Dozens of wrestlers were in Newtown recently for practice for the USA Wrestling Junior and 16U national championships beginning this weekend in Fargo. (Photo courtesy Connecticut USA Wrestling)
Nearly 100 wrestlers from Connecticut will be in Fargo, North Dakota beginning this weekend for the USA Wrestling Junior and 16U national championship tournament at the FargoDome on the campus of North Dakota State University.
Twenty-eight girls and 71 boys from the state will be competing in the two tournaments. The Junior Division is for wrestlers in grades 9-12 while the 16 and under tournament (16U) is for wrestlers who are 15 or 16 years old in 2025.
The 16U tournament was once called the Cadet Division.
Boys will compete in freestyle and Greco Roman while the girls will compete in freestyle.
Based upon preliminary registration from USA Wrestling’s state associations, organizers expect to set another new record this year, with continued growth in all six tournaments. In 2024, the competition, which includes the 16U and Junior age divisions, set a new participation record, with a combined 8,069 participants in the six national tournaments. All six tournaments in 2024 saw growth over the previous year.
Seven state wrestlers have won national championships at this tournament. The most recent girl to win a national title was Southbury’s Sarah Henckel in 2022 in 16U freestyle while the most recent boy to win was Southbury’s William Henckel in 2021 in 16U freestyle.
Sarah Henckel, William Henckel, Marlborough’s Jackson Heslin, Milford’s Kayla Batres and Simsbury’s Max Konopka each made the finals a year ago. Three of those five finalists are back on Team Connecticut – Sarah Henckel, Heslin and Batres.
William Henckel, who will be attending Penn State this fall, is on the American U20 team competing at the U20 Pan American championships this weekend (July 10-13) in Peru at 79 kilograms.
William Henckel will be competing in the men’s freestyle competition on Saturday, July 12 beginning at 10 a.m.
Konopka is not competing in Fargo this year.
Competition in Fargo begins on Saturday, July 12 with girls freestyle. Boys freestyle is Monday July 14 through Wednesday, July 16 with Greco Roman finishing out the week on Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19.
It all started with the Junior Nationals in boys freestyle, held in Iowa City, Iowa in 1971, which added Greco-Roman in 1972, and later was merged with the 16U Nationals (formerly the Cadet Nationals) in 1996. The Junior Nationals enters its 54nd year, held anunally except in 2020 when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
All of the matches on all of the mats from the 2025 Junior Nationals will be broadcast live on Flo Wrestling at https://flosports.link/4fTU45E
USA Wrestling’s Junior and 16U national championships
At Fargo, North Dakota
Saturday, July 12: Junior Girls freestyle and 16U Girls freestyle
Sunday, July 13: Junior Girls freestyle and 16U Girls freestyle. Finals, 2 p.m.
Monday, July 14: Junior Boys freestyle and 16U Boys freestyle
Tuesday, July 15: Junior Boys freestyle and 16U Boys freestyle
Wednesday, July 16: Junior Boys freestyle and 16U Boys freestyle: 10 a.m. quarterfinals, semifinals, consolation rounds. 3 p.m.,medal round match; 5:30 p.m., finals
Friday, July 18: Junior Boys Greco Roman and 16U Boys Greco Roman
Saturday, July 19: Junior Boys Greco Roman and 16U Boys Greco Roman. 3 p.m., Consolation and medal round matches; 6 p.m.
Streaming: FloWrestling.com
Brackets: USAbracketing.com
Team Connecticut
Girls Junior Freestyle
Wrestling July 12-13
100: Sophia Gordon, South Windsor; Jocelyn Sanchez, Bridgeport (Bassick)
105: Sybella Landrie, Berlin
110: Kayla Batres, Milford (Greens Farms Academy)
120: Calli Gilchrist, Wallingford (Choate Rosemary Hall); Jillian Blake, Trumbull; Natalia Accorsi, Somers (Blair Academy)
125: Emma Rial, Trumbull
135: Callisto Banks, Stratford; Olivia Hopkins, Rocky Hill
138: Winner Tshibombi, Stratford; Maddie Cooper, East Haven
144: Vanessa Tshibombi, Stratford
155: Sarah Kenckel, Southbury (Blair Academy); Matilda Tote, Bunnell; Hoshena Gemme, Lyme-Old Lyme
170: Kaydence Atkinson, New Britain; Kayli Morris, Meriden (Platt)
Team Connecticut
Girls 16U Freestyle
Wrestling July 12-13
100: Lucy Warde, Darien (Hill School, PA); Shelby Landrie, Berlin
110: Nicoletta Pacific, Jonathan Law; Lila Poincelot, Lyman Hall; Selena Batres, Jonathan Law
115: Elliana Selearis, Amity
120: Cristel Miguel, Amity
126: Cecelia Verrelli, Milford; Narayah Rodriguez, Goodwin Tech; Indigo Kimball, Nonnewaug
138: Maria Emirzian, Canton
Team Connecticut
Boys Junior Freestyle
Wrestling July 14-16
106: Jessus Gomez Hernandez, Meriden (Platt)
113: Moses Olea-Sullivan, Simsbury; Santiago Garcia, West Hartford (Conard); Eric Fusscas, Hopkins-New Haven
120: Cristian Mendoza, Fairfield Warde; William Accorsi, Somers
126: Chase Kastner, Southington (Greens Farms Academy); Andres Mendoza, Fairfield Warde; Ethan Quinn, Simsbury; Jackson Heslin, Marlborough (Greens Farms Academy); Jack Francis, Westport (Greens Farms Academy)
132: Jude Grammatico, Fairfield Warde; Boone Henry, Fairfield Warde; Elijah Kelly, Fairfield Ludlowe; Brady Kaupp, New Canaan (Greens Farms Academy)
138: Giuliano Sirianni, Simsbury; Liam Hildinger, Avon; Ethan Bochman Rodriguez, Terryville
144: John Carrozza, Ridgefield; Harry Kittredge, New Canaan (Greens Farms Academy); Maurice Ellis, Stratford (Hopkins)
150: Joe Mahoney, New Fairfield (Greens Farms Academy); Cayden Morin, Bunnell; Michael Strazza, Shelton
157: Jake Rivera, Southington; Shane Ryan, Trumbull; Marc Maurath, Newtown; Chiemeka Ogbuagu, Southington
165: Evan Schibi, Winsted (Gilbert); Blake Watkins, Westport (Greens Farms Academy); Evan Christianson, Wilton; Jake Maddox, Newtown
175: Cooper Theriault-Dinielli, Plainville; Joseph Bernardi, Nonnewaug; Noah Colon, Manchester
190: Maxx Miller, Westbrook (Trinity-Pawling); Logan Cofsky, Westport (Greens Farms Academy); Rocco Paolino, Bristol Central; Dylan O’Brian, Fairfield Warde
215: Ryan Schneider, Norwalk (Greens Farms Academy)
NOTE: Three Greens Farms Academy wrestlers live in New York but are training with and representing Team Connecticut. Kingston-Daniels Silva of GFA (215) is from the Bronx in New York City. Liam Carlin of GFA (165) is from Burnt Hills, New York and Kimoni Giles (150) of GFA is from New York City.
Team Connecticut
Boys 16U Freestyle
Wrestling July 14-16
100: Eli Shea, Milford (Greens Farms Academy)
106: Jonathan Toriello, Old Lyme; Treydan Beam, Madison
113: Zack Dixon, South Windsor (Xavier); Anthony Tseperkas, North Haven; Cole Desiano, Ridgefield; Ty Marcucio, Amity
120: Gavin Donaldson, Staples; Bradley Ament, East Lyme (Xavier); Jaxsen Bailey, Plainville (Greens Farms Academy)
126: Dylan Meyers, Ridgefield; Zach Kuen, Fairfield Warde
132: Joseph Antonio Pellicci, Stamford (Paramus Catholic HS, New Jersey); Mark Zolotarevsky, Greenwich; Jaggar Debenedet, Shelton; Mark Pietruszka, Haddam-Killingworth
138: Brandon Madera, Notre Dame-West Haven
144: Ilias Konstantinidis, Norwalk (Greens Farms Academy)
150: Alex Lamarre, Bristol Central; Isaiah McDaniel, Middletown; Antonio Arguello, Newtown; Jacob Jones, Greens Farms Academy
157: Riley Storozuk, East Hartford; Bly Christianson, Wilton
165: Samuel Carreno, Shelton; Rocky Penny, Westport (Greens Farms Academy); Hubert Szymko, Trumbull
175: Ricardo Fernandez Salvador, Shelton; Christian Lopez, Fairfield Warde
215: Miguel Rodriguez, Bristol Eastern
Team Connecticut
Boys Junior Greco-Roman
Wrestling July 18-19
Jessus Gomez Hernandez, Platt; Santiago Garcia, Conard; Cristian Mendoza, Fairfield Warde; Chase Kastner, GFA; Jackson Heslin, GFA; Jack Francis, GFA; Andres Mendoza, Fairfield Warde; Jude Grammatico, Fairfield Warde; Elijah Kelly, Fairfield Ludlowe; Ethan Bochman Rodriguez, Terryville; Harry Kittredge, GFA; Maurice Ellis, Hopkins; Michael Strazza, Shelton; Shane Ryan, Trumbull; Blake Watkins, GFA; Cooper Theriault-Dinielli, Plainville; Joseph Bernardi, Nonnewaug; Noah Colon, Manchester; Maxx Miller, Trinity-Pawling; Dylan O’Brian, Fairfield Warde; Logan Cofsky, GFA; Ryan Schneider, GFA.
Team Connecticut
Boys 16U Greco-Roman
Wrestling July 18-19
Eli Shea, GFA; Jonathan Toriello, Old Lyme; Treydan Beam; Zack Dixon, South Windsor (Xavier); Ty Marcucio, Amity; Gavin Donaldson, Staples; Jaxsen Bailey, Plainville (GFA); Mark Pietruszka, Haddam-Killingworth; Alex Lamarre, Bristol Central; Rocky Penny, GFA; Hubert Szymko; Christian Lopez, Fairfield Warde.
