The Toughest Brackets At Junior Nationals Based On Registration

We looked at the registered athletes for the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals and tried to figure which bracket would be the toughest to win.

Jul 9, 2025 by Andrew Spey

The Toughest Brackets At Junior Nationals Based On Registration

What's going to be the toughest bracket for a Fargo competitor to win?

2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals

We won't know for sure until the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals gets underway in less than a week, but we can make a pretty solid prediction by taking a peek at the list of registered wrestlers.

Toughest Junior Freestyle Bracket: 120lbs

There are a whopping 10 nationally ranked wrestlers registered to compete at Fargo at 120 pounds, and eight in the top 10!

#2 Cameron Sontz, New Jersey
#4 Antonio Mills, Georgia
#4 Alex Rozas, Louisiana
#5 Austin Brown, Missouri
#6 Revin Dickman, Indiana
#8 Joseph Uhorchuk, Tennessee
#8 PJ Terranova, New Jersey
#9 Dunia Sibomana, New York
#15 Mason Jakob, Tennessee
#16 Rocklin Zinkin, California
#20 Nicholas Garcia, Illinois
#20 Brock Rothermel, Pennsylvania

That's what happens five wrestlers move up at least one weight class from where they are currently ranked (Sontz, Rozas, Brown (both of them), and Terranova) and three wrestlers drop a weight from where they are ranked (Mills, Jakob, and Garcia).

Whoever emerges from this abbatoir will indeed be worthy of hoisting a coveted octagonal championship plaque colloquially known as a 'stop sign'.

You can find the national boys high school rankings here, if you're looking for them.

Other Contenders For Toughest Junior Freestyle Bracket

138lbs - 9 ranked
215lbs - 9 ranked
144lbs - 8 ranked
285lbs - 7 ranked inlcuding #1, #2, #3 & #4

Toughest 16U Freestyle Bracket: 106lbs

The 106-pounders in the 16 and under division at Fargo lead the way with six ranked registrants.

#7 Keegan Bassett, Pennsylvania
#10 Thiago Silva, California
#12 Traevon Ducking, Indiana
#13 Cruz Gannon, Iowa
#15 Connor Maddox, Indiana
#20 Kash Larkin, Arizona

Unsurprisingly, there are far fewer ranked wrestlers registered to compete in the 16U freestyle division compared to the junior division, which consists mostly of 17, 18, and 19-year-olds.

Other Contenders for Tourhgest 16U Freestyle Bracket

100lbs - 3 ranked
113lbs - 3 ranked (including #3 Chase Karenbauer of PA)
132lbs - 1 ranked, though it's #1 at 113, Paul Ruiz of CA)

Toughest Junior Girls Bracket: 155lbs

Leading the way in Fargo's distaff brackets is 155lbs, which has an astonishing 19 ranked wrestlers. It should be noted that the national high school girls rankings (which you can find here) extend to the top 30 wrestlers, but still, that's quite a lot of talent concentrated in one bracket!

#1 Ella Poalillo, New Jersey
#4 Mya Bethel, Florida
#4 Belicia Manuel, Michigan
#5 Adriana Palumbo, New York
#6 Sarah Henckel, Connecticut
#10 Angelina Jiang, California
#10 Olivia Georges, New Jersey
#11 Cassandra Gonzales, Minnesota
#12 Dulcy Martinez, California
#12 Esperanza Calvillo, Minnesota
#12 Olivia Davis, California
#14 Audrey Levendusky, Tennessee
#16 Eloise Woolsey, New Mexico
#18 Cydney Davis, Texas
#20 Jada Weiss, Ohio
#24 Haylee McGrew, Iowa
#26 Raegan Snider, Pennsylvania
#29 Michaela Thomas, New York
#30 Zoey Barber, Nebraska

If that bracket indeed has 18 evenly distributed ranked wrestlers in it, an individual might have to wrestle four ranked opponents in a row to take home a stop sign, and potentially more!

Other Contenders for Toughest Junior Girls Bracket

120lbs - 17 ranked
135lbs - 16 ranked (including six in the top 10!)
170lbs - 16 ranked

Toughest 16U Girls Bracket: 105lbs

Like their male counterparts, the 16U brackets will have fewer ranked wrestlers registered in their respective weight class by dint of the lower age of the division. That won't diminish the action we'll see on the mat, though it does mean we'll see fewer head-to-head ranked matchups. Despite all that, the 105lb 16U girls division has 7 nationally-ranked wrestlers registered to compete.

#3 Hailey Delgado, Texas
#7 Chloe Skiles, Illinois
#19 Ainsley Hemann, Iowa
#24 Ella Neibert, Indiana
#24 Emma Faczak, Colorado
#26 Kirra Mitchell, Georgia
#30 Summer Mutschler, Maryland

Other Contenders for Toughest 16U Girls Bracket

155lbs - 6 ranked
110lbs - 5 ranked
145lbs - 5 ranked
120lbs - 5 ranked
115lbs - 5 ranked

What's your prediction for what will be the toughest bracket in Fargo?