Illinois storms to another Junior Greco championships; Pennsylvania’s Alberto-Desilva named Outstanding Wrestler
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by Jason Bryant, Special to TheMat.com
Pennsylvania’s Luis Alberto-Desilva tosses his coach after winning the 144-pound championship in Junior Greco-Roman on Saturday night at the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota.
FARGO, North Dakota – Some things in sports seem like they’re almost a given. When talking about the Junior Greco-Roman competition at the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals in the Fargodome at North Dakota State University, there was no almost.
Illinois dominated.
Illinois won its 16th Junior Greco-Roman title in the last 17 tries, outdistancing the field with 190 points, four champions and placed 12 All-Americans.
Utah finished second with 89 points and eight medalists. The second-place finish matches the runner-up finish in 2001 as the highest in its Junior Greco-Roman history. Oklahoma was third with 71 points, followed by Minnesota and Pennsylvania tied for fourth with 70 points. California and Ohio (68 points), Iowa (66), Colorado (65) and Nebraska (62) rounded out the top 10.
Illinois won back-to-back titles down low as Vincent DeMarco scored a 9-0 technical fall over Kansas’ Zxander Donner at 106 pounds, followed by Kaleb Pratt’s 7-1 victory at 113 in an all-Illinois final against Daniel Goodwin.
Illinois’ Wyatt Medlin won his first Junior Greco title with a 5-1 win over Iowa’s Bas Dias at 157 pounds. Medlin was the runner-up last year and a 2023 16U champion. Josh Hoffer added a fourth title at 215 pounds with a solid 7-0 win over Minnesota’s Evan McGuire.
Utah had a pair of finalists for the first time since 2016, but only 100-pounder Kaden Oldroyd came away with a title. Oldroyd started off the night with a quick 22-second technical fall over Colorado’s Onofre Gonzales. Iowa’s 175-pound champion Lincoln Jipp topped the other Utah finalist – Ladd Holman – 10-0.
Oklahoma’s third-place finish was sparked by a pair of titles – Van Smith at 126 pounds and Thomas Verrette at 138 pounds. Smith topped Hawaii’s third-ever Junior Greco finalist, Paliku Chang, 9-1. Smith finished with two medals on the week – he was fifth in freestyle. Verrette won his first Junior title to go with a pair of 16U titles after a 9-0 technical fall win over Pennsylvania’s Ned Kaufman.
Pennsylvania’s Luis Alberto-Desilva finished off a stellar tournament with the 144-pound title. Alberto-Desilva topped Maksym Chubenko of Ohio 6-3. Alberto-Desilva placed fourth at the weight a year ago, but this time around, was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.
There would be no double champions in the Junior division as Nebraska’s Adonis Bonar II hit a big head-and-arm to throw Kentucky’s Lucas Ricketts for a fall in 69 seconds for the 190-pound title. Bonar II was the 2023 16U champion at 182 pounds.
New Mexico’s Roman Luttrell won a back-and-forth battle over Minnesota’s Joel Friederichs 8-7 in the finals at 120 pounds. Luttrell snapped a New Mexico Junior Greco championship drought, bringing home the first title since Anthony Romero won the 154-pound gold in 1983.
Nevada scored its third-ever Junior Greco-Roman champion as Manuel Saldate came from behind to earn another cardiac victory with an 8-7 win over Alaska’s Brian Grabner at 132 pounds. Saldate fell behind 7-0 before chipping away and scoring the winning takedown – confirmed after review – at the buzzer. Earlier in the tournament, Saldate recovered from a 6-0 hole to win his quarterfinal and stay alive.
Idaho’s Matthew Martino collected the championship at 150 pounds with a 6-5 win over the other Chubenko twin, Dmytro. Missouri’s Will Scherer scored the last point to hold the match-winning criteria in a 5-5 win over Michigan’s JayDen Williams at 165 pounds.
Wisconsin heavyweight Hunter Vander Heiden closed the night with his best Garrett Lowney impression, rolling through Washington’s Kade West 8-0 in 23 seconds to close out the night. Vander Heiden won a high school state title for Freedom this past season. Lowney, an Olympic bronze medalist in 2000, was a three-time state champion for Freedom and a Junior Greco-Roman champion in 1997 and 1998.
2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals #
At Fargo, N.D., July 19 #
JUNIOR GRECO-ROMAN #
Team Standings
1. Illinois 190
2. Utah 89
3. Oklahoma 71
4. Minnesota 70
5. Pennsylvania 70
6. California 68
7. Ohio 68
8. Iowa 66
9. Colorado 65
10. Nebraska 62
11. Wisconsin 56
12. Missouri 54
13. Idaho 45
14. Indiana 37
15. Kentucky 35
16. Alaska 35
17. Kansas 34
18. Nevada 34
19. Texas 33
20. Washington 29
21. Florida 29
22. New Mexico 27
23. Hawaii 20
24. Michigan 20
25. Georgia 17
26. New Jersey 15
27. Oregon 14
28. Montana 12
29. New York 12
30. Maryland 10
31. North Dakota 9
32. Tennessee 9
33. Alabama 9
34. Arizona 7
35. West Virginia 2
36. Virginia 2
Outstanding Wrestler: Luis Alberto-Desilva (Pennsylvania, 144 pounds)
Most Falls: Darion Bitz (North Dakota, 285 pounds) – 5 in 11:39.
MEDAL MATCH RESULTS #
100 #
1st - Kaden Oldroyd (UT) T.F. Onofre Gonzales (CO), 8-0 (0:22)
3rd - Frank Fuentes (CA) F. Quentin Williams (IL), 1:10
5th - Symon Woods (IL) Dec. Simon Carter (CO), 7-5
7th - Aidan Ortega (IL) T.F. Jaxsen Vestal (IA), 8-0 (0:47)
106 #
1st - Vincent DeMarco (IL) T.F. Xzander Donner (KS), 9-0 (4:06)
3rd - Niko Odiotti (IL) T.F. Ace Schweitzer (NE), 10-2 (5:08)
5th - RJ Phelan (FL) T.F. Camron Smith (PA), 10-0 (1:04)
7th - Casey McElligott (GA) T.F. Damian Trujillo (NM), 13-4 (1:33)
113 #
1st - Kaleb Pratt (IL) Dec. Daniel Goodwin (IL), 7-1
3rd - Cameron Jackson (CA) Dec. Caden Correll (IL), 9-5
5th - Jose Cordero (TN) T.F. Mason Brayfield (MO), 8-0 (0:36)
7th - Koa DeLoach (FL) T.F. Braydon Studer (OH), 8-0 (1:08)
120 #
1st - Roman Luttrell (NM) Dec. Joel Friederichs (MN), 8-7
3rd - Carter Wallis (MO) Dec. Dunia Sibomana (NY), 4-4
5th - Joshua Enoch (OR) F. Nicolas Enzminger (ND), 0:48
7th - Cruzer Dominguez (NE) F. Kaleb Blackner (UT), 0:35
126 #
1st - Van Smith (OK) T.F. Paliku Chang (HI), 9-1 (3:56)
3rd - Boden Banta (ID) F. Kellen Downing (MT), 1:29
5th - Czar Quintanilla (WA) T.F. Jack Baker (CA), 8-0 (1:52)
7th - Saxton Scott (ID) T.F. Jake Knight (IA), 13-5 (4:53)
132 #
1st - Manuel Saldate (NV) Dec. Brian Grabner (AK), 8-7
3rd - Nathan Rioux (IN) F. Josiah Boyden (GA), 2:17
5th - Mason Carlson (UT) T.F. Lawson Eller (MN), 8-0 (0:42)
7th - Kiernan Meink (NE) Dec. Timothy Koester (IA), 5-2
138 #
1st - Thomas Verrette (OK) T.F. Ned Kauffman (PA), 9-0 (4:13)
3rd - Isaiah Schaefer (IN) Dec. Geronimo Rivera (UT), 9-7
5th - Dale Corbin (PA) T.F. Anthony Delgado (NV), 9-0 (2:05)
7th - Deven Casey (IL) Med. For. Austin Ellis (UT),
144 #
1st - Luis Alberto-Desilva (PA) Dec. Maksym Chubenko (OH), 6-3
3rd - Jordyn Raney (KY) Dec. Austin Collins (CO), 5-4
5th - Joshua Requena (CA) T.F. Jet Brown (MO), 9-0 (1:57)
7th - Derek Barrows (CO) F. Dominic Way (WV), 2:14
150 #
1st - Matthew Martino (ID) Dec. Dmytro Chubenko (OH), 6-5
3rd - Jacob Morris (AK) Dec. Brandon Dean (CO), 6-5
5th - Colton Weiler (WI) T.F. Donald Jackson (KS), 8-0 (1:15)
7th - Evan Boblits (MD) T.F. Bryce Palmer (TX), 9-0 (3:52)
157 #
1st - Wyatt Medlin (IL) Dec. Bas Diaz (IA), 5-1
3rd - Logan Glynn (NE) Dec. Cael Gilmore (OH), 11-10
5th - Will Deutschlander (OK) Dec. David Burchett (CO), 2-2
7th - Eli Esguerra (OH) T.F. Gabriel Delgado (NV), 8-0 (2:53)
165 #
1st - Will Scherer (MO) Dec. JayDen Williams (MI), 5-5
3rd - Sullivan Ramos (WI) T.F. Jared Remington (TX), 9-0 (5:38)
5th - Luke Hoag (MN) F. Daniel Acosta (TX), 0:41
7th - Colton Loween (MN) Dec. Jozeph Valenzuela Smith (AZ), 13-11
175 #
1st - Lincoln Jipp (IA) T.F. Ladd Holman (UT), 10-0 (1:25)
3rd - Mario Carini (CA) Dec. Trae Rios (OK), 7-1
5th - Cody Kirk (AL) Dec. Waylon Cressell (IN), 9-7
7th - Logan Bruce (CA) F. Kalob Ybarra (CO), 2:03
190 #
1st - Adonis Bonar II (NE) F. Lucas Ricketts (KY), 1:09
3rd - Aidan Squier (NJ) T.F. Jimmy Mastny (IL), 11-1 (4:04)
5th - Jarrett Wadsen (MN) T.F. Cooper Reves (KS), 12-3 (4:59)
7th - Victor Marks-Jenkins (MD) Dec. Ethan Osburn (VA), 4-1
215 #
1st - Josh Hoffer (IL) Dec. Evan McGuire (MN), 7-0
3rd - Myron Mendez (FL) Dec. Aiden Cooley (TX), 7-5
5th - Michael Boyle (OH) Med. For. Leimana Fager (UT),
7th - Lusiano Lopez (OR) Dec. Daniel Moylan (CA), 7-4
285 #
1st - Hunter Vander Heiden (WI) T.F. Kade West (WA), 8-0 (0:23)
3rd - Ashton Honnold (IA) F. Trayvn Boger (UT), 1:59
5th - Caleb Rodriguez (PA) T.F. Preston Krueger (WI), 16-5 (4:50)
7th - Zayne Candelaria (AZ) F. Darion Bitz (ND), 1:20
