The toughest wrestling tournament in the world took place this past week, The U.S Marine Corps 16u and Junior Nationals, or more commonly known as simply Fargo is thought to be the toughest high school wrestling tournament in the country, attracting thousands of competitors.
Here’s a look—division by division—how every New England wrestler did at Fargo!
16U Freestyle (Boys)
New England only came away with one All-American in this division. Preston Marchessault (Ponaganset ‘25, RI) placed 5th at 182 pounds, going 5-1 in the tournament.
However, it was Issac Novod (Belmont Hill ‘27, MA) who led the 16u New England team with potentially the most exciting run going 7-2 in the tournament. The sophomore dropped his first match and then bounced back to win seven straight. If he had won his next two matches he would have made the podium.
A couple of other New Englanders came away with some wins: Elijah Josey (Portsmouth ‘25, NH) and David Perez (Ponaganset ‘26, RI) both went 4-2 in the tournament and Matt Harrold (Haverhill ‘26, MA), Declan Bligh (Roxbury Latin ‘25, MA), and Ryan Meier (Blair Academy ‘25, NJ) all went 3-2.
16U Freestyle (Girls)
The 16U ladies from New England showed out this year! Out of 14 wrestlers entered from three states, three found the podium. Leading the pack was Milford’s Kayla Batres.
Batres, who will be a freshman next year at either Green Farms Academy or Foran High School (stay tuned for her decision!), won five straight bouts to earn her spot in the finals before falling by criteria.
Southbury Connecticut’s Sarah Henckl (Blair Academy ‘26, NJ) was the defending champion at 138 pounds and placed third this year at 152 pounds.
Samantha Bertini (Ludlow ‘26, MA) went 5-2 in the tournament making it all the way to the consolation finals where she placed fourth.
16U Greco-Roman
In the 16U Greco Division, the New England states were well represented by some Connecticut boys. Chase Kastner (Southington ‘27, CT) made it all the way to the semi-finals of the 94-pound bracket before he sadly suffered a broken arm and had to default to a 6th place finish.Who knows how far Kastner could have gone?!
Colby Houle (Northfield Mt. Herman ‘27, MA) also went 4-2 in the 126-pound Greco bracket. Houle is a Collinsville, CT resident and will bring his tremendous youth resume to prep school
Dominick Spadaro (Fairfield Warde ‘25, CT) won three matches, while Adam St. Cyr (Lincoln ‘25, ME) and David Perez (Ponaganset ‘26, RI) each won a pair.
Junior Freestyle (Boys)
Two wrestlers who compete at prep schools outside of New England both made it to the podium! At 132 pounds, former Hingham (MA) high school wrestler Matt Botello (Wyoming Seminary ‘25, PA) placed 6th and Southbury, CT
resident William Henckel (Blair Academy ‘25) placed second in the tournament at 160lbs. Henckel wrestled for Team New Jersey but trains with Team Tugman while home in Connecticut.
Rhode Island had a pair of wrestlers win 10 matches between them. Gabe Bouyssou (Scituate ‘24, RI) and Oumar Tourkana (St. Benedicts ’25, NJ) each went 5-2 in the tournament. Nehemias Pettway (Fairfield Warde ‘23, CT) went 4-2—good enough for the best record on Team Connecticut. Raekwon Shabazz (Xavier ‘24, CT), Isael Perez (Hope ‘24, RI), Matt Dimen (Wyoming Seminary’ 25, PA), Brent Nicolosi (Haverhill’ 24, MA, Dylan Greenstein (Northfield Mt. Herman’ 24, MA), and Jonah Paulino (Monty Tech’ 24, MA) all went 3-2.
Junior Freestyle (Girls)
Just like the 16U girls, the junior girls did not disappoint. Two finalists—including a champion—is a very impressive showing. At 127 pounds, Jaclyn Dehney (Central Catholic ‘23, MA) went 7-0 with 5 falls, outscoring opponents 48-10. Dehney placed 6th last year at this tournament.
Also making the finals at 117 pounds was Cali Gilchrist (Choate ‘25, CT). Shemade the finals after an electric 16-13 win in the semis; she would fall, however,12-6 in the gold medal match.
At 106 pounds, Samantha Yap (Stamford ‘23, CT) went 5-2 and was one match away from placing. She got pinned when the score was 10-10 in her final match. Gianna Daniele (Minnechaug ‘24, MA) also had an impressive showing, going 4-2 at this premier event.
Junior Greco-Roman
Massachusetts and Rhode Island each had a placer in the Greco-Roman. Musa Tamradaze (Northfield Mt. Herman ‘25) placed third at 120 pounds. Tamradze was 5-0 before he fell in the semi-finals. However, he bounced back with two wins to finish 7-1 in the tournament.
Rhode Island’s placer was Gabe Bouyssou (Scituate ’24, RI), who went 6-2 in a tough 145-pound bracket. The Ocean State wrestler went 6-2 in the tournament.
Raekwon Shabazz (Xavier ‘24, CT) and Isael Perez (Hope ‘24, RI) both went 3-2 in the tournament. Miles Darling (Essex/Masco Tech ‘25, MA), JT Schneider (Green Farms Academy’ ‘24, CT) and Ryan Currier (Chariho ‘24, RI) also won a pair of matches.
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