Of course the u17 trials can have middle school wrestlers throughout any of the weights, the lower ones are where you’ll find the largest percentage and even further, 45KG which translates to under 100 pounds (not a HS weight), it’s almost all non-high schoolers. Still worthy of looking at for preview purposes, but for me (whose primary focus is the high school level) most of the names here will be in the mix next school year and season. For now, I’ll focus mostly on the current high school contenders and some others of note who could challenge for the team spot.
Right off the bat, we’d have to say Fargo champ Brandon Bickerton is the favorite to make the team here. Aside from the Fargo title, he was also the u15 champ and is coming off an Ohio state title in his first season wrestling for Highland. Competing in what seems like every national event available on the calender, Bickerton is no stranger to elite competition and the lights of Las Vegas shouldn’t prove to be too bright.
The top challenger from the high school group is Cason Craft. Craft placed 6th at Fargo last year, though up at 94 pounds compared to 88 for Bickerton. That Fargo 94 bracket was littered with guys who finished in the top 25 at 106 and are mostly at 48KG here this week. That opens things up for Craft to reach the finals against Bickerton. (keep in mind I’m writing this without any knowledge of where they’ll be slotted in the bracket). Like Bickerton, Craft was also a state champion (Oklahoma).
Among the current middle school contenders, we have to mention Eddie George. He was the runner up to Bickerton in that Fargo 88 bracket, picking up wins over Loc Webber and Hudson Chittum (in this bracket) along the way. Those figure to all be tough battles should they meet again.
Cruzer Dominguez from Nebraska doesn’t have results from either Fargo or last year’s US Open but he does have some solid results already this Spring. He beat both Hayden Schwab and Nico DeSalvo at the PNL freestyle tournament.
Others to watch include Sammy Sanchez, Brayden Wenrich, Jojo Burke, Loc Webber, Hudson Chittum, and Sean Kenny.
Now we get to our first full HS weight where the majority of the contenders coming to Las Vegas will be from this past season’s 106 weight class. And of course, a few of them finished in our season ending top 25. But that was folkstyle only and this is freestyle and we have a new 1st edition freestyle ranking dropping this week too and some of the names will be in different slots based on last year’s Fargo and trials placements.
#3 Henry Aslikyan wasn’t in any Fargo bracket but instead did place 3rd at last year’s 45 trials. His loss was to Caleb Noble but he would actually bounce back to place higher than Noble. His trials run included wins over Sontz, Bell, Mac Crosson (think he’s up a few weights), and Haakon Peterson. He would then go on to capture his 1st CA state title this past February. He also picked up a pair of nice wins at the Journeyman Classic over Oumar Tounkara and Julian Rios. Tounkara himself had a big win over Shamus Regan. I think all of this makes Aslikyan the favorite coming into Vegas.
#4 Caleb Noble and #6 Cam Sontz should be discussed together. Not only were they two super frosh who picked up state titles during the scholastic season, they also traded results last year at Fargo and the Open. There’s Mac Crosson sandwiched between them, who factored into those event results as well, but Crosson isn’t in this field as mentioned earlier. So Noble was the Fargo runner up while Sontz finished 5th there. Then Sontz also finished 5th in this event while Noble ended in 6th. Noble gets the higher ranking for me coming in due to Fargo being the more recent event. These two are really neck and neck though.
#9 Turner Ross was the runner up to #8 Jarrett Smith last year and picked up a win over Cason Craft (contender at 45 we mentioned) along the way. He also finished his freshman season as a Minnesota state champion. It looks like Smith isn’t in the field this time around so Ross won’t get the chance at revenge there but he will still have a chance to make the world team.
#17 Hayden Schwab, #18 Austin Bickerton, #22 Nico DeSalvo, and #23 Liam Collins all figure to be in the mix for top 8 and honestly, could do even better than that. They’re all capable of beating anyone in this field, even perhaps winning the team spot. Bickerton was the u15 runner up, Schwab was 4th at Fargo, Collins took 8th in last year’s 45 field, and DeSalvo was top 3 at both Fargo and the US Open.
Talk about a star-studded bracket. We have 12 of our top 25 at this weight here and 6 of the top 10 and 4 of the top 5. This is about as elite as it gets and whoever does survive the mine field will have no doubt earned their way to Jordan this Summer.
First up we have our top rated, and 2023 US Open 45KG champion, #1 Ignacio Villasenor. The Colorado phenom has been active to say the least, shying away from exactly zero big events. He won the world team spot with a finals win over Kavin Muleart, who is also in this field and one of those highly ranked kids who will make it tough for Villasenor to repeat.
#2 Grey Burnett is a returning runner up at 48KG and the 106 Fargo champ from last year as well. An argument could be made he should be #1 at this weight and considered the favorite. I gave the nod to the world team member but if this is the finals, I expect a back and forth toss up.
#3 Dom Munaretto is always tough. No matter the event, no matter the style. He’s been on a world team before and finished 3rd last year at 48. I could see him upending either of the top 2 and being right there in the finals again.
#6 Shamus Regan has already been active this freestyle season, taking part in the Journeyman Classic. There, he picked up a win over Julian Rios but suffered a loss to Oumar Tounkara. Tounkara moves way up for us for the time being but isn’t in the field so Regan could climb back up there with a strong showing against this gauntlet.
Rounding out the top 10 in this field, sophomore #8 JoJo Uhorchuk. He took 3rd at Fargo but did not make the trip to Vegas last year. Anybody familiar with the Tennessee native knows he’s as tough an out as it gets. Perhaps a little but of an underdog to the top 3 in particular, he’s got the pedigree to shake some things up.
Obviously, the rest of the top 25 in the bracket are dangerous and have already had varying success in their freestyle careers. They all have a placement in either Fargo or last year’s Open and they pose the sort of obstacles we see in these events where the top seeds fall early and we wonder how. These names are #12 Abdi Unle, #15 Eric Casula, #19 Mikey Batista, #20 Gavin Landers, and #21 Arseni Kikiniou.
#17 Kavin Muyleart had a nice US Open finals run last year, falling short to Villasenor.
Of course there are even more medal contenders, some of whom I can’t find as much by way of freestyle results. The one that really stands out along those lines is Killian Coluccio. Finishing #6 for me in the school season, he’s sort of off the radar here but could be a surprise performer.
A couple other names to keep an eye on, Alex Rozas and Ben Ziola.
Obviously, doing rankings the way I am (separating folkstyle and freestyle) and leaning heavily on past Fargo and US Open results, we’re going to get a substantial number of ranked kids coming back for more this year – as they have already established themselves as competing in this discipline. With that being said, it’s still worth noting that 15 of my top 25 at 55KG are in this bracket.
Led by #2 Paul Kenny, we should be in for some top notch action here at this weight. You’ll see I don’t have the reigning (48) world champ #1 in the country at this moment and that’s only because this is a 15 pound weight jump for the freshman – and we’ve seen other guys need some time to adjust. He’s still the favorite here in my opinion.
His biggest challenges appear to be the other 2 that I have in the top 10. Fellow freshman #5 Landon Sidun and sophomore #6 Jayden Raney. And we all know, where there’s a Raney there’s a rain-ing of points. No matter the style, no matter the event, the Raney’s know how to entertain. Sidun was last year’s Fargo champ and picked up a 3rd place finish here in a bracket with Christian Castillo and Seth Mendoza.
After this top 3, there are still 12 wrestlers rounding out the top 25. #10 Keanu Dillard finished 5th in that bracket with Sidun and finished this past school season in impressive fashion. #11 Dale Gant was the u15 champ, and has a win over Larkin head to head this Spring. #12 Will Detar was 4th at u15 and 5th at Fargo. #13 Konner Larkin finished 7th in that same u15 bracket that Gant won. He also has a win over Zuniga coming in. #14 Justyce Zuniga placed 4th in the 120 Fargo bracket but comes in just behind Larkin due to the recent result. #15 Slater Hicks entered his freshman season in CA off a nice showing at Fargo. He picked up some big wins during the CA HS season, but may be even more dangerous in this style. #16 Nick Garcia followed up a strong Fargo performance with an Illinois state title, where he upset Munaretto in the finals. #19 Lincoln Sledzianowski surprised some folks with a big run to 3rd in PA this past March. That came after a top 4 finish here.
#20 Czar Quintanilla, #22 Nick Sorrow, #23 Mac Crosson, and #24 Brett Swenson are all dangerous here to upset someone along the way, even if they ultimately just miss out on the world team.
As for the rest of the group, Dale Corbin, Vincenzo Anello, and Titan Friederichs are the names I’m paying attention to. They don’t have previous year results to get them ranked, but they could all come out of this weekend saying something different about it.
Not quite as treacherous as the previous two weights, we still have 12 of the top 25 in this field. However, no one presently in the top 5 as they are either not competing or in the junior division. This leaves us with a very exciting couple of days in Vegas as there will be someone making their first cadet world team.
The favorite is the other Raney, #9 Jordyn, but it won’t be a walk in the park. #11 Manny Saldate was the Fargo runner up at 132 and comes in here having competed as much as anyone so far this Spring. He’s picked up some solid wins over Geronimo Rivera and Cale Seaton, losing to JJ McComas. #14 Tommy Verrette has plenty of big wins to his credit and could be the finals opponent to Raney, even pulling this out. He did lose to Anderson at the Missouri Border Brawl but that was a folkstyle match so for now, he’s still ranked ahead in this style. #15 Jesse Grajeda finished his first HS season as the CA runner up, coming off placements at both Fargo and last year’s Open. His big win this Spring has been Drew Gorman, though not sure how Gornan’s freestyle chops compare to his folkstyle career. (Grajeda is up at 65KG and my pick to win it).
#17 Dawson Youngblut is someone I’ve been higher on than every other outlet all school season and it continues here. The freshman state champ from Iowa has wins over Anderson and Agcaoili this Spring already. #18 Dean Anderson has the ability to challenge anyone here. He took 5th in the same Fargo bracket Saldate finished 2nd. He also has wins over Evan Sanati and Cale Seaton coming in. #19 TJ Koester finished 2nd in the same Fargo bracket where #20 Clinton Shepherd finished 3rd. #21 Mike Romero was also a Fargo runner up, down at 120. Romero did pick up a Spring loss to Camryn Howard, we’ll see what that means.
Rounding out the top 25 are #22 Karson Brown and #24 Dom Deputy.
Grayson Fuchs and Braylon Reynolds are two youngsters with promise. Jeff Lopez had a huge year in CA, let’s see if he can ride that to success here.
As we start getting into the weights more heavily dominated by the junior level guys, we start seeing fewer ranked in these brackets, and that’s the case here. But that just means the opportunity is ripe for the picking for one of these guys to make a name for themselves nationally.
Fargo Champ #19 Blue Stiffler comes in with the best 2023 Spring performance, so he’s the slight favorite and highest ranked for me. #21 Josh Requena was a u17 and Fargo medalist last year. #25 David Gleason was the runner up to Stiffler at Fargo and could be the finals match up here for a spot on the world team.
Nolan Fellers finished 5th at Fargo 145 and could surprise some folks. Others to watch this weekend include Nikade Zinkin, Travis Cardenas, Tyler Traves, and one time Fargo champ Kellen Wolbert.
Another name to watch this weekend is Ryan Rios. Seems like out of sight, out of mind, he’s capable of a deep run.
Freshman phenom #4 Melvin Miller was last year’s Fargo champ and finished his first HS season as a PA state champ as well. He’s a heavy favorite to make the world team at this weight.
#14 Kyler Knaack was the Fargo champ a weight up from Miller last year while #17 Danny Heiser was the runner up to Miller. They figure to be the biggest challengers coming into Vegas this weekend.
#18 Joe Jeter was 3rd in that Knaack bracket and comes in ranked just ahead of #19 Jayden James. James was a Fargo champ as well, but down at 132. Wrestling all season at 138, he’s making a decent jump here so we’re taking a wait and see approach by slotting him in at 19th (he could very well be top 10 in the country at this weight).
#24 Cooper Rowe was the u15 runner up last year.
Other names in this field to watch are Zack Aquila, who placed at both Fargo and the Open, Jason Kwaak, Zeno Moore, and Mario Carini.
This one here is going to be a frenzy. With no top 5 guys in the mix, but a bunch from 9 to 25, it’s really anyone’s bracket for the taking.
There are 3 Fargo finalists here, with #9 Ryder Wilder getting the nod as my highest ranked. He’s just been impressive every time I’ve seen him but he’s not invincible and will have his work cut out for himself this weekend.
#11 Max Norman and #13 Emmitt Sherlock are both title contenders but they’re moving up about 10 pounds from where they were during the season. Compared to say Wilder, who was up at 190 there in Georgia.
Sandwiched between Norman and Sherlock is #12 Mason Ontiveros. He doesn’t have the 2023 credentials of the others, but he’s coming into the weekend as hot as anyone – even that damn Hansel (shoutout to you if you get the reference) – picking up a pair of ranked wins last week in CA.
#17 Hunter Snyder was the 3rd Fargo finalist (to go with Wilder and Norman) a year ago. He finished 6th in PA as a freshman, which might have been disappointing for him, but perhaps freestyle is more his strength and he’s young so you never know when the next level jump is going to come.
#24 Liam Crook beat #19 Caleb Denee head to head in the Wisconsin state finals, but that’s why he’s ranked ahead of him in the final folkstyle ranking. This is different. Can Crook do the same here? Sure, but it’s Denee who comes in with the Fargo medal while Crook dnp there. This is a great chance for either Wisconsin kid to move up closer to their folkstyle ranking.
In between 19 and 24, we have 4 more guys #20 Aiden Peterson, #21 Brayden Koester, #22 Gavin Craner, and #23 Lincoln Jipp. All had varying degrees of success last year, all looking to make some noise here. Among this group, I look for Koester to emerge – battling for that 3-5 spot.
92KG is all about the finals baby. And that’s not really a knock on the rest of the field, or the rest of these contenders, but it is a reality that coming into this, #4 Dreshaun Ross and #7 Elijah Diakomihalis have for now separated from the rest.
They are both Fargo champions and Ross was the runner up here a year ago. You watch him and forget that he’s still got two more seasons left. He’s my pick to win what should be among the very best finals of any weight, any age group, this weekend.
The rest of the ranked field includes a few Fargo placers, the highest being #17 Jake Conroy who finished 2nd. #16 John Murphy comes in a spot higher off a Fargo 4th but has been more active this Spring picking up a ranked win. #22 Jax Penovich was 3rd at Fargo and, along with Conroy and Murphy, will be expected to place here.
Carson Thomas is the other true contender that isn’t yet ranked but is right on the edge. He’ll have a chance to move up here as well.
Heavyweight in this country is in pretty good shape, like this might be the Golden Era for the weight. Because there are quite a few quality names here but there were just as many in the U20 bracket.
As for the U17 team, I think I’m rolling with #9 Jacob Levy over #8 Michael Mocco. Mainly just a gut feel but Levy has also been up at this weight longer, with Mocco competing at 215 all school season. But this should be a good one if they avoid any early upsets.
Looking to put a damper on that will be a contingent of top 25 guys, 6 of them in fact, with their own sights set on making the team.
The slight leader among that group is #14 Alex Taylor. He was a Fargo runner up and finished 5th in the state of Ohio at 215 this past season. #15 Garrett Kawczynski also has a top 3 finish at Fargo as well as being the Wisconsin state runner up to Aeoden Sinclair this season. #16 Dean Bechtold was 4th at Fargo and then 2nd in PA to Sean Kinney. #17 Kai Calcutt was a Fargo 5th and then Illinois state champion. #19 Mark Effendian finished 3rd at both Fargo and the PIAA state finals. And #22 Brayden Hill was also a Fargo 5th.
Even though I do have Taylor one spot ahead of Kawczynski coming in, he would be my pick to emerge victorious in that race for 3rd behind Levy and Mocco.l’
Based in Western PA. Right in the heart of WPIAL country, Todd brings an insider’s view from the country’s epicenter of wrestling. He’s excited to build on the TKDWN tradition of starting with the story first. The athletes, the coaches, their families and supporters, there is no shortage of stories to tell. And Todd will bring his unique perspective to help us continue to deliver top notch content for the world’s greatest sport!
