Four repeat as 16U Girls champions; Tennessee’s Johnson, Iowa’s Skrocki win Triple Crowns; Maryland’s Fernandez win second title, OW

FARGO, North Dakota –  A pair of rubber chickens skipped across the mat on Sunday afternoon at the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.

For the uninitiated, the rubber chicken is a prop tossed to the mat when wrestlers from Maryland win national titles here in Fargo. Maryland’s Taina Fernandez will bring two of them back after winning her second 16U Girls title to go along with a Junior Girls title.

Fernandez outscored her opponents 58-2 in the 135-pound bracket in the 16U Girls division and bested Oklahoma’s Emily Beckley 11-0 to claim gold, capping her busy weekend. Fernandez was voted the 16U Girls Outstanding Wrestler as well.

Combined, Fernandez outscored opponents 113-2 in a 12-0 weekend with 10 technical falls and two pins.

She wasn’t the only super standout performance, as three other wrestlers – Colorado’s Justice Gutierrez (95 pounds), Tennessee’s Janiya Johnson (155 pounds) and Michigan’s Kaili Manuel (170 pounds) all won their second 16U Girls titles in as many years.

Titles won by Johnson and Iowa’s Eve Skrocki (145 pounds) also earned them the USA Wrestling Triple Crown.

Pennsylvania claimed its third straight 16U Girls team championship with 151 points, followed by Texas (89 points), Oklahoma (88 points), California (86 points), and New Jersey (84 points). Pennsylvania led with 13 All-Americans but came up short in all four of its championship finals. Colorado and Texas each had eight All-Americans, followed by California, Illinois, Oklahoma and Wisconsin with seven each.

Gutierrez repeated as champion with a pair of two-point scoring actions in the first period to pick up a 4-0 win over Pennsylvania’s Brooklyn Henry.

Johnson didn’t blow through the field like some of the other champions, but she showed grit with close victories and come-from-behind performances. In the final, Johnson fell behind early against California’s Symone Jewell, but then scored four points in the final 12 seconds to break a 4-4 tie to come away with an 8-4 victory.

Manuel was impressive throughout the tournament. In the finals, she jumped out to a 6-0 lead and despite one quick scare in the second period, was otherwise in command in a 9-2 win over Minnesota’s Sarah Fulk.

Skrocki had some late heroics to claim the 145-pound title over Kansas’ Gray Joyce 6-5. Trailing 3-0 heading into the second period, Skrocki scored twice in the first 40 seconds to take a 4-3 lead before Joyce stole the lead back with 35 seconds left. Skrocki converted a takedown in the waning seconds to snatch the win and hoist the stop sign.

Skrocki’s title was the first of two 16U golds on the night. At 235 pounds, Iowa’s Aniyah Smith trailed 9-0 with under 30 seconds remaining against South Dakota’s Eden Hach. Smith found herself down 8-0 in the semifinals against New York’s Peyton Mullin and ended up earning a fall to advance.

It was Deja vu all over again for Smith, who hit back-to-back four-pointers to cut the Hach lead to 9-8 with 16 seconds left. Smith pressured in for a third time and tossed Hach to her back for a third straight four-pointer, but this time, Smith would finish the action with a fall just as time expired.

At 100 pounds, Tennessee’s Ryleigh Sturgill won the state’s fourth overall 16U Girls title and first of the night with a pin in the finals over Pennsylvania’s Riley Karwowski. Sturgill cradled up Karwowski with 20 seconds left and heard the slap of the mat for the championship with three seconds left on the clock.

Hailey Delgado was one of two Texas 16U Girls champs of the night. Delgado topped New York’s Gail Sullivan 7-0 to claim gold at 105 pounds. The other Texas title came from 130-pounder Landri VonGonten, who cruised to a title after three technical falls and three pins in the bracket. VonGonten scored a 10-0 technical fall over Idaho’s Olivia Bezdicek to win gold.

The Garden State also picked up a pair of championships as New Jersey’s Gabriella Conte scored a lone inactivity point in the first period and held on to defeat California’s Aubree Guitierrez 1-0 at 110 pounds. At 125 pounds, Victoria Carbonaro blitzed the field en route to the title. Carbonaro completed her perfect run with her sixth technical fall of the event in a 14-4 gold medal win over Neve O’Byrne of Pennsylvania.

Reagan Mathers became Arizona’s fifth-ever 16U girls champion with a solid 6-0 win over Pennsylvania’s Marlee Solomon. Mathers broke open a 2-0 match with a four-point score, tripping Solomon to her back with 25 seconds remaining.

Carolyn Geckler of Ohio won the championship at 120 pounds after a 4-4 criteria victory over New Jersey’s Marie Sharp. Geckler held criteria after scoring the last two-point action of the bout.

Wisconsin claimed a title at 140 pounds as Harlow Skenandore topped Oklahoma’s Clover Williams 9-5. Utah’s Tevia Nau Rarick improved from a year ago, moving up one step on the podium and winning gold at 190 pounds with a fall over Nebraska’s JayShree Bray at 1:41.

Indiana’s Racheal Adolphe gave Indiana a champion at 207 pounds. Adolphe settled with a head-and-arm and pinned Kansas’ Lulu Kirk just over a minute into the second period.
Team Standings
1. Pennsylvania 151
2. Texas 89
3. Oklahoma 88
4. California 86
5. New Jersey 84
6. Colorado 78
7. Iowa 77
8. Wisconsin 73
9. Tennessee 72
10. Kansas 68
11. Illinois 54
11. Michigan 54
13. Ohio 46
14. New York 41
15. Maryland 40
16. Washington 39
16. Florida 39
18. Minnesota 35
19. Utah 34
20. Indiana 32
21. Arizona 27
21. Idaho 27
23. New Mexico 24
24. South Dakota 22
25. Nebraska 20
26. Missouri 19
26. Oregon 19
28. Alaska 15
28. North Dakota 15
30. Nevada 14
31. Connecticut 12
31. Georgia 12
31. Alabama 12
34. North Carolina 2
35. Louisiana 0
35. Virginia 0
35. Maine 0
35. South Carolina 0
35. Wyoming 0
35. West Virginia 0
35. Arkansas 0
35. Massachusetts 0
35. Kentucky 0
35. Rhode Island 0
35. Montana 0
35. Vermont 0
35. Hawaii 0
Outstanding Wrestler: Taina Fernandez (Maryland), 135 Pounds
Most Falls, Least Time: Julia Arujao (North Dakota) – 6 Falls in 9:03