138 lb Junior National Champion Tagen Jamison of Texas (Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The future of the Big Ten balled out in Fargo.
The Junior men's freestyle and Greco national championships are often a proving ground for the nation's best wrestling prospects. It was even more so this year, with a record number of entries.
As many as 17 wrestlers that have committed or signed with Big Ten programs earned All-American honors between the two competitions. Here's a lot at a few of the standout performances:
ILLINOIS
Two future Illini wrestlers won Junior freestyle titles.
Christian Carroll, from Indiana, bulldozed his way to gold at 220 pounds. He went 7-0 and outscored his opponents 68-10 - and all 10 points he surrendered came in his one match that went the distance, a 15-10 quarterfinal win over Bennett Tabor.
His other six wins: two pins in under 30 seconds, two technical falls in 40 seconds or faster, a 10-0 semifinal technical fall over Georgia's Noah Pettigrew, and a 12-0 finals win over Iowa's Ben Kueter. If not for Drake Ayala (more on him in a minute), Carroll had a strong case as the Junior men's freestyle Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Kannon Webster was the other Illinois commit to win a title, dominating his way to first at 120 pounds. He outscored his seven opponents 79-11 en route to gold, and beat the wrestlers who finished second (Washington's Yusief Lillie), third (Tennessee's Cooper Flynn) and fourth (Colorado's Jett Strickenberger) by a combined 29-5.
What's more, Webster also took third in Junior Greco at the same weight. He went 8-1 and won six wrestleback matches. His one loss, 8-7 to California's Paul Kelly, came in the Round-of-16, and he scored a revenge win over Kelly, 8-3, in the wrestlebacks. Across both styles, Webster went a combined15-1 overall with a 174-37 scoring advantage.
IOWA
The Hawkeyes had two future stars competing in Junior men's freestyle, and both brought their A-game in ridiculously tough brackets.
Drake Ayala knifed through what many considered to be one of the deepest weights in the entire Junior men's freestyle competition, going 7-0 to win at 126 pounds. It was his second national title in Junior men's freestyle (he also won in 2019) and third overall (he won a Cadet title in 2017).
Ayala registered six technical falls and one pin and outscored his opponents 72-4. None of his matches got out of the first period, and only three of them got out of the first minute. He was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Caleb Rathjen was the other, reaching the finals at 145 pounds. He went 7-1 and blew through his first seven matches by a combined 75-4 with six technical falls - including a 7-2 quarterfinal win over Maryland's Richard Fedalen, who finished sixth, and a 10-0 semifinal win over California's Nico Ruiz.
Rathjen's only loss came in the championship match that was decided in the final seconds. He led Oklahoma's Jordan Williams, 3-1, when Williams scored a second-period exposure at the gun to win the match. It was Rathjen's second trip to the freestyle national finals. He also took second as a Cadet in 2018.
MICHIGAN
Rylan Rogers was the lone future Wolverine to earn All-American honors, third at 195 in Junior men's freestyle. Rogers, from Washington, went 8-1, with four technical falls and a pin and three wins over other All-Americans in the field. He avenged his one loss, to Pennsylvania's Kolby Franklin in the quarters, by winning 10-2 in a rematch for third.
MINNESOTA
A trio of future Gophers made the podium in Junior men's freestyle - including two in the same weight.
At 138 pounds, both Tegan Jamison (Texas) and Blaine Brenner (Wisconsin) finished in the top six last week. Jamison went 8-0 and won the whole thing, outscoring his foes 79-8. That included a 10-0 quarterfinal win over Brenner, who ultimately went 6-3 and finished sixth, winning twice in the wrestlebacks after losing to Jamison.
The third Minnesota recruit: big Bennett Tabor, who took fifth at 220. Tabor went 6-2 overall, losing to eventual champ Christian Carroll (Indiana), 15-10, in the quarterfinals, then 8-1 to New Jersey's Martin Cosgrove in the wrestlebacks.
NEBRASKA
Three future Husker wrestlers earned All-American status in Junior men's freestyle - and just like Minnesota, two finished in the top eight at the same weight.
Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) and Adam Thebeau (Illinois) took fifth and eighth, respectively, at 160. They actually both lost to Iowa's Aiden Riggins, who made the finals. Thebeau lost to Riggins, 12-2, in the quarters, then Taylor lost to Riggins, 19-6, in the semifinals.
Thebeau then rallied from down 6-0 to beat Indiana's J Conway, 9-8, in the bloodround before injury-defaulting to eighth. He finished 6-3 overall. Taylor actually led Riggins, 6-0, before losing. He ultimately slid to the fifth-place match and finished 6-2 overall.
The third Nebraska recruit: Harley Andrews, eighth at 285. Andrews made the quarters, where he lost to Georgia's Chase Horne, the eventual runner-up. He rebounded with a wild 18-17 win over Idaho's Aden Attao in the bloodround to finish on the podium.
OHIO STATE
Seth Shumate made up half of the all-Ohio final at 195 pounds. He stormed into the finals with big wins over Oklahoma's AJ Heeg (8-1), Indiana's Evan Bates (11-0) and Pennsylvania's Kolby Franklin (10-10 thanks to a big 4-pointer in the first period).
In the finals, Shumate ran into fellow Ohio native Dylan Fishback, who won by fall in the second period. Shumate actually led 2-0 in the first period, but Fishback led 6-2 after connecting on a big 5-pointer on the edge. Shumate came within 6-3 in the second, but Fishback took him took his back for the fall with less than a minute left.
That epic final may not be the last time those two wrestle. At least we hope not.
RUTGERS
Brian Soldano, one of five Junior men's freestyle All-Americans from New Jersey, was the runner-up at 182 pounds. Soldano made the finals by winning his first six matches by a combined 66-17, which included a 13-11 quarterfinal win over Clayton Whiting (Wisconsin) and a 10-0 semifinal win over Bennett Berge (Minnesota). He fell only to Maryland's Thomas Stewart, 8-4, in the championship match.
WISCONSIN
We focused a lot on the men's freestyle side of the Junior national championships, but we'll close here with a shout-out to Cale Anderson, a future Badger who made the finals in the Greco-Roman tournament at 152 pounds.
Anderson, who went 3-2 and made the Round-of-16 in freestyle, stormed into the finals by winning his first six matches - five by technical fall - by a combined 62-5. In the finals, he ran into Nebraska's Nick Hamilton and lost a nailbiter, 2-1. Anderson led 1-1 on criteria late, but Hamilton scored a reversal to hang on for the victory.
Other Big Ten recruits:
INDIANA
CA's Henry Porter, 7th at 145 pounds
NORTHWESTERN
IN's Evan Bates, 7th at 195
PURDUE
OH's Ben Vanadia, 8th at 220
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