Fargo: a wrestling event so big we have to resort to metonymy. USA Wrestling’s Junior and 16U National Championships is known simply by the name of its host city, and its results from the girls' brackets will have a massive influence on this year’s Who’s #1 matchups.

Who’s #1 is a high school all-star event that, as the name implies, matches up the two best high school wrestlers in their weight class in an effort to determine who is number one in the nation. Whos’ #1 has been determining exactly that since 2013. The first girls' match was in 2017, and the first all-girls slate of matches was held in 2021. 

This fall, for the third year in a row, we’ll be inviting the best high school girls wrestlers to compete in the premier prep wrestling event in the nation. The rankings of record, which is the most important factor for determining invites, are published by a troika of worthy institutions: USA Wrestling, The National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and FloWrestling, with the latest edition freshly dropping just last week.

And two most important events for determining the rankings around this time of year (and thus, who gets a bid to WNO) are the U17 world team trials, which were held at Women’s Nationals last April, and the Junior and 16U National Championships, aka Fargo.

The U17 world teamers are in pole position for WNO invites, but those who didn’t win their bracket at trials still have an opportunity to wrestle their win to WNO at Fargo. In this blog, we’ll take a look at several brackets where the winners will have a strong case for earning a bid to this year’s Who’s #1. 

112-Pound Juniors

The first bracket we’ll examine in closer detail is the 112-pound Junior division. This bracket can boast a bevy of highly credentialed registrants. Some would even go as far as to say that this bracket is bonkers. 

Even after taking all the seniors out of the high school rankings, eight top-10 wrestlers have registered to compete. The brackets' bona fides are further bolstered by three top-10 wrestlers who are ranked in different weight classes moving both up and down to enter the 122-pound fray.

The top three ranked wrestlers that return to high school next season are all registered to compete in the junior bracket: #2 Emma Albanese, #3 Lorianna Piestewa, and #4 Ana Malovich. 2021 WNO participant Zao Estrada is ranked #5 at 117lbs however she's registered for the 112lb junior bracket for Fargo. 

Watch Estrada defeat Piestewa in the finals of the Girls High School Showcase at the 2023 US Open: 

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Clare Booe, who wrestled in 2022's WNO, is ranked #6 at 106, however she's also at 112 for Fargo. Booe defeated Gigi Bragg last year at Who's #1. These two may meet again in the Fargo bracket, as Bragg (#8 at 112) is also registered. 

Two wrestlers ranked ninth nationally are also expected to be in this insane bracket, as Ashley Naranjo (#9 at 112lbs) and Gabriella Gomez (#9 at 117lbs) appear in the registered wrestlers for this division. 

What makes this weight class even more intriguing for Who's #1 is that all the eligible U17 and U20 world teamers are at different weights. 49kg U17 world teamer Heather Krull is registered for 106 juniors at Fargo. 50kg U20 world teamer Audrey Jimenez not registered for Fargo but she rarely competes at 112lbs or above. And 53kg U17 world teamer Karlee Brooks competes and is ranked at 117lbs. 

All of which augurs well for the winner of the 112lb junior bracket at Fargo with regards to an invitation to Who's #1. 

138-Pound Juniors 

Another Fargo junior bracket that is loaded with talent is 138-pounds, which will feature #5 Netavia Wickson and #6 Gretchen Donnally. Valerie Hamilton at #2 is the highest ranked wrestler still eligible for Who's #1, however, her name does not appear on the list of Fargo registrants. That will make winning this bracket all the more crucial for hopeful WNO participants. 

Wickson and Donnally will have plenty of competition besides each other. Also ranked and signed up to compete in the 138lb junior division are #10 Kaidance Gerg, #11 Kiara Djoumessi #12 Faith Bartoszek, and #14 Violette Lasure.

The 16U bracket could also feature some contenders, as U17 65kg runnerup Belicia Manuel is dropping down from 144, where she is ranked #4, to wrestle in the 138 16U bracket. Bumping up from 132 is Isis France, who is ranked #9 at that weight but has also entered the 138lb 16U division. Notably, Gretchen Donnally has a recent win over Manuel, which would give her the edge for a WNO invite should both Donnally and Manuel win their respective Fargo brackets. 

Watch Donnally's win over Manuel at the Girls HS Showcase: 

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127-Pounds 16U

The preponderance of nationally ranked wrestlers are registered in the junior divisions at Fargo, however, bucking that trend is 127lbs in the 16 and under bracket. That competition could see both #3 Carley Ceshker, the U17 world team trials runner-up to Everest Leydecker, and #8 Taina McGowan, a talented eighth grader from New Jersey who will be entering her first year of high school ranked in the top 10. 

Watch Ceshker win a Wisconsin state title last February:

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Another top 10 current eighth grader named Taina who may get an invite to Who's #1 is Taina Fernandez, who hails from Maryland and won the U15 national championship at 58kg. Fernandez is not, however, registered for Fargo. 

Additional contenders in the 16U 127lb bracket include #12 Baley Chafin and #14 (at 132lbs) Margaret Buurma. 

117-Pounds 16U

Two weight classes below 127 in the 16-and-under division could also see a contender wrestler their way to a WNO bid. #3 Isabella Marie Gonzales finished second at the U17 team trials at 53kg to Karlee Brooks. Brooks currently holds the #1 ranking and will likely retain that ranking over the summer as she competes in Istanbul at the U17 World Championships. Gonzales, however, can ensure that she'll be ranked #2 by September, as the current #2, Alex Szkotnicki, will be out of high school at that point. 

Gonzales will be challenged by #10 Sierra Chiesa, who is also registered for the 117lb 16U bracket at Fargo. 

132-Pound Juniors

Switching back to the junior divisions, Cadence Diduch will have an opportunity to earn her third bid to Who's #1, which would be a first for the girls' matchups. 

Haylie Jaffe is ranked #1 at this weight, as the rising high school senior from Pennsylvania won the U17 61kg world team trials. Diduch, is ranked #4 and finished as the runner-up at that event. #2 and #3 at that weight are graduating high school seniors, so if Diduch wins her Fargo bracket she'll be in good shape to earn that third invite. 

Diduch will face tough competition from #12 Morgan Edwards, a Pennsylvanian who competes for Blair Academy.

144-Pound Juniors

Finally, we can take a peak at the entrants for the 144lb junior bracket. This division could see nationally ranked wrestlers moving up and down from other weights, as #4 at 164 Mishell Rebisch and #6 at 152 Nebi Tsarni are registered to compete at this weight. 

#5 at 144, Skylar Little Soldier, is also registered, as is #7 Sydney Perry, #8 May Cuyler, and #9 Morgan Lucio. Whoever emerges from that carnage will have a strong case for a bid to WNO. So will #3 May Prado, the highest-ranked wrestler at 144 with high school eligibility remaining. Prado won the 65kg U17 team trials. 

While there is no magic formula for determining rankings, and thus, the WNO invites, winning world team trials and national championships is the best way to make your case. And regardless of any outcome in any competition, this stage of a wrestler's career is primarily about development. Every competition, win or lose, helps you become better prepared for the next competition.

With that in mind, let's all wish for a healthy and successful competition for every wrestler at Fargo, as we watch the development of America's next champions at one of the largest wrestling events in the world!