Wrestling: Husker Commit Ziola Makes Fargo Final, Propels Team Nebraska

At the Fargo Freestyle National Championships, Team Nebraska’s Junior team was led by Husker commit Cade Ziola as it finished in 12th place. Nebraska’s 16U team finished in 18th place in the team race.

The Greco-Roman portion of the tournament will take place this weekend, but the best indicator of college success lies in freestyle. We’ll be updating you after the Greco portion is over, but not in as much depth.

Ranked #2 in the country by MatScouts, Ziola came into Fargo’s Junior bracket at 190 pounds as the 3-seed. Ziola teched his first four opponents, all unseeded, before downing 6-seed Gunner Henry of Indiana 9-0 in the quarterfinal round. In the semifinal round, Ziola used some nifty offense to escape with a narrow 7-6 win over 2-seed Carson Thomas.

In the Fargo final, Ziola took on 5-seed Harvey Ludington (ranked #1 in the country by MatScouts), setting up a meeting between the top two high school wrestlers at the weight. Ludington used constant pressure and a solid leg lace to down Ziola 10-0 in just 77 seconds, solidifying his top rank.

Also competing in Fargo in the Junior division was incoming Husker freshman Colin McAlister of Kansas who was part of Nebraska’s 2024 recruiting class. Wrestling as the 31-seed at 165 pounds, McAlister won his first two matches via 10-0 tech before falling to 2-seed Clayton Giddens of Oklahoma 12-2. McAlister then won his first consolation match 10-0 before falling to Kalob Ybarra of Colorado 10-0, ending his tournament with a 3-2 record.

How Did Nebraska’s Big Targets Do?

As I detailed here, MatScouts recently provided three names that Nebraska should be pursuing for the class of 2026. Let’s see how they did in Fargo.

The nephew of Nebraska running backs coach EJ Barthel, Jayden James of New Jersey has established himself as one of the best in the country with his second Fargo National Title. After winning a 16U title at 138 pounds in 2023, James was back in the 16U division at 150 pounds this year.

James went on to win his second Fargo title, accumulating a 7-0 record while outscoring his opponents 73-5. He racked up a pin and six wins via tech along the way. Needless to say, James has solidified himself as an elite prospect, one Nebraska needs to go all-in on for the class of 2026.

Another member of the 2026 class, Aaron Stewart of Illinois just won his second 16U Fargo National Championship at 165 pounds. After winning this bracket last year, Stewart blitzed through the field on the way to the title again, outscoring his opponents 73-0 along the way while earning the 16U Outstanding Wrestler Award for the tournament. He looks about as explosive, powerful and elite as they come. He’d be a great addition for the Huskers at 165 or 174 in the future.

Out of Georgia, Antonio Mills came in as the 28-seed this week at 120 pounds in the Junior division. Mills won his first two matches before falling to 5-seed Gauge Botero of Pennsylvania 7-5. Mills then won five straight matches on the back side before dropping his last two. Finishing his tournament with a 7-3 record, Mills finished in 8th place.

In-State Standouts

The wrestling product has been getting better in Nebraska, and that was on full display this week as Team Nebraska finished 12th in the Junior Division and 18th in the 16U Division in freestyle. In the Junior division, Nebraska had four All-Americans, while three wrestlers found the podium in the 16U Division.

Junior Division

Outside of Ziola’s trip to the Fargo final, Team Nebraska was led by another standout performance by Omaha Bryan’s Abdi Unle at 113 pounds. Ranked #7 in the country at 113 pounds by MatScouts, Unle was the 6-seed in freestyle in Fargo.

Unle won his first match via first-period pinfall before notching three wins via tech, advancing to the quarterfinal round where he fell to 3-seed Revin Dickman of Indiana via pinfall. In the match against Dickman who is ranked #5 by MatScouts, Unle was pinned in the final seconds of a back-and-forth match where he was down 18-16 late.

In the consolation bracket, Unle won three straight matches via tech, including a 12-2 win over 4-seed Eric Casula of Oklahoma and a 16-6 win over 2-seed Caleb Noble of Illinois. In the 3rd-place match, Unle got another shot at Dickman and didn’t disappoint, earning the 8-6 decision win. With his 8-1 record and 3rd-place finish in freestyle, Unle has now earned All-American honors in both the 16U and Junior divisions. With Nebraska’s need at 125 pounds for the 2025 class, there’s no reason the Huskers don’t add Unle to their 2025 class.

Another Nebraska kid who impressed in Fargo was Syracuse’s Brock Goebel at 100 pounds. The 5-seed in freestyle, Goebel won his first four matches via tech, outscoring his opponents 51-9 going into the semifinal round where he fell to 1-seed Michael Rundel of Illinois 11-0. Rundel went on to win the bracket.

After his semifinal loss, Goebel dropped matches to 2-seed Kacen Jones of Utah (18-8) and 27-seed Jason Foutz of Pennsylvania (16-5), earning All-American status with his 6th-place finish and 4-3 record in freestyle. Despite the semifinal slide, Goebel was impressive wrestling up in the Junior division. Going into his sophomore year, Goebel is definitely a state title threat.

After winning a state title for South Sioux City as a junior with a 49-2 record on the year, Tony Palmer found the podium in Fargo to earn All-American status. In freestyle, unseeded in the field, Palmer won his first two matches before downing 4-seed Jackson Rotterman of Missouri 17-5. He then beat 13-seed Noah Weaver of Indiana 11-8 before falling to 5-seed Angelo Posada of California in the quarters. Dropping down to the consolations, Palmer beat fellow Nebraskan 6-seed Mason Villwok 11-0 before falling to 16-seed Melvin Whitehead of Nevada 14-5. In the 7th-place match, Palmer medically forfeited, ending his tournament with a 5-2 record and 8th-place finish.

Beyond the four placers out of Nebraska, there were a number of wrestlers who didn’t find the podium but had great tournaments.

Two Nebraska wrestlers fell just one win short of All-American honors — Chadron State signee Mason Villwok of Elkhorn at 215 and John Alden of O’Neill at 138. The 6-seed, Villwok won his first three matches via tech before falling in the round of 16. He then won a consolation match before losing to fellow Nebraskan Tony Palmer in the bloodround, ending his tournament with a 5-2 record.

The 21-seed Alden, a Wyoming freshman-to-be, won his first two matches before taking a 10-4 loss. He then rattled off four straight wins on the back side before falling in the round of 12.

Both 17-seed Tyler Harrill of Skutt and 19-seed Mason Petersen of Columbus each finished their weeks with 5-2 records, recording some nice wins along the way. After losing a 19-16 decision in his second match, Harrill won four straight on the back side at 150 pounds before falling to Tyler Hood in the second consolation round of 32.

A Class A state champ as a sophomore, Petersen won his first two matches at 144 pounds before falling 21-10 in the round of 32 to 14-seed Gus Cardinal out of Arizona. Petersen won three straight on the back side, including a 13-11 win over 5-seed Derek Barrows of Colorado (ranked #14 by MatScouts), before falling to 13-seed Zeno Moore of Florida 10-0.

A trio of wrestlers finished their freestyle tournaments with 4-2 records — Cole Welte at 113, Brayden Canoyer at 144, and Jaret Peterson at 215.

The 12-seed Welte won his first three matches via tech before falling in the round of 16 to 5-seed Ayden Dodd of Ohio (ranked #2 at 113 by FloWrestling). Welte won his first consolation match 12-0 before falling to 4-seed Eric Casula 13-12. Welte fell just two wins short of All-American honors.

The 26-seed Canoyer out of Waverly won his first two matches before falling to 7-seed Logan Paradice (ranked #3 by MatScouts) 4-2. Canoyer then won his first two consolation matches before losing to 17-seed Easton Dircks of Minnesota 8-3.

Out of Chase County, Peterson lost his second match, sending him to the consolations where he won three straight matches before getting knocked out of the tournament. It was a good showing for the Augustana signee.

Another trio of Nebraska kids finished 3-2 in freestyle — Mohamed Mohamed at 106, Logan Glynn at 157, and Adonis Bonar II at 190.

Out of Omaha Bryan, Mohamed lost his first match 7-6 before winning three matches on the back side. A two-time state champ for Millard South, Glynn won his first two matches before losing in the round of 32. He then won his first consolation match 10-0 in just 44 seconds but dropped an 18-10 decision in his next match. A Cal Baptist commit, Bonar won his first three matches before dropping two straight.

Four Nebraska wrestlers finished with 2-2 records in freestyle — Isaac Eckdahl of Millard South at 126, Kaedun Goodman of Kearney at 138, Luke Farmen of Lincoln Christian at 138, and Zachariah Tarin of Chase County at 285.

16U Division

The Nebraska 16U team was led by somewhat of a surprise contender in Preston Wagner of Fremont. The 4-seed heavyweight won his first match 10-0 in under a minute before pinning his second opponent in just 15 seconds. He then scored another 10-0 first-period tech before downing 12-seed JT Kelso of Iowa 7-2 in the quarterfinal round.

Wagner then lost a 6-4 decision in the semifinal to 9-seed Makhi Rodgers of Wisconsin. Dropping down to the consolations, Wagner downed 5-seed Chandler Moore of Ohio via 10-0 tech in the consolation semis before falling to 14-seed Mateo Vinciguerra of New Jersey in the 3rd-place match. With his 5-2 record in freestyle, Wagner finished in 4th place.

Wrestling at 165 pounds, 4-seed Riley Johnson of Skutt strung together five wins to start his freestyle tournament, advancing into the semifinal round. In the quarters, Johnson beat 5-seed Mario Hutcherson of Pennsylvania 6-5 with a late takedown.

In the semis, Johnson fell to 1-seed Aaron Stewart 11-0 before losing back-to-back matches via 10-0 tech to end his tournament with a 5-3 record and 6th-place finish.

Making his Fargo debut, 5-seed Cruzer Dominguez was up at 106 pounds. He won his first three matches via tech before falling to 12-seed PJ Terranova of New Jersey 9-7 in the round of 16. Dominguez then rattled off two wins via tech before getting pinned by 31-seed Analu Woode of Hawaii in the consolation round of 4. In the 7th-place match, Dominguez downed 14-seed Kaleb Pratt of Illinois 5-1, earning a 7th-place finish with his 7-2 record in freestyle.

Making it to the bloodround but falling short of placing were both Zaiyahn Ornelas of Wilber-Clatonia at 113 and JT Smith of Creighton Prep at 190.

The 2-seed at 113, Ornelas won his first four matches and advanced to the quarterfinal round, but he dropped that match via pinfall to 7-seed Alexander Pierce of Iowa. Ornelas then lost his first consolation match via 9-4 decision to 17-seed Killian Colluccio of New Jersey. Ornelas finished his freestyle tournament with a 4-2 record.

Wrestling as the 16-seed at 190, Smith won his first two matches before taking a 10-0 loss to 1-seed David Calkins of California. Smith dropped to the consolation bracket and beat 7-seed Michael Boyle of Ohio 6-5 before an 11-0 win against Kelson Dirk of South Dakota. Smith’s tournament ended with an 11-0 loss to 2-seed Eli Knight of West Virginia, giving him a 4-2 record in freestyle.

Both Cole Caniglia of Creighton Prep and Ben McAlister of Millard West each went 4-2 in freestyle. Wrestling at 106 pounds as the 15-seed, Caniglia won his first three matches, incuding a 10-7 win over 18-seed Coleton Klipa of Pennsylvania. Caniglia then dropped his round of 16 match. He won his first consolation match but lost to 7-seed Emilio Albanese of Pennsylvania.

McAlister lost his first match of the tournament, but he rattled off four straight wins on the back side before losing again.

Six Nebraska wrestlers finished their freestyle tournaments with 3-2 records — Brody Jensen of Burwell at 106, Carter Booze out of Scribner at 100, Philip Streff of North Bend at 106, Gage Grandel of Ralston at 144, Kaleb Griffith out of Plattsmouth at 150, and Brody Brandt of Syracuse at 190.