Fargo 16U Champs: Who Are These Girls?

Colorado’s Persaeus Gomez, pictured here at USAW Girls HS Showcase in April, won her first Fargo title yesterday in North Dakota. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com

by Derek Levendusky
Twitter: @AWWderek

Every year at Fargo in the 16U division, we get introduced to bunch of new athletes we might not have known previously. Some of these young women may have been familiar on the youth circuit, regionally, or in their state, but we’ve only had a glimpse of them on the national stage. There are a few exceptions to this, as some have been wrestling at a high level for the last few years, but many are making their mark now.

So when we look at this year’s 16U national champions, who are they? Here’s a little on each one to get to know them a bit more.

94: Katey Valdez (Colorado)
Colorado freshman Katey Valdez came into Fargo ranked #25 at 100 pounds in FloWrestling’s national rankings. The Doherty High School student won gold last month at the U17 Pan Ams in Argentina at 95 pounds. Her loss at U17 Nationals in May came at the hands of 2021 Cadet world champion Erica Pastoriza. Valdez only took third in her own state this year, but that demontrates the depth of Colorado wrestling. She lost to Rylee Balcazar, another top 30 wrestler. Being from Colorado Springs, Valdez frequents the Olympic Training Center, and has gleaned a lot from being around some of the best in the world.

100: Rianne Murphy (Indiana)
Murphy is ranked #17 at 112 in FloWrestling’s national rankings. A sophomore from Valparaiso, Indiana, she competes in high school for #1 program Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania. Murphy has some solid accolades on her resume, including winning the U15 world team spot last year and earning a gold medal at the U15 Pan Am Championships. That made her a 2x gold medalist as she also won the event in 2019. Murphy also took 4th at Fargo last year in 16U. This year, Murphy placed 4th at U17 Nationals in May. Murphy said in her post-match interview that she envisioned winning a Fargo title for a long time. She went to school with fellow national finalists Carina Giangeruso and Faith Bartoszek last year at Wyoming Seminary.

106: Ava Ward (Missouri)
Ward is probably one of the more familiar names in the group, as she won a bronze medal at Cadet Worlds last year. The Missouri freshman from Centerline High School is ranked #2 at 106 in FloWrestling’s national rankings and #19 in the top 25 pound-for-pound rankings. She also won a U17 Pan Am gold medal last month, so going back-to-back in Fargo was no surprise. Ward also gained some notoriety competing on FloWrestling’s Who’s #1 card last year, where she lost to Californian Brianna Gonzalez in the 100-pound match. Ward was thrilled to train with the U17 Pan Am team at the Olympic Training Center last spring.

112: Molly Allen (Iowa)
Ranked #12 at 106 coming into Fargo, Iowa freshman Molly Allen seemed to come from nowhere to win the title, but a brief glimpse at her resume reveals it was no fluke. The Iowa state champ from Underwood High School was 4th in U15 Nationals in May and won USA Wrestling’s Preseason Nationals last fall. Her first Fargo, she anchored an Iowa team with her performance to help her state win their first-ever Fargo team title. Allen has found a benefit from wrestling high level boys in her high school program and believes it’s helped her hone her technique.

117: Persaeus Gomez (Colorado)
#3 ranked Gomez came into Fargo on a tear. The Colorado sophomore from Pomona High School won U17 Pan Am gold last month, and that after winning the USA Wrestling HS Showcase in April that ran alongside the U.S. Open. Gomez was 32-0 in her state last season en route to the state title, and took 4th at Fargo in 16U last year.

122: Everest Leydecker (Arizona)
Leydecker was a revelation in Fargo this year. She was not only unranked coming into the event, but wasn’t even on our ranking committee’s watchlist! The 8th grader (freshman this fall) from Phoenix, Arizona, has been crushing opponents in her state and region, and has accomplishments in jiu-jitsu as well. According to smoothcomp.com, she had 39 jiu-jitsu wins in 2020 as a 14-year-old: 15 by submission, 24 by points. Her TrackWrestling profile dates back to 2017, but with her combat sports history, no wonder she was on the fast-track to being the top 16U wrestler in the country. She attends Desert Vista High School in Phoenix.

127: Skylar Little Soldier (Minnesota)
The back-to-back Fargo champ came into this weekend ranked #4 at 127. A sophomore from Welch, Minnesota, she attends Hastings High School, and is a 2x state champion in The North Star State. On top of winning the 16U Fargo title in 2021, Little Soldier was also an All-American in the Junior division, where she took fourth. This spring, she took second at U17 Nationals and followed it up with a silver medal at the U17 Pan Am Championships. Interesting hitlist note: Little Soldier had wins over this year’s OW Sarah Henckel in 2021, and in 2020 had a win over this year’s NCAA runner-up Nina Makem. Little Soldier was thrilled to see Ava Ward and Persaeus Gomez win Fargo titles as well, as she became close friends with them on the U17 Pan Am team.

132: Carina Giangeruso (New Jersey)
#14 ranked Giangeruso made a huge splash at her first Fargo with the title, and it’s not something that was easy to see coming. The sophomore from Crosswicks, New Jersey, was previously with Wyoming Sem but will be at junior at Northern Burlington High School this fall. She made big strides within the last year—even within the last few months. Giangeruso DNP’ed at Super 32 last fall and went two-and-out at U17 Nationals in May. Perhaps her biggest accolade previous to this weekend was taking third at U15 Nationals last year. Giangeruso is clearly a testimony of the oft-repeated mantra in the wrestling community, “Hard work pays off.” With the win, Giangeruso became New Jersey’s first-ever girls’ 16U Fargo champ.

138: Sarah Henckel (Connecticut)
#13 ranked Henckel, a freshman from Southbury, Connecticut, where she’s attended Rochambeau Middle School, was 1st at U15 Nationals and 4th at U17 Nationals in May. She didn’t compete in Fargo last year, but her brother William did, where he won his own 16U freestyle title. Sarah joined him with a Fargo title this year by defeating Wisconsin’s Faith Bartoszek, an opponent she lost to at U17 Nats. With the win, she earned the OW for the event, and that just might give her a little bit of bragging rights over her brother when she gets home. Henckel will attend Blair this fall.

144: Nebi Tsarni (Maryland)
Tsarni repeated this year and became one of four back-to back champs, joining Little Soldier, Pagel, and Nauss. Ranked #17 at 144 coming into the event, the sophomore from Montgomery Village, Maryland, attends Watkins Mill High School, where she won a state title this year. On top of winning a 16U national title last year in Fargo, and was also an All-American in the Junior division, where she placed eighth. Tsarni was carrying a rubber chicken around after the match, as it’s Maryland’s tradition to throw one on the mat after someone wins Fargo from their state.

152: Mishell Rebisch (Michigan)
Rebisch is currently ranked #4 at 152 in FloWrestling’s national rankings, and for good reason. The Michigan sophomore won a U17 Pan Am gold medal last month, and that after winning a Michigan state title last winter, pinning her way through the event. The Romeo High School student moved to Michigan from Alaska last year, where she took second in the northern state in 2021. Now part of Michigan Revolution Wrestling Club, one of the top clubs in the country, her trajectory has put her on the path to being one of the top wrestlers in the country for years to come. Rebisch took fourth in the 16U division last year.

164: Ella Pagel (Minnesota)
#10 ranked Ella Pagel, a freshman from Nerstrand, Minnesota, attends Northfield High School, where she took second in the state in 2021, losing to rising star and now college wrestler Katie Lange. Pagel won a state title this year. She competes in a weight class that has three Junior world champs ranked 1-2-3—Elor, Welker, and Blades, which might explain how a 2x Fargo champ can be ranked #10. The Minnesota native went 31-8 wrestling against boys and girls in high school this year, and won Girls Super 32 last fall. With the win over Piper Fowler in the Fargo finals, she avenged a loss she took to her at U17, a match she got injured in and had to default the rest of the tournament. As they’re from the same state and on the wrestling journey together, Skylar Little Soldier and Pagel are close friends.

180: Sabrina Nauss (Michigan)
Another product of Michigan Revolution, #1 ranked Nauss went back-to-back, coming into Fargo on a torrid run. The Brighton High School sophomore also took 3rd in the Junior division at Fargo last year. Since then, she won USA Wrestling’s Preseason Nationals and a Michigan state title at 170. Nauss has been wrestling since second grade.

200: Savannah Isaac (Ohio)
#4 ranked Isaac is a sophomore from Toledo, Ohio, where she attends Whitmer High School. A 2x Ohio state champ, she took third at this event last year, and also has two other national titles on her resume—NHSCA 2021 and Folkstyle Nats this year. Isaac’s primary coach is Campbellsville NAIA 2021 national champion and Ohio native McKayla Campbell.