FARMINGTON, Utah — Minnesota Red battled its way to a fourth-place finish in the top-tier championship bracket, while Minnesota Blue rallied to capture the third-tier title at the 2026 16U Greco-Roman National Duals, which concluded Thursday.
The two-day tournament, held June 10-11, featured 38 teams from across the country showcasing the nation’s premier young wrestling talent.
Minnesota Red Claims Fourth Overall
Minnesota Red opened the tournament in dominant fashion on Wednesday, sweeping through Pool D with a 3-0 record to secure a spot in the elite Gold/Silver championship bracket. The Red squad rolled past Montana 69-8 in the quarterfinals, edged Ohio 42-32 in the semifinals, and locked up the pool title with a convincing 49-26 victory over Iowa.
On Thursday, Minnesota Red continued its momentum early in the championship bracket, defeating Illinois 36-32 and Colorado 43-29. However, the team ran into a powerhouse Pennsylvania squad in the third round, falling 44-27. Pennsylvania would go on to win the national championship, with Wisconsin finishing second.
The loss dropped Minnesota Red into the third-place dual against California Gold, where they fell short in a hard-fought 40-32 battle.
Minnesota Red surged to an early lead out of the gate at 126 pounds, where Beckett Edstrom provided a major spark with a pin in just 1 minute, 2 seconds. The momentum continued with gritty decision victories from Ezekiel Rodrigues (132) and Cayden Neisen (138). Following a pair of California wins, Nash Graner added a 10-8 decision at 157 pounds. However, California Gold took control through the upper weights, rattling off four consecutive technical superiority wins before Sawyer Schendel halted the run with a 9-8 decision at 285 pounds. As the dual cycled through the lightweight classes to close out the meet, California picked up two more quick victories. Minnesota Red answered with dominant late performances, including a 10-0 technical superiority from Grayson Schroeder (100) and further victories from Garrett Bjerga (113) and Peter Alexander Schutz (120), but California Gold’s mid-dual surge ultimately sealed the victory.
Minnesota Blue Bounces Back to Win Red/Blue Bracket
Minnesota Blue experienced a rollercoaster opening day, going 2-2 in Pool C to finish fifth and place into the third-tier Red/Blue bracket.
They opened Wednesday by defeating California Silver 57-21, but suffered consecutive losses to Wisconsin (63-9) and Missouri (38-36). The Blue squad closed day one by rebounding with another victory over California Silver, 46-27.
Day two belonged entirely to Minnesota Blue, as they executed a flawless 4-0 sweep to capture the Red/Blue bracket championship. The team marched through the bracket with wins over Montana (55-23), Texas (40-35), and Oklahoma Blue (37-34) to set up a first-place clash with Idaho.
Minnesota Blue secured the bracket title with a 42-34 win over Idaho, orchestrating a dramatic, late-dual comeback after the dual commenced at 126 pounds. Idaho built an early lead by taking five of the first six bouts, with only Jayden Mattern-Badillo breaking the run for Minnesota Blue with a fast pin in 1:35 at 138 pounds. Down but not out, the Blue squad’s upper weights shifted the momentum as Elias Motta (165) and Gavin Edwards (175) secured back-to-back technical superiorities, followed closely by another dominant technical superiority from Adrian Fuchs at 215 pounds.
Trailing as the dual cycled back to the lightweights to close out the meet, Minnesota Blue flipped the script and dominated the final stretch. Following a forfeit win by Ian Cooley (88 pounds), Ryan Fuenffinger sparked the definitive rally with a pin at the 4:00 mark at 100 pounds. Evann Linn (106) and Jonah Karow (113) followed with consecutive 8-0 technical superiorities to seize the lead, before Tucker McLennan (120) mathematically slammed the door on Idaho by securing a pin in 1:58 to cap off the championship victory.
Highlighting the tournament for the Blue squad was 113-pounder Gavin Hoeft, who finished the event with a perfect 5-0 record to earn a spot on the 2026 16U National Duals Greco-Roman All-Tournament Team.
16U Greco-Roman National Duals Final Standings
Gold/Silver Bracket (Top 8 Overall)
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
- California Gold
- Minnesota Red
- Illinois
- Washington
- Iowa
- Colorado
Freesyle competition takes place on Friday and Saturday.
Gold/Silver bracket third-place dual:
California Gold over Minnesota Red (40-32)
126 Beckett Edstrom, MIRE over Jacob Dominguez, CAGO (F 1:02 ) 5 0
132 Ezekiel Rodrigues, MIRE over Jimmy Jimenez, CAGO (Dec 15-14 ) 3 1
138 Cayden Neisen, MIRE over Jackson Humphrey, CAGO (Dec 9-9 ) 3 1
144 Thomas Zubia, CAGO over Jaden Neunsinger, MIRE (Dec 7-4 ) 1 3
150 Xander Fronhofer, CAGO over Danan Nelson, MIRE (TF 8-0 (1:45) ) 0 4
157 Nash Graner, MIRE over Rasik Garvey, CAGO (Dec 10-8 ) 3 1
165 Adrian Barbosa, CAGO over Rex Ayshford, MIRE (TF 8-0 (0:22) ) 0 4
175 Caden Keith, CAGO over Colton Bitker, MIRE (TF 11-2 (2:00) ) 1 4
190 Mason McDonnell, CAGO over Charlie Johnson, MIRE (TF 8-0 (1:14) ) 0 4
215 Steven Gomez III, CAGO over Duke Bartoo, MIRE (TF 9-0 (0:57) ) 0 4
285 Sawyer Schendel, MIRE over Edwin Davis, CAGO (Dec 9-8 ) 3 1
88 Zander Melendez, CAGO over Kamden Gallus, MIRE (TF 12-4 (2:00) ) 1 4
94 Samuel Svitana, CAGO over Brody Sundby, MIRE (TF 8-0 (0:25) ) 0 4
100 Grayson Schroeder, MIRE over Maverick Sanchez, CAGO (TF 10-0 (2:00) ) 4 0
106 Ausome Guillermo, CAGO over Joey Cady, MIRE (TF 8-0 (0:34) ) 0 4
113 Garrett Bjerga, MIRE over Enzo Ramirez, CAGO (TF 12-4 (3:53) ) 4 1
120 Peter Alexander Schutz, MIRE over Haris Nurakhunov, CAGO (TF 8-0 (2:36) ) 4 0
Red/Blue bracket championship dual:
Minnesota Blue over Idaho (42-34)
126 Scout Scott, IDAH over Cole Berhow, MIBL (TF 8-0 (0:57) ) 4 0
132 Anthony Flores, IDAH over Jameson Priebe, MIBL (Dec 5-2 ) 3 1
138 Jayden Mattern-Badillo, MIBL over Braelyn Arredondo, IDAH (F 1:35 ) 0 5
144 Waylon Nelson, IDAH over Tanner Morvari, MIBL (TF 9-0 (1:17) ) 4 0
150 Lincoln Steele, IDAH over Brody Wieland, MIBL (TF 8-0 (0:22) ) 4 0
157 Logan Nitti, IDAH over Creed Koll, MIBL (MFF ) 5 0
165 Elias Motta, MIBL over Cruz Ramirez, IDAH (TF 8-0 (2:41) ) 0 4
175 Gavin Edwards, MIBL over Dominic Ratigan, IDAH (TF 10-1 (1:10) ) 1 4
190 Hunter Bell, IDAH over Lincoln Marr, MIBL (F 0:27 ) 5 0
215 Adrian Fuchs, MIBL over Blake Nguyen, IDAH (TF 10-1 (3:19) ) 1 4
285 Isaias Torres, IDAH over Thomas Olson, MIBL (Dec 8-4 ) 3 1
88 Ian Cooley, MIBL over Forfeit, IDAH (FF) 0 5
94 Tyler Marx, IDAH over Nolan Vos, MIBL (TF 8-0 (0:56) ) 4 0
100 Ryan Fuenffinger, MIBL over Braxton Conyers, IDAH (F 4:00 ) 0 5
106 Evann Linn, MIBL over Bridger Adams, IDAH (TF 8-0 (0:37) ) 0 4
113 Jonah Karow, MIBL over Tytan Freeman, IDAH (TF 8-0 (1:02) ) 0 4
120 Tucker McLennan, MIBL over Owen Williams, IDAH (F 1:58 ) 0 5