America’s top talent returns to Fargo, N.D., for 2026 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals, July 10-18

The 2026 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals, dubbed the largest wrestling competition in the world, returns to the Fargodome on the campus of North Dakota State in Fargo, N.D., July 10-18.

The premier national tournament in the U.S., which crowns champions in the three Olympic disciplines across the Junior and 16U age groups, is barreling toward another year of record growth. In 2025, participation increased nearly 6% overall and was up in all six divisions contested across 30 mats. Based on preliminary registrations submitted by USA Wrestling state associations, all six divisions are expected to see growth this year.

The Junior Nationals enters its 55th year, and has been held annually since the inaugural event held in Iowa City, Iowa, in 1971, except for 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 16U (formerly Cadet) Nationals was merged with the Junior Nationals in 1996.

This year, two notable adjustments have been made to the event schedule. The order of styles has been adjusted to men’s freestyle first (July 10-12), Greco-Roman mid-week (July 14-15), and women’s freestyle to wrap the event (July 16-18). Additionally, an extra day has been added to the women’s freestyle portion, pushing this style up to three days of competition. A scheduled off day will come in between the men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments.

The Junior division features high school wrestlers in grades 9-12. Every year, the Junior division showcases talented athletes who are proven winners, as well as many emerging stars. The 16U division features athletes who turned 15 or 16 years old in 2026 and is a tournament where athletes can begin to make a name for themselves on the national level.

The USA Wrestling Triple Crown Award culminates for the Junior and 16U age divisions in Fargo each year. The boys earn the prestigious award by winning national titles in folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman in the same year. Similarly, girls must win folkstyle and freestyle national titles, plus win a third championship at either the National High School Recruiting Showcase or Women’s Nationals.

It has been three years since a Triple Crown has been won on the boys side—Kyler Knaack and Dreshaun Ross of Iowa achieved the feat at the 16U level in 2023. Two 16U girls took home a Triple Crown last year—Eve Skrocki of Iowa and Janiya Johnson of Tennessee. The most recent Junior division Triple Crown winner came from Valerie Hamilton of Illinois on the girls side in 2004.

Currently, there are 44 champions from last year entered in the field, with more expected to show.

Returning to defend Junior men’s freestyle titles are Nathan Schuman of Pennsylvania, Turner Ross of Oklahoma, Antonio Mills of Georgia, Melvin Miller of Pennsylvania and Nicholas Singer of Pennsylvania.

Four Junior Greco-Roman champions are back, including Vincent DeMarco of Illinois, Kaleb Pratt of Illinois, Van Smith of Oklahoma and Wyatt Medlin of Illinois.

The Junior women’s freestyle group has the most returning champions of any division at six, with Jaclyn Bouzakis of Pennsylvania, Emma Bacon of Pennsylvania, Nora Akpan of Minnesota, Violette Lasure of Pennsylvania, Olivia Georges of New Jersey and Deionna Borders of Ohio registered.

Across the three disciplines, there are 23 champions from the 16U level moving up to take a shot at the established Juniors.

The top five state teams have held firm the past two years, with Pennsylvania being the overall team champion, followed by California, Illinois, Iowa and Ohio. In 2025, Pennsylvania became just the second state to win four divisions at the event (Junior WFS, Junior MFS, 16U WFS, 16U MFS), Illinois won the Junior Greco-Roman tournament, and Iowa took first place in 16U Greco-Roman.

USA Wrestling is announcing the state team rosters in the lead-up to the event. These rosters will be updated periodically as each state association submits its entries.

For the fourth-year running, a beach wrestling tournament will be held at Gastropub Volleyball in conjunction with the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals. The boys beach wrestling event is set for July 13, while the girls tournament will take place on July 18.

All matches from the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals will be broadcast live on FloWrestling.

Brackets and live results from the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals will be hosted on USA Bracketing.

Stay tuned to TheMat.com and USA Wrestling’s social media platforms for complete coverage of the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals.