Lots of wrestlers off to fast spring starts after U.S. Open

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in WIN’s Volume 31 Issue 8, which was printed on May 6, 2025. Photo of Aaron Seidel (left) at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic by Sam Janicki. 

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By Rob Sherrill

Wrestling’s second season is now in full swing. The nation’s best wrestlers did not hang up the shoes and the singlets when state tournaments concluded in early March. Wrestling isn’t a season — it’s a way of life.

USA Wrestling’s Folkstyle Nationals kicked off the spring the week before the NCAA Division I Championships. The Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic and the NHSCA High School Nationals followed suit the week following the NCAAs. Plenty has transpired since then. Most notably, many states have now held their state freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments. So, we now know the lion’s share of what many state delegations to Fargo will look like.

But it was the U.S. Open and its accompanying age-group national events that attracted the biggest collection of prep talent to Las Vegas just a couple of weeks ago.

Exactly two in five of the wrestlers in WIN’s newest national rankings – 140 of the 350 in the Top 25 at the 14 high school weight classes — competed in one of the tournaments in the U.S. Open umbrella. At the first five weight classes, 106 through 132, more than half of top 25 wrestlers were in the field.

At 106 and 113, which are generally the weight classes with the youngest wrestlers, 23 of the 25 ranked wrestlers who competed did so in the U17 age group, including all 13 ranked wrestlers at 106. But once we move up to 120 pounds, the age balance starts shifting, with just over half the competing wrestlers in the U17 event. By the time we hit 126, the U20 age group stakes its claim to most of the ranked competitors. Most now exceed the age 17 limit, but some move up for the accompanying bump up in competition level.

As the chart shows, ranked competitors in the U20 division outnumber those in the U17 division for the 11 biggest weight classes and boast an edge of 79-61 in overall numbers.

Three other wrestlers constitute an addendum, having competed in the Senior division. Jax Forrest of Pennsylvania (freestyle) and Jayden Raney of Kentucky (Greco-Roman) punched their tickets to Final X in their respective styles, and Marcus Blaze of Ohio finished third in freestyle.

We picked out five other wrestlers who strengthened their stock considerably in Las Vegas.

These five wrestlers are listed in no particular order (see full set of the latest WIN Magazine/Spartan Combat Rankings on page 34-36 of the issue).

Ariah Mills, Georgia, 106

We took a flyer on the Athens Christian School eighth grader a couple of issues back when we elevated him to No. 2 at the weight, and he has lived up to it ever since. All of his wins in his run to U17 best-of-three wins in both styles were over wrestlers already ranked in the top 25. No other wrestler who competed in Vegas accomplished the feat.

Aaron Seidel, Pennsylvania, 132

Forrest prevented the Virginia Tech commit from becoming a four-time state champion. Seidel has been making up for it ever since. He kept the Pennsylvania team in contention in the Pittsburgh Classic with a 9-0 major decision, and added a fourth-place finish in U20 freestyle, scoring technical falls over four Top-25 opponents.

Ashton Besmer, California, 132

The Buchanan junior came up short in the California state meet, losing in the semifinals. But his run through a star-studded field in U17 freestyle validated not dropping far in our rankings. That run of six quality wins included three over Top-25 opponents, including a straight-set win in the best-of-three final over Paul Kenny of New Jersey, himself a former World Team member.

Noah Nininger, Virginia, 150

Another Virginia Tech commit who finished fourth made this list. Nininger’s run through the U20 freestyle field included wins over five Top-25 opponents, four of whom were in the Top 10. He was the only age-group wrestler with four Top-10 wins. The four-time state champion’s only age-group loss was to Pennsylvania standout Bo Bassett.

Wyatt Medlin, Illinois, 157

The two-time state champion earned a U20 World Team berth in Greco-Roman. But, his run to an eighth-place freestyle finish in that age group might have been even more impressive. Nobody else in the tournament wrestled seven Top-25 opponents, and Medlin beat four of them to earn his impressive stop sign in a tough weight. In all, he recorded six ranked wins in Vegas.