2023 Junior & 16U Nationals (Fargo)

[grumpy_okie]

The Oklahoma girls had a damn good showing at 16U, but not quite so much at Juniors.

For the Juniors Aubrianna Smith of Westmoore got her AA placing 8th at 127.

At 16U we had a MUCH better showing, which really highlights how much girls wrestling has grown in Oklahoma over the past few years!
Bella Williams (Edmond North) DOMINATED her way to the top of the podium at 122.
Lynn Horn (Blanchard) showed rankings don't mean a damn thing, by winning her bracket (127) and knocking off 3 girls ranked above her, including the #3 weight ranked and #20 pfp ranked girl in the finals.
Addie Morse (Harrah) got 4th at 100.
Alexandria Ray (Edmond North) got 5th at 164.
Millie Azlin (Bixby) got 6th also at 164 (forfeiting to Ray).


Boys Freestyle starts tomorrow and runs through Wednesday, then Greco wraps things up on Friday and Saturday, where we have we have 3 4 commits competing:
Beric Jordan (24) - 120 - FS/GR
Kolton Burton (24) - 126 - FS/GR
Jayce Caviness (23) - 126 -FS
Jersey Robb (23) - 195 - FS

On a related note, it pisses me off to no end that none of these girls will have the chance to wrestle for a D1 program in the state.

 

[Okie_Pat]

On a related note, it pisses me off to no end that none of these girls will have the chance to wrestle for a D1 program in the state.

It is a shame there isn't one yet. Its all about funding and I believe title 9 is also a major issue.

 

[leecothran]

Title IX isn't the issue. The issue is that there is massive fluctuation in college athletics right now. NCAA is considering dropping the minimum sponsored varsity sports requirement for D1 membership. NCAA is also considering removing the scholarship limits and replacing with roster limits. This would mean that instead of having 9.9 full scholarships for wrestling, you could have 30... but that's all that you'd be able to roster. So a school like OSU is going to do what it can to fund 30 full scholarships for wrestling or softball or whatever non-football sport that they can... but in reality a lot of programs from a lot of schools are going to be on the chopping block.

This is why you haven't seen women's wrestling taking off at the D1 college level. Iowa added the sport because of a lawsuit that they were going to lose, so they settled by reinstating swimming and diving and adding women's wrestling... a sport that isn't a sanctioned NCAA sport, yet. It's growing at the D3 level because D3 colleges use athletics to drive up attendance numbers, and they do not offer athletic scholarships.

I am in communication with a student at Oklahoma State that is trying to get a women's club team started, but she needs other athletes that can be a part of the club. Once there is a minimum reached, fundraising efforts will kick off and they will be allowed resources to be competitive at the NWCA events that are sanctioned right now with the other 6 or so D1 clubs that are out there.

Oklahoma State wants to add women's wrestling, and will when the smoke clears on some of the NCAA's future plans. Unfortunately there isn't really a timeline on that. So the best thing to do for now would be to help with the club efforts as those become more clear.

 

[alex1fly]

Oklahoma State wants to add women's wrestling, and will when the smoke clears on some of the NCAA's future plans. Unfortunately there isn't really a timeline on that. So the best thing to do for now would be to help with the club efforts as those become more clear.

But Lee. I won't support club efforts until John Smith hand delivers me a personal & detailed message about the CWC and our squad goes 10-10 in the NCAA finals.

Just kidding. Didn't know about the roster vs scholarships idea. It is pretty wild that you can only fund 9.9 scholarships (not enough to field a starting lineup) but then you can fund whatever else with private funding.

 

[grumpy_okie]

After day 1 of boys FS:

Jordan, Burton, and Robb are all into to the Round of 32.

Caviness lost his first match to Burton but is still wrestling with 2 wins in the consis.

I'll keep a day by day update of our commits and run down all the Oklahoma boys after each style wraps...

 

[DEWrestlingFan]

Anyone else notice that Tony Cassioppi's little brothers are both in the 106lb 16U bracket? Thats pretty wild. Not sure if it is teasing or hype or what, but with the talks of Gable going to Iowa, does Tony transfer? If so, where to?

 

[Okie_Pat]

Once there is a minimum reached, fundraising efforts will kick off and they will be allowed resources to be competitive at the NWCA events that are sanctioned right now with the other 6 or so D1 clubs that are out there.

What's the minimum number of women's wrestlers the club needs? Enough to fill a complete roster?

Thanks for the insight, Lee.

 

[Wrassler17]

What's the minimum number of women's wrestlers the club needs? Enough to fill a complete roster?

Thanks for the insight, Lee.

10 according to this article by Adam Engel from last December.

Dare(ing) to do it: OSU sophomore to start women's wrestling team

Cadence Dare’s name accompanies plenty of firsts in women’s wrestling.

www.ocolly.com

 

[leecothran]

Anyone else notice that Tony Cassioppi's little brothers are both in the 106lb 16U bracket? Thats pretty wild. Not sure if it is teasing or hype or what, but with the talks of Gable going to Iowa, does Tony transfer? If so, where to?

He has a redshirt and an Olympic redshirt so my guess is he would stick around and train with Gable.

I don’t think Gable ends up at Iowa though. I think he stays at Minnesota and only wrestles a handful of bouts.

 

[grumpy_okie]

As day two of boys freestyle comes to a close, we got Robb and Jordan in the semis!

Caviness made it to Consolation Round of 8 #1 and Burton made it to Consolation Round of 16 #2.

As far as the state goes, we have 2 16U wrestlers and 6!!! juniors in the semis, with quite a few more in each division still trying to reach the podium through the backside.

 

[Okie_Pat]

As day two of boys freestyle comes to a close, we got Robb and Jordan in the semis!

Caviness made it to Consolation Round of 8 #1 and Burton made it to Consolation Round of 16 #2.

As far as the state goes, we have 2 16U wrestlers and 6!!! juniors in the semis, with quite a few more in each division still trying to reach the podium through the backside.

Chris Kiser is in the Semi’s at 113

 

[Wrassler17]

So what about recruiting targets?

Routledge made the semis. He will probably end up in that needed 157-174 range (along with Lockett). Henckel (160 out of Blair) seems like another one. I'm still hoping for McComas (also in the semis). He could end up anywhere from 125-141.

Cody Merrill (220 out of Gilroy) is back competing again. He's crushed everyone so far. Can he make 197 in college? Seems like it should be doable. I remember Sammy Colbray winning Fargo @ 220 then wrestling 197, 184 & 174 for ISU.

Others?

 

[osu2082]

As day two of boys freestyle comes to a close, we got Robb and Jordan in the semis!

Caviness made it to Consolation Round of 8 #1 and Burton made it to Consolation Round of 16 #2.

As far as the state goes, we have 2 16U wrestlers and 6!!! juniors in the semis, with quite a few more in each division still trying to reach the podium through the backside.

Robb has out scored his opponents 53-0 so far.

Caviness won 6 straight matches on the back side.

 

[DPJ]

So what about recruiting targets?

Routledge made the semis. He will probably end up in that needed 157-174 range (along with Lockett). Henckel (160 out of Blair) seems like another one. I'm still hoping for McComas (also in the semis). He could end up anywhere from 125-141.

Cody Merrill (220 out of Gilroy) is back competing again. He's crushed everyone so far. Can he make 197 in college? Seems like it should be doable. I remember Sammy Colbray winning Fargo @ 220 then wrestling 197, 184 & 174 for ISU.

Others?

I really like the Cortez twins as well as Zapeda, who are from Gilroy also. All three are sophomores

 

[DPJ]

Robb has out scored his opponents 53-0 so far.

Caviness won 6 straight matches on the back side.

Robb has looked pretty good so far. He wrecked the #8 ranked 220 last match.

 

[DPJ]

Jordan beat Cortez 6-6 on criteria to make the finals. Hell of a match.

 

[DPJ]

So what about recruiting targets?

Routledge made the semis. He will probably end up in that needed 157-174 range (along with Lockett). Henckel (160 out of Blair) seems like another one. I'm still hoping for McComas (also in the semis). He could end up anywhere from 125-141.

Cody Merrill (220 out of Gilroy) is back competing again. He's crushed everyone so far. Can he make 197 in college? Seems like it should be doable. I remember Sammy Colbray winning Fargo @ 220 then wrestling 197, 184 & 174 for ISU.

Others?

Totally forgot to mention Forrest. He'll wrestle McComas in the finals

 

[DPJ]

Zapeda beat Ayoub 6-5 to make the finals. He was down 5-0 and came back. Nice win as Ayoub is ranked 3rd at 138

 

[DPJ]

Robb into the finals with a tech in 1:30. Will have penn st commit Connor Mirasola next.

 

[Toadvine]

Jordan beat Cortez 6-6 on criteria to make the finals. Hell of a match.

Daniel Cormier challenged and lost, so final score should be 7-6. Not too bad for a room guy!

 

[grumpy_okie]

Christopher. Kiser.

That’s all for now, more after the finals finish.

 

[slickr3]

Robb and Jordan both got reached. Jax Forrest 5-4 over JJ McComas

 

[Wrassler17]

I think grumpy_okie is planning on doing a recap, but a few quick thoughts...

- I think this was Beric Jordan's first big freestyle tourney, so very good showing by him. Also, him casually brushing off Deluca's shoulder push before that first whistle was pretty funny. Cool cat.

- JJ McComas was teched by Forrest in folkstyle last Sep, so he's come a long way. Not many guys take Jax down twice in the same match. We have to sign him.

- Bray misspoke when he said Jersey Robb previously teched Mirasola at junior duals, it was the other way around. But this match was more competitive. Robb banged his knee early in that match and didn't move as well as he did in this tourney. The way he handled Tompkins in the semis was impressive.

 

[Toadvine]

I think grumpy_okie is planning on doing a recap, but a few quick thoughts...

- I think this was Beric Jordan's first big freestyle tourney, so very good showing by him. Also, him casually brushing off Deluca's shoulder push before that first whistle was pretty funny. Cool cat.

- JJ McComas was teched by Forrest in folkstyle last Sep, so he's come a long way. Not many guys take Jax down twice in the same match. We have to sign him.

- Bray misspoke when he said Jersey Robb previously teched Mirasola at junior duals, it was the other way around. But this match was more competitive. Robb banged his knee early in that match and didn't move as well as he did in this tourney. The way he handled Tompkins in the semis was impressive.

Saw on Twitter, Fargo was Jordan's second freestyle tournament since 7th grade and he made the finals in the most stacked bracket.

 

[proud2bpokes]

I believe it has been mentioned in the past that LeDuca knows the OSU coaches well. He may be a target to keep an eye on in the 2025 class.

Between Cadet Duals and Cadet nationals, Michael Mocco went 14-0 with 12 TF, and 2 pins. He outscored his opponents 145-0 in those matches. If Carroll wrestles this year without redshirting, Mocco would fit perfectly into the lineup after a redshirt year.

 

[Wrassler17]

Willie's rankings for some names mentioned in this thread...

Forrest #2 in '26
Mocco #11 in '26

Lockett #2 in '25
Henckel #11 in '25
DeLuca #16 in '25
E. Cortez #17 in '25
I. Cortez #18 in '25
Zepeda #27 in '25
Routledge #30 in '25

Merrill #6 in '24

 

[DPJ]

Willie's rankings for some names mentioned in this thread...

Forrest #2 in '26
Mocco #11 in '26

Lockett #2 in '25
Henckel #11 in '25
DeLuca #16 in '25
E. Cortez #17 in '25
I. Cortez #18 in '25
Zepeda #27 in '25
Routledge #30 in '25

Merrill #6 in '24

Merrill looks like he's going to be special. Problem for us is he looks like he's outgrown 197.

 

[Wrassler17]

Merrill looks like he's going to be special. Problem for us is he looks like he's outgrown 197.

Could be, but I think it might be possible. I mentioned Sammy Colbray above. 220 at Fargo then 174 at ISU. Braxton Amos wrestled 220 from 8th grade on. J'den Cox went 171, 215, 220, 285 in HS.

Maybe just wishful thinking.

 

[Okie_Pat]

Merrill looks like he's going to be special. Problem for us is he looks like he's outgrown 197.

Looked like he was tipping the 220 scale at Fargo so I doubt 197 would be in his cards. He moves extremely well and is very quick for his size. Resembles Gable a little on his feet. Clearly has some strength too with how well he was able to turn guys with ease.

 

[blair2000]

Merrill looks like he's going to be special. Problem for us is he looks like he's outgrown 197.

He is a 197 lifer

 

[vhsalum]

He is a 197 lifer

THAT OKIESTATE CUT!

 

[vhsalum]

THAT OKIESTATE CUT!

In all seriousness though - he's fat. I think he'll be special at 197 if he can control mom and dad.

 

[DPJ]

He is a 197 lifer

If that's the case I hope we're going all in on him.

 

[alex1fly]

In all seriousness though - he's fat. I think he'll be special at 197 if he can control mom and dad.

Oof what a weird thing to have to deal with. I haven’t been on wrestling forums long but it does seem like a thing that happens.