Pictured: Inside the Fargodome on the campus of North Dakota State University (NDSU) during Fargo 2021. Image courtesy of USA Wrestling.
What we saw: The final tournament of Fargo 2021, the Junior Men’s Greco-Roman tournament, is in the books. Much the same way that Team Illinois ran away with the Men’s Junior Freestyle title, the IL Junior Greco grapplers also took home the team title in commanding fashion with two champions and 13 total All-Americans.
According to Jason Bryant of Mat Talk Online, Team Illinois win (169 team points) extends their winning streak in this tournament to 13 straight years for Greco powerhouse. California (123), Wisconsin (118), Colorado (114), and Iowa (90) rounded out your Top-5 teams. With 169 total team points, Team IL’s margin of victory was a commanding 69.
Also noteworthy, Alaska’s Jeremy Bockert (126) was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler. Bockert is just the third-ever Junior Greco-Roman champion from the state of Alaska.
With the conclusion of the Men’s Junior Greco-Roman tournament, it brings to a close one of the largest Junior & 16U Nationals in the 50-year history of the revered event.
Below are the final results from the Junior Men’s Greco-Roman Finals.
100: Kolter Burton (Idaho) VFA Jeremy Oani (California), 7-0 1:39
106: Ray Ray Harris (California) VFA Elias Navida (California), 4-2 3:35
113: Davian Guanajuato (Arizona) VPO1 Benjamin Aranda (Illinois), 7-7
120: Max Black (Colorado) VPO1 Jett Strickenberger (Colorado), 3-1
126: Jeremy Bockert (Alaska) VSU1 Gable Porter (Iowa), 11-1 1:21
132: James Dalrymple (Tennessee) VPO Anthony Aniciete (Nevada), 4-0
138: Q’veli Quintanilla (Washington) VPO1 Kyle Boeke (Minnesota), 6-3
145: Tyler Antoniak (Nebraska) VPO1 Jack Milos (Illinois), 9-4
152: Nick Hamilton (Nebraska) VPO1 Cale Anderson (Wisconsin), 2-1
160: Manuel (m.j.) Gaitan (California) VFA Caden Young (Wisconsin), 4-4 1:27
170: Evan Canoyer (Nebraska) VPO1 Jared Stricker (Wisconsin), 5-5
182: Deanthony Parker (Illinois) VSU Michael Altomer (New York), 10-0 1:12
195: Wyatt Voelker (Iowa) VPO1 Ryan Cody (Florida), 7-5
220: Alex Semenenko (New York) VPO1 Andrew Blackburn-Forst (Illinois), 16-10
285: Ryan Boersma (Illinois) VFA Aden Attao (Idaho), 13-2 4:31
Now some of TOM’s Takeaways from the Men’s Junior Greco-Roman Finals
Kolter Burton (Idaho) Started the Finals with a Bang: At 100 pounds, the lightest of the men’s Junior Greco weights, Idaho’s Kolter Burton (100) got the action going superbly, picking up a fall in under two minutes to claim his stop sign. Fellow Idaho prep Aden Attao (285) concluded the event in a lopsided contest with a much larger Ryan Boersma in which Attao lost by fall. The Gem State took fourth at the 16U Men’s Greco tournament and sixth at the Junior Men’s Greco tournament, making Idaho one of the biggest surprises of the week. Per Jason Bryant of Mat Talk Online, Idaho had seven All-Americans in Junior Greco, the most in state history.
Ray Ray Harris (California) Kept His Bonus-Point Streak Going: In an All-California matchup at 106, Ray Ray Harris ended things with a fall over California teammate Elias Navida (California). Harris racked up a trio of 10-0 technical falls and one fall en route to his 2021 stop sign. After getting a 16U crown last time out in 2019, Harris now has a matching Junior division trophy as well.
Arizona Wins Another Title at 113: After a pair of falls to open things up, we had a high-scoring 7-7 contest that came down to criteria in favor of the Arizona prep Davian Guanajuanto. Much like Idaho, Arizona was another state that shocked some folks and brought their A-game to the Fargodome this week. Team AZ authored a pair of Top-15 finishes (12th in Junior Men’s Greco and 13th in Junior Men’s Freestyle), and even a seventh-place team finish in Men’s 16U Freestyle. Impressively, one high school, Valiant College Preparatory (AZ), totaled 10 All-Americans and three national champs at Fargo 2021.
Stand Up Jeremy Bockert and the State of Alaska: Bockert was electric in his 11-1 finals tech that took just over 80 seconds thanks to a four-pointer and a five-pointer. Bockert is just the third Alaskan to win a Greco stop sign in state history with the title.
Nebraska Wins Trio of Titles at 145, 152, and 170: The Cornhusker State shined in the back half of the finals, winning a pair of titles in consecutive matches at 145 and 152, then winning for a third time again at 170. First, Tyler Antoniak (Nebraska) took a 9-4 decision over ack Milos (Illinois). Then, Nick Hamilton (Nebraska) wins it against Cale Anderson (Wisconsin) by the slimmest of margins, 2-1. Just two bouts later, at 170 pounds, Nebraska added a third crown when Evan Canoyer (Nebraska) scores late and picks up a 5-5 win on criteria over Jared Stricker (Wisconsin).
Wisconsin’s Caden Young Looked Fantastic: Not only did Young storm to a 160-pound crown this week, but he did so in the most dominant of ways, secured three tech falls and four pins (7-0) in route to his stop sign.
DeAnthony Parker (Illinois) Already Looks Comfortable in his New Home: Parker wasted little time before putting points on the board in his final bout of Fargo 2021. It took Parker just a minute and 12 seconds for the dominant 10-0 Tech, complete with a big throw. While he needed just over a minute on the mat, Friday, he will be back at the Fargodome and on the NDSU campus soon as a member of the Bison wrestling program. Parker certainly looked comfortable in his new home.
Who Says the Heavy Guys Can’t Put Up Points in a Hurry: A common knock against the guys north of 200 pounds is that they don’t consistently score many points. Alex Semenenko (New York) and Andrew Blackburn-Forst (Illinois) didn’t get that memo. Semenenko got the W in an offensive shootout over (Illinois) 16-10 in what was arguably the best match of the finals.
In the end, the 50th Anniversary of the 2021 US Marine Corps 16U and Junior Nationals was spectacular from start to finish, and each of the six tournaments delivered exceptional, non-stop action, which helped make 2021 the most-watched Fargo yet. A job well done to all involved.
Here are your Men’s Junior Greco-Roman Finalist Biographies. Here is the USA wrestling Junior Greco Finals recap.
Final All-American and Team Race Results
100 LBS
1st Kolter Burton (Idaho) pin Jeremy Oani (California), 1:39
3rd Andrew Fox (Utah) dec. Cole Rogers (Montana), 12-7
5th Vincent Biondoletti (Florida) pin Isaac Stewart (Montana), 4:23
7th Ian Werner (Alaska) dec. Jaymz Young (Illinois), 8-1
106 LBS
1st Ray Ray Harris (California) pin Elias Navida (California), 3:35
3rd Michael Longo (Connecticut) tech. fall Christian Forbes (Oklahoma), 10-0 2:49
5th Brandon Morvari (Minnesota) tech. fall Ethan Grimminger (California), 12-2 3:00
7th Marco Tocci (Pennsylvania) tech. fall Tyler Washburn (Florida), 19-8 5:26
113 LBS
1st Davian Guanajuato (Arizona) dec. Benjamin Aranda (Illinois), 7-7
3rd Alan Koehler (Minnesota) dec. Kyison Garcia (Utah), 5-3
5th Kenneth Hendriksen (Texas) tech. fall Kaleb Casey (Wisconsin), 15-4 3:26
7th Nolan Wertanen (Michigan) pin Dominic Dealtonaga (California), 1:16
120 LBS
1st Max Black (Colorado) dec. Jett Strickenberger (Colorado), 3-1
3rd Kannon Webster (Illinois) dec. Jonathan Gurule (New Mexico), 5-1
5th Christian Tanefeu (North Dakota) tech. fall Paul Kelly (California), 12-2 2:11
7th Yusief Lillie (Washington) dec. Mitchell Neiner (Washington), 7-5
126 LBS
1st Jeremy Bockert (Alaska) tech fall Gable Porter (Iowa), 11-1 1:21
3rd Carter Stephenson (Colorado) dec. Wilfried Tanefeu (North Dakota), 5-1
5th Teegan Vasquez (Montana) dec. Keith Smith (Nebraska), 5-2
7th Tristan Bremer (Idaho) pin Kyle Rice (Idaho), 2:40
132 LBS
1st James Dalrymple (Tennessee) dec. Anthony Aniciete (Nevada), 4-0
3rd Joseph Airola (Colorado) dec. Ethan Fernandez (New Jersey), 8-1
5th Nash Singleton (Oregon) tech. fall Christopher Martino (Idaho), 11-0 0:45
7th Walker Bents (Minnesota) dec. Elijah Paulson (Minnesota), 7-2
138 LBS
1st Q’veli Quintanilla (Washington) dec. Kyle Boeke (Minnesota), 6-3
3rd Weston Dalton (Colorado) dec. Ramon Ramos (Arizona), 8-6
5th Stevie Barnes (Iowa) tech. fall Koy Buesgens (Minnesota), 10-0 4:35
7th Ashton Miess (Wisconsin) dec. Alec Peralta (California), 7-4
145 LBS
1st Tyler Antoniak (Nebraska) dec. Jack Milos (Illinois), 9-4
3rd Matthew Rodriguez (California) dec. Gunnar Hamre (Wisconsin), 10-5
5th Ivan Morris (Colorado) pin Cael Rahnavardi (Iowa), 1:06
7th Richard Fedalen (Maryland) dec. Conor Goucher (Washington), 7-4
152 LBS
1st Nick Hamilton (Nebraska) dec. Cale Anderson (Wisconsin), 2-1
3rd Paniro Johnson (Pennsylvania) tech. fall Derek Raike (West Virginia), 11-0 3:00
5th Thor Michaelson (Washington) inj. dft Jordan Williams (Oklahoma), 0:00
7th Daniel Wask (New Jersey) dec. Michael Kilic (Georgia), 15-6
160 LBS
1st Manuel (m.j.) Gaitan (California) pin Caden Young (Wisconsin), 1:27
3rd Robert Weston (Georgia) dec. Alaa Elkerm (New Jersey), 5-5
5th Aaron Dobbs (Wisconsin) pin Erik Gibson (Pennsylvania), 1:06
7th Matthew Rogge (Wisconsin) pin Gaetano Console (Illinois), 4:00
170 LBS
1st Evan Canoyer (Nebraska) dec. Jared Stricker (Wisconsin), 5-5
3rd Derek Matthews (Idaho) tech. fall Caden Ernd (Illinois), 12-0 1:41
5th Joseph Jens (Illinois) dec. Codei Khawaja (Indiana), 4-1
7th Bradley Gillum (Illinois) dec. Adrian Artsisheuskiy (New York), 11-6
182 LBS
1st Deanthony Parker (Illinois) tech. fall Michael Altomer (New York), 10-0 1:12
3rd Clayton Whiting (Wisconsin) tech. fall Dante Roggio (Idaho), 10-0 0:44
5th Adam Ahrendsen (Iowa) pin Jared Simma (Kansas), 1:06
7th Drake Buchanan (Indiana) dec. Asher Ruchti (Oregon), 14-8
195 LBS
1st Wyatt Voelker (Iowa) dec. Ryan Cody (Florida), 7-5
3rd Caden Rogers (Pennsylvania) dec. Tom Culp (Illinois), 4-3
5th Nicholas Casad (Indiana) inj. dft Gabe Sollars (Indiana), 1:00
7th John Gunderson (Wisconsin) tech. fall Eli Sheeren (Texas), 11-0 4:05
220 LBS
1st Alex Semenenko (New York) dec.Andrew Blackburn-forst (Illinois), 16-10
3rd Kalob Runyon (Iowa) dec. Ashton Davis (Tennessee), 6-4
5th Joshua Howell (Indiana) tech. fall Gary Powell (Ohio), 10-0 1:02
7th Crew Howard (Iowa) pin Ghee Rachal (Illinois), 2:01
285 LBS
1st Ryan Boersma (Illinois) pin Aden Attao (Idaho), 4:31
3rd Matthew Moore (Colorado) pin Keith Miley (Missouri), 2:28
5th Jacob Barnes (Oregon) pin Aiden Lacoma (Virginia), 0:39
7th Hayden Simpson (Oklahoma) pin Tristan Kemp (Massachusetts), 0:36
Outstanding Wrestling
Jeremy Bockert
Most Pins in the Least Amount of Time
285 lbs – Hayden Simpson (OK)
Team standings
1 Illinois 169
2 – California 123
3 – Wisconsin 118
4 – Colorado 114
5 – Iowa 90
6 – Idaho 86
7 – Nebraska 82
8 – Minnesota 58
9 – New York 47
10 Washington 43
11 – Pennsylvania 42
12 – (tie) Arizona, Indiana and Tennessee 37
15 – Florida 31
16 – Alaska 30
17 – New Jersey 29
18 – Montana 28
19 – Utah 27
20 – Oklahoma 24
21 – North Dakota 21
22 – (tie) Nevada and Oregon 20
24 – Georgia 17
25 – Connecticut 15
26 – (tie) Missouri, New Mexico and West Virginia 12
29 – Texas 11
30 – (tie) Kansas, Ohio and Virginia 7
33 – (tie) Maryland and Michigan 5
35 – Massachusetts 2
