Pictured: 16U Women's Freestyle OW Jasmine Robinson lands a big thrown in the 16U Finals on Day Two in Fargo. (Photo courtesy of Josh Conklin).
What we saw: With the conclusion of Day Five of Fargo 2021, we saw some of the best young female wrestlers in the country take to the mat in pursuit of the coveted Fargo stop sign. In a similar fashion to how the U16 Women's Freestyle tournament ended earlier in the week, Team California ran away with the team crown once again in the Junior Women's Freestyle division.
According to Jason Bryant of Mat Talk Online, Team California won every team title at the Junior Freestyle National Championships from 2010 to 2018. In 2019 however, Team Washington stood atop the Junior women's freestyle podium. Well, in 2021, California found its way back to first place after having seven finalists, five champions, and 14 total All-Americans from the Golden State. California won the Junior team race by 82 points.
Texas (132), Washington (114), Missouri (78), and Illinois (77) rounded out the Top-5 in the team race.
Texas' 152-pounder Jasmine Robinson was the best individual performer within the field, taking home a pair of home stops (16 U Freestyle and Junior Freestyle) and a pair of Outstanding Wrestling awards (16 U Freestyle and Junior Freestyle) while scrapping in the Fargo Dome this week.
Below are the final results from the Junior Women's Freestyle Finals.
100 - No Contest (Brianna Gonzalez/Emilie Gonzalez)
106 - Paige Morales (California) over Kiely Tabaldo (California)
112 - Sage Mortimer (Utah) over Samara Chavez (Texas)
117 - Ngao Shoua Whitethorn (Minnesota) over Jaclyn Dehney (Massachusetts) Fall 3:34
122 - Shelby Moore (Washington) over Jennifer Soto (California) 5-1
127 - Alexis Janiak (Illinois) over Sofia Macaluso (New York) 10-0
132 - London Houston (Washington) over Hanna Errthum (Wisconsin) 12-1
138 - Savannah Gomez (California) over Sara Sulejmani (Illinois) 8-2
144 - Destiny Rodriguez (Oregon) over Reese Larramendy (Nevada) 13-3
152 - Jasmine Robinson (Texas) over Rose Cassioppi (Illinois)
164 - Kylie Welker (Wisconsin) over Ashley Reed (Connecticut) 13-0
180 - Brittyn Corbishley (Texas) over Taryn Martin (Ohio) 11-0
200 - Sam Calkins (California) over Riley Dempewolf (Indiana) 2-2
225 - Eliana Bommarito (Michigan) over Lexie Cole (Missouri) 2:34
Now some of TOM's Takeaways from the Women's Junior Freestyle Finals
Jasmine Robinson was Unstoppable: As all of Robinson's hardware (two stop signs and two OW awards) indicates, she had two incredible tournaments. At 16U, she went 4-0 (two techs and two pins) and outscored opponents 39-0. Robinson was 6-0 (three techs, two pins, and one decision) in the Junior field and outscored her foes 66-4. In total, she is 10-0 (five techs, four pins, and one regular decision) and outscored those wrestling against her 105-4. And, the 15-year-old had a propensity for the big throws, which made all of her bouts must-see matches.
The Finals Felt Like a California Show: The California grapplers were out in full force on the biggest stage of the Junior freestyle finals. There were seven CA finalists, and there were even two all-California finals bouts at 100 pounds and 106 pounds. Also, in what was a very cool moment, sisters Brianna Gonzalez and Emilie Gonzalez shared the title at 100 pounds as co-champions. As a team, California proved why it is a blueblood state in women's high school wrestling.
The 112-pound Bout was a Real Treat: At 112, we got to see a matchup of future King University teammates and two No. 1's at their respective weights in Sage Mortimer (Utah/No. 1 at 117) and Samara Chavez (Texas/No. 1 at 112). The action on the mat lived up to the hype. Despite what looked like an insurmountable lead for Mortimer, 10-2, Chavez stormed back and made it a competitive finish, nearly pinning Mortimer in the second. If this match taught us anything, it's that the sparing sessions between these two stars in the years to come in that King University practice room will be unreal.
On a historical note, Mortimer's 2021 title marks the end of an illustrious Fargo career for Utahan lightweight. Mortimer finishes her high school tenure as a five-time Fargo finalist, four-time champ (two at Juniors and two at 16U). She was also a Junior Greco-Roman placer in 2018. Well done, Sage.
Moore and Morales Also Doubled-Up and Won it All: As mentioned above, Robinson was a double-Fargo freestyle champ at 152. Robinson was one of three to take home a freestyle crown in both divisions. The other two to earn this distinction were Washington's Shelby Moore (122) and California's Paige Morales (106).
In Morales' case, she was 5-0 in each division (10-0 overall) en route to her two titles.
For Moore, she blanked all of her U16 opponents, going 5-0 and outscoring those against her 47-0. At the Junior level, Moore didn't render her opponents scoreless but was a perfect 6-0 and scored 59 points while surrendering only 11. In total, Moore put up 106 points and gave up just 11 in as many matches.
Kylie Welker Did Kylie Welker Things: Along with Kennedy Blades, Kylie Welker was the talk of the Olympic Team Trials in Fort Worth, Texas, earlier this year in April. The pair of teenage high schooler stars stormed to the Women's OTT finals, just nearly missing out on Tokyo Olympic berths.
Welker wrestled in the 164-pound Junior women's freestyle bracket this week. It went exactly as you would expect. The Wisconsin native was 5-0 (four techs and one pin), shut out her opponents while scoring a total of 51 points herself, and won every match ended before the first period concluded. Nonetheless, credit to Welker for lacing 'em up and logging some mat time.
Sam Calkins got it Done Under Pressure: California's final champ of the evening, Sam Calkins (200-pounds), proved she could win the nail bitter, too. Calkins advanced to the finals after going 4-0 and wasn't scored on. In the finals, however, it was a different story. Calkins won a 2-2 match on criteria after earning the lone takedown at the edge of the mat with roughly 90 seconds to go. Thus, the only points Calkins allow in Fargo were two step-out points in the finals match against No. 3 Indiana's Riley Dempewolf.
With Calkins' title, five CA Junior freestyle champs were crowned. Per Jason Bryant of Mat Talk Online, that figure ties the record for most ever in women's Junior freestyle finals at Fargo. California tied a record that its team set back in 2014.
The "Bommarito Bomb" is Born: Top 225-pounder Eliana Bommarito of Michigan dominated her bracket and was never challenged on her path to a Fargo stop sign. That said, she, too, like Robinson, delivered some epic throws throughout. Take a look at this four-pointer Bommarito landed in the semifinals seconds of the championship bout. Bommarito capped the match off in dominant fashion with a pin to win it all. She only gave up a single point during her path to gold.
Check out some post-Finals interviews from our Junior Women’s Freestyle champions here from USA Wrestling.
Also, here is the Junior Women’s National Championships recap from USA Wrestling. And, here are your finalist biographies.
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