
5th Harley Andrews (Oklahoma) VSU Isaiah Huus (North Dakota), 11-0 1:19
7th Jack Darrah (Missouri) VPO1 Talmage Carman (Utah), 8-2

 

195 Pounds

1st Seth Shumate (Ohio) VSU Evan Bates (Indiana), 11-0 2:49
3rd Noah Pettigrew (Georgia) VPO David Harper (Georgia), 6-0
5th Bennett Tabor (Minnesota) VPO1 Wyatt Voelker (Iowa), 4-2
7th Kaden Glass (Oklahoma) VPO1 Ashton Davis (Tennessee), 7-4

 

220 Pounds

1st Kolby Franklin (St. Joseph’s Catholic) VSU Dustin Swanson (Garden Spot), 10-0 1:50
3rd Chase Horne (Georgia) VSU Lucas Walker (Iowa), 10-0 2:12
5th Riley Ucker (Ohio) VSU1 Jaren Rohde (Wisconsin), 17-6 4:00
7th Nathan Taylor (Brookville Area) VFO Gage Cook (Washington

 

285 Pounds

1st Hayden Copass (Illinois) VSU1 Griffin Liddle (Iowa), 11-1 2:05
3rd James Howard (Tennessee) VPO1 Ethan Kremer (Kansas), 7-2
5th Jacob Barnes (Oregon) VPO1 Jacob Moore (Arizona), 2-1
7th Gavin Layton (Minnesota) VSU Ryan Elrod (Ohio), 10-0 1:16

 

Pennsylvania Cadet Women’s All-Americans

 

106 Pounds

1st Faith Cole (Missouri) VPO1 Alexis Janiak (Illinois), 8-2
3rd Julianne Moccia (Maryland) VFA Greta Gustafson (California), 16-7 2:33
5th Genesis Cejudo (Arizona) VFA Ava Bayless (Wyoming Seminary), 14-11 4:00
7th Abbygale Duke (Wyoming Seminary) VPO Chloe Ayres (New Jersey), 7-0

 

132 Pounds

1st Nonnie Justice (Missouri) VPO1 Maddie Kubicki (Missouri), 4-4
3rd Lily Sherer (Delaware Valley) VPO1 Elleni Johnson (Utah), 12-9
5th Athena Willden (California) VFA Anna Krause (New Hampshire), 4-2 0:54
7th Piper Cadden (Arizona) VPO1 Alicia Pieper (Michigan), 5-2

 

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