Soon-to-be Hononegah seniors Rocco and Bruno Cassioppi each made another statement at the 2026 USA Wrestling Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota, from July 10-18.
Rocco made it all the way to the finals at 165 pounds in the Freestyle category, falling 7-4, but taking second and earning his fifth All American nod. The top eight finishers in each division are named All American, and now the Cassioppi family has been named All American at Fargo nationals 26 times.
“Obviously, at this tournament, you wrestle a lot of good guys; a lot,” said Rocco, who has also finished second one other time, third once, and fourth twice at Fargo nationals. “There’s still a lot of room to grow for me. There’s room to get better, and that’s my goal this year, is just to keep getting better.”
Rocco’s twin Bruno, who was a national runner-up in Freestyle at Fargo back in 2023, placed sixth this year after taking fifth last year. They will each finish up their high school careers at Hononegah this upcoming school year, and each have scholarships to wrestle at the University of Wisconsin, under their big brother, starting in 2027.
“It’s been a tough summer,” said Bruno, who fractured a bone in his face and was off the mat for a month early in the summer. “But to get this far after the amount of training I got headed in, it’s not too bad.”
Bruno injured his face a day after the USA Wrestling 2026 U.S. Open in Las Vegas from April 22-26. Rocco placed fourth and Bruno took sixth at this year’s U.S. Open, and they each qualified to wrestle for Team USA in the World Team Trials, although Bruno was out injured.
Rocco admitted they may not wrestle another USA Wrestling nationals at Fargo after this one, however. They will be eligible for one more.
“We’ll see,” he said. “We have a lot coming up.”
Their Hononegah classmate and teammate Brody Sendele, who lost in the blood rounds at this year’s Fargo nationals freestyle comp, has a scholarship to wrestle at Wisconsin as well.
The only other Rockford-area standout to place at Fargo nationals this year was Ty Smart of East, who took seventh in the Greco Roman format.
Cassioppi All Americans at Fargo
Tony Cassioppi, who is now associate head coach of the University of Wisconsin Badgers wrestling team as well as rising star on the Real American Freestyle (RAF) pro tour, leads the family with eight All American showings at the USA Wrestling Fargo nationals. He has four USA Wrestling Fargo national titles under his belt. He also just claimed his first RAF victory in Milwaukee earlier this month.
Here is how many Fargo All American nods Tony and his brothers and sisters have earned:
Girls battle at Fargo
On the girls side, Hononegah’s Bella Castelli returned from a torn UCL in her knee just in time to earn a top-12 finish in the 16U division at the Junior Nationals. She suffered the torn UCL just two weeks before the Fargo nationals while wrestling for Team Illinois in the Team Duals.
Casstelli, who won the 135-pound 16U state freestyle wrestling championship, went 4-2 in the tourney to lead the way for the Rockford-area contingent. Other Rockford-area girls to qualify for the Fargo nationals were Castelli’s Hononegah teammate Kali DeClercq (Hononegah); East’s IHSA state champion Saya Hongmoungkhoune; Belvidere’s Emily Taylor; and Pecatonica’s Piper Sandell.
More high school girls competed at Fargo nationals this year than ever before.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rocco, Bruno Cassioppi lead Rockford-area charge out of Fargo nationals
Reporting by Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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By Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star | USA TODAY Network
