Top Five Storylines on Day 1 at Fargo 2022
Returning national champion Skylar Little Soldier (pictured here in 2021) will face another returning national champ in Cadence Diduch in the 127-pound finals. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com
by Derek Levendusky
Twitter: @AWWderek
It was a wild Day 1 in Fargo, North Dakota, as women’s action kicked off with the 16U division. Here’s our top 5 storylines from the Fargodome.
1. The 127-pound final features two returning national champs.
The highly anticipated final between returning national champs will happen, as 2021 16U champ Skylar Little Soldier of Minnesota will face 2021 16U champ Cadence Diduch of Illinois. Both have aced their opponents through the semis, with Little Soldier outscoring opponents 37-4, while Diduch has outscored the field 38-2. The match will feature two attack style offenses, as both like to get to their opponents’ legs early and often.
2. Three #1 seeds go down.
In the upset of the tournament, Iowa’s Molly Allen took out returning national champion Cecilia Williams of Michigan 7-1 in the semifinals of 112. Allen will face Arizona’s Karlee Brooks in the finals, who herself pulled an upset over #2 seed Reanah Utterbach of Iowa 10-0 in the semis. At 138, New York’s Ella Bode shocked Pennsylvania’s #1 seeded Marissa Rumsey with a 10-8 win in the Round of 16. Rumsey went on to lose again in the consis, a 3-2 heartbreaker to Washington’s Taydem Bylin, while Bode went on to fall in the blood round. At 144, Iowa’s Skylar Slade upset #1 seeded Sydney Perry 6-0 in the semis and will face returning national champ Nebi Tsarni in the finals.
3. The top 2 seeds advanced to the finals in 5/14 weight classes.
At 106, #1 seeded Ava Ward of Missouri will face #2 seed Heather Crull of Indiana. Both have dominated the field. Ward walked into the finals without getting scored on in previous rounds, walloping opponents 41-0, while Crull has outscored opponents 48-2. At 122, Arizona’s #1 seeded Everest Leydecker will face Wisconsin’s #2 Carley Ceshker. Both had to get through tough semifinal matches to make the final, as Leydecker snuck by Pennsylvania’s Hailey Jaffe 2-1, while Chesker had a tight 7-4 win over California’s Alejandra Vadiviezo. As mentioned, 127 pounds will feature the marquee matchup of returning national champs, #1 Little Soldier versus #2 Cadence Diduch (Illinois). At 164, #1 seed Piper Fowler of Tennessee is looking the part with two tech falls and two pins en route to her first national final, while #2 Ella Pagel is equally formidable, earning three technical falls and a pin. Should be an entertaining match. Finally, both of the top two seeds made the finals at 200, as #1 Savannah Isaac of Ohio will face #2 Mariyah Brumley of Missouri for the national title.
4. Michigan teammates on fire.
#1 seed Mishell Rebisch and #1 seed Sabrina Nauss, both from Michigan, and both from the reputed Michigan Revolution Training Center, stomped their way to the finals in Fargodome. Rebisch is coming off a remarkable spring, where she earned a gold medal at the U17 Pan Am Championships, and has now parlayed that into her first finals appearance at Fargo. Last year she took 4th. Meanwhile, Nauss is making it look easy, scoring a technical fall at 1:31 in her first match, a fall at :27 in her second, another fall at :23 in the quarters, and a tech fall at 2:47 in the semifinals. These two both look ready to earn stop signs.
5. California is NOT leading the team race.
You read that right. California is not leading the team race, and I’m not sure they will in the 16U division this year. The Golden State is currently in third behind Missouri and Iowa. Though they have eight in the consis, they’ve only got one in the finals. Meanwhile, Missouri is leading the pack with 25 points and have two in the finals and seven in the consis. Iowa, second with 24 points, also have two in the finals, though only six in the consis. California has 23 points. Not impossible, but closing the gap seems unlikely.