#Fargo2025 men’s freestyle division state highlights, with firsts, records and notable achievements

Pennsylvania swept the men’s freestyle divisions at the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals giving the Keystone State four team titles in a year for the first time in state history – with Greco-Roman still left to go, it’s possible that the state could become the first state association to win five team titles in a season.

Including unofficial titles going back to 1971, Pennsylvania now has 65 titles across all six divisions – tying Illinois for the most all-time.

Here’s the annual breakdown of news, notes, facts and firsts from the men’s freestyle divisions in 2025.

Arizona: Angel Cejudo Jr. won the 16U division, one-upping his father, Angel, who was second at the 16U division in 2001. Dear ol’ dad did win two Fargo titles, but they came in Greco-Roman. The four 16U All-Americans were the second-most in state history. Arizona had four wrestlers place in the division on three previous occasions. The best was five in 2022.

California: The Golden State produced the second-most All-Americans in freestyle with 17 – tying them with Iowa and Ohio. The state also set a record for the most finalists in the Junior division with five. Moses Mendoza became a seven-time Fargo placewinner, winning his first title in an all-California final against Isaiah Cortez. The eight finalists across both divisions is the most for the state since it had nine in 2022.

Colorado: The state scored eight All-Americans – four in each style – the second most in Juniors all-time. The record was five in 2007. Brandon Dean and Onofre Gonzales earned their third all-time medals.

Connecticut: The state had multiple All-Americans in the style for the 12^th time in state history and the second straight year. Liam Carlin finished fourth at 165 pounds in Juniors, while Jaxsen Bailey finished seventh at 126 pounds in 16U.

Delaware: Cody Bakhsh’s fifth-place finish at 94 pounds in 16U was the first for the state since 2022.

Florida: The Sunshine State scored a pair of Top-10 finishes. The state set a new record in total All-Americans with 13. The six All-Americans in 16U ties the state record set back in 1990. It’s the fourth Top-10 finish for the state since 2019. Jovani Solis won the 138-pound title. The seven All-Americans is a new record in the Junior division.

Georgia: The Peach State was the highlight at Junior 150 as Logan W. Paradice claimed gold, beating teammate Dallas Russell in the finals. It was the first time in any style wrestlers from Georgia met in a final in Fargo. The four All-Americans tied the state record and the fifth-place finish is the best in state history in the Junior division. The only other time Georgia placed in the Top 10 in the division was back in 1980, when they (unofficially) took eighth. Antonio Mills won the title at 126 pounds, making it the first time the state’s won multiple Junior titles in the same year. The three Junior finalists is a state record.

Idaho: Brand’n Edstrom and Matthew Martino were the state’s only two All-Americans. Edstrom finished seventh at 113 pounds in the 16U division, while Martino collected his third Fargo medal with a third-place finish at Junior 150.

Illinois: With 18 All-Americans combined, Illinois collected the second-most medals, tied with Iowa and California. The 13 Junior placewinners was one behind Pennsylvania. The placewinner output was great compared to the rest of the field, but low by Illinois standards. Ethan Sonne won the 16U championship at 165 pounds, the state’s only gold medal in men’s freestyle. Wyatt Medlin’s runner-up finish at the weight was his third career finals appearance. Bruno Cassioppi was fifth at Junior 157, giving him five all-time medals. Since 2015, the Cassioppi family has collected 24 medals from Bruno’s siblings Anthony, Rose, Angelina, and Rocco.

Indiana: The Hoosier State put a record 15 wrestlers on the podium combined and had nine 16U All-Americans for the second year in a row. The six Junior medals was the second-most all-time. Peyton Horsby won the 16U title at 144 pounds, while Junior 175-pounder Weston Cressell placed for the third time. Of the 15 placers, 12 hit the podium for the first time.

Iowa: The 11 16U All-Americans were the second-most all-time. Dreshaun Ross claimed gold at 285 pounds, becoming the first Iowan to win a Junior title at 285 pounds since Gannon Gremmel in 2016. Other notable Iowa Junior heavyweight champions: Eric Thompson (2008), Matt Fields (2006), Mark Sindlinger (1982), Dean Phinney (1977) and John Bowslby (1974).

Kansas: Vincent Rosas (138) and Thunder Page (150) each finished seventh in the 16U division, keeping the state’s 16U placer streak alive. The state has at least one All-American in 16U Boys since 1986.

Kentucky: Explained extensively in Wednesday night’s recap, the two Junior titles won by Jordyn Raney and Lucas Ricketts were the state’s first. The only other Junior finals appearance came in 1997 from Joe Carr Jr., from the famed Carr family. Raney and Ricketts are the only two Junior champions in the Greco-Roman tournament. While the Raney’s are known competitors, Ricketts was unranked by FloWrestling, MatScouts, W.I.N. Magazine and Sports Illustrated coming in. That’s likely to change.

Louisiana: The state’s first All-American since 2021 was Tuerlings Catholic three-time state champion Alex Rozas at 120 pounds. Rozas finished fifth in the Junior division. Rozas won the state’s eighth ever Junior men’s freestyle medals.

Maryland: No chicken for Maryland on the men’s freestyle side this year, but Salah Tsarni finished second at 175 pounds in the 16U division then committed to the Air Force Academy. All three of Maryland’s placers came in the 16U division.

Michigan: The state’s finalist streak in men’s freestyle stayed intact after Caden Krueger’s runner-up finish at 190 pounds. The Mitten has won at least one finalist in the style every year since 1998.

Minnesota: The Land of 10,000 wrestlers had three finalists -- Miklo Hernandez won gold in 16U at 126 pounds, while Lincoln Robideau was the runner-up at 144. On the Junior side, Jarrett Wadsen finished second at 190 pounds. Landon Thoennes finished third at Junior 106, giving him four all-time medals.

Missouri: Colin Rutlin was the outstanding wrestler in 16U after his championship at 150 pounds and David Gleason was a champion at Junior 157 to give the state multiple men’s freestyle champions for the second year in a row. Rutlin’s title was the first in the 16U division since 2018.

Montana: Holden Hoiness and Bruno Pallone hit the podium giving Montana multiple All-Americans in 16U for the first time since 2007. Hoiness finished seventh at 175 pounds, while Pallone was third at 215.

Nebraska: Cade Ziola won Nebraska’s first Junior title since Thomas Gilman took home gold back in 2011. Ziola took home the 215-pound title, while Zaiyahn Ornelas was eighth at 120 pounds. Both are now three-time Fargo placewinners.

Nevada: Satoshi Davis took home the 215-pound title in 16U and ended a 25-year drought in the division. The only time Nevada has won a 16U gold in the style came back in 2000, when Chad Espinoza took the 209-pound title. Manuel Saldate finished fifth at 132 pounds in the Junior division, giving him six medals all-time.

New Jersey: Another year of double-digit All-Americans for the Garden State as 13 total medals were won. In the past 30 tournaments, only twice has Jersey failed to hit at least 10.

New Mexico: The state’s men’s freestyle medal drought came to an end as Valentine Popadiuc took eighth in Juniors at 138 pounds. The last time New Mexico placed in men’s freestyle was back in 2013 when Richard Montoya finished sixth in 16U at 126 pounds. Popadiuc’s sister Vivienne placed in the 16U Girls division, giving the state brother-sister placers the same year for the first time.

New York: All six of New York’s All-Americans came in 16U as the state had the most medalists in the division since it put 10 on the podium in 2016. Camryn Howard won a title at 157 pounds, the state’s fourth title in the past five years. The four finalists in a year is a new state record in the division.

North Dakota: The host state’s only men’s freestyle All-American came at 175 pounds in 16U where Mandan’s Tate Sailer finished fifth.

Ohio: Ohio’s Cole Speer wrestles in a state known for a tournament named the Ironman. Speer wrestled the most bouts of any wrestler in the men’s freestyle divisions after completing a consolation run to fourth place that saw him win 10 straight matches between an opening round loss and a loss in the third-place bout at 132 pounds in the Junior division. Speer opened with a 9-7 loss to Georgia’s Cane Smolarsky and then got hot. One of the wins was a walkover after an opponent didn’t make weight on the second day.

Oklahoma: With three All-Americans in Juniors, the state kept alive its streak of at least three placers in the division that dates back to 2009. It’s the 29^th straight year the state has put multiple All-Americans on the podium. Only once has the state not produced at least one Junior All-American and that came in the tournament’s second year – 1972. All five placewinners across both age groups were fourth or higher with Turner Ross winning an all-Oklahoma final over Cason Craft at Junior 106.

Oregon: The state’s only All-American came in Junior 106 where Michael Salas-Sanchez took fifth.

Pennsylvania: After sweeping both the women’s freestyle divisions, Pennsylvania claimed both men’s freestyle divisions with a combined 35 All-Americans, the second highest total in state history. The state record, set last year, is 36. The 21 All-Americans in the 16U division ties the national record set by Illinois in 2012 and tied by Pennsylvania in 2021. The 12 combined finalists is the most in state history and ties the national record first set by Illinois in 2011. In case you’re wondering, if the team scoring metric from Illinois’ 21 All-Americans in 2012 was used then, it would have added up to 262 points. This year’s PA team scored 267.

Puerto Rico: The island territory of Puerto Rico put a men’s freestyler on the podium for the first time in 20 years. Joab Carillo finished sixth at 16U 150 pounds. The last wrestler to place in the style is one most people can assume correctly – Franklin Gomez, who won Junior 119 that year. The last time Puerto Rico had medalists in 16U Boys was in 2002 when Gomez and Pedro Soto placed.

South Dakota: The state earned a 16U All-American for the sixth straight tournament. It’s also the third year in a row they’ve produced multiple All-Americans in the men’s freestyle divisions. The top finish was Gage Lohr in 16U at 138 pounds, where he finished third.

Tennessee: With a pair of 16U All-Americans, Tennessee extended its streak of multiple medals to four. That streak extends to eight if you combine the age groups. Maximus Norman earned his fifth all-time Fargo medal with a sixth-place finish at Junior 175, while 150-pound runner-up Dylan Villers was the state’s seventh 16U finalist in history. It’s also the fourth straight year the state’s had a finalist in men’s freestyle.

Texas: Aiden Cooley finished fifth at Junior 215 to win his fourth career Fargo medal. He had to win eight matches to do it. Oliver Pulliam was the state’s highest finisher, taking second at 113 pounds in the 16U division.

Utah: Juniors Ladd Holman and Travyn Boger earned their third career medals. Holman was fifth at 175 pounds, while Boger finished eighth in what was a loaded 285-pound bracket.

Virginia: William Etu only finished sixth in Class 6 at Stafford High School this past season. After starting the year at 165, he finished at 175. This offseason, he wrestled 175 and bumped up to 190 for Fargo. The move paid off as he outplaced his state tournament finish, taking fifth at 190 pounds. Etu is the son of former University of Virginia heavyweight and 1997 Cadet Greco-Roman champion Josh Etu.

Washington: Miro Parr-Coffin took the 16U gold at 94 pounds, becoming the state’s first champion in the division since 2014 when Trey Meyer won the title at 152 pounds.

Wisconsin: The state earned double-digit medals for the seventh straight tournament. The state has also produced All-Americans in both age groups every year since 1998. Haakon Peterson finished fifth at 144 pounds, earning his sixth Fargo medal all-time. Declan Koch and Kellen Wolbert also earned their third Fargo medals after placing in Juniors. Koch was seventh at 157 pounds, while Wolbert was the runner-up at 138.