Crazy Fargo Bracket - 2007 JR 171

The 2016 Fargo Nationals tournament starts July 16. You can watch the week-long extravaganza here. Once again, looking through old Fargo brackets didn’t let

Jul 6, 2016 by Christian Pyles

The 2016 Fargo Nationals tournament starts July 16. You can watch the week-long extravaganza here.

Once again, looking through old Fargo brackets didn’t let me down—it's always amazing to see the talent that has consistently populated this tournament. From multiple All-Americans who didn’t even sniff placement, to high school hammers that make you wonder, “Oh yeah, what happened to that guy,” there are always outstanding names and stats to stumble upon.

Our focus shifts back to 2007 171 Junior Nationals. Brace yourself.

Top Half:
Cody Yohn- Yohn went 7-1 on his half knocking off Ty Vinson, Kirk Smith and losing only to Grant Gambrall to make the Fargo finals.
Kirk Smith- 8-1 for the top side beating Ben Bennet, Ty Vinson, Jon Fausey, Jordan Blanton and Grant Gambrall. Only fell to Yohn.
Grant Gambrall- 8-1 in his half beating Ed Ruth, Cody Yohn, Jordan Blanton and Ben Bennett, bested only by Kirk Smith.
Jordan Blanton- 6-2 falling only to Gambrall and Smith.

Bottom Half:
Mike Benefiel- Jon Jones current wrestling training partner went 8-0 for the half knocking off Chris Perry, Cam Simaz and Dorian Henderson.
Chris Perry- 7-1 falling only to Benefiel and beating Dorian Henderson and Cam Simaz.
Cam Simaz- 6-3 falling to Benefiel, Perry and Nathan Graham and beating Micah Burak and Ryan DesRoches.
Dorian Henderson- 6-2 in this weight falling only to Perry and Benefiel and beating Austin Trotman and Corey Peltier.

The Placers:
1. Mike Benefiel - 4x Illinois champ. #1 in weight coming out of HS.
2. Cody Yohn - All American for Minnesota.
3. Kirk Smith - National finalist for Boise State.
4. Chris Perry - 2x NCAA Champ for Oklahoma State
5. Grant Gambrall - All American for Iowa
6. Cam Simaz - 4x All American and National Champ for Cornell
7. Jordan Blanton - 3x All American for Illinois
8. Dorian Henderson - 3x state champ from Georgia

Amazing Also-Rans:
Ed Ruth- Insane right? He went 4-2 losing to Ben Bennet and Grant Gambrall. His only relevant win was against Billy Curling.
Ben Bennet- Knocked off Ed Ruth and Jon Fausey and only fell to Kirk Smith and Grant Gambrall.
Jon Fausey- Eternally solid guy for UVA, beat Chris Perry in Dapper Dan. Went 5-2 losing to Smith and Bennett and beat Ross Tice.
Austin Trotman- All American for App State, went 5-2 losing to Dorian Henderson and Nathan Graham. Trotman knocked off Ryan DesRoches and Corey Peltier.
Ryan DesRoches- All American for Cal Poly, went 5-2 losing to Trotman and Simaz.
Micah Burak- All American for Penn, went 4-2 falling to Graham and Simaz.

So all told we had 11 different All Americans (25 total podium finishes between them), and three NCAA champions (six titles between them). Do you need any more convincing this was a CRAZY Fargo Bracket?

Hunker down and look through the bracket yourself here.