Fargo, the annual Mecca of high school wrestling, is upon us. The 16U and Junior Nationals begin Saturday at the FargoDome. 

It seems that every year or two, some young talent emerges in the spotlight and becomes a revelation to the wrestling community — remember Alexys Zepeda and Mia Palumbo both doubling up in 2018? Last year it was Texas’ Jasmine Robinson, who put on a show as she won both divisions and claimed the Outstanding Wrestler award. With rosters still being posted by USA Wrestling, registration for the girls’ divisions is well over 1,000. So who will it be this year? 

Here’s a quick look at the 16U and Junior Divisions:

16U Division

Of the nearly 550 girls registered in the 16U division, there are more than 75 that hit the recent national rankings. That being said, keep in mind that this division is also loaded up with young women coming up from the youth wrestling circuit that have been waiting to make their mark. Fargo is where you do that.

The 16U division features six returning national champions: Cecelia Williams from Michigan, Cadence Diduch from Illinois, Skylar Little Soldier from Minnesota, Nebi Tsarni from Maryland, Ella Pagel from Minnesota and Sabrina Nauss from Michigan.  

Weights To Watch

106 will be a fun weight for several reasons. First of all, there’s some known young talent. Missouri’s #2-ranked Ava Ward, also #19 in our P4P rankings, is the clear favorite. Her teammate, #9 Angelina Vargas is also in a field that features at least five top 25 wrestlers, including Indiana’s 14th-ranked Heather Crull, and Minnesota’s #16 ranked Aspen Blasko. But this weight always features up-and-coming talent too, landing a higher percentage of first-year Cadets due to the lighter weight. Watch for names like New York’s unranked Teegan Sibble, who placed fifth at NHSCA last spring, or Alaskan state champ Megan Spencer. And who knows what new stars will emerge from great wrestling states like Illinois, Texas, Washington, or California?

127 is also compelling as it features two returning national champions in Illinois’ Cadence Diduch and Minnesota’s Skylar Little Soldier. That would be an awesome final if it happens. Add to that returning All-American Ragan Retell from New York, #14 Alicen Dillard from Texas, and #28 Ciara Riner from West Virginia and this will be a competitive weight.

Wrestlers To Watch

There’s so many rising stars to keep an eye on in the 16U division. At the top of the list are Michigan’s returning national champion #4 Cecelia Williams at 112, returning national finalist Sydney Perry from Illinois at 144, and #3-ranked Persaeus Gomez out of Colorado — who took third last year and recently won the U17 Pan Am gold — entered at 117. Also watch #4 Mishell Rebisch at 144, who recently won a gold at U17 Pan Ams; Maryland returning national champ Nebi Tsarni at 144; #3 Piper Fowler out of Tennessee, a talented young freshman at 164; and a hammer at the upper weights named Sabrina Nauss, currently ranked #1 at 180.

Dark Horses

Here are a couple. The first one is 138 Maddie Westerberg, a freshman state champ from New York. She has some big wins over nationally ranked girls over the last few years, and could make a deep run. Let’s also keep an eye on #12-ranked Gigi Bragg on Michigan’s roster at 100. Bragg is another superb young freshman that’s capable of going all the way in this division. She had a win over returning national champ Valarie Solorio at Super 32 last fall, and she’s only gotten better since then.

States To Watch

The obvious is California, which ran away with it last year and is the heavy favorite to do it again. In 2021, they beat runner-up Illinois 177 to 129. The other states have a huge gap to close if they hope to even compete with The Golden State. Colorado (98), Michigan (97), and Missouri (74) took third, fourth and fifth last year in this division, respectively.

Junior Division

A combination of the 16U and older high school girls, the weight classes in the Junior division are large and deep. Here’s a look:

Weights To Watch

127 is a well of talent in this division. In the field are returning national champ Alexis Janiak, California’s #2-ranked Janida Garcia, Colorado #3 Sarah Savidge, Pennsylvania’s #6 Hailey Jaffe, New York’s #8 Emily Sindoni, Florida’s #10 Kailey Rees, California’s #11 Ella Jauregui, Ohio’s #12 Josie Davis, and both aforementioned returning 16U national champs, Cadence Diduch and Skylar Little Soldier. Needless to say, some very good wrestlers are not going to make the podium at this weight.

164 is the deepest girls high school weight in the country, evidenced by the fact that the top three ranked pound-for-pound girls in America are at 164, and are all Junior world champs—1) Amit Elor, 2) Kylie Welker, and 3) Kennedy Blades. Silly, isn’t it? Lucky for the rest of the girls, it looks like none of them are coming to Fargo. But even with the big three out of the picture, 164 is still very tough, with a field that includes Tennessee’s third-ranked (at 152) Piper Fowler, Missouri’s #6 Haley Ward, Washington’s #9 Shannon Workinger, Minnesota’s #10 Ella Pagel, Pennsylvania’s #12 Jael Miller field, Nebraska’s #14 Kaylee Ricketts, Utah’s #15 Brooklyn Hays, and 10 other top 25 young women.

Wrestlers To Watch

There’s a lot of wrestlers to watch in the Junior division, especially at the upper weights. For starters, keep an eye on #1 Sabrina Nauss at 180 and #1 Eliana Bommarito at 225. These are two special wrestlers from the reputed Michigan Revolution Wrestling Club that has emerged as one of the top in the country. Bommarito is unstoppable, a powerhouse with rare talent that doesn’t come along very often. If you haven’t seen her wrestle, tune into that one. California’s #1-ranked Sam Calkins is also one to watch, especially since she’s dropping to 180 for this event. Some others to keep an eye on are Florida’s Valarie Solorio at 100, the returning 16U champ with a year of growth under her belt; Nevada’s #3 Sterling Dias at the same weight; Maryland’s #3 (at 106) Alex Szkotnicki at 112, a young woman with domestic and international experience, battle-tested for the big stage of Fargo; South Carolina’s returning 16U national finalist Zao Estrada at 117; Indiana’s #9 Torieonna Buchanan at 117, who just made an appearance at Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament; New York’s #1 Sofia Macaluso at 122, a young woman who has clearly jumped levels over the last year, making her first Junior world team in May; Iowa’s #3 Ella Schmit at 122, who had a remarkable Women’s Nationals, including wins over the likes of #4 Jaclyn Dehney and college All-American Mia Macaluso; Oregon returning national champ, Destiny Rodriguez at 152, who defeated Katie Lange and Reese Larramendy at this event last year; and returning national finalist, Indiana’s #3 Riley Dempewolf at 200.  

Dark Horses

Ohio’s #22-ranked Makenna Craft at 106 is one to watch. So is #10 Maggie Graham from Tennessee at 144, a wrestler with sneaky skills that can go deep in this division.

States To Watch

California has become the Japan of Fargo, winning the team race year after year. In 2021, it wasn’t close, with the West Coast state running away with it, scoring 239 points to second-place Texas’ 132 points. Washington landed in third with 114. Also keep an eye on Illinois and Missouri, great girls’ wrestling states.