Six Unseeded Placers: Missouri’s Girls Beat the Bracket at Fargo

The best match Missouri wrestled in Fargo was against itself, and neither wrestler in it was seeded to be there.

At 110 pounds in Junior girls, Jayden Keller and Kayleigh Milam had both climbed into the quarterfinals. Keller, the No. 4 seed, opened with three straight technical falls. Milam had not been seeded at all, and had already beaten a third Missouri wrestler, Killian Evans, to get there. When the draw put the two teammates on the same mat, one was going to knock the other out of the title hunt. Keller pinned Milam in 1:06, then made it worth something: both came back to place, Keller fifth and Milam eighth.

That was the week in miniature. Missouri’s girls came home with nine All-American finishes, more than the boys managed, and six of the nine were unseeded when the tournament began.

The unseeded lead the way

The two best finishes both came from wrestlers who started outside the bracket’s top eight.

Mabel Rogers went 6-2 at 115 in 16U and reached the semifinals without giving up a meaningful point, stacking four bonus-point wins that included three technical falls. She had not been seeded. The wrestler who stopped her in the semis, Ohio’s Kaylee Vera, was the No. 4 seed; the wrestler Rogers beat for fifth, California’s Lillian Fonceca, was seeded seventh. Rogers finished ahead of both her seed and most of the bracket, taking fifth on an injury default.

Malena Borja matched that at 235, a bracket so thin only one wrestler was seeded. Borja pinned New York’s Ellisa Bly in 34 seconds and Wisconsin’s Laila Medley in 1:07 to reach the semifinals, lost to California’s Taya Maumausolo Matagi, and dropped a tight 4-2 consolation semifinal to Illinois’ Anastasia Crum before pinning North Dakota’s Jacey Peterson for fifth.

Ellie Drennon gave the 235 bracket a second Missouri medalist, also unseeded, opening with a 20-second fall over Florida’s Rome Robinson and grinding to eighth despite drawing Crum on the back side as well.

Bereuter and Quinn earn it the hard way

Angela Bereuter put the country on notice, and she did it from the back of the bracket. Unseeded at 235 in Junior, she lost her opening match to Ohio’s Autumn Woods and dropped into the consolation rounds in the round of 32, the spot where most tournaments quietly end. Instead she reeled off five straight wins, every one by fall.

The one that mattered most came in the consolation quarterfinals, the round that decides who goes home a medalist and who just goes home. Waiting there was Brenda Banks of Pennsylvania, the No. 1 seed in the bracket. Bereuter pinned her in 2:21. Michigan’s Halle Spears finally stopped the run in the consolation sub-semifinals, but Bereuter answered by pinning California’s Katherine Luna for seventh. Six wins, five pins, one of them over the top seed, and no seed of her own.

Sophiea Quinn took the same road at 207. Also unseeded, she pinned Minnesota’s Charlize Laban and decisioned Washington’s Mia Cienega to reach the quarterfinals, lost to Kansas’ Lulu Kirk, then pinned Ohio’s Riley Alborn in the bloodround to secure her medal. She closed with a fall over Wisconsin’s Kimura Segerson-Hutter to take seventh.

The seeded placers hold serve

Three of Missouri’s nine All-Americans carried a seed into the week, and each finished right around it.

Jayden Keller, the No. 4 seed at 110, took fifth. Lilly Breeden, seeded sixth at 100, took seventh; she reached the quarterfinals on three straight wins, including a fall over Texas’ Katelynn Dockery, teched Utah’s Kathleen Zimmerman in the bloodround to clinch her medal, and pinned Texas’ Noah Kovach in 29 seconds for seventh.

Zolah Williams was the exception, and the highest seed of the group. Seeded second at 110 in 16U, she took a quarterfinal loss to Texas’ Audrey Cunningham and had to work back through the consolation side. She won a 6-5 nailbiter over Oregon’s Lauren Echeverria to lock up the podium, then beat the bracket’s No. 1 seed, Colorado’s Peggy Susan Dean, 6-2 in the seventh-place match. A second seed finishing seventh is not the week she wanted, but she left with a medal and a win over the top seed to show for it.

Just missing the podium

The flip side of Missouri’s unseeded surge was a group of seeded girls who ran into the bloodround and lost. Ten Missouri girls reached the consolation quarterfinals with a placement on the line and came up short, and the state’s three highest girls seeds were among them.

Erin Delling, the No. 2 seed at 135 in 16U, lost her bloodround 8-5 to Illinois’ Aryanna Geiger. Alexis Stinson, the No. 3 seed at 235 in Junior, was pinned by Spears in hers. Ariel Biggs, the No. 4 seed at 140 in 16U, dropped a 6-4 decision to Oklahoma’s Sasha Williams. All three were favored to place. None did.

Sydney Stifter had the most painful miss of all. The No. 9 seed at 110 in Junior, she lost her bloodround 13-12 to Utah’s Eva Zimmerman, a single point from joining Keller and Milam on a three-deep Missouri podium at the weight.

Others were close in their own right. Kaylee James (No. 8 at 145) and Temprence Watson (No. 8 at 170) both reached the bloodround in 16U. So did Isabella Cullen (No. 10 at 100) and Farynn Rhees (No. 11 at 105). Keely Fallert made a hard charge at 145 in Junior, going 5-2. She opened with two pins before Colorado’s Ryen Hickey stopped her in the round of 32, then won three straight on the consolation side, including a 5-2 decision over Pennsylvania’s Jameson Strickland, before New York’s Victoria Alvarado pinned her one round shy of the bloodround.

By the numbers

Missouri entered 83 girls across the two divisions, 47 in Junior (95-95) and 36 in 16U (77-73), and went a combined 172-168.

The pins told the story. Of Missouri’s 172 wins, 98 came by fall, more than half, with another 50 by technical fall and only 21 by decision. Alyssa Salemie had the fastest, pinning Texas’ Stephanie Lopez in 17 seconds at 115.

The state fought closest with the wrestling-belt states and the upper Midwest, going 13-9 against Ohio, 12-8 against Wisconsin, and 8-6 against Texas and 8-7 against New York. Against Illinois it was 13-16 and against Pennsylvania 10-15, the two brackets where Missouri gave up the most ground.

One last note for the bracket watchers: three of Missouri’s nine All-Americans came from the 235-pound divisions, where Borja and Drennon placed in 16U and Bereuter placed in Junior, and not one of the three was seeded.

JR Girls

100: Lilly Breeden 5-2 7th · Kimber Drenon 1-2 · Sophia Stecher 0-2

110: Jayden Keller 5-2 5th · Kayleigh Milam 4-3 8th · Killian Evans 4-2 · Sydney Stifter 4-2 · Lynnae Dixon 2-2 · Zoiee Ward 1-2 · Africa Fabian 0-2

115: Alyssa Salemie 5-2 · Hannah Herrera 1-2 · Avery Edwards 0-2 · Natalie Schollhammer 0-2

120: Lilly McCleary 2-2 · Stacy Ash 1-2 · Abigail Hayes 0-2 · Georgia Smith 0-2

125: Temperance Lowe 4-2 · Nethmi Amarakone 0-2

130: Jorgie Johnston 2-2 · Quinn Hope 2-2 · McKenzy Mason 0-2

135: Addison Brown 3-2 · Destany Oster 2-2

140: Anjelika Alarcon 1-2 · Brylee James 1-2 · Caroline Owens 0-2 · Olivia Vickers 0-2

145: Keely Fallert 5-2 · Natalie Edmisson 3-2 · Clara Meyer 1-2

155: Breanne Gibbs 4-2 · Lorelei Weaver 4-2 · Jayci Shelton 3-2

170: Emily Brixey 3-2 · Taylor Kanoy 1-2 · Aryana Roberts 0-2

190: Jayden Moehle 2-2 · Madison Huntsucker 1-2

207: Sophiea Quinn 4-2 7th · Harmony Moore 1-2 · Kaylyn Davis 0-2

235: Angela Bereuter 6-2 7th · Moriah Parker 4-2 · Alexis Stinson 3-2 · Ally Astorga 0-2

16U Girls

95: Ariel Humphreys 2-2

100: Isabella Cullen 4-2 · Chloe Kirksey 2-2 · Elaina Goodnight 2-2

105: Farynn Rhees 4-2 · Addilyn Amos 3-2 · Brooklyn Robinson 0-2

110: Zolah Williams 5-2 7th · Addison St George 4-2 · Myla Woolridge 3-2 · Heather Egley 1-2

115: Mabel Rogers 6-2 5th · Brooklyn Cooley 0-2

120: Zainab Albadri 2-2 · Elaine Hoth 1-2

125: Alana Henry 4-2 · Braylee Farr 0-2 · Makaleigh Hahn 0-2

130: Abigail Smith 0-2

135: Erin Delling 3-2 · Savannah Bratten 2-2 · Piper Hamilton 1-2 · Emma Beckemeier 0-2 · Kendall Driscoll 0-2

140: Ariel Biggs 3-2

145: Kaylee James 4-2 · Ilyana Martinez 1-2

155: Isabella Wenzel 2-2 · Kaylee Scott 2-2 · Addison Davis 1-2

170: Brooklyn Koepkey 4-2 · Temprence Watson 4-2 · Macy Schipper 1-2

190: Auriana Anzaldua 1-2

235: Malena Borja 3-2 5th · Ellie Drennon 2-3 8th

Team total: 83 entries, 172-168.