Raney, Ricketts looking to double up, 11 past champions remain alive after first day of Junior Greco

FARGO, North Dakota – The lack of leg attacks didn’t mean there was a lack of action as Junior Greco-Roman took to the 30 mats at the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals on Friday at the Fargodome on the campus of North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota.

It was another new record as 1,339 entries eclipsed last year’s mark of 1,310. The first session Friday featured 13 wrestlers who’d previously won Greco-Roman titles across both 16U and Junior age-groups. Only two Junior Boys freestyle champions entered to try to double up – Jordyn Raney at 144 and Lucas Ricketts at 190 – both from Kentucky.

There’s a pair of returning Junior Greco champions in the field at 113 pounds as Illinois’ Caden Correll and Oklahoma’s Cason Craft started off unbeaten in the first session. Craft was 2-0 with a pair of technical fall wins, while Correll was 3-0 with three techs. Craft has six Fargo medals all-time. He was second in freestyle earlier in the week.

Colorado’s Benjamin Gomez scored the biggest upset of the opening session, pinning returning champion Nicolas Enzminger of North Dakota at 120 pounds. Enzminger led 4-0 midway through the first period when Gomez took an underhook and quickly switched off to a headlock. Enzminger fought for 20 seconds before Gomez settled and got the fall confirmation. Gomez will face Joel Friederichs of Minnesota.

Idaho’s Saxton Scott, a 2023 16U Greco-Roman champion, is out to a 3-0 start but he had to fight off his back in an opening round win over Missouri’s Christopher Ankenman. Ankenman tossed Scott to his back. The mat official called for the fall, but it wasn’t confirmed. That proved to be the opening Scott needed to survive, finally taking the lead with under a minute left and using a series of turns to build out a lead before gaining the technical fall victory. He’ll take on Kansas’ Bryson Rockers in the next round. Rockers picked off 2023 16U All-American Jack Baron of Pennsylvania 12-9 in the third round.

Illinois’ Chance Woods picked off 2024 16U Greco champion Matthew Orbeta 8-0 in the third round at 138 pounds. Woods faces Dale Corbin of Pennsylvania next. Orbeta was one of three past Greco champions in the weight. Raney and Oklahoma’s Thomas Verrette are the other.

Both Raney and Verrette are off to 3-0 starts.

At 144 pounds, Colorado’s Austin Collins is out to a 3-0 start. Collins has a trio of technical falls and will next face returning All-American Landon Thomas of Michigan. Thomas has three techs en route to the matchup.

Returning Junior champion Brandon Dean of Colorado has a pair of technical falls and a pin in his first three bouts. Dean has placed five times in Fargo after his fourth-place finish in Junior freestyle. He’s joined in the weight class by 2024 16U Greco champion Chance Ruble of Missouri. Ruble’s gone tech-tech-decision in his first three bouts. Ruble will face returning Junior All-American Dmytro Chubenko of Ohio next.

Wyatt Medlin of Illinois, the 2023 16U champ and last year’s runner-up, is off to a 3-0 start with three technical falls at 157 pounds. Medlin will next face Colorado’s David Burchett.

Adonis Bonar II of Nebraska is off to a 2-0 start at 190 pounds. Bonar II was a 2023 16U Greco-Roman champion. He’ll face Georgia’s Xander Dossett next.

Indiana’s James Hartleroad, a 2023 16U Greco champion, is off to a 2-0 start after a pair of technical falls at 285 pounds. He’ll face Oklahoma’s Tyler Blanton next.  

Other notables: Nevada’s Manuel Saldate opened up with two technical falls. A six-time All-American in Fargo, Saldate’s trying to tie Andrew Berreyesa for the most medals in state history. Berreyesa won seven medals in Fargo from 2013-2017. …  Minnesota’s Lawton Eller is off to a 3-0 start at 132 pounds and is already a four-time Greco-Roman All-American across both age groups and has placed five total times in Fargo. Other wrestlers with five all-time medals looking to add to their count wrestling Junior Greco are: Nathan Rioux (Indiana, 132), Bruno Cassioppi (Illinois, 157) and Maximus Norman (Tennessee, 175). Norman will have some work to do in the consolations as he fell to Illinois’ Lyndon Thies in the third round.

At the end of the first day of Greco-Roman, Illinois has 37 wrestlers left in the tournament, followed by Pennsylvania with 29. Minnesota and Oklahoma have 27 each, followed by Iowa with 22, Ohio with 19, Colorado with 18, Utah has 16 and Missouri rounds out the Top 10 with 15.

Pennsylvania swept all four freestyle divisions to tie Illinois in the all-time team title race with 65 titles (both official and unofficial). Illinois has won 31 Junior Greco team titles, including 15 of the last 16.

The two lightest weights (100, 106) have wrestled up to the quarterfinals. All other weights ended at the round-of-16 on Friday. The Junior Greco-Roman tournament resumes at 9 a.m. (CT) tomorrow and will sprint to the finish.

Catch all the action from Fargo, N.D., live or on-demand at FloWrestling.com. Tournament brackets and updated results are available through USA Bracketing.

Visit the USA Wrestling Event Hub for more coverage and need-to-know information to follow the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals.