2021 US Marine Corps Junior and 16U National Championships

Illinois Leading The Junior Team Race - Wisconsin, Iowa & Michigan Chasing

Illinois Leading The Junior Team Race - Wisconsin, Iowa & Michigan Chasing

Illinois takes the lead in the team race heading into the final day of matches in men's freestyle. Take a look at a full breakdown for the junior team race.

Jul 20, 2021 by Jon Kozak
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Each day we’re tracking the team race at Fargo. The final day of junior freestyle is set and all that’s left to wrestle are the medal matches. Take a look below to see what states are still in the hunt to win a national title.

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Each day we’re tracking the team race at Fargo. The final day of junior freestyle is set and all that’s left to wrestle are the medal matches. Take a look below to see what states are still in the hunt to win a national title.

Illinois Back on Top

After placing 4th at Junior Duals in June, Illinois' supremacy in freestyle was in question entering Fargo. Up to this point, Illinois has answered all the questions led by their 4 finalists - Ben Aranda (113), Kannon Webster (120), Nasir Bailey (132), and Brayden Thompson (170). On top of those finalists, they have seven other All-Americans earning points for their cause. Those 11 All-Americans are the most of any state. Take a look below at the current top 15 heading into the final day of juniors:

TeamPointsFinalistsTotal AA's
Illinois109411
Pennsylvania95010
Wisconsin93110
Iowa9137
Michigan8647
Indiana8327
Ohio7728
Minnesota7016
New Jersey6625
Oklahoma6625
California5907
Georgia5924
Arizona3413
Washington3212
Maryland2712

Can Anyone Catch Illinois?

Though Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are in second and third respectively, they might not have enough fire power to catch Illinois. In their favor, they have 10 All-Americans apiece and are tied for second with the most AA’s - only behind Illinois. Despite the quantity, Wisconsin only has 1 finalist and Pennsylvania has zero. Both had numerous title contenders fall in the quarters or semis. Those lack of finalists will most likely result in them being unable to make up the gap lying between them and Illinois at the top.

Iowa, Michigan, and Indiana trail Pennsylvania and Wisconsin but had phenomenal performances. Iowa and Michigan put 4 in the finals each and Indiana has the next most finalists with 3. While they could catch Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, they might not be able to reel in Illinois. Iowa, Michigan and Indiana don’t have the same number of All-Americans as Illinois-giving them zero opportunity for error in the medal bouts.


You can view full brackets and results with video links at FloArena here.

Team points are earned by All-American honors only for places 1-8 in the following order:

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