Junior Greco-Roman at the 2021 Fargo Nationals is, like all of the other age-group domestic tournaments this year — a little different. The energy will be the same, the presumed stakes involved will not change, and those wrestlers who know how to dial launch codes but seldom get the chance will make highlight reels. 

None of that has been, or will be, altered. 

Rest assured, Greco in Fargo — the one event on U.S. soil featuring the classical style that never fails to receive “mainstream attention” — will not disappoint because American wrestlers are too skilled, athletic, and competitive for it to transpire in any other manner.

The primary deviation this time around does not have much to do with the sport, but rather, the participants. Normally, one Fargo bleeds into the next year’s version. We all get to know the Cadets (16U) and then follow them to Junior. And, by the time they are in fact Juniors — and provided they have been successful enough — their names ring with instant familiarity. But that’s not the case in ‘21. 

Instead, Fargo Junior Greco will bring to bear a massive amount of turnover. Some athletes in the tournament’s oldest age division had competed at Cadet prior, and there are even a few returning Juniors. Not a lot of them, just enough to acknowledge the carry-over effect and anticipate the sort of special, late-July fireworks for which Fargo is recognized. 

What matters most is what it all means. The trajectory of an athlete’s wrestling career can become heavily influenced by their showings in Fargo. For past winners like RaVaughn Perkins and Joe Rau to Adam Coon, Ellis Coleman, and Robby Smith, those long summer days in North Dakota played an extraordinarily significant role in both their development and the perceptions of their potential. It is one tournament that no one ever wants to miss. 

And why following last year’s postponement, everyone seems to miss it so much. 

Triple Threats

Nearly three dozen wrestlers have captured USA Wrestling’s Triple Crown — a sweep of the national governing body’s folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman national championships championships — at the 16U and Junior level. 

Only two remain in the mix at the onset of Greco competition in Fargo. 

Idaho’s Mack Mauger and Wisconsin’s Koy Hopke claimed Folkstyle Nationals titles in April and followed that up this week by collecting freestyle championships at the 16U level in Fargo. They’ll go for the sweep this week with Mauger at 94 pounds and Hopke at 220.  

More Hardware 

It's been yet another banner summer for the Illinois and Minnesota state Greco programs. The two powerhouse states added to their national championship trophy collections in June. Minnesota ripped through the field to win the title at the 16U National Duals in Indiana. A week later, Illinois captured its fourth straight Junior Greco Duals championship. Many of the key figures on both of those teams will be on display this week in Fargo. 

Back For More 

More than half of the 2019 16U Greco champs are back and looking to add to their championship resumes, including a pair of heavyweights from the Pacific Northwest (Oregon's Jacob Barnes and Washington's Gage Cook). Here's the list of 2019 Greco champs who are back and looking for more gold. 

Jacob Barnes (Oregon), 

Gage Cook (Washington) 

Bradley Gillum (Illinois)

Ray Ray Harris (California) 

Michael Kilic (Georgia) 

Ramon Ramos (Arizona) 

Seth Shumate (Ohio) 

Jore Volk (Minnesota) 

Robert Weston (Georgia) 

Five Most Potent Junior Lineups

Illinois

106 pounds 

Jaymz Young

113 pounds 

Benjamin Aranda
Justin Brown
Joseph Phelps

120 pounds 

Brian Beers
Jalen Dunson
Zavien Stewart
Joseph Fernau
Billy Meiszner
Caelan Riley
Kannon Webster
Paul Woo

126 pounds 

William Baysingar
Joshua Biagini
Joey Chirillo
Sean Conway
Andre Giurini
Abraham Hinrichsen
Maddox Khalimsky
Jacob Macatangay
Vincent Robinson

132 pounds 

Aidan Baker

Nasir Bailey

Chase Hall

Carlos Munoz-Flores

Connor Nagela

Cole Rhemrev

Timmy Smith

138 pounds 

Kole Brower

Ivan Corral
Benjamin Gavel
Blake McGee
Caleb Tyus

145 pounds 

Tommy Curran

Kevin Hogan

Jack Milos

Caleb Nadig
Luke Swan

Caine Tyus

152 pounds 

Logan Balosky

Benjamin Shvartsman

Justin Warmowski
Vincent Zerban

160 pounds 

Allen Catour

Nathan Chirillo
Aaron Cramer
Grant Hansen
Jack McClimon

170 pounds 

Gaetano Console

Caden Ernd

Bradley Gillum

Brennan Houser
Joseph Jens
Joshua Knudten

182 pounds 

Ben Bielawski
Aidan McCain
Aidan O'Connor
Kyus Root

195 pounds T

om Culp
Donnie Hidden
Cooper Vincent

220 pounds 

Andrew Blackburn-Forst

Ghee Rachal

James Wireman

285 pounds 

Ryan Boersma
Isaiah Gonzalez
RJ Schneider

Minnesota

113 pounds 

Alan Koehler

120 pounds 

Kanin Hable

126 pounds 

Victor Franco

Christian Lopez

Dmytro Ponomarenko

AJ Smith

Derek Steele

Jore Volk

132 pounds 

Walker Bents

Koy Buesgens

Gavin Hilyar

Jake Messner
Elijah Paulson

138 pounds 

Carter Ban

Kyle Boeke

Colton Bornholdt

Coy Gunderson

Andrew Larson

Cooper Larson

Davin Rose

145 pounds 

Thomas Freking

Ryan Scherber
Kain Sanders

152 pounds 

Alexander McPhee

Cael Swensen

160 pounds 

Jude Link

Dane Niemi

Antony Tuttle

170 pounds 

Adam Cherne

Alex Kowalchyk

Clete Scherer

Carter Sorenson

182 pounds 

Nathaniel Kisgen

Macray Klohs

195 pounds 

Jacob Meissner

220 pounds

Max Balow
Austin Leflay

285 pounds 

Makota Misgen
Elijah Novak
Tashaud Nelson

Ohio

100 pounds 

Nicholas Lawrensen

106 pounds 

Lacy Harvey

113 pounds 

Connor Drummond

Trevor Hisey

Leo Riley

120 pounds 

Gavin Caprella
Ty Daugherty
William Zaborski

126 pounds 

Caleb Edwards

Corey Haney
Brandon Sauter

Zane Van Voorhis

132 pounds 

Griffin Burkle
Corbyn Cunningham
David Gelman

Jeremy Ginter
Max Shore

138 pounds 

Ismael Ayoub

Jared Counts

Ethan Mitchell
Nathan Kulbe

145 pounds 

Nick Abounader

Christian Giltz
Josiah Kennedy
Colin Roberts
Fernando Riselli

152 pounds 

Zavier Campsey

Teagan Hendricks

Kody Goffin

Maclain Morency

London Settles
Samuel Wegesin

160 pounds 

Gunner Endicott

Dez'monde Gartrell
Raymond Greene

Brad Hornback
Maxwell Kirby
Tim Smith

170 pounds 

David Davis

Camren Foster
Braylon Gartrell

Ryan Healy
Haden Offenberger
Mason Stanley

182 pounds 

Khamil Abdul
Hayden Berry

Conner Rogers

Brentan Simmerman

Mathis Webb

195 pounds 

Brennon Braud

Zackery Burroughs

Brayden Easton

Nicholas Hickman
Seth Shumate
Rashawn Turner

220 pounds 

Lucas Coomer

Mason Cover

Austin Kohlhofer
Gabriel Maxwell
Gary Powell
Joey Scally
Logan Shephard

285 pounds 

Gage Gibson

Chris Reber

Chance Robinson

Colin Shelton

Brodie Stevens
Riley Ucker

Pennsylvania

100 pounds 

Major Lewis

106 pounds 

Marco Tocci

Nico Tocci 

Casey Walker

113 pounds 

Max Cramer

Cael Nasdeo

Hunter Robison
Levi Snyder

120 pounds 

Kade Davidheiser

Robert Gardner, Jr.

Geovanni Lainez
Sean O'Toole

126 pounds 

Lane Aikey

Dylan Coy

Shane Holefelder
Luke Passarelli

132 pounds 

Aliazer Alicea

Spencer Barnhart

Nic Bouzakis (‘21 Junior WT)

Gabriel Conboy

Matthew Englehardt

Ivan Vega
Owen Woolcott

138 pounds 

Connor Pierce

Jude Swisher
Joshua Viarengo
Taylor Weaver

145 pounds 

Riley Bower

Reed Fullmer

Aiden Gaugler

Sam McMonagle

Noah Rice
Samagan Ulanuulu

Griffin Walizer

152 pounds 

John Altieri

Aboubakare Diaby

Michael Duggan
Erik Gibson
Alex Williams

160 pounds 

Gabriel Belga

Holden Garcia

Paniro Johnson

Jared Keslar

Collin McCorkle

Kevin Jadel Olavarria

Quin Scott

170 pounds 

Aldo Beqiraj

Jacob Cherry

Ayden Miller

Owen Quinn
Anthony Salopek
Manuel Santos

182 pounds 

Teague Conover

Jagger Gray

Mark McGonigal

Jeremy McKinney

Ethan Richner

195 pounds 

John Colburne

Luke Duthie

Kolby Franklin

Brian Finnerty

Caden Rogers
Liam Volk-Klos

220 pounds 

James Ellis

285 pounds 

Charles Crews III

Tyirek Jackson

Grant Lapachinsky

Nate Miller

Wilson Spires

Wisconsin

100 pounds 

Drew Dolphin

120 pounds 

Kaleb Casey

Tyler Klein

126 pounds 

Troy Dolphin 

Sam Smith

132 pounds 

Gabriel Galang

138 pounds 

Markus Brown

Tanner Gerber

Blake Heal

Ashton Miess

145 pounds 

Cael Erickson

Cody Goebel

Gunnar Hamre
Cael Kahle

Gabriel Ramos

Cash Stewart

152 pounds 

Cale Anderson

Tristan Drier

Hunter Gartmann

Elijah Lucio

160 pounds 

Lowell Arnold
Aaron Dobbs

Tyler Goebel
Matthew Rogge

Bowen Rothbauer
Garrett Willuweit

Caden Young

170 pounds 

Jared Stricker

182 pounds 

Brady Elvers

Jacob Hansen

Clayton Whiting
Lincoln Willett

195 pounds 

Max Ramberg

220 pounds 

Aesop Lorenz
Jaren Rohde
Marshell Self

285 pounds 

Robert Beese

Hunter Cordova

Keaten Pues