Two returning champs and 25 All-Americans alive after session one of USMC 16U Freestyle Nationals

Bo Bassett of Pennsylvania locks up a gut wrench. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors

FARGO, N.D. — Twenty-five returning All-Americans remain and 11 are still eligible for the Triple Crown after first session of the USMC 16U Nationals in men’s freestyle on Saturday.
Nearly 1,400 16U men’s freestyle wrestlers began their quest for national supremacy.
The Fargodome in Fargo, N.D, was filled with sounds of whistles, yelling coaches and a lot of wrestling. Twenty-seven mats worth of competition.
The 16U men’s freestyle started simultaneously with the 16U women’s tournament. There were 25 returning All-Americans in the 16U men’s freestyle field who kept their potential repeat status in tact after the first session.
Session II will continue at 3 p.m. local time (Central) with the continuation of preliminaries and consolations. After session I, the tournament is as far as the round of 32.
By the end of Saturday night, the quarterfinalists will be decided.
Here is a look at how the 25 returning All-Americans performed in the first session. Returning champions Seth Mendoza of Illinois (106) and Anthony Knox of New Jersey (120) dominated their first matches.
Mendoza, who only wrestled once thanks to a first round bye ended Darren Florence of New York with a 10-0 tech fall. Knox, originally scheduled to wrestle at 113, bumped up to a stacked 120-pound field. With the addition of Knox, that bracket features six returning All-Americans, a returning national champion (Knox) and a Cadet World Champion, Bo Bassett of Pennsylvania.


The update on the records of the 25 returning All-Americans:
94:
Haakon Peterson of Wisconsin: 1-0
Kole Davidheiser of Pennsylvania: No match yet
100:
Revin Dickman of Indiana: 1-0
Lawson Eller of Minnesota: 2-0
106:
Devon Harrison of Missouri: 2-0
Liam Neitzel of Wisconsin: 2-0
Seth Mendoza of Illinois: 1-0

113:

Moses Mendoza of California: 1-0

120:
Draegen Orine of Missouri: 2-0
Sam Herring of Pennsylvania: 3-0
Marcus Blaze of Ohio: 2-0
Jackson Blum of Michigan: 2-0
Gauge Botero of Pennsylvania: 2-0
Anthony Knox of New Jersey: 2-0
126:
Landon Robideau of Minnesota: 2-0
132:
Maddox Shaw of Pennsylvania: 2-0
Brock Mantanona of California: 1-0
138:
Vince Bouzakis of Pennsylvania: 2-0
Gabriel Bouyssou of Rhode Island: 1-0
152:
Alessio Perentin of New Jersey: 1-0

160:

Travis Grace of California: 2-0
170:
Peyton Westpfahl of Missouri: 1-0
182:
Aeoden Sinclair of Wisconsin: 2-0
De’Alcapon Veazy of Indiana: 1-0
220:
Nicholas Sahakian of California: 1-0
Eleven 2022 folkstyle national champions are still eligible for the Triple Crown after undefeated starts after session one. To secure a Triple Crown, a wrestler must win a folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman national championship.
16U Boys still eligible for the Triple Crown (Folkstyle national champions and undefeated so far in Fargo)
94 — Wyatt Lees of Michigan
100 — Alex Rozas of Louisiana
113 — Kellen Wolbert of Wisconsin
120 — Manuel Saldate of Nevada
126 — Cale Seaton of Iowa
138 — Alex Braun of Minnesota
152 — Anthony Rinehart of Indiana
170 — Adrien Reyes of California
182 — De’Alcapon Veazy of Indiana
220 — Melvin Whitehead of Nevada
285 — Wyatt Schmitt of Illinois