Strong start for Triple Crown contenders in 16U boys freestyle at U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals

FARGO, North Dakota – Day one of the 16U men’s freestyle competition at the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals is only the beginning of three days of high-intensity action.

With 1,786 entries in the tournament, the first session features only a few matches for most wrestlers. That means that there are very few “upsets” that occur right off the bat.

Returning 16U runners-up Brown and Ruiz advance, but Verceles is injured

One of the three returning runners-up in the draw suffered a loss by injury default in his first match. At 113 pounds, returning runner-up Tyler Verceles of Maryland was trailing Zach Dixon of Connecticut when Verceles was injured on the edge of the mat at the 3:09 mark. Verceles could not continue.

The other two returning 16U Nationals runners-up, Corey Brown of Maryland (120) and Paul Ruiz of California (126) advanced without a loss. Both Brown and Ruiz had two technical fall victories each.  

13 of the 2025 Folkstyle National champions still alive for the Triple Crown

Coming into the tournament, all 17 of the 2025 16U Folkstyle National champions came to Fargo to compete. This means all 17 champions were still eligible for the Triple Crown, which is given to a 16U boy who wins USA Wrestling folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman national titles the same year. After the first session, there are still 13 in the hunt for a Triple Crown.

In the first round at 100 pounds, two of those eligible for the Triple Crown wrestled each other. Wyatt Dannegger of Missouri, who won the Folkstyle Nationals at 100, pinned Gabriel Ryzyi of Michigan, the Folkstyle Nationals champion at 94 pounds who had moved up in weight.

At 113 pounds, Benito Barnhart of Florida beat 2025 Folkstyle Nationals champion Lewis Davis of Arkansas, 14-10, ending Davis’ chance for a Triple Crown. At 120 pounds, Martez Sheard of Wisconsin defeated 2025 Folkstyle Nationals champion Deklan Barr of Pennsylvania, 2-1.

Those still alive in the Triple Crown quest include Max Lindquist of Missouri (88), Wyatt Dannegger of Missouri (100), Coy Mehlert of Iowa (113), Blake Nevils of Idaho (132), Carson Neubert of Wisconsin (132), Riker Ohearon of Utah (138), Braden Shoemaker of South Dakota (150), Thunder Page of Kansas (150), William Fullhart of Iowa (165), Maximus Purdy of Illinois (175), Bruno Pallone of Montana (215), Ceasar Salas of Minnesota (215) and Andrew Olson of Minnesota (285).  

What happened to the 2024 14U National champions in their first Fargo?

The 16U division covers just two seasons of an athlete’s life, the years in which the wrestler turns 15 or 16 years old. At the end of each calendar year, all of those who were 16 move on up to the Junior level, while those who were 14 “graduate” from 14U and move up to the 16U division.

For session one, we will focus on the 11 wrestlers who were 2024 14U National freestyle champions and are now competing at the 16U Nationals in freestyle for the first time. How will these new 16U wrestlers do in their first day at the big show?

The answer is very, very well. The group of 2024 14U champions went a combined 14-1, with 10 technical falls and two pins. Winning two matches were Jeremy Carver of Indiana (113), Jaxsen Bailey of Connecticut (126), Reza Massjouni of Virginia (138), Riley Watts of Iowa (138) and Tyde Nelsen of Iowa (175). Winning their only match of the session were Carter Smith of Ohio (94), Shiloh Joyce of New Jersey (100) and Easton Kammerud of Wisconsin (165). Two of the 14U champions, Johnathan Thompson of Iowa (88) and Ty Martin of Iowa (88) will have their first match on Tuesday morning. The only 2024 14U champion to lose was Sam Harrington of Pennsylvania (175), who went 1-1 for the day.

The six returning 16U All-Americans at 106 pounds remain unbeaten

There were six returning 16U National All-Americans who landed at 106 pounds, Lucas Forman of Nevada (106), Thiago Silva of California (106), Cruz Gannon of Iowa (106), Traevon Ducking of Indiana (106), Vince Von Bernewitz (106) and William Soto of New York (106). Only three of these wrestlers received a top eight seed, with Silva at No. 2, Ducking at No. 3 and Gannon at No. 5. All six advanced on Monday without a loss. In the next round on Tuesday morning, Forman and Soto will wrestle each other.

A sneak peak at the team race has Pennsylvania and Illinois getting a strong start

Three rounds of competition will not determine the ultimate team race. There are not any team points available until after the quarterfinal round on Wednesday. But, looking at which teams have the most wrestlers on the championship side of the bracket after day one will give us a strong hint about what to expect the next two days.

Top 10 States with wrestlers alive in the championship bracket

1. Pennsylvania   58

2. Illinois             47

3. Ohio  34

4. California        33

5. Iowa  33

6. Indiana             27

7. Wisconsin        26

8. Minnesota        19

8. New York         19

10. Oklahoma      17

The 16U boys freestyle action continues on Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. where the plan is to compete through the Round of 16 on the championship side. All of the action is broadcast live on FloWrestling. All of the brackets are on USABracketing