All eyes were on the FARGODOME from July 10-18, as the best of the best wrestlers gathered in North Dakota for Junior and 16U Nationals.
As always for this premier event, Iowa’s best and brightest high school stars and future Iowa Hawkeyes, Iowa State Cyclones and Northern Iowa Panthers stood out. In total, the state of Iowa and commits to their Division I colleges brought home 16 Fargo titles along with ample All-American honors.
As they all prep for collegiate success and beyond, here’s a rundown and analysis of all that went down in Fargo as we inch closer to the upcoming high school and collegiate wrestling seasons.
Full results and brackets can be found on USABracketing.com.
Iowa Junior Freestyle Boys results at Fargo
Team Iowa
We’ll go in the same order of events that went down in Fargo, starting with boys freestyle, where Team Iowa got off to a nice start.
Behind two Fargo champions, five finalists and a dozen All-Americans, Team Iowa took second in the Junior boys division. Team Iowa finished behind the state of California, placing ahead of traditional powers like Pennsylvania. Leading the way were titles from Ty Martin of Don Bosco (100 pounds) and future UNI Panther Waylon Cressell (190).
Martin was particularly dominant, winning four of his five matches by technical fall and another by disqualification in freestyle. While he was the No. 1 seed, the rising high school sophomore outscored his opponents 43-1 in his five matches. This was his second title at Fargo, following up his first-place finish in the 16U Greco-Roman division last year. He continues to prove his among Iowa’s elite after his state title as a freshman in February.
“It just means that I’m getting better,” Martin said to USA Wrestling after his Fargo title. “That’s what I try to strive for, is get better each year and just put points on the board.”
Cressell is an Indiana native, but represented Team Iowa as he prepares for his freshman year at UNI this fall. In seven matches, he had six technical falls before taking down Nicholas Singer (Ohio State commit, 2025 Junior Fargo champion) in an 8-3 decision in the finals.
However, Martin and Cressell’s time at Fargo was hardly done, as their most impressive accomplishments were still to come in Greco-Roman.
Aside from the champions, many familiar faces from the high school scene in Iowa stood out. Mac Crosson (Indianola, Nebraska commit), Hayden Schwab (Don Bosco, UNI commit) and Dawson Youngblut (Don Bosco, Iowa commit) all reached the finals, but lost in their final bout to fall short of the stop sign. With the exception of Cressell, Ashton Honnold (Nodaway Valley, UNI commit), Cale Vandermark (Ankeny Centennial, Iowa State commit) and Cody Trevino (Bettendorf, Davidson commit), eight of Iowa’s 12 Fargo All-Americans will be back in high school this fall.
Iowa Hawkeyes
Mocco rolled to his third Fargo title and his first at the Junior level, but the son of Steve Mocco and future Hawkeye exhibited everything you might expect after his victory at heavyweight. He won by fall or technical fall in each match leading up to the finals, Mocco won a gritty 9-6 decision over Tyson Martin of Wisconsin (South Dakota State commit). Even with the victory, he was far from pleased with his outing.
“That’s not how we (Iowa wrestling) train,” Mocco said to USA Wrestling. “I don’t know what that was, but I’m excited to get back in that room and start working come Monday.”
Mocco said he’s been training in the Iowa wrestling room since graduating high school, giving him a bit of a head start on his college career. He’s got a tall wall to climb to make the starting lineup right away with Ben Kueter in the fold, but the early returns on Mocco as his college career inches closer are great considering his results and desire to get even better.
Kenny (132) and Youngblut (138) each reached the Fargo finals, but fell short to quality opponents. Kenny lost to Antonio Mills after winning six matches and five by technical fall to reach the finals. Kenny led after the first period, but Mills (Ohio State incoming freshman) rallied to win a 12-9 decision.
Youngblut won seven matches, five by fall or technical fall, on his way to the finals. He faced Tyler Dekraker, a Minnesota commit, in the finals where Dekraker rolled to a 10-2 decision.
While neither Kenny or Youngblut won as they desired, their performances ahead of the senior year of high school are showing potential of what they might be come college.
Iowa State Cyclones
Ankeny Centennial’s Cale Vandermark and Max Dhabolt led the way. Ahead of his first college season, Vandermark took fourth at 126 pounds. While Vandermark never won a state or Fargo title, he consistently made the podium in both. While he’s not the high-profile recruit with tons of acclaim, his consistency is something Iowa State could build upon in years to come.
Dhabolt took a step back from his third-place finish in 2025, but considering he tore his meniscus in December, taking seventh at 175 pounds is still an accomplishment.
Northern Iowa Panthers
Aside from Cressell’s victory, Schwab and Honnold shined.
After rolling to the 126-pound finals, Schwab fell in an 11-1 technical fall to Samuel Sanchez, a 2025 U17 World champion. Schwab has one more year of high school to come, but his pedigree and results continue to show he’ll be an instant-impact wrestler for UNI and his father Doug Schwab. When you consider he missed a good portion of his previous high school season with a shoulder injury before winning a state title as well, it was an impressive outing for Hayden Schwab.
Honnold (heavyweight) took third in freestyle ahead of his first college season, with his only loss coming to Mocco. Aside from that, he was 8-1 with seven wins by technical fall in freestyle, but Greco-Roman is where he thrived at this tournament.
Iowa 16U Freestyle Boys results at Fargo
Team Iowa
As has become tradition as of late, Iowa’s lightweights dominated at the 16U level. Team Iowa had Kai McDonald (88 pounds), Johnathan Thompson (94) and Cyrus Millage (100) win back-to-back-to-back to start off the 16U Fargo finals. Jaimon Mogard (157) capped off a stellar outing for Team Iowa in 16U, pushing them to a second-place finish as a team behind Pennsylvania. Four individual freestyle titles at the 16U level is the most for Iowa in one tournament ever, besting three champions in 2024.
Both McDonald (Willliamsburg) and Thompson (Greene County) were No. 1 seeds, winning by technical fall in each of their matches to 16U Fargo titles. Neither Millage or Mogard were No. 1 seeds, but had dominant outings nonetheless to push Team Iowa to one of its best 16U outings at Fargo in recent memory.
Like many with Iowa ties, however, Team Iowa’s best was yet to come in Greco-Roman.
Iowa Junior Boys Greco-Roman results at Fargo
Team Iowa
Martin (106) and Cressell (190) each became double Fargo champions following the Greco-Roman division. Martin jumped a weight and won at 106 pounds following winning his freestyle Fargo title at 100 pounds. The Don Bosco product began with three technical falls, followed by two wins by decision to clinch the honor.
Honnold (heavyweight) defeated a pair of Iowans in the semifinals and finals to clinch the first Fargo title of his career. He defeated fellow Iowan and No. 2 seed JT Kelso (Clarion-Goldfield-Dows) in the semifinals by a 4-0 decision, followed by a 2-0 win by decision over Joe Constable (Fort Dodge) in the finals to secure the honor.
While Honnold is a three-time state champion and now a Fargo champion, he’s still managed to fly under the radar at times coming out of Nodaway Valley. While Wyatt Voelker holds down the heavyweight spot currently, the Panthers have a nice heir apparent at the weight with Honnold.
“Doug Schwab always says you gotta be gritty,” Honnold told USA Wrestling. “I think that’s the one thing that stuck in my mind. Everyone has some bumps and bruises, you gotta realize you’re not the only one.”
Northern Iowa Panthers
Cressell won both of the 190-pound Junior division titles. This time in Greco-Roman, he started with six consecutive technical-fall victories without conceding a point. In the finals vs. No. 1 seed Victor Marks-Jenkin of Maryland, he won in a 4-3 decision.
As a result, Cressell won the USA Wrestling triple crown by locking up folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman national titles this spring and summer. He is just the 10th wrestler nationwide to ever do so at the Junior level and the first since 2022. While only an incoming freshman, Cressell could have an instant impact for UNI in college this fall. The toughness and physicality he brings is what UNI will love, something the program has had plenty of under head coach Doug Schwab. If it translates to the college level, the Panthers have a good one for the next five seasons.
“I’m ready to score points for them, be selfless, gritty, coachable and win a national title,” Cressell said to USA Wrestling after his Fargo freestyle title.
Iowa 16U Boys Greco-Roman results at Fargo
Team Iowa
A stellar week for Team Iowa boys came to a conclusion in the 16U Greco-Roman division, where they came away with the team title for the third consecutive year. Lundvall (Glenwood, 100 pounds), Robertty (Iowa City West, 120), Mogard (Ames, 157) and Nelsen (Dallas Center-Grimes, 175) each left with titles.
Lundvall had a key win in the finals vs. Pennsylvania’s Leonidas Murillo, rallying to win in an 8-5 decision. At that point, Team Iowa was in the lead for the team title for the division, but this win went a long way in securing it.
Robertty won a 16U Greco-Roman Fargo title for the second year in a row, as the state runner-up and rising sophomore capped off his tournament with a win by fall in the first period to remain a Fargo champion. Nelsen, like Lundvall, rallied in the 16U 175-pound final to defeat No. 1 seed Layden Acevedo of Pennsylvania in a 9-5 decision to put a bow on a title-winning weekend for Team Iowa.
Ultimately, the star performer was Mogard, who also became a double Fargo champion for Team Iowa alongside Martin and Cressell. He won by technical fall in each of his matches in the Greco-Roman division and defeated Tommy Rowlands of Ohio for a second time in the finals to earn the honor. Having also won a 16U folkstyle title this spring, he won a USA Wrestling 16U triple crown. He is the first to do so in the 16U division since 2023 when Iowan’s Kyler Knaack and Dreshaun Ross did so. Pretty good company, huh?
“Ever since I started wrestling, this is all I wanted,” Mogard told USA Wrestling. “I’ve been looking up to this for over six years. I’ve always wanted to do this. It’s amazing.”
Mogard is coming off of a third-place finish at state as a freshman last season, but is looking prepped for a state title run for the Ames come next year.
With a 16U Greco-Roman team title and runner-up finishes in Junior Greco-Roman, Junior freestyle and 16U freestyle, it would be hard to draw up a better outing for Team Iowa at Fargo this cycle.
Iowa Junior Girls Freestyle results at Fargo
Team Iowa
The bulk of Team Iowa’s Fargo All-American honors on the girls side was in the Junior division. Leading the way were Iowa state champions Abigail Peterson of Denver and Greta Brus of Davenport Assumption.
While Peterson didn’t take the title at 100 pounds, finishing in third as a rising sophomore is impressive enough. Not to mention, she was simultaneously competing in the 16U division at the same time, bouncing back and forth between 16U and Junior matches in the same sessions. Peterson won by fall or technical fall to reach the semifinals before being pinned by Michigan’s Lille Denson. Otherwise, she was unbeaten on her way to a third-place finish.
Brus, an Iowa State commit just months away from beginning her college career, took fourth at 145 pounds. She reached the quarterfinals before losing in a 4-2 decision to Violette Lasure, a 2025 Fargo champion and U17 World team member. She reached the third-place match, but faced Lasure again and lost by fall. Otherwise, she was unscathed against quality competition.
Iowa Hawkeyes
The Hawkeyes’ lone commit competing at Fargo was Akpan at 145 pounds. She upended Violette Lasure in the semifinals by a 7-4 decision. That set her up for a clash with BeliciaManuel, a Northern Michigan commit and U17 Pan-American champion. In the finals, her toughness and strength were evident as she clinched an 11-5 win by decision.
This is Akpan’s second Fargo title as she gets ready for her inaugural college season this fall. With back-to-back freestyle national titles, she’s proving to be a foundational piece of what is to come for the Hawkeyes, even in a highly talented 2026 recruiting class with Senior World team member Everest Leydecker and others.
Iowa State Cyclones
Poalillo fell short of winning a title in a runner-up finish at 155 pounds, but still had a quality tournament. The nation’s No. 1 ranked 155-pounder coming into the tournament won by technical fall, fall or medical forfeit in each match leading up the finals. None of those bouts lasted past the first period.
This was the first time Iowa State had commitments at Fargo on the women’s side, but given their recruiting momentum, expect to see more very soon.
Iowa 16U Girls results at Fargo
Team Iowa
Peterson capped off a stellar effort at Fargo with a 16U title at 100 pounds. After winning by technical fall or fall in each match leading up the finals, she controlled all the action vs. Oregon’s Olibia Hernandez to win in a 6-0 decision for her first title.
An unbeaten state champion as a freshman, a U15 Pan-American champion and U17 Pan-American silver medalist, Peterson didn’t need to prove anything to anyone. However, by taking third in the Junior division, winning the 16U division and going 12-1 in her Fargo matches, Peterson continues to prove she’s one of the top talents in Iowa.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: How Iowans, state of Iowa college wrestling commits fared at Fargo 2026
Reporting by Eli McKown, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Eli McKown, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
