Squaring off against Illinois' Ben Aranda in the recent 113-pound junior freestyle national championship match in Fargo, ND, Braeden Davis was unleashed at the sound of the opening whistle.

A two-time Michigan state champion who is ranked fourth in the nation, Davis pounced, racking up an 8-0 advantage within the first minute. He was up 9-1 after one period before finishing off the 11-1, technical fall victory 37 seconds into the second period.

Davis, who begins his junior year at Dundee this fall, sprang to his feet before thrusting two fingers into the air and tugging on his singlet. 

The two signifies that Davis has become just the second member of a very exclusive club. He and St. Johns legend Ben Whitford, a four-time state champion, are the only Michigan wrestlers to capture cadet freestyle and junior freestyle titles in Fargo. 

"I felt great this whole tournament and have been training all summer for this, so it was great to see it all come together for me," Davis said afterward.

His training included working with three-time NCAA Champion and 2016 Hodge Trophy winner Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) at Cliff Keen Wrestling Club in Ann Arbor. Davis also trained at Simmons Academy of Wrestling in Lansing which is run by Nick Simmons, a four-time Michigan State All-American and two-time Olympic alternate.

Aranda, a Cleveland State signee who is ranked 11th, avoided a shutout thanks to an escape with 11 seconds left in the first period. He was second in this year's Illinois state tournament and a runner-up at 100 pounds in Fargo two years ago.

Davis, the 88-pound cadet champion in 2019, was simply dominant, rolling to technical-fall wins in five of six matches. He outscored opponents 70-15. 

Davis began with 10-0 blankings of New Jersey's Jacob Gollin and North Carolina's Damon Landreth before a 12-2 win over California state medalist Dominic Mendez. 

Minnesota's Caleb Thoennes, ranked 10th, provided Davis' stiffest test. He overcame the state runner-up and 2019 Fargo cadet Greco-Roman champion with a 15-10 decision. 

In the semifinals, Davis knocked off Ohio state runner-up Codie Cuerbo thanks to a 12-2 technical fall. 

Davis also earned his previous championship via technical fall, beating Minnesota's Alan Koehler (10-0), who is currently ranked No. 13 at 113 pounds. 

Davis, No. 36 on the Class of 2023 Big Board, could hardly have been more dominant during the past high school season.

He finished 29-0 and none of his opponents lasted beyond the second period as he finished off all of them via pin or technical fall. Davis has gone 67-4 in his first two high school seasons. 

Last fall, he won the 105-pound Grappler Fall Classic crown before taking second at Super 32 to Pennsylvania's Vincent Kilkeary, third in the current 113-pound national rankings. 

Davis' finish was hardly the only history made by Michigan wrestlers in Fargo.

He was joined by Davison's Josh Barr (160) and Detroit Catholic Central's Manny Rojas (170) as junior freestyle champions, giving Michigan three winners in that division for the first time. 

The state was third in the team standings, its best finish since 1975. 

In addition, Hartland's Eliana Bommarito (225) was a girls junior freestyle champion while Holt Lutheran School's Cecilia Williams (112) and Brighton's Sabrina Nauss (180) were girls cadet freestyle winners. 

The six champions are the most Michigan has ever had.

Barr, ranked ninth, beat 10th-ranked Iowa state champion Aiden Riggins, 4-4, on criteria in dramatic fashion. 

Down 4-2 with roughly 30 seconds remaining, he used a crotch lift, scoring an exposure to himself ahead on criteria and tie the match. Barr is Davison's seventh Fargo champion, the most by a one school in the state. The two-time state champion was fourth two years ago. 

Rojas, ranked fourth, bested 14th-ranked Brayden Thompson of Illinois, 5-2, for his first Fargo title after placing second twice in cadet competition. Up 3-2, the two-time state champion put Thompson away with a late takdown.

Bommarito, the nation's top-ranked 225-pounder, pinned 10th-ranked Lexie Cole (Missouri) in 2:34 for her championship. The match was a clash of three-time state champions, but Bommarito dominated the tournament. 

She went 4-0 with all wins coming via pin or technical fall. Bommarito outscored foes, 30-1.

Williams, ranked 17th, stunned second-ranked Zao Estrada (South Carolina), 4-2, in the final. Williams still has not started high school while Estrada will be a sophomore in the final. 

For her part, Nauss, ranked third at 165 pounds, had little trouble dispatching Kiara Ganey (Illinois), 13-2, in the final. Ganey is ranked 12th at 180. 

Nauss becomes Brighton's first Fargo champion -- male or female -- and the program's first finalist since 2014.