Miller wins third Junior freestyle title, Mills repeats, Woode named OW at 2026 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Analu Woode of Hawaii shot attempt in the 113-pound finals against Thales Silva of California at the 2026 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D.
FARGO, N.D. – The FARGODOME came alive on Sunday evening with the Junior and 16U Boys freestyle finals taking over the raised mats in the North endzone. The freestyle finals are traditionally one of the most elite sessions of wrestling held on U.S. soil annually, and this year proved no exception.
Pennsylvania product and Virginia Tech commit Melvin Miller became the 13th individual to win at least three Junior freestyle national titles. He built a sound 7-0 lead on Illinois’ Rocco Cassioppi, and coasted to a 7-4 decision in the 165-pound finals. It is the fourth time Miller has stood atop the Fargo podium. He was a 16U champion in 2023 before nabbing three straight Junior titles starting in 2024.
Finishing off an impressive back-to-back run was Antonio Mills of Georgia at 132 pounds. Mills defeated 2023 U17 World champion Paul Kenny of New Jersey in a 12-9 thriller between future Big Ten foes. Mills will attend Ohio State, while Kenny is committed to Iowa. Mills is now the second wrestler from Georgia to win multiple Junior national titles, joining Sean Hage, who won three straight from 1993 to 1995.
Indiana standout Waylon Cressell stopped Nicholas Singer of Pennsylvania from becoming the third repeat champion. After five previous All-America finishes in Fargo, Cressell finally secured top prize with a gutsy 8-3 win over Singer, flipping a 10-0 result from last year’s semifinals. Cressell, who will attend Northern Iowa, is the sole Junior boy to pass the second leg of the USA Wrestling Triple Crown Award. If he wins the Greco-Roman tournament later this week, Cressell would become the 10th Triple Crown winner in the Junior Boys division since the program began in 2007.
The Outstanding Wrestler award for the division went to Analu Woode of Hawaii, who completed a monster run to first place at 113 pounds that included wins over returning champions Nathan Schuman of Pennsylvania and Turner Ross of Oklahoma, returning runner-up Cason Craft of Oklahoma, and 2025 U17 World Team member in Greco-Roman Thales Silva of California. Woode pinned Silva in 3:15 of the finals to become Hawaii’s second Junior national champion, 25 years after Travis Lee got Hawaii on the board.
U17 World champions Sammy Sanchez of California and Michael Mocco of Florida performed to expectations throughout championship runs. Sanchez posted an 11-1 technical fall over three-time 16U Nationals champion Hayden Schwab of Iowa at 126 pounds. Mocco got it done at heavyweight with a late four-pointer to beat Tyson Martin of Wisconsin, 9-6, and win his second title in Fargo, the first at the Junior level.
Joining Sanchez with technical fall wins in the finals were Ty Martin of Iowa at 100 pounds, Brayden Wenrich of Pennsylvania at 120 pounds and Jesse Grajeda of California at 144 pounds.
Additional champions include Luke Loren of California at 106 pounds, Tyler Dekraker of Florida at 138 pounds, Davis Parrow of Minnesota at 150 pounds, Charlie DeSena of Florida at 157 pounds, Zack Aquila of Ohio at 175 pounds and Sam Howard of Indiana at 215 pounds.
Taking the top spot in the team standings and earning the newly-minted Battles Won Award was California, which claimed its first official team title in Junior Boys freestyle, with 197 team points. California outdistanced runner-up Iowa by 39 team points. Rounding out the top five teams were Pennsylvania (157), Florida (119) and Illinois (105).
The U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals continues on Tuesday with the start of the Junior and 16U Greco-Roman tournaments.
All matches from the event will be broadcast live on FloWrestling. Brackets and live results will be hosted on USA Bracketing.
Visit the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals Event Hub and USA Wrestling’s social media platforms for complete coverage of the action in Fargo.
1. California, 197
2. Iowa, 158
3. Pennsylvania, 157
4. Florida, 119
5. Illinois, 105
6. Indiana, 98
7. Ohio, 92
8. Minnesota, 91
9. Wisconsin, 68
10. Oklahoma, 53
1st - Ty Martin (Iowa) tech. fall Symon Woods (Illinois), 10-0 (3:22)
3rd - DeVaughn Miller (Alabama) tech. fall Logan Raske (Tennessee), 18-7 (5:32)
5th - Ryker Leonard (Ohio) tech. fall David Serrano (Florida), 12-1 (1:48)
7th - Parker Williams (Florida) fall Jaxson Tocco (New York), 5:00
1st - Luke Loren (California) dec. Cache Williams (Oklahoma), 12-8
3rd - Jackson Thorn (Minnesota) tech. fall Frank Fuentes (California), 13-2 (3:35)
5th - Aidan Ortega (Illinois) tech. fall Alex Huddleston (Indiana), 14-3 (2:45)
7th - Dakota Harmer (Michigan) tech. fall Michael Densmore (Georgia), 11-0 (3:22)
1st - Analu Woode (Hawaii) fall Thales Silva (California), 3:15
3rd - Cason Craft (Oklahoma) dec. Camden Rugg (Wisconsin), 6-5
5th - Koa DeLoach (Florida) dec. Niko Odiotti (Illinois), 14-12
7th - Turner Ross (Oklahoma) fall Traevon Ducking (Indiana), 1:50
1st - Brayden Wenrich (Pennsylvania) tech. fall Michael Batista (New Jersey), 14-2 (2:06)
3rd - Thiago Silva (California) tech. fall Landon Thoennes (Minnesota), 15-5 (3:51)
5th - Loc Webber (Ohio) tech. fall Brand'n Edstrom (Idaho), 13-1 (2:46)
7th - Aiden Garcia (California) tech. fall Tyler Verceles (Maryland), 10-0 (2:27)
1st - Samuel Sanchez (California) tech. fall Hayden Schwab (Iowa), 11-1 (3:45)
3rd - Mateo Gallegos (Pennsylvania) dec. Cale Vandermark (Iowa), 3-0
5th - Van Smith (Oklahoma) dec. Matthew Mulligan (New Jersey), 10-8
7th - Cody Clarke (Georgia) tech. fall Isaiah Jones (Oklahoma), 17-7 (3:28)
1st - Antonio Mills (Georgia) dec. Paul Kenny (New Jersey), 12-9
3rd - Nathan Rioux (Indiana) dec. Blaze Van Gundy (Ohio), 9-4
5th - Tommy Wurster (Ohio) dec. Miklo Hernandez (Minnesota), 5-1
7th - Jamiel Castleberry (Illinois) dec. Eddie Woody, Jr. (Iowa), 3-3
1st - Tyler Dekraker (Florida) dec. Dawson Youngblut (Iowa), 10-2
3rd - Nicholas Sorrow (Michigan) dec. Tanner Guenot (Pennsylvania), 6-2
5th - Urijah Lopez (Ohio) dec. Gage Bjerga (Minnesota), 6-4
7th - Austin Ellis (Utah) dec. Shamus Regan (Florida), 3-2
1st - Jesse Grajeda (California) tech. fall Braylon Reynolds (Indiana), 11-0 (5:37)
3rd - Dale Corbin (Pennsylvania) dec. Cole Speer (Ohio), 5-2
5th - Michael Lopez (Colorado) tech. fall Cody Trevino (Iowa), 10-0 (1:07)
7th - Gavin Landers (Iowa) tech. fall Nico DeSalvo (Iowa), 10-0 (4:40)
1st - Davis Parrow (Minnesota) dec. Jason Dube (Pennsylvania), 9-7
3rd - Peyton Hornsby (Indiana) tech. fall Austin Collins (Colorado), 18-8 (2:27)
5th - Matthew O'Neill (Pennsylvania) inj. def. Deacon Morgan (Michigan), 2:58
7th - Bennett Kujawa (Minnesota) dec. Bobby Duffy (New Jersey), 15-13
1st - Charlie DeSena (Florida) dec. Mac Crosson (Iowa), 3-2
3rd - Lincoln Robideau (Minnesota) tech. fall Jet Brown (Missouri), 16-6 (5:12)
5th - Wyatt Medlin (Illinois) tech. fall Mason Petersen (Nebraska), 10-0 (2:45)
7th - Brooklyn Pickett (Maryland) med. for. Jake Miller (Oklahoma)
1st - Melvin Miller (Pennsylvania) dec. Rocco Cassioppi (Illinois), 7-4
3rd - Jacob Perez (California) tech. fall Aiden Arnett (Illinois), 10-0 (2:08)
5th - Joe Bachmann (Pennsylvania) med. for. Declan Koch (Wisconsin)
7th - Grayson Eggum (Minnesota) dec. David Ogunsanya (Illinois), 6-2
1st - Zack Aquila (Ohio) dec. Mario Carini (California), 9-8
3rd - Tomm Heiser (Wisconsin) dec. Lucas Boe (Florida), 13-11
5th - Bruno Cassioppi (Illinois) dec. Jakob Hoke (Ohio), 13-4
7th - Maximus Dhabolt (Iowa) tech. fall Noah Tucker (Maryland), 11-1 (3:00)
1st - Waylon Cressell (Iowa) dec. Nicholas Singer (Pennsylvania), 8-3
3rd - Mason Ontiveros (California) tech. fall Jaxon Penovich (Illinois), 13-0 (4:54)
5th - Kyle Gallo (Florida) dec. Everett Joyce (Kansas), 8-7
7th - Eli Leonard (Wisconsin) dec. Victor Marks-Jenkins (Maryland), 3-3
1st - Sam Howard (Indiana) dec. Daniel Moylan (California), 11-10
3rd - William Ward (North Dakota) fall Ceasar Salas (Indiana), 4:01
5th - Ladd Holman (Utah) med. for. Decker Bechtold (Pennsylvania)
7th - Maximus Konopka (Connecticut) fall Carter Brown (Missouri), 3:37
1st - Michael Mocco (Florida) dec. Tyson Martin (Wisconsin), 9-6
3rd - Ashton Honnold (Iowa) dec. Kal-El Fluckiger (Arizona), 7-7
5th - Cael Leisgang (Wisconsin) tech. fall Kaz Morosetti (Rhode Island), 10-0 (5:44)
7th - Kade West (Washington) fall William Glesing (Indiana), 5:12
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Strong start for top contenders in Junior Girls division at 2026 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals
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