Fargo Stock Report: The Graduates
Fargo Stock Report: The Graduates
We identify the standout graduates from Fargo National Wrestling Championships
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There's no time to shine like your last high school tournament ever. Ridge Lovett capped an all-time Fargo campaign. Jace Luchau won his first major title. And basically all of 182 shined.
These were among the stories of the high school graduates in Fargo.
But beyond that are those who really over performed and/or got our attention. Here are five guys whose arrows are pointing up as they matriculate to college.
Following that is a list of all the placers in Fargo that were grads this year.
Later in the week, watch for similar articles for other Cadet and Juniors whose stock is rising.
#5) Joshua Heindselman (OK) - Oklahoma
Appearing here after a bitter and controversial loss in the semifinals is probably of little consolation to Heindselman, who forfeited in his first wrestleback while protesting his semifinal with eventual champ Luffman.
There was a ghost point in that match which he eventually lost 3-3 on criteria. But even prior to that match, Heindselman was looking as good as he ever had, teching two Top 10 guys in Garrett Kappes and Joey Slackman.
#4) Jonovan Smith (CA) - Unknown
Smith came out of nowhere. Although he was a state runner-up in Cali (to #4-Nathan Haas), he hadn't posted a lot of national success. And I don't exactly know how I feel about his college potential with the small sample size. But a few things are clear - he's a state runner-up in one of the best state's in the country, he was undoubtedly the best in the bracket (outperforming everyone in a bracket that included 16 other Division I recruits), and...he's available.
#3) Anthony Molton (IL) - Old Dominion
Molton was no stranger to success. He spent time near the top of the rankings. But he also had an uneven Senior season. But make no mistake, this was the best version of Molton we've ever seen and he looks like a dynamite get as a 125lb prospect for the Monarchs.
#2) Angelo Rini (OH) - Columbia
What got in to Angelo Rini? He had more wins (7) this year than in his two previous trips to Fargo (3) and last year's Ironman (2) combined!
His last three opponents were all nationally ranked and he put up 16, 23, and 14 pts. in those matches.
#1) Anthony Echemendia (AZ) - Regional Training Center TBD
Every few years at Fargo a highly ranked wrestler goes down early to someone we've never heard of before. People scramble to find out all about them. That's what happened when Echemendia knocked off the 7th-ranked Derek Fields in Round 2. And as it would turn out, he'd go on to prove that he was the best wrestler in the building. Utterly dominant in both styles and - from an aesthetics perspective - he just looked better.
The current plan for Anthony is to enroll in the Army's WCAP program and train at an RTC that is yet to be decided. It remains to be seen how he stacks up against our senior level athletes - the Yiannis and the Zains. But to me, it looks like he will be able to go with them sooner than later. A lucky RTC is going to get one of the most polished freestyle prospect in a long long time.
Graduate All Americans
120 LBS
1st - Anthony Molton (Illinois) - Old Dominion
4th - Destin Summers (Idaho) - Fresno St.
126 LBS
1st Angelo Rini (Ohio) - Columbia
4th - Kyle Burwick (North Dakota) - Wisconsin
8th - Camden Russell (Nebraska) - Iowa Western
132 LBS
5th - Mosha Schwartz (Colorado) - Northern Colorado
6th - Domenic Zaccone (Illinois) - Illinois
138 LBS
2nd - Ridge Lovett (Idaho) - Nebraska
7th - Marcos Polanco (California) - Minnesota
145 LBS
1st - Anthony Echemendia (Arizona) - Regional Training Center TBD
4th - Chance Mclane (Montana) - Oklahoma State
8th - Gabe Miller (Pennsylvania) - Penn
152 LBS
1st Jace Luchau (California) - Fresno State
5th Daniel Manibog (Texas) - Oklahoma State
6th - Legend Lamer (Oregon) - Cal Poly
8th - Cael Carlson (Minnesota) - Minnesota
160 LBS
2nd - Cade Devos (Iowa) - South Dakota St.
3rd - Baylor Fernandes (Illinois) - Minnesota
4th - Colby Njos (Minnesota) - St. Cloud St.
6th - David Rubio (Oregon) - Unknown
170 LBS
5th Alex Cramer (Illinois) - Old Dominion
6th - Lance Runyon (Iowa) - Northern Iowa
8th - Trent Munoz (California) - Arizona State
182 LBS
1st - Abe Assad (Illinois) - Iowa
3rd Parker Keckeisen (Wisconsin) - Northern Iowa
6th - Zach Glazier (Minnesota) - Iowa
7th Christopher Foca (New Jersey) - Cornell
195 LBS
1st - Jonovan Smith (California) - Unknown
2nd - Cole Urbas (Pennsylvania) - Penn
5th - Vincent Baker (Georgia) - Duke
6th - Matthew Cover (Ohio) - Princeton
7th - Samuel Mitchell (Wisconsin) - Buffalo
8th - Michael Baker (Ohio) - Columbia
285 LBS
1st - Luke Luffman (Illinois) - Illinois
2nd - Aydin Guttridge (Illinois) - Wisconsin
3rd - Nash Hutmacher (South Dakota) - Nebraska (Football)
4th - Spencer Trenary (Iowa) - South Dakota State
5th - Joshua Heindselman (Oklahoma) - Oklahoma
6th - Roberto Pena (Illinois) - Unknown
Related Reading: How Your College Team Did At Fargo