2019 USMC Cadet and Junior National Championships

Jesse Mendez Will Defend #1 vs. Dom Serrano At Who's #1

Jesse Mendez Will Defend #1 vs. Dom Serrano At Who's #1

World Team Member and current #1 Jesse Mendez will wrestle Fargo Champion Dom Serrano.

Jul 18, 2019 by Willie Saylor
Jesse Mendez Will Defend #1 vs. Dom Serrano At Who's #1

Fargo freestyle has just ended but we're already cracking the Who's #1 puzzle.

In the case of 132, it's pretty straightforward.

Jesse Mendez will ascend to #1 by virtue of winning the Cadet World Team Trials in Akron in June and with the confirmation of current #1 Beau Bartlett moving to 138.

Mendez won a FloNationals bracket in April with six of the Top 20 wrestlers at the weight. Akron presented even more of a challenge as sixteen wrestlers that are now ranked were in the field, including then #2-Shayne Van Ness.

Mendez beat four former Akron or Fargo finalists en route to his Trials title including Caleb Rathjen who had beat Van Ness in Round 1. 

Also in the field was Dom Serrano, who at the time was #3 at 138. Serrano had already made two Fargo finals and won FloNationals. He awaited Mendez in the semi's after beating 2x Fargo finalist Ryan Franco in the quarters.

What they gave us was a 7-7 thriller won by Mendez on his highlight reel 5-pointer. 

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Serrano reached his third straight Fargo final on Monday and on Tuesday he secured back-to-back crowns. As he went unscathed, he remained the top contender to Mendez for the #1 moniker.

And though it's early (we haven't yet announced a date or location) we made it official last night as a no-brainer.

Two other athletes received Golden Tickets based on their Fargo titles: Paddy Gallagher (160/OH) and Patrick Kennedy (170/MN)

Stay tuned for more Who's #1 match-ups as well as releases on date, location, venue, and tickets.

We're considering several locations including Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with the expected date September 28th.