Raney twins make history for Kentucky; two defending champs fall in 16U Fargo freestyle

Photo: Jayden Raney (top) of Kentucky defeated 2021 16U men’s freestyle champion Seth Mendoza of Illinois to win the 106-pound title Monday afternoon in the Fargodome. (John Johnson photo)

By Mike Finn

The state of Kentucky is not known as a superpower on the 16U level in freestyle wrestling. Nor were the twin siblings Jaydin and Jordan Raney of Mayfield, Ky., before they arrived in Fargo, N.D. the past few days to compete in the 16U Nationals.

But the freshmen brothers of Union County High School certainly will not be forgotten as Jaydin Raney upset defending champion Seth Mendoza of Illinois for the 106-pound championship on Monday afternoon, while brother Jordyn — who pinned World champion Bo Bassett in a Round-of-32 bout earlier in the tournament — also earned All-American honors by claiming fifth place at 120 pounds. Together, they became the eighth and ninth all-time Kentucky All-Americans in the 16U freestyle nationals.

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Jaydin’s victory over Mendoza, which came when he scored a takedown with two seconds left, meant that he became just Kentucky’s second all-time Fargo champ and first since Zeke Escalera won the 106-pound championship in 2017.

It was a tough day for defending 16U champions as Ohio’s Marcus Blaze’s only takedown helped the sophomore from Perrysburg High School beat 2021 champion Anthony Knox of New Jersey on criteria to win the 120-pound championship.

Marcus Blaze (left) of Ohio beat Anthony Knox of New Jersey on criteria to win the 120-pound championship in 16U men’s freestyle. (John Johnson photo)

Meanwhile, a pair of wrestlers who finished second in the 2021 16U Nationals came back to win titles in 2022.

• Wisconsin’s Haakon Peterson scored all of his points in the second period to overcome a 1-0 deficit and beat Indiana’s Nathan Rioux for the 94-pound championship;
• Brock Mantanona of California used a four-point counter move to lead 6-0 after one period and eventually beat Tyson Charmoli of Minnesota, 8-5.

Ohio and Wisconsin each featured three individual champions as Blaze was joined by fellow Ohioans Jarrel Miller Jr at 170 pounds and heavyweight Aaron Ries while Peterson was joined by fellow Badger state teammates Kellen Wolbert (113) and Aeoden Sinclair (182) on the top step of the All-American stand.

Kellen Wolbert (Wisconsin) defeated Moses Mendoza of California, 12-9, to win the 113-pound championship; one of three individual titles by Wisconsin wrestlers in the 16U men’s freestyle tourney. (John Johnson photo)

Overall, Pennsylvania won a fourth-straight team championship and 24^th all-time as Bekhruz Sadriddinov of Holland, Pa., won the 160-pound title and was one of 16 All-Americans from the Keystone State.

This 16U men’s freestyle championships were the second of four different tournaments that are being held in the Fargodome this week. Junior men’s freestyle finals will take place Tuesday, followed by Junior women (Wednesday), 16U Greco-Roman (Thursday) and Junior Greco (Friday). 16U championships for women were held Sunday in Fargo.

16U Men’s Freestyle

Top-10 Team Standings

All-American Matches

Championships

88 – Mac Crosson (Iowa) dec. Caleb Noble (Wisconsin), 7-6

94 – Haakon Peterson (Wisconsin) dec.  Nathan Rioux (Indiana), 5-1

100 – Michael Romero (California) dec.  Keanu Dillard (Pennsylvania), 13-4

106 – Jayden Raney (Kentucky) dec.  Seth Mendoza (Illinois), 6-4

113 – Kellen Wolbert (Wisconsin) dec.  Moses Mendoza (California), 12-9

120 – Marcus Blaze (Ohio) dec.  Anthony Knox (New Jersey), 3-3

126 – Benjamin Davino (Illinois) dec.  Landon Robideau (Minnesota), 3-0

132 – Brock Mantanona (California) dec.  Tyson Charmoli (Minnesota), 8-5

138 – P.J. Duke (New York) dec.  Vince Bouzakis (Pennsylvania), 4-1

145 – Kody Routledge (Oklahoma) dec.  Kollin Rath (Pennsylvania), 4-2

152 – Ladarion Lockett (Oklahoma) dec.  Alessio Perentin (New Jersey), 6-1

160 – Bekhruz Sadriddinov (Pennsylvania) won by TF over Travis Grace (California), 10-0 1:48

170 – Jarrel Miller Jr (Ohio) dec.  Bryce Burkett (Minnesota), 7-4

182 – Aeoden Sinclair (Wisconsin) won by TF over De’alcapon Veazy (Indiana), 12-1 3:05

195 – Dreshaun Ross (Iowa) dec.  Vincenzo Lavalle (New Jersey), 6-4

220 – Jay Henderson (Utah) dec.  Adam Farha (California), 10-8

285 – Aaron Ries (Ohio) pinned Jacob Levy (Georgia), 4-0 1:08

3^rd-Place Matches

88 – Jarrett Smith (Michigan) dec.  Cason Craft (Oklahoma), 7-0

94 – Ayden Dodd (Ohio) dec.  Cole Welte (Nebraska), 6-4

100 – Lincoln Sledzianowski (Florida) won by TF over Slater Hicks (California), 10-0 0:35

106 – Isaiah Cortez (California) dec.  Jake Knight (Iowa), 7-0

113 – Elijah Cortez (California) dec.  Nathan Carrillo (California), 6-0

120 – Gauge Botero (Pennsylvania) dec.  Bo Bassett (Pennsylvania), 6-4

126 – Thomas Verrette (Colorado) dec.  Elias Navida (California), 4-0

132 – Maddox Shaw (Pennsylvania) pinned Billy Greenwood (Colorado), 8-0 1:08

138 – Gabriel Bouyssou (Rhode Island) won by TF over Logan Paradice (Georgia), 12-0 1:45

145 – Collin Gaj (Pennsylvania) dec.  Cameron Milheim (Pennsylvania), 4-2

152 – Brodie Dominique (Ohio) dec. Christopher Crawford (New York), 9-3

160 – Max Nevlin (New Jersey) won by TF over Jordan Chapman (New Jersey), 10-0 1:30

170 – Ryan Burton (New Jersey) dec.  Adrien Reyes (California), 2-2

182 – Adam Waters (Pennsylvania) won by TF over Cittadino Tuttle (Minnesota), 11-0 2:47

195 – Chase Matthias (Wisconsin) won by TF ov er Jake Conroy (Pennsylvania), 12-2 1:54

220 – Melvin Whitehead (Nevada) dec.  Ean Winchester (Pennsylvania), 5-1

285 – Sampson Stillwell (Missouri) won by TF over Cooper Martinson (Iowa), 10-0 0:35

5^th-Place Matches

88 – Charles Esposito (New Jersey) won by TF over James Hemmila (Illinois), 11-0 3:35

94 – Kole Davidheiser (Pennsylvania) dec.  Lincoln Rohr (Ohio), 11-6

100 – Rylan Seacrist (Ohio) won by TF over Titan Friederichs (Minnesota), 15-4 2:17

106 – Kolter Burton (Idaho) dec.  Aaron Seidel (Pennsylvania), 8-2

113 – Cameron Stinson jr. (North Carolina) dec.  Edwin Sierra (California), 10-2

120 – Jordyn Raney (Kentucky) won by TF over Sam Herring (Pennsylvania), 14-4 2:00

126 – Maximus Riggins (Iowa) won by TF over Giosue Hickman (Arizona), 10-0 1:45

132 – Garrett Reece (Colorado) dec.  Moses Kayden Gross (South Dakota), 9-8

138 – Elvis Solis (Florida) won by TF over Grayson Woodcock (Ohio), 10-0 3:50

145 – Tycho Carmichael (Iowa) dec.  Beau Hickman (Oklahoma), 12-4

152 – Claudio Torres (Florida) dec.  Luca Felix (West Virginia), 2-2

160 – Cade Ziola (Nebraska) dec.  Israel Ibarra (Arizona), 11-6

170 – Peyton Westpfahl (Missouri) dec.  Hudson Rogers (Idaho), 5-0

182 – Rocco Dellagatta (New Jersey) won by TF over Caleb Marzolino (Pennsylvania), 10-0 0:49

195 – Michael Mocco (Florida) won by TF over Mason Ellis (Alabama), 10-0 1:06

220 – Rylan Kuhn (Missouri) dec.  James Bechter (Ohio), 7-0

285 – Nicholas Bowser (Ohio) dec. Evan Gratz (Wisconsin), 9-8

7^th-Place Matches

88 – Kaison Schreier (Missouri) dec.  Tanner Tran (Tennessee), 10-4

94 – Sean Willcox (California) dec.  Trey Beissel (Minnesota), 4-2

100 – Carter Pearson (Iowa) dec.  Revin Dickman (Indiana), 1-1

106 – Tyler Dekraker (Virginia) dec.  Aydan Thomas (Oklahoma), 7-0

113 – Gabriel Ramirez (Arizona) dec.  Connor Fiser (Iowa), 4-2

120 – Jackson Blum (Michigan) dec. Manuel Saldate (Nevada), 10-6

126 – Emmitt Sherlock (Maryland) dec.  Carlos Stanton jr. (Arizona), 11-4

132 – Adyn Bostick (Arizona) dec.  Benjamin Weader (Virginia), 10-3

138 – Alex Braun (Minnesota) dec.  Caden Bellis (New York), 9-6

145 – Beau Priest (California) dec.  Emil Necula (Georgia), 4-1

152 – Maximus Norman (Tennessee) dec.  Jake Stoffel (Wisconsin), 12-6

160 – Tyrel Miller (Ohio) won by TF over Aydan Carlson (Minnesota), 10-0 2:00

170 – Liam Byrne (Oregon) won by injury default over Peter Snyder (Maryland)

182 – Coby Merrill (California) won by TF over Samuel Watkins (Kansas), 12-0 2:48

195 – Aiden Cooley (Texas) won by TF over Kayden Cartee (California), 10-0 3:36

220 – Koen Mattern (Washington) won by TF over Brayden Hill (Kansas), 10-0 0:44

285 – Caleb Rodriguez (Florida) won by TF over Milan Colvin (Kansas), 10-0 1:04