Southington’s Chase Kastner and Plainville’s Jaxsen Bailey earned All-American honors in Greco-Roman in Fargo this weekend. (Photo courtesy Southside Wrestling Club)
Two Connecticut wrestlers earned medals and All-American honors in Greco-Roman at the USA Wrestling Junior National and 16U national championships in Fargo, North Dakota this week.
Plainville’s Jaxsen Bailey, who wrestles at Greens Farms Academy in Westport during the season, finished fourth at 138 pounds in the 16U Greco Roman competition while Southington’s Chase Kastner, who also wrestlers at GFA, finished eighth in the Junior Nationals at 132 pounds.
It was the third USA Wrestling national medal for Kastner, who was third in 2024 in Greco-Roman at 106 and sixth in 2023 at 94 pounds.
Kastner won his first match of the tournament but then dropped a decision by technical fall, 11-3 to Michigan’s Jamison Gregory. Kastner won five matches in a row in the consolation round to earn All-American honors.
The decisive match came with a 12-3 win over Arkansas’ Max Francisco in 5:07 to earn a spot in the medal round. Kastner went 6-3 in the tournament, falling in the seventh place bout to Illinois’ Aidan McClure by pin in 4:24.Five of Kastner’s six wins came by technical fall.
Bailey went 6-2 in the tournament, winning his first three matches with a pin in 13 seconds in the third round. After a loss in the quarter final round to Wisconsin’s Aspen Tritz in 3:21, Bailey won three in a row to earn a spot in the consolation final.
Utah’s Uriah Anderson beat Bailey in the third place bout at 138 pounds with a pin in 1:06.
For Bailey, it was his third medal in Fargo having won a medal in freestyle and Greco Roman a year ago.
Connecticut has now placed at least one 16U Greco-Roman All-American every year since 2023 – four straight years, according to journalist and wrestling historian Jason Byrant.
Twenty state wrestlers competed in the Greco-Roman tournament in the 16U division with four winning at least three matches. Darien’s Lincoln Snell (215) and Milford’s Eli Shea (113) each went 3-2 while Plainville’s Logan Bailey (106) and Trumbull’s Ryder Zychek each went 4-2 in the tournament. Zychek was one win shy of earning a medal.
Another 19 state wrestlers wrestled Greco Roman in the Junior National tournament. Norwalk’s Ryan Schneider, a wrestler at GFA, went 4-2 at 285 pounds with three wins in the consolation bracket while Middletown’s Isaiah McDaniel (157) went 3-2 with three wins in the consolation bracket.
