Fargo Day 5 preview (7/18): Greco launches with Cadet day one; Junior Women finish with its finals

2017 Cadet Greco-Roman champion Yusief Lillie of Washington is seeking another gold this year. Photo by Jim Thrall, Matfocus.com

WHAT’S NEW: CADET GRECO-ROMAN GETS GOING THROUGH QUARTERFINALS


Expect to see some very big throws on day one of the Cadet Greco-Roman Nationals, which begins at 9 a.m. and the advances in the second session at 5 p.m. through the quarterfinals.


2017 Cadet National Greco-Roman champions who entered this year include Yusief Lillie of Washington (106) and Carson Manville of Pennsylvania (152). Both were also in the 2018 Cadet freestyle event, with Manville winning a Cadet freestyle title and Lillie placing second.


Last year, Manville won the Cadet Nationals in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, which he is looking to do again this year. Manville also competed at the UWW Cadet World Championships in Greco-Roman earlier this month in Croatia, and came directly back to the USA in order to compete again in Fargo.


2017 Cadet National Greco-Roman runners-up who came back seeking a title this year are Conor Knopick of Nebraska (120) and Fabian Lopez of Illinois (132).


There are still three guys in the hunt for the coveted Cadet Triple Crown, which occurs when you win USA Wrestling national titles in folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman during the same year. Coming into the Greco event with victories in the first two legs of the Triple Crown are Mason Gehloff of Minnesota at 88 pounds, Maxximus Martinez of Califnornia at 94 pounds and Jordan Williams of Oklahoma at 94 pounds. They were Cadet Folkstyle National champions in Iowa in April, and won the Cadet Nationals in freestyle on Monday.


Besides the three Cadet freestyle champions seeking a Triple Crown and Manville, there are X other 2018 Cadet National freestyle champions who have also entered Greco-Roman: Jesse Ybarra of Arizona at 120, Dominick Serrano of Colorado at 132, Joshua Edmond of Michigan at 138, Quayin Short of Minnesota at 160, Nathaniel Deasey of Arizona at 220 and Hayden Copass of Illinois at 285. Serrano and Edmond moved up one weight class from where they won their Cadet freestyle titles.


Last year, Illinois was the Cadet team champion in both Greco-Roman, followed by Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Washington and California. Illinois was knocked off the pedestal in Cadet freestyle, dropping from first in 2017 to fourth, with Pennsylvania, Ohio and Minnesota placing ahead of them. Minnesota has a big tradition of excellence in Greco-Roman, so it will be interesting to see if Illinois can hold onto the team title in the classic style. Illinois edged Washington in the Greco-Roman finals of the Cadet National Duals earlier this year.


All of the action is live on FloWrestling.

WHAT FINISHES: JUNIOR WOMEN’S FINALS WILL BE STAR-STUDDED


Junior women’s freestyle returns for their semifinals at 9 a.m. and finals later that day at 1:30 p.m.


In a loaded tournament, the big names in the women’s field fared very well on Tuesday, as all nine returning champions were able to make the quarterfinals. Here are the semifinal pairings for Wednesday morning.


100 pounds

Emily Shilson (Minnesota) vs. Sami Saribay (Hawaii)

Sage Mortimer (Utah) vs. Estrella Dorado Marin (Colorado)


106 pounds

Caitlyn Walker (Pennsylvania) vs. Amani Jones (Georgia)

Mia Palumbo (Illinois) vs. Tilynne Vasquez (Montana)


112 pounds

Felicity Taylor (Iowa) vs. Stefana Jelacic (Arizona)

Peyton Prussin (Nevada) vs. Kenzie Cormier (Washington)


117 pounds

Vayle Baker (Pennsylvania) vs. Gabrielle Skidmore (Wisconsin)

Aliyah Rollins (California) vs. Phoenix Dubose (Washington)


122 pounds

Alisha Howk (Wisconsin) vs. Payton Stroud (Washington)

Alexys Zepeda (Oregon) vs. Cameron Guerin (Washington)


127

Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Texas) vs. Karoline Ortiz (Florida)

Louisa Schwab (Illinois) vs. Niya Teresita Gaines (California)


132

Alexandria Liles (Colorado) vs. Ashton Cadman (Wisconsin)

Abnelis Yambo (Florida) vs. Teniya Alo (Hawaii)


138

Alara Boyd (Indiana) vs. Emma Bruntil (Washington)

Aine Drury (California) vs. Kaden Campbell (Colorado)


144

Jayden Laurent (Wisconsin) vs. Jillian Bruno (Pennsylvania)

Jerzie Estrada (Colorado) vs. Cara Broadus (Connecticut)


152

Macey Kilty (Wisconsin) vs. Lena Flanagan (Washington)

Kaylynn Albrecht (Texas) vs. Lourdes Torres (Washington)


164

Tristan Kelly (Colorado) vs. Sydnee Kimber (Alaska)

Emily Cue (Colorado) vs. Kelani Corbett (Hawaii)


180

Jaycee Foeller (Missouri) vs. Bailey Dennis (Oregon)

Jesse Kirby (Virginia) vs. Emily Sandoval (California)


200

Angela Buenrrostro (California) vs. Adelina Parra (California)

Alexandra Castillo (California) vs. Gabrielle Hamilton (Illinois)


225

Alyssa Alvarez (Texas) vs. Stacey Pgouda (Georgia)

Gabrielle Holloway (Texas) vs. Cristina Santoyo (California)

Notes: California has the most semifinalists with eight semifinalists, followed by Washington with seven and Colorado with six… All three of Wisconsin’s returning champions are in the semifinals again this year, Alisha Howk at 122, Jayden Laurent at 144 and Macey Kilty at 152… California has three of the four semifinalists at 200 pounds, with Angela Buenrrostro, Adelina Parra and Alexandria Castillo still in the hunt…

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – Junior Women Freestyle: Session III Quarterfinals and Consolation

9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Cadet Greco-Roman: Session I - Preliminaries and Consolations


1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. – Junior Women Freestyle: Session IV Finals, Medal Matches & Awards


5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. – Cadet Greco-Roman: Session II - 1/8 Championship, Quarter-Final and Consolations