Meet The Three Girls Who Just Won Both Age Levels In Fargo
Meet The Three Girls Who Just Won Both Age Levels In Fargo
Mia Palumbo, Alexys Zepeda, and Tristan Kelly joined the elite group of girls to win both Cadet and Junior in the same year at Fargo.
Many of you have heard the term "doubling up" when it comes to Fargo. For the guys, that usually means winning both freestyle and Greco-Roman national titles. But for the women, it means winning both age groups.
This year, three young ladies were able to pull off the extremely difficult feat. Last year, there were only two girls to accomplish it: Emily Shilson and Macey Kilty. Both wound up winning Cadet world titles just a few weeks ago in Zagreb, Croatia.
While a world title might be a bit much to expect out of the three wrestlers you're about to meet, there is a good track record for double champs. Prior to this year, 12 girls had accomplished this goal, with Emily Shilson and Gracie Figueroa doubling up twice.
Year | Name | State | CD Weight | JR Weight |
2011 | Bree Rapoza | HI | 115 | 117 |
2011 | Rosemary Flores | NY | 124 | 125 |
2012 | Alexis Porter | NY | 143 | 139 |
2013 | Maya Nelson | CO | 132 | 130 |
2013 | Teshya Alo | HI | 124 | 125 |
2014 | Ronna Heaton | SD | 108 | 105 |
2015 | McKayla Campbell | OH | 95 | 97 |
2015 | Gracie Figueroa | CA | 115 | 117 |
2016 | Emily Shilson | MN | 95 | 97 |
2016 | Alleida Martinez | CA | 101 | 105 |
2016 | Gracie Figueroa | CA | 124 | 121 |
2016 | Alex Liles | TX | 132 | 130 |
2017 | Emily Shilson | MN | 94 | 100 |
2017 | Macey Kilty | WI | 127 | 127 |
Of those 12 girls, 10 made multiple age level teams, and eight won at least one age level world medal. Along with Shilson and Kilty, Ronna Heaton won a Cadet world title in 2015, and Maya Nelson won a Junior world title last year.
Mia Palumbo
When the Final X road trip stopped in Wisconsin, they had a camp going on. Chris Bono introduced us to a young lady attending camp, said she's a stud who's going to do big things. That girl was Mia Palumbo.
By that time Palumbo had become the first girl to ever win a match at the Illinois state tournament. Now, the rising sophomore at Harold L. Richards high school is bringing a pair of stop signs back to the Land of Lincoln.
Palumbo stays on the offensive at all times, and we posted clips of her brutal double legs during the Cadet tournament. In the finals, she teched No. 2 Samara Chavez, solidifying herself as one of the best young talents in the country. Palumbo entered the tournament ranked ninth at 106.
That was Cadets though; teching your way through Cadets isn't unheard of. But then she pinned and teched her way into the Junior finals, including a 12-2 shellacking of returning finalist Tilynne Vasquez. In the finals, Palumbo took out two-time world team member Caitlyn Walker, who is training with the nation's premier women's team at Wyoming Seminary.
This is her first year of freestyle action, too. She's got two more years left of UWW Cadet eligibility, meaning we may get to see her on the world stage next year.
Cadet Interview | Junior Final
Alexys Zepeda
After placing fourth in the Oregon state boys tournament, Zepeda set her sights on a world team. She fell short in Irving, losing to Leilah Castro of Ohio, a Fargo champ who would make the bronze medal match in Croatia at Cadet worlds.
Coming into Fargo, she was ranked eighth at 117lbs, but bumped up to 122. She ripped through the Cadet bracket with four techs and a pin, but she did give up more points than she would in the Junior bracket.
Although she did not win Outstanding Wrestler after her Junior title, there is a very strong case to be made that she should have. Zepeda beat four returning Junior All-Americans, three girls who placed at the Senior U.S. Open, all three of which also placed top three at Women's Nationals in the UWW Junior division back in May.
Her final two opponents, Cam Guerin and Alisha Howk, have both made UWW Junior world teams and previously won Junior titles in Fargo. In not giving up a point, she also spent only 2:29 per match on the mat. Oh yeah, and she's a first-year Cadet!
Junior Final | Junior Interview
Tristan Kelly
After falling short of a medal in Zagreb, Kelly made her way to North Dakota and proceeded to win both age groups at 164lbs. The Colorado native also made the Schoolgirl Pan Am team in 2016, a squad that produced three champs this week. Kelly joined Sterling Dias and Sage Mortimer from that group; Mortimer also made the Junior finals and became the first girl ever to finish on the podium in Junior Greco.
Earning her spot on the world team was difficult enough as it featured a three-match final series against Katja Osteen of California. Osteen doubled up at Folkstyle Nationals and seemed like the favorite going in, but a second year Cadet like Kelly who placed last year in Fargo picked up a couple first-period pins to get it done. Just a few weeks later, Kelly would qualify USA for the Youth Olympic Games at her weight via a silver medal at Pan Ams.
Unsurprisingly, just like the boys, the higher in weight you go, the more unlikely it becomes to double up. No one had won both titles at so high a weight prior to Kelly, with the previous high coming in 2012, when Alexis Porter won Cadet 143 and Junior 139. Porter would go on to win a bronze medal at the Junior world championships in 2016.
Kelly came into Fargo as the No. 2-ranked girl at 164, right ahead of Osteen. She solidified that ranking with a late takedown in the Cadet finals, after being down 4-0 in the first minute and nearly giving up a Caution+1 that would have her trailing 5-2 with under a minute to go. Then in the Junior semis, she knocked off No. 1 Sydnee Kimber on a takedown off her patented double leg with under 15 seconds to go, confirming she does in fact have the clutch gene.
Cadet Interview | Junior Final | Junior Interview
