Fargo is an event (almost a culture) in and of itself. There's a community type atmosphere where wrestling coaches, officials, and personalities get to mingle for a week at several places that have become 'Fargo Week' institutions: Buffalo Wild Wings (which welcomes wrestlers with open arms), Bison Turf - the NDSU landmark bar. Life in the dorms. The recent proliferation of giant rabbits. Yes. Giant rabbits. Etc. Etc.

Every year there are jaw-dropping moments. No names become household names. "Good" recruits become great. Great recruits become legendary.

In this piece, we'll look at the biggest moments on the Fargodome floor this decade.

* Thanks to Jason Bryant of Mattalkonline.com for assitance in compiling stats, facts, and fun moments. See you at "The Turf," Jason!

20. 2013 - GFELLER'S REVENGE

The Bracket - Cadet FS 94 

The Story: Gfeller's only loss in Akron that spring was to Austin Gomez, who went on to win the spot on the Cadet World Team. They met two months later in the finals of Fargo where Gfeller won and gave us a chest-pounding celebration to remember.

19. 2011 - PAT DOWNEY ARRIVES

The Bracket: Junior FS 171

The Story: Pat Downey came to Fargo as a good wrestler, but not incredibly heralded. He moved from Maryland to Florida and was ruled ineligible and had to sit out his senior year. He then went and won NHSCA SR Nationals and then came to Fargo where he beat Matt Reed (now at OU), Jack Dechow (now an AA for Old Dominion), Kyle Crutchmer (an AA for Oklahoma St.) and Kyle Begin and Sean Mappes (who were nationally ranked), in his pool. In the finals, he beat returning Fargo Champ, Jordan Rogers, who was the #1 guy in the country.

18. 2011  - WHO IS TIM LAMBERT?

The Bracket: Junior FS 119

The Story: The whistle that started Junior Freestyle in Fargo was still ringing when word started circulating that returning Fargo Runner-Up, Evan Silver, had lost. What? To whom? Tim Lambert? Who the hell is Tim Lambert?

All the media types went digging. Lambert did have a decent ledger, but hadn't wrestled much nationally. Then it came out that he was none other than Zeke Jones' nephew and had spent the summer training at the OTC. He's now a staple in the Top 20 of the NCAA rankings for Nebraska.

17. 2013 - RIVERA COMES BACK FROM 9-0 IN FINALS

The Bracket: Cadet FS 182

The Story: Rivera came in as a heavy favorite. He was 3rd the year before losing only to Michael Pixley in a three-set match. And he already made the big stage a couple times in Greco. Jack Harris was a complete unknown and it looked like the Cinderella story would continue when he had a 9-0 lead in under a minute on Rivera in the finals. But trapped armed guts can change all that. And did.

16. 2014 - OREGON SINGLETS ARE BANNED

The Story: Creative gear is one ingredient in the charm of Fargo. Sharp warm-ups

(see California's white jackets circa 2010), crisp designs (Missouri's 2012 singlets), and interesting or humorous messages (Maryland's "Got Crabs" in 2013), all garner attention. And Oregon has a history of very creative singlets. Remember, "Blue" from Old School? But last year they got scolded when there was a sexual inneuendo present on their red singlets. Can you catch it? 

Hint: Look at the tattoo.

15. 2012 - SLIGA STREAK ENDS IN 1st ROUND

The Bracket: Junior FS 195 

The Story: Imagine never losing a match in either style at Fargo. For his first two years, Mitch Sliga didn't. He came to Fargo with four Fargo titles (two in each style) and a perfect 29-0 record. Sliga was also coming off a win in Akron that put him on the Cadet World Team. He didn't wrestle GR in 2012, so when he lost his opeing round match in FS, it broke his long winning streak on the turf. 

Unfortunately for Sliga, he drew one of the hottest wrestlers in the country in South Carolina's Tim Dudley, who won Super 32 the previous fall. Sliga would win two matches and then DNP when he lost his second to Frank Mattiace (NJ).

Sliga returned the next year to win Junior FS in Fargo and finish his Fargo career with five stop signs and a sterling 39-2 record in six tournaments.

14. 2011 - WHO IS THIS GUY?

The Bracket: Cadet GR 140

The Story: Another case where everyone was scrambling to dig up some info on a kid who, despite having many close matches, made his way to the finals. Peter Nagy was wrestling for Iowa and wearing international singlets. Eventually we found out he was a Hungarian student living in Creston, IA.

13. 2013 - THE SCREAM - ADAM COON OVER SAM STOLL



The Bracket: Junior GR 285

The Story: In late June, Sam Stoll won the spot on the World Junior GR team by beating him soundly (fall, tf) in the best-of-three finals at the trials in Oklahoma City. Adam Coon wasn't too happy about this. A few weeks later in Fargo, Coon teched Stoll in the GR finals and let out a roar that destroyed 38% of eastern North Dakota's natural habitat.

12. 2010 - FREDDY RODRIGUEZ REACHES SUPERSTARDOM

The Bracket: Junior FS 112

The Story: Rodriguez made waves 9 months prior by reaching the finals of Super 32 where he lost a great match to Joey Dance. He won a monster bracket here and became one of the hottest names in HS wrestling.

Final Results

1st Place - Freddie Rodriguez of Michigan

2nd Place - Evan Silver of Maryland

3rd Place - Dylan Peters of Iowa

4th Place - Derek Elmore of Illinois

5th Place - Cory Clark of Iowa

6th Place - Jordan Kingsley of Minnesota

7th Place - Tyler Fraley of New Jersey

8th Place - Nahshon Garrett of California

11.  2013 - NEW YORK WOMEN END CALIFORNIA'S NATOINAL DUAL STREAK

The Bracket: Women's Junior FS Duals

The Story: California has been utterly dominant in women's freestyle. They had won every Junior FS National Duals title since 2009 and five of the seven years the event was held. In fact the prior year, 2012, California's A Team finals opponent was Calfornia's B Team. New York beat them 39-17. Last year, Washington beat CALI in the finals.

10. 2013 - THE HARLEM SHAKE PHENOMENON

 The Story: In the world we live in in which everything gets 'played out' so quickly, I thought the that USAW organizing a Harlem Shake in Fargo was past its prime. The meme went viral in February of that year and the idea seemed dated. But I was wrong. The kids had a great time, and it came out pretty cool. For me, the greatest thing about this video is that they chose Sammy Julian, easily one of the best officials in the world, to be the ref to get back arched to his dome.

9. 2012 - SCOTTY PARKER WINS BRACKET OF FUTURE STARS

The Bracket: Cadet FS 106

The Story: I'm a fan of light weights and I know that 106's now become stars at all sorts of weights later on. So I paid particular attention to this loaded bracket, that was filled with young hammers. While the average fan might not have known many of these guys then, they were all ranked up-and-comers that had crazy production as 8th and 9th graders. 

PA's Scotty Parker won the weight that included five guys (Rossi, Brock, Hayes, Headlee, and Joseph) that would, at some point, be ranked #1 in the country.

Notable guys that didn't place in this bracket were Cam Sykora, Jordan Kutler, Alex Mackall, Doyle Trout, Mitch McKee, Sean DeShazer, Devin Brown, and Marcus Simmons.

Final Results
1st Place - Scott Parker of Pennsylvania

2nd Place - Kaid Brock of Oklahoma

3rd Place - Ke-Shawn Hayes of Missouri

4th Place - Ac Headlee of Pennsylvania

5th Place - Vincenzo Joseph of Pennsylvania

6th Place - Austin Assad of Ohio

7th Place - Brian Rossi of Illinois

8th Place - Camden Bertucci of Michigan

8. 2014 - JOHNNY BLANKENSHIP DESTROYS JASON BRYANT'S MIC

The Bracket: Cadet FS 152

The Story: In the finals, Washington's Trey Meyer was beating Johnny Blankenship (MO). When Meyer scored another push out by driving him in to the press table next to the stage, Blankenship took out his frustration on Jason Bryant's equipment, sending pieces of his microphone onto the mat.

7. BUFFALO WILD WINGS ADDS SECOND DECK

The Story: I'm heartbroken that I don't have an updated picture, but we love BDubs, situated literally across the street from the Fargodome, and they love us.

Every year, the sign outside reads "Welcome Wrestlers". Last year, a panic swept the nation - they were undergoing construction and weren't sure if they'd be open in time for "Fargo Week". But alas, they were, and with a rooftop patio. What's better than watching wrestling and eating wings? Doing so on an open-air patio. Thanks BDubs.

6. 2014 - McKEE DOES THE UNTHINKABLE AGAINST BROCK

The Bracket: Junior FS 126
The Story: Minnesota's Mitchell McKee beat Oklahoma's Kaid Brock at Junior Duals. A month later in Fargo, it sure looked like Brock was in control in the semifinals. He had a 10-4 lead with :27 left when McKee got reeled off ten straight points on a takedown and four trapped arms to get thim to the big stage.

5. 2011 - ABOUNADER LOSES ONCE, TAKES 3rd, VON EGIDY LOSES THREE TIMES, TAKES 2nd




The Bracket: Cadet FS 171 

The Story: Oh the nuances of vertical pairing (for more, read below). Parker Von Egidy got pinned in the first round. But he also beat Domenic Abounader in pool action. The win carried over into the Round Robins, where Von Egidy lost yet again. So even though Von Egidy had two losses to Abounader's one, he got the berth in the finals, where, you guessed it, he lost again. Von Egidy went 5-3 and took 2nd. Abounader went 7-1 and took 3rd.

4. 2013 - NO ONE WILL EVER FORGET RYAN BLEES

The Bracket: Junior FS 152

The Story: The bracket was the pre-tournament talk of Fargo; it was THE loaded bracket we have come to know and love about Fargo. In my preview I picked Blees to win it based on upside and the good things I was hearing coming out of his camp, but I don't think I would have told you with a straight face that I was very confident in it with all the talent in the bracket.

Blees blitzed the field, beating three Top 5 talents (Brandon Sorensen (IA), Brian Murphy (IL) and Jack Clark (NJ)), and teching Anthony Valencia (CA), to reach the finals vs. another Top 5 guy, Jake Short. And it looked like Blees run was coming to an end, trailing 9-2, when this happened -

3. 2014 - MANVILLE & ALO: WORLD TRAVELERS

The Brackets: Junior FS 152 and Junior WM 

The Story: The schedule wasn't that friendly in 2014. Cadet Worlds and Fargo were in close proximity on the calendar. But that didn't stop  Mason Manville and Teshya Alo from getting their stop signs. Both won Cadet World titles in Snina, Slovakia before flying straight to Fargo. And the story is even more impressive for both. In the Fargo finals, Alo beat Kayla Miracle, a 2x World medalist. And Manville not only won the Cadet FS World title, but also wrestled Greco at Worlds and placed 9th.

2. 2011 & 2012 - SNYDER/COX EPICS

The Brackets: - 2011 Cadet FS and GR 215, 2012 Junior FS and GR 220

The Story: Perhaps the 2011 weren't as big at the time. Sure, Cox (a sophomore) and Snyder (a freshman), were already Top 5 guys, but a meeting of Top 5 guys is rather typical at Fargo. But what the 2011 meetings did was lay a foundation for one of America's best rivalries. Cox bested Snyder in GR finals, while Snyder won 2011 FS by beating J'Den in a pool match.

So the next year, the stage was set. The two came to Fargo in 2012 with each other on their minds. Snyder won in GR in the Round Robin, before Cox beat Snyder in an early round in FS.

The duo have done nothing but continue to impress ever since. As a true Freshman, Cox won an NCAA title for Missouri in 2014. This March, they met in NCAA semifinals, with Snyder winning on an ankle pick. Snyder would finish as Runner-Up to Kyven Gadson and then went on to beat Olympic Gold medalist Jake Varner at the U.S Open and World Team Trials.

1. 2014 - BYE, BYE VERTICAL PAIRING



The Bracket: Well, all of them!

The Story: I can't quite track down when the last time the Cadet/Junior Nationals employed brackets prior to 2014, but for a LONG stretch, when we thought about Fargo, we thought about verticle pairings, in all its Pool Round, Round Robin nuanced glory.

In 2014, USAW ditched vertical pairing and went to wrestling brackets we're familiar with from folk style, 'line bracketing'.

It was a big deal. Here in my list - the biggest of deals. In a sense, it's almost an entirely new event. The road to a stop sign in vertical pairing is very much different from a road to a title with traditional brackets. At the time, perhaps nostalgic, I was vehemently opposed to going to brackets. Perhaps I still wish there were vertical pairing, but I've cooled off a bit. Gone is the uniqueness, but it's still a great product. And there are certainly pros and cons. Let's list some:

Pro (of vertical pairing) - You can stub your toe and lose a match yet battle back and win the title.

Con (of vertical pairing) - Winners of a national title shouldn't lose.

Pro - There's more drama - during the round robins results change absolutely everything.

Con - With designated quarters and semis, the event is easier to follow and more marketable.

Pro - Results are often match-up based; A beats B, B beats C, C beats A. You don't get that in brackets.

Con - The criteria/points system in three-way ties left a lot to be desired. Read #5 above.

Pro - Seeding/separation mattered less. You can lose and still win it all.

Con - With regular brackets, you get the best matches as the tournament progresses.

There are many others which can be expounded upon and debated. But they're gone, and so is an era.

Thanks for reading. Let's get ready for another exciting week in FARGO!