Five 16U Breakout Performances at Fargo

Pennsylvania’s Emma Bacon gets her hand raised in the 16U finals. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com

by Derek Levendusky
Twitter: @AWWderek

Fargo is not only a big stage for girls high school wrestling, it’s a place where wrestlers often make their mark and get on the wrestling map, so-to-speak. Anyone who was around in 2018 remembers Mia Palumbo and Alexys Zepeda both doubling up that summer. Paige Morales did it in 2021. And can anyone forget last year, when three young women doubled up as Mishell Rebisch, Sabrina Nauss, and Savannah Isaac all won 16U & Junior titles? Unfortunately, with the new format the girls didn’t have a chance this year to double up, as both divisions ran simultaneously.

But that didn’t stop some young women from seizing the moment.

Sporting everything from Nike, Adidas, Asics, and Rudis shoes, the entries in the 16U division took their best shot at winning a national title. Here’s five breakout performances this year in the 16U division.

Emma Bacon, 112-pound champion
Pennsylvania’s #11 ranked Emma Bacon, an eighth grader, won her first-ever Fargo title, dominating her way to the final with three tech falls and two pins before facing #15 ranked Libby Roberts of Washington in the finals. In a competitive match, Bacon prevailed 11-4 to earn the Fargo stop sign. If ya didn’t know her before, Bacon was the 2022 & 2023 U15 national champion. Yes, she was seeded #1 coming in, but the big stage of Fargo put her in the spotlight for all of us to see her. Keep an eye on this one moving forward.

Lynn Horn, 127-pound champion
Oklahoma sophomore Lynn Horn was ranked #20 coming into Fargo and broke through to earn her first national title. The runner-up in the Sooner State last winter, she went on a Cinderella run in North Dakota, defeating beat #12 Bailey Chafin, #14 Samantha Sachs, and #18 Peyton Hellman before earning a 3-3 criteria win over #3 ranked 1-seed Carly Ceshker in finals. Blanchard High School must be proud.

Zoe Griffith, 138-pound champion
New York’s #21 ranked Zoe Griffith took 4th in the Junior division last year after failing to place in the 16U division. This year she won it all, dominating the finals with a 10-0 win over Indiana’s Aleksandra Bastaic. To punch her ticket to the title match, Griffith beat California’s Olivia Davis, a wrestler who came out of the bracket-busted upper quadrant where she’d beaten Kansas’ Alexis Means, who’d won by medical forfeit over #1 seed (#4 ranked) Belicia Manuel in the opening round. Sporting black Nike shoes, Griffith leaned heavily on her leg attacks, especially blast doubles, to rack up points early and often and earn her first national title with a first period tech fall.

Mya Bethel, 152-pound champion
Florida’s #20 ranked Mya Bethel, a sophomore from North Miami High School won 10-0 in finals over runner-up, #10 ranked Maddie Hayden. Hayden upset returning national champion Sarah Henckel (who ended up in 3rd) in the quarters. It was a dominant breakout performance for Bethel, who only gave up 2 points the entire tournament.

Brooklyn Graham, 180-pound champion
Unranked Iowa hammer Brooklyn Graham made the most of her finals appearance, winning the 180-pound title over Wisconsin’s Brooke Huffman 10-4. Graham also beat Oregon’s Ylyana Sandoval in the semis 9-0, an athlete that played Cinderella earlier in the tournament with an upset win over Indiana’s #1 seed AvaLyn Mosconi. Graham only took 5th in the Iowa state tournament, so this performance in Fargo was a magic moment for her.