Illinois won four-straight Junior freestyle national titles from 2010-2013. Getting back on top in 2017, 18, and 19, the Prairie State is trying to repeat the impressive feat. They’ll be up against some tough competition in Iowa and Pennsylvania, but if this Illinois team wrestles well, they have the talent to at least keep them in contention.

Illinois will be getting little help from some of their graduated senior stars as Joel Vandervere, Dean Hamiti Jr, Hayden Copass, Josh Koderhandt, Dylan Connell, Adrien Cramer, Brandon Hoselton, and Andrew Wenzel are all nationally ranked, but won’t be attending. Vinny Zerban and Michael Caliendo will still be representing the Illinois Army in Fargo, however.

Zerban is currently ranked #87 on the 2021 Big Board, but has been as high as #10 in his career. He has wins over Fargo freestyle wins over Jesse Mendez, Cullan Schriever, and Jakason Burks.

Watch Vinny Zerban beat Jesse Mendez at Fargo 2018 below.

NDSU commit Michael Caliendo will be one weight above Zerban at 160. As the highest-ranking member of the team and a graduated senior, he will be a leader for sure. Caliendo had a solid showing at UWW Juniors with a win over DJ Hamiti and only losing to college freshman Cade DeVos and AJ Kovacs.

Ranked Guys

#5 at 160 Michael Caliendo

#6 at 106 Gylon Sims

#6 at 152 Vincent Zerban

#11 at 113 Benjamin Aranda

#11 at 126 Vincent Robinson

#12 at 120 Kannon Webster

#14 at 170 Brayden Thompson

#17 at 106 Jameson Garcia

Other Guys To Watch

Junior 132 - Nasir Bailey

Junior 170 - Bradley Gillum

Junior 285 - Ryan Boersma

16U 100 - Seth Mendoza

16U 120 - Colby Crouch

16U 138 - Noah Tapia

16U 160 - David Mayora

Although they haven’t won since 2017, the Illinois 16U team has been just as dominant over the past decade and change as their Junior counterparts. They won five-straight from 2013-2017 and eight of nine from 2009-2017. While this year’s 16U team only has one wrestler in the national rankings (James Garcia at 106), they have quite a few current or incoming freshman studs that will make some noise inside the FargoDome.

Seth Mendoza hasn’t wrestled an official high school match yet, but it only takes one look at his TrackWrestling profile to tell he doesn’t lose often. At Northern Plains this year, he beat Drake Ayala’s little brother Dru, who went undefeated at Junior Duals. Being at 100 lbs helps as well.

It seems odd and unfortunate that Illinois won’t have anyone even competing at heavyweight in 16U. Especially with big man Hayden Copass being the 2X defending champion at the weight.

Men's Junior Freestyle Roster

106 Jaymz Young

113 Trevor Reed, Justin Brown, Benjamin Aranda, Gylon Sims

120 Brian Beers, Joseph Fernau, Billy Meiszner, Caelan Riley, Kannon Webster, Paul Woo, Markel Baker, Nicholas Renteria

126 William Baysingar, Joey Chirillo, Abraham Hinrichsen, Jacob Macatangay, Santino Robinson, Vincent Robinson, Luis Bazan, Maddux Blakely, Phoenix Blakely

132 Nasir Bailey, Aidan Baker, Chase Hall, Carlos Munoz-Flores, Connor Nagela, John Conover

138 Benjamin Gavel, Kole Brower, Cole Rhemrev, Blake McGee, Caleb Tyus, Dylan Gvillo

145 Tommy Curran, Jack Milos, Caine Tyus, Jeremy Jakowitsch, Keegan Roberson

152 Justin Warmowski, Vincent Zerban, Kiefer Duncan, Brayden Peet

160 Allen Catour, Aaron Cramer, Grant Hansen, Jack McClimon, Michael Caliendo, Brody Hallin, Adam Thebeau

170 Gaetano Console, Caden Ernd, Bradley Gillum, Joseph Jens, Brayden Thompson, Joshua Knudten, Brennan Houser, Colton Berg, Cooper Wettig

182 Ben Bielawski, Aidan McCain, Aidan O'Connor, Kyus Root, Charlie Heydorn

195 Donnie Hidden, Cooper Vincent, Chase Baczek, Evan Zambrano

220 Andrew Blackburn-Forst, Ghee Rachal, Joseph Swanson

285 Ryan Boersma, Isaiah Gonzalez, RJ Schneider, Dillan Johnson

Men's 16U Freestyle Roster

94 Kalani Khiev, Brady Phelps

100 Seth Mendoza, Cole Gentsch

106 Dominic Ducato, Liam Zimmerman, Deion Johnson, Peter Young, Ty Edwards, Theodore Flores, Jameson Garcia, Emmitt Holt

113 Ethan Schultz, Anthony Ruzic, Ethan Tarvin

120 Colby Crouch, Tyler Evans, Payton Warden, Caden Kirchner, Massey Odiotti

126 Johnathan Rokey, Jacob Luce, Edmund Enright, Tyler Guerra, Daniel Aranda, Bryce Griffin, Kaden Inman, Anthony Marlett, Colin Young, Douglas Zimmerman, Eli Gonzalez

132 Dominic Serio, Logan Kaminski, Sean Larkin, Brock Smith, Timmy Smith, Jacob Redington, Omar Samayoa

138 Thomas Silva, Marco Spinazzola, Collin Altensey, Jacob Lachs, Jaydon Robinson, Anthony Streib, Noah Manuel Tapia, Claudio Torres

145 Braden Kelly, Caleb Mays, Cael Miller, Logan Swaw

152 Connor Cumbee, Jayden Colon, Matthew Kubas

160 Jack Seacrist, Zackary Crawford, Cameron Fultz, Matthew Jens, Drew Torza, Blake Hinrichsen, Tyler Martinez, David Mayora

170 Jackson Gillen, Abraham Wojcikiewicz, Nick Nosler

182 Gable Carrick, Aidan Nolting, Dominic Thebeau

195 Lamar Bradley, Michael Maloney, Noah Wenzel

220 Cameron Lattimore

Not to be outdone or forgotten, the Illinois women will be coming strong to Fargo as well. With nine nationally ranked, including four in the top-10 across both age divisions, Illinois will be trying their best to repeat their double top-five performance from 2019.

If Taylin Long wrestles like she did at Junior Duals, where she went 8-0, expect to see her on the big stage. Rose Cassioppi has been wrestling well this year as well and should improve upon her 7th place Fargo finish in 2019.

Watch Taylin Long and Shea Reisel's The Hammers finals match below.

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Ranked Girls

#5 at 117 Taylin Long 

#5 at 164 Rose Cassioppi

#8 at 112 Shea Reisel

#9 at 112 Cadence Diduch

#11 at 138 Sara Sulejmani

#12 at 132 Sydney Perry

#12 at 180 Kiera Ganey

#13 at 132 Natasha Markoutsis

#14 at 117 Valerie Hamilton

Women's Junior Freestyle Roster

100 Natalie Gonzalez, Camila Neuman, Brianna Richey

112 Kaila Del Toro, Shea Reisel

117 Taylin Long

122 Valerie Hamilton

127 Dahlia Leighton, Netavia Wickson, Ashley Villa

132 Ava Vasey, Natasha Markoutsis

138 Sara Sulejmani, Keira Dafnis

152 Olga Turiy

164 Rose Cassioppi

Women's 16U Freestyle Roster

94 Gabriella Gomez

100 Angelina Cassioppi, Annika Cottam

106 Victoria Macias

117 Valerie Hamilton, Cadence Diduch, Arianna Hernandez

132 Sydney Perry

138 Kiernan Farmer, Attalia Watson

152 Alexis Ritchie

180 Kiara Ganey

Junior Greco-Roman Roster

106 Jaymz Young

113 Joseph Phelps, Benjamin Aranda, Justin Brown

120 Zavien Stewart, Brian Beers, Joseph Fernau, Billy Meiszner, Caelan Riley, Kannon Webster, Paul Woo, Jalen Dunson

126 Andre Giurini, Maddox Khalimsky, Jacob Macatangay, William Baysingar, Joey Chirillo, Abraham Hinrichsen, Vincent Robinson, Joshua Biagini, Sean Conway

132 Timmy Smith, Cole Rhemrev, Carlos Munoz-Flores, Nasir Bailey, Aidan Baker, Chase Hall, Connor Nagela

138 Ivan Corral, Benjamin Gavel, Kole Brower, Blake McGee, Caleb Tyus

145 Caleb Nadig, Luke Swan, Tommy Curran, Jack Milos, Caine Tyus, Kevin Hogan

152 Benjamin Shvartsman

152 Justin Warmowski, Logan Balosky, Vincent Zerban

160 Allen Catour, Aaron Cramer, Grant Hansen, Jack McClimon, Nathan Chirillo

170 Brennan Houser, Gaetano Console, Caden Ernd, Bradley Gillum, Joseph Jens, Joshua Knudten

182 Ben Bielawski, Aidan McCain, Aidan O'Connor, Kyus Root

195 Tom Culp, Donnie Hidden, Cooper Vincent

220 James Wireman, Andrew Blackburn-Forst, Ghee Rachal

285 Ryan Boersma, Isaiah Gonzalez, RJ Schneider

16U Greco-Roman Roster

94 Kalani Khiev, Brady Phelps

100 Cole Gentsch, Ty Edwards, Theodore Flores, Jameson Garcia, Peter Young

113 Ethan Schultz, Anthony Ruzic, Ethan Tarvin

120 Colby Crouch, Caden Kirchner, Massey Odiotti, Payton Warden

126 Daniel Aranda, Bryce Griffin, Kaden Inman, Anthony Marlett, Colin Young, Eli Gonzalez, Johnathan Rokey, Tyler Guerra, Douglas Zimmerman

132 Timmy Smith, Jacob Redington, Omar Samayoa, Nathan Beltran, Brock Smith

138 Anthony Streib, Noah Manuel Tapia, Claudio Torres, Thomas Silva, Collin Altensey, Jaydon Robinson

145 Braden Kelly, Caleb Mays, Cael Miller, Logan Swaw

152 Jayden Colon, Matthew Kubas

160 Blake Hinrichsen, Tyler Martinez, David Mayora, Jack Seacrist, Matthew Jens

170 Nick Nosler

182 Dominic Thebeau

195 Lamar Bradley, Noah Wenzel, Leo Meyer, Michael Maloney

220 Cameron Lattimore