Another July, and another Junior and 16U Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota, is in the books.
Thousands of wrestlers packed the Fargo Dome from July 10-19, with boys and girls all fighting for the prestigious stop sign that shows they have won a Fargo title.
As always, a number of Iowa natives, future Iowa Hawkeyes, Iowa State Cyclones and Northern Iowa Panthers found success in freestyle and Greco-Roman competition. Here, we’re going to break down some of the biggest winners of the week-and-a-half-long event, and what we learned as we turn attention to the high school season this upcoming fall and winter.
Full results and brackets can be found on USABracketing.com.
Iowa Junior Freestyle Boys results at Fargo
Team Iowa
- Fort Dodge’s Dreshaun Ross (285 pounds) – 1st
- Ankeny Centennial’s Max Dhabolt (165) – 3rd
- Max Brady (UNI, 138) – 5th
- Ankeny Centennial’s Cale Vandermark (120) – 7th
- Bettendorf’s TJ Koester (132) – 7th
- Bettendorf’s Lincoln Jipp (175) – 7th
- Don Bosco’s Kaiden Belinsky (106) – 8th
For the fourth time in his career, Fort Dodge’s Dreshaun Ross is a Fargo champion, but this is his first on the Junior level. Ross opened with five-consecutive technical falls to reach the 285-pound finals, outscoring his opponents 53-0. In the finals, he drew Iowa State commit and No. 2 ranked heavyweight Coby Merrill. With under 10 seconds to go, Ross trailed 2-1, but continued to fire away on shots and was able to force a fleeing-the-mat call on Merrill to tie it 2-2. With the criteria, and a lost challenge from Merill’s corner, Ross won the bout 3-2 for the stop sign.
Ross’ gas tank was impressive in this bout, as Merrill’s handfight and constant pressure is exhausting for his opponents. Regardless, he was able to fight to the last second and get the victory. Ross (No. 1 at 285), Merrill (No. 2 at 285) and Michael Mocco (No. 3 at 285, Iowa commit) all were a part of the 285-pound junior division, with Ross ending on top to hold on to the honor of being the top high school heavyweight heading into his senior season.
Another impressive outing was from Centennial rising junior Maximus Dhabolt, who lost only to Bishop McCort’s Melvin Miller in the 165-pound semifinals. Miller is the No. 1 recruit in the 2027 class. Aside from that, Dhabolt won by fall or technical fall in eight other matches to get third. With a state title under his belt from last high school season, Dhabolt’s stock continues to rise.
One name Iowa high school wrestling fans may not recognize is Max Brady. He is an incoming freshman for UNI who wrestled in Florida for high school, but is originally an Iowa native and gave it a run with Team Iowa in North Dakota. He took fifth at 150 pounds, losing only to Jordyn Raney (Oklahoma State commit) in the semifinals and Sam Herring (Penn State commit) in consolations.
Iowa took eighth place in the team standings for the Junior freestyle division.
Iowa Hawkeye commits
- Florida’s Michael Mocco (285) – 3rd
- Pennsylvania’s Owen McMullen (150) – DNP
The Hawkeyes weren’t incredibly active at Fargo this summer, with Mocco and McMullen being the lone two participants as commits. Mocco lost his semifinals bout with Iowa State commit Coby Merrill in what could be a future Cy-Hawk bout. In a 9-4 loss, Mocco led 4-1 with under a minute to go, but gave up a step-out, then was penalized for fleeing the mat on the following sequence, making it 4-3 and then having to go on bottom in par terre. Mocco then gave up three turns and lost 9-4.
Mocco struggled late with Merrill’s constant pressure, but was the lone wrestler to make attempts for takedowns in the bout. The talent from neutral is evident, but Mocco showed where there can be areas of growth.
Iowa State Cyclone commits
- California’s Coby Merill (285) – 2nd
- Bettendorf’s TJ Koester (132) – 7th
Merrill committed to Iowa State just a couple of days before Fargo, and he gave Cyclones fans a lot to look forward to with his only loss coming against Ross and also nabbing a win over a future Hawkeye as well. Prior to his high-profile matchups with Mocco and Ross, he won five matches and outscored opponents 44-0. He has one more high school season before he will come to Ames, but the pair of Merrill and Daniel Herrera at heavyweight following Yonger Bastida’s final season has a very high ceiling in the years to come.
Northern Iowa Panther commits
- Georgia’s Logan Paradice (158) – 1st
- Indiana’s Waylon Cressell (175)- 3rd
- Iowa’s Max Brady (138) – 5th
- Ohio’s Cael Gilmore (157) – DNP
- Nodaway Valley’s Ashton Honnold (285) – DNP
The Panthers did exceptionally well at Fargo, with Paradice and Brady snagging hardware ahead of their freshman seasons in Cedar Falls, and Cressell placing third before his final high school season.
Paradice was the No. 1 seed at 150 pounds. He opened his tournament with five technical falls to reach the semifinals, followed by a 5-1 win by decision over Idaho’s Matthew Martino to reach the finals. He capped off a stellar Fargo by pinning fellow Georgia teammate Dallas Russell late in the second period to earn a stop sign.
Paradice was the highlight, and he showed the necessary tools to be a future part of the Panther lineup, but the outing as a whole for UNI was great success and a glimpse into the future.
Iowa 16U Boys Freestyle results at Fargo
Team Iowa
- Greene County’s Johnathan Thompson (88)- 2nd
- Fort Dodge’s Joe Constable (285)- 2nd
- Earlham’s Cyrus Millage (88) – 3rd
- Fort Dodge’s Knox Ayala (94) – 3rd
- Don Bosco’s Ty Martin (88) – 5th
- Waverly-Shell Rock’s Diego Robertty (106) – 5th
- Solon’s Lucas Feuerbach (285) – 5th
- Ankeny’s Calvin Rathjen (144) – 6th
- Decorah’s William Fullhart (165) – 6th
- Glenwood’s Shay Lundvall (88) – 7th
- Johnston’s Parker Casey (157) – 7th
Iowa was unable to earn a 16U freestyle Fargo title, but some new faces emerged ahead of the high school season as the group took third place as a team.
The biggest one was Johnathan Thompson, who will be a freshman next season with Greene County. Thompson is a U15 Pan-American gold medal winner and has found success at many national tournaments as well, with Fargo not being much different. Thompson rolled to the 88-pound finals as the No. 1 seed, outscoring opponents 45-16. He lost by an 11-0 technical fall to Pennsylvania’s Leo Murillo in the finals, but certainly proved himself as one to watch ahead of this winter in Iowa.
Fort Dodge’s Knox Ayala, the younger brother of Drake and Dru Ayala with the Hawkeyes, also made his name heard ahead of his freshman year by taking third at 94 pounds. He had three technical falls on the weekend and lost just once in the semifinals by a 4-1 decision to Ohio’s Carter Smith. With Ayala, Constable and Ross, the Dodgers left Fargo with a stop sign, a second-place finish and a third place-finish, boding well for the upcoming high school season.
Iowa Junior Girls Freestyle results at Fargo
Team Iowa
- South Tama County’s Autumn Elsbury (170) – 2nd
- Davenport Assumption’s Greta Brus (145) – 3rd
- Mount Vernon’s Libby Dix (190) – 4th
- Sigourney-Keota’s Reanah Utterback (110) – 6th
- Southeast Polk’s Skylar Slade (145) – 6th
While the Junior Women were unable to secure a stop sign, it was a successful tournament nonetheless. The Iowa Junior women took ninth place as a team, the best finish since 2016. Five total medalists is presumed to be the most for the Iowa Junior women ever and at a minimum the most since 2016 as far as stats can be found.
Leading the way was South Tama County’s Autumn Elsbury. She reached the finals by outscoring her opponents 45-10 in five matches. She matched up with Pennsylvania’s Jael Miller, the No. 15 pound-for-pound wrestler in the nation for high school. Elsbury could not contain Miller, losing in a 15-2 technical fall. Coming off of a 41-0 run to an Iowa high school state title was a stellar accomplishment for the rising senior, but losing only to one of the top-ranked wrestlers nationally assuredly put her on the map at Fargo.
Aside from Elsbury, Davenport Assumption’s Greta Brus also had a standout tournament. She defeated Iowa state champion Skylar Slade of Southeast Polk in a 7-5 decision en route to reaching the quarterfinals, before making a run on the backside to finish third at 145 pounds. She was 8-1 at Fargo, with her only loss coming in the quarterfinals to U17 World Team member and 2025 U17 Pan-American champion Violette Lasure in a 7-1 decision. Brus missed all of the 2024-25 high school season, but will return as a top contender to secure her first state title with a strong offseason thus far.
Iowa Hawkeye commits
- Illinois’ Harlee Hiller (115) – 1st
- Mount Vernon’s Libby Dix (190) – 4th
Two incoming Iowa freshmen found success at Fargo, with Harlee Hiller running through a tough bracket at 115 pounds to win a Fargo title and Mount Vernon’s Libby Dix also becoming a Fargo medalist.
As the No. 1 seed, Hiller began her tournament with three-consecutive wins by fall, all of which ended before the first period concluded, but things tightened from there. She trailed 4-2 in the second period of her quarterfinal matchup with fellow Illinois teammate Angelia Gochis (two-time Illinois state champion), but rallied to win in a 10-5 decision. In the semifinals vs. 2024 Fargo champion Taylor Whiting of Wisconsin, she also had to come back from a 5-0 deficit to win 10-10 by criteria with a takedown at the buzzer. In the finals, she defeated Ohio’s Mackenzie Carder by fall in the second period to clinch a Fargo title.
As the No. 23 ranked PFP recruit regardless of class, Hiller is the second highest rated prospect for Iowa in the 2025 class, trailing only Oklahoma’s Bella Williams (No. 8). At Fargo, she proved her freestyle acumen and talent will translate at Iowa, but also flashed a grit in comeback wins that fans should love.
Dix, who committed to Iowa just days before Fargo, was unseeded entering the tournament, but ended with a fourth-place finish at 190 pounds. A two-time Iowa state champion, wrestling fans have seen her succeed in folkstyle, but this was her largest freestyle accomplishment to date. She’s unlikely to make an impact for Iowa next season, but will be an intriguing prospect in the years to come.
Iowa 16U Girls results at Fargo
Team Iowa
- Dubuque Wahlert’s Eve Skrocki (145) – 1st
- Mason City’s Aniyah Smith (235) – 1st
- Denver’s Lilli Cooper (125) – 5th
- Dubuque Hempstead’s Isabella Miller (130) – 5th
- Waverly-Shell Rock’s Amalia Djoumessi (155) – 6th
- South Tama County’s Kinley Jimenez (235) – 8th
Two major stories came out of the 16U side in Eve Skrocki and Aniyah Smith, with their Fargo championships boosting Team Iowa to sixth place.
Skrocki not only secured a stop sign, she also completed the USA Wrestling triple crown in winning Fargo, Folkstyle Nationals in West Des Moines and the National Recruiting Showcase at the US Open in Las Vegas (all this spring and summer). At Fargo, she rolled to five-consecutive wins to reach the finals, outscoring her opponents 45-0 to that point. Trailing 4-3 with under 10 seconds to go in the final vs. Kansas’ Gray Joyce, who also hadn’t allowed a point leading up to the finals, Skrocki whipped Joyce from a front headlock and brought her down for a two-point takedown and the 5-4 lead.
Coming off of her first state title this past year as a sophomore, Skrocki has arguably had the strongest offseason of anyone in Iowa. She made the state semifinals as a freshman, but a torn UCL slowed her from contending at full strength. If she can keep up this level of production, she’ll begin to rise up recruiting boards across the nation.
Smith was also an incredible success story, going from the No. 5 seed to a 16U Fargo champion. She trailed 9-0 with under 30 seconds to go in her finals match vs. South Dakota’s Eden Hach, but scored three-consecutive four-point takedowns to secure a lead and end with a win by fall at the buzzer.
Smith placed fourth at state this past year as a sophomore, and did not place prior to that. However, a run of this caliber at a national event puts her on the radar of being a state title contender as a junior next season. Considering Mason City’s success in prior years with state champions, Smith appears to be next in line.
Iowa Junior Boys Greco-Roman results at Fargo
Team Iowa
- Bettendorf’s Lincoln Jipp (175) – 1st
- Waverly-Shell Rock’s Bas Diaz (157) – 2nd
- Nodaway Valley’s Ashton Honnold (285) – 3rd
- Southeast Polk’s Jaxsen Vestal (100) – 8th
- Bettendorf’s Jake Knight (126)- 8th
- Bettendorf’s TJ Koester (132) – 8th
Between Bettendorf, Waverly-Shell Rock and Southeast Polk, some of Iowa’s top programs found success in Greco-Roman at Fargo.
Jipp was the leader for the group in winning a stop sign at 175 pounds. In six matches, he had technical falls in five, including a 10-0 victory over Utah’s Ladd Holman in the finals. Jipp had the path of most resistance, defeating the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in his path to a title at Fargo. A three-time state medalist and one-time state finalist, the North Carolina commit enters his senior season with a lot of confidence as he seeks his first state title.
Behind Jipp’s efforts, as well as two other Bulldogs in Knight and Koester reaching the podium, Team Iowa took eighth in this division.
Northern Iowa commits
- Nodaway Valley’s Ashton Honnold (285) – 3rd
- Ohio’s Cael Gilmore (157) – 4th
- Indiana’s Waylon Cressell (175) – 6th
As usual, a few Northern Iowa guys took on the Greco-Roman side. Honnold and Gilmore both went on to reach the podium after falling short in freestyle, while Cressell became a double Fargo All-American after finishing in third in freestyle.
Iowa 16U Boys Greco-Roman results at Fargo
Team Iowa
- Don Bosco’s Ty Martin (88) – 1st
- Waverly-Shell Rock’s Diego Robertty (106) – 1st
- Solon’s Lucas Feuerbach (285) – 1st
- Earlham’s Cyrus Millage (88) – 2nd
- Lewis Central’s Weston Porter (120) – 4th
- Independence’s Braylen Bieber (190) – 4th
- Dallas Center-Grimes’ Tyde Nelsen (175) – 5th
- Johnston’s Parker Casey (157) – 7th
- Fort Dodge’s Joe Constable (285) – 7th
Team Iowa found its most success in the 16U Greco-Roman division, securing the overall team title for the division with three champions in Martin, Robertty and Feuerbach.
In the finals, Martin began by winning an all-Iowa matchup at 88 pounds between him and Millage. He took just 1:14 to get the victory over Millage, and outscored his opponents 42-0 over the course of two days to secure the stop sign for an incredibly dominant run at Fargo.
Robertty followed up that bout shortly after with a quick bout of his own at 106 pounds. After getting taken down by Utah’s Blake Mauch and trailing 2-0, he scored on a pair of four-point actions and ended with a gut wrench all in about 15 seconds to win in an 10-2 technical fall. Utah was the closest team to Iowa in the team standings at that time, with this win essentially locking up the team title.
Feuerbach went on to put a stamp on an incredible weekend for the 16U squad, winning by fall in the finals vs. Oklahoma’s Rhodes Molenda in just 54 seconds. Molenda looked to have an advantage on a body-lock hold, but the Solon native leveraged Molenda to his back for the pin. With his victory, Team Iowa won the 16U Greco-Roman Fargo team title with three champions, nine All-Americans and 134 team points. That was 44 team points better than second-place Pennsylvania.
Constable, Millage, Feuerbach, Robertty, Martin and Casey all ended as double Fargo All-Americans with their efforts in freestyle and Greco-Roman.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Fargo wrestling 2025 recap for Iowans and Iowa college commits