Fargo Day 2 preview (7/15): Junior freestyle begins, Cadet men reach semis, Cadet Women finish finals

Jack Jessen of Illinois is among 10 Junior freestyle finalists from 2017 who are entered again in Junior freestyle this year. Photo by Jim Thrall, Matfocus.com
WHAT’S NEW: JUNIOR MEN’S FREESTYLE EVENT
Sunday is the first day of the Junior National Freestyle Championships, as the nation’s top 9-12th grade wrestlers come together to chase national champion stop sign trophies and All-American honors. The Junior men will compete in two sessions on Sunday, with both preliminary and consolation action.
Attempting to match history is 2017 Junior Triple Crown winner Anthony Cassioppi of Illinois, a senior who has committed to wrestle for Iowa. Cassioppi won USA Wrestling Junior National titles in folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman last year after his junior year of high school. Only one athlete has won two Junior Triple Crowns, Adam Coon of Michigan, who made the 2018 Senior Greco-Roman World Team that will compete in Budapest, Hungary in October.
Joining Cassioppi as 2017 Junior National freestyle champions who are entered this year are Wil Guida of New Jersey (106), Patrick McKee of Minnesota (126) and Anthony Artalona of Florida (145),
2017 Junior National freestyle runners-up who will compete Sunday are Jackson Cockrell of Oklahoma (113), Brandon Kaylor of Washington (120), Jeremy Schoenherr of Wisconsin (145), Jared Franek of North Dakota (160), Tyler Dow of Wisconsin (160) and Jack Jessen of Illinois (182).
Other returning Junior freestyle All-Americans in field: Brenden Garcia of Colorado (113), Timothy Levine of California (113), Steele Dias of Nevada (113), Nick Onea of Pennsylvania (113), Jacob Rundell of Illinois (120), Justin Cardani of Illinois (120), Daniel Kimball of Iowa (120), Aden Reeves of Iowa (120), Rhett Golowenski of Oklahoma (120), Michael Colaiocco of New Jersey (126), Austin Macias of Illinois (126), Ridge Lovett of Idaho (132), Chase Zollman of California (138), Jason Kraisser of Maryland (145), Gabe Miller of Pennsylvania (145), Logan Meek of Oregon (145), Brayton Lee of Indiana (152), Alexander Lloyd of Minnesota (152), Tyler Eischens of Minnesota (152), Isaac Wilcox of Utah (152), Jalen Harper of Kansas (160), Carson Kharchla of Ohio (170), Zachary Braunagel of Illinois (182), Victor Marcelli of Ohio (182), Joel Shapiro of Iowa (182), Lucas Davison of Indiana (195), Christian Knop of Alabama (195), Tyrell Gordon of Iowa (195), Jace Punke of Illinois (220) and Austin Emerson of Michigan (285).
Three members of the 2018 Cadet Greco-Roman World Team who competed in Croatia last week have entered the Junior Freestyle Nationals: Dominic Damon of Washington (145), James Burks III of Nebraska (152) and Luke Luffman of Illinois (220).
2017 Cadet Freestyle National champions in the field: Dylan Ragusin of Illinois (120), Noah Surtin of Illinois (120), Carter Starocci of Pennsylvania (170), Robert Canniard of New Jersey (160), Devin Winson of Missouri (182) and Nash Hutmacher of South Dakota (285).
Other former Cadet Freestyle National champions from different years in the field include 2015 Cadet champion Mosha Schwartz of Pennsylvania (132), 2016 Cadet champion Colton Yapoujian of Colorado (145), 2016 Cadet champion Cullen Schriever of Iowa (113), 2016 Cadet champion Jeremiah Reno of Missouri (113), 2016 Cadet Nationals champion Corey Gamet of Michigan (120),
Joining Cassioppi as 2018 USA Wrestling Junior Folkstyle National champions in the field, who are eligible for the Junior Triple Crown are Eli Griffin of Oklahoma (100), Jason Henschel of Kansas (113), Jake Svihel of Minnesota (120), Ridge Lovett of Idaho (132), Legend Lamer of Oregon (138), Jalen Harper of Kansas (160) and Jack Jessen of Illinois (182).
Top five teams in 2017: Illinois in freestyle were Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.
WHAT CONTINUES: CADET MEN’S FREESTYLE HOLDS SEMIFINALS
After one day of competition, the Cadet Men’s Freestyle Nationals will power through the quarterfinals and the semifinals, setting the gold-medal pairings for Monday afternoon.
2017 Cadet National champions Drake Ayala of Iowa (106) and Carson Manville of Pennsylvania (145) are in the quarterfinals, as are 2017 Cadet National runners-up Dominick Serrano of Colorado (126) and Ryan Franco of California (132). There are 18 All-Americans from last year who are still alive in the championship bracket heading into Sunday.
Add in the nine 2018 Folkstyle National champions, who still remain eligible for Triple Crown, Mason Gehloff of Minnesota (88), Maxximus Martinez of California (94), Jordan Williams of Oklahoma (100), Colton Drousias of Indiana (113), Robert Perez III of California (145), Duwayne Villalpando of Kansas (160), Kyle Haas of Kansas (182), Colton Hawks of Missouri (182) and Chris Island of California (220).
WHAT FINISHES: CADET WOMEN’S FREESTYLE HOLDS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
Cadet women freestyle nationals will conclude with the medal matches and championship finals, which are set for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. The nation’s best will battle for their national champions and All-American honors under the spotlight Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, the gold-medal finals were determined, and will feature the following matchups:
94 - Sterling Dias (Nevada) vs. Ava Bayless (Pennsylvania)
100 - Alejandra Corral (Hawaii) vs. Sage Mortimer (Utah)
106 - Mia Palumbo (Illinois) vs. Samara Chavez (Texas)
112 - Ally Fitzgerald (New York) vs. Charlotte Kouyoumtjian (California)
117 - Camille Fournier (Texas) vs. Adriana Dorado-Marin (Colorado)
122- Nanea Estrella (Hawaii) vs. Alexys Zepeda (Oregon)
127 - Mia Macaluso (New York) vs. Naomi Henry (New York)
132 - Cheyenne Bowman (California) vs. Lily Sherer (Pennsylvania)
138 - Sara Sulejmani (Illinois) vs. Jahnea Miguel (Hawaii)
144 - Sydney Manos (Illinois) vs. Nevaeh Cassidy (Washington)
152 - Kennedy Blades (Illinois) vs. Kiley Hubby (Washington)
164 - Tristan Kelly (Colorado) vs. Katja Osteen (California)
180 - Jaycee Foeller (Missouri) vs. Adelina Parra (California)
200 - Olivia Brown (Oklahoma) vs. Isabeau Shalack (Illinois)
Notes: There are no repeat finalists from last year, as all six 2017 Cadet National finalists in the field were beaten on Saturday and did not advance to the finals… Three 2018 UWW Cadet World Team members are in the finals, World bronze medalist Sterling Dias of Nevada (94), plus Cheyenne Bowman of California (132) and Tristan Kelly of Colorado (164)… Illinois had a breakthrough effort with its Cadet team, putting the most athletes into the finals with five… Five 2018 Cadet Folkstyle National champions are in the freestyle finals, Camille Fournier of Texas at 112, Mia Macaluso of New York at 127, Kiley Hubby of Washington at 152, Katja Osteen of California at 164, Adelina Parra of California at 180 and Olivia Brown of Oklahoma at 200.
All of the action will be live on FloWrestling.

SUNDAY SCHEDULE
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Cadet Freestyle: Session III – Quarterfinals and Consolations
9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. – Cadet Women Freestyle: Session III – Consolations-Semi (IF NEEDED)
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Junior Men's Freestyle: Session I – Preliminaries and Consolations
1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Cadet Women Freestyle: Session IV - Finals, Medal Matches & Awards
4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. – Cadet Freestyle: Session IV - Semifinals, Consolations and Consolation Semifinals
4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. – Junior Men's Freestyle: Session II - Preliminaries and Consolations