FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA • The Junior Greco-Roman national title has become, over the past seventeen years, what Illinois hangs its hat on when it comes to team championships in Fargo. Nationally, Illinois is the team to beat once Fargo’s Greco days begin, and this year was no exception. With four individual titles, combined with eight additional All-Americans, as well as several Illinois-boys knocking each other off the frontside and backside of the bracket as the team points accumulated, the team title was simply a matter of waiting until the end of the competition so a team photograph could be taken. This was Illinois’ thirty-second national title in Junior Greco-Roman wrestling.
In the past seventeen years, Illinois Junior Greco-Goers have collected sixteen team titles. Over this period, Illinois has won the most individual national championships with thirty. This past year in Fargo, Illinois separated itself from the field by claiming titles at 106, 113, 157, and 215. And, once again, with the country coming for them, Illinois answers the challenge with a dominant showing and a team national title.
At 106, Vince DeMarco, who has now earned AA honors five times, including his Freestyle All-American days prior, came away with his first crown after a 9-0 technical superiority over Zxander Donner of Kansas. At 113, Illinois saw two of its sons in the finals, but it would be Kaleb Pratt taking down teammate Daniel Goodwin, 7-1, for the individual crown. Pratt also earned All-American honors days earlier in the Freestyle competition.
Wyatt Medlin, who has made it to four Fargo finals appearances in his career, reached the finals, just as he had done in Freestyle days earlier, and sealed the deal with his first Junior individual title after he wrestled to a 5-1 decision over Iowa’s Bas Diaz at 157 pounds. Last year in Fargo, Medlin was a Junior Greco runner-up, and back in 2023 he won a 16U crown. Needless to say: Medlin knows how to reach the finals and certainly how to Greco. And, in the past three years, it is fair to say that this is where he has excelled in his spring and summer seasons.
Finally, at 215 pounds, Josh Hoffer, who also scored All-American honors in Freestyle, put up a powerful 7-0 blanking over Evan McGuire of Minnesota as he captured a national title of his own.
Outside of the finalists, Niko Odiotti (106) placed third; Quentin Williams (100), Caden Correll (113), and Jimmy Mastny (190) placed fourth; Symon Woods (100) earned a fifth-place finish, and Aidan Ortega (100) and Deven Casey (138) took seventh.
Illinois is still the only team to ever win all four division team titles. In 2013, the Land of Lincoln-ers won the 16U and Junior Freestyle and Greco-Roman team titles, all by double digits. In that, Illinois has set the standard for the rest of the country when it comes to the ultimate Fargo achievement, especially when it comes to the Greco competition. Until then, states will have to find a way to topple Illinois’ Junior Greco team if they are going to achieve a perfect four-for-four inside of the Fargodome, or at least stop the incredible run that Illinois has been on over the past decade and a half.
Top Ten Team Scores:
01 • 190 • Illinois
02 • 089 • Utah
03 • 071 • Oklahoma
04 • 070 • Minnesota
04 • 070 • Pennsylvania
06 • 068 • California
06 • 068 • Ohio
08 • 066 • Iowa
09 • 065 • Colorado
10 • 062 • Nebraska
16U Greco-Roman claims one crown, eight additional AA’s
Illinois crowned one 16U Greco-Roman national champion, and that was Robert Ruscitti at 126 pounds. After going 6-0 on his way to the finals and, in the process, scoring six consecutive technical superiorities without conceding a point, Ruscitti claimed his title in style as he won a 5-4 decision that came in the form of a four-point move with twenty-three seconds remaining in the match to clinch it.
Along with Ruscitti, Illinois crowned All-American honors on Dominic DeMarco, Colton Wyller, Ray Long, Aidan McClure, Shane Stream, Tommy Banas, Radic Dvorak, and Arkail Griffin-Edwards.
• TC LIFONTI / LEAD WRITER FOR ILLINOIS MATMEN / tclifonti.com
