Riley Hanrahan of Wisconsin secures a pin in the 130-pound finals to repeat as16U Folkstyle Nationals champion.
Hanrahan, Banks repeat, Conrad named 16U girls OW at Air Force Special Warfare Folkstyle Nationals
by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Watch: 16U girls champion post-match interviews
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The final set of champions were crowned at the Air Force Special Warfare 16U and Junior Folkstyle Nationals on Sunday afternoon at the UNI Dome, as the 16U girls tournament concluded with an action-packed set of medal matches.
Two talented prospects repeated as 16U champions—Riley Hanrahan of Wisconsin and Lilliana Banks of Wisconsin. Both girls picked up dynamic pins in their respective championship matches.
Hanrahan scored a second period fall against Mariaha Benedict of Iowa in the 130-pound finals. The win punctuated a 3-0 record for Hanrahan in the 16U division this weekend. She also picked up a fifth-place finish at 130 pounds in the Junior tournament.
Banks, who was a 16U All-American in Fargo, N.D., last year, secured a fall with two seconds remaining in the match to take the 142-pound title from Maddie Marsh of Indiana. Banks earned a runner-up finish in the 135-pound Junior bracket in Cedar Falls.
124-pound champion Keanna Conrad of Idaho was named Outstanding Wrestler for the 16U girls division at the conclusion of the event. She went four-for-four on pins this weekend, including a first period title clincher against Rianna Bernal of California in the championship match, her fastest fall of the event.
Doubling up as 16U and Junior champion this weekend was Wisconsin star Brooke Huffman at 190 pounds. She pinned her way through both brackets, tallying six falls in total. Her 16U final against North Dakota’s Cambree Anderson resulted in a pin in 2:55.
Seven wrestlers earned pins in the championship finals—Hanrahan, Banks, Conrad, Huffman, Elizabeth Valenzuela Smith of Arizona at 106 pounds, Cheyenne Frank of Michigan at 112 pounds and Millie Azlin of Oklahoma at 170 pounds.
A complete list of championship finals and medal match results for the 16U girls division can be found below.
The Air Force Special Warfare 16U and Junior Folkstyle Nationals is the first leg of the USA Wrestling Triple Crown award. Girls division champions in Cedar Falls must win a freestyle national title in Fargo, N.D., plus either the Women’s Nationals in Spokane, Wash., or the High School Recruiting Showcase in Las Vegas, Nev., to claim a Triple Crown.
Fans can watch archived matches of this event on FloWrestling.com. Brackets and match-by-match results are available on Trackwrestling.com.
For more information about this event, please visit usawrestlingevents.com.