FARGO, ND • As Team Illinois saw its Junior division losing pace in the national team race, it watched on as it 16U-ers simply came out and conquered the field by pushing seven wrestlers into the finals—one head-to-head matchup—and crowing thirteen total All-Americans. When it was all said and done, Illinois crowned three induvial national champions and ran away with the team title, its first 16U team title since 2019 when it had a string of winning seven-consecutive team titles.
Illinois first national champion came in a matchup of Illinoisians, also the number-one and number-two seeds, and two wrestlers who were very much familiar with one another.
