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Wisconsin’s History of Fargo Champions

By Gabby Lord-Klein, 07/13/21, 1:00PM CDT

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Stats courtesy of Jason Bryant of Mat Talk Online, from the Fargo Almanac.

What started in 1971 as a single division national tournament for the Junior boys has grown into a highly competitive summer-staple for six divisions across three Olympic styles. Fargo is one of the most challenging and well-attended annual events in the United States. It’s also the finale of the domestic freestyle and Greco season. 

Mitch Hull was crowned Wisconsin’s first Junior Fargo champion, claiming back-to-back freestyle and Greco titles in 1975. Keegan O’Toole and Eric Barnett won the most recent individual titles in 2018. 

The 16U division for men’s freestyle was added in 1986 and Rick Huspen became Wisconsin’s first champion in 1987, and then claimed the title again in 1988. Nicolar Rivera has the most recent title from 2018.

Wisconsin’s Greco program has the state’s highest individual title count at Fargo. This includes 23 from juniors and 26 from cadets/16U. Tyler Dow is the most recent Junior Greco champion with a win in 2018. Jim Gruenwald holds the first Greco title in the cadet division (1986) and the latest to win an individual title is Nicolar Rivera (2019). 16U Greco holds the only team win in state history (2009). 

Jamie Chappa became Wisconsin's first women's freestyle All-American when the Junior division was added in 2002, but it was Sara Kouba that claimed the first title in 2016. Alisha Howk, Macey Kilty and Jayden Laurent brought home individual titles in 2017, contributing to an overall 5th place team finish. Gabby Skidmore (pictured) holds the most recent Junior title (2019). 

The same year Kouba won the state’s first Junior title, Macey Kilty, Jayden Laurent and Hannah Ramos captured the state’s first titles in the 16U division. The 16U WFS team placed second overall in 2016—the highest in state history. Kilty earned another 16U title the following season and was joined by Natalie Kemp and two other finalists. Brianna Staebler has the most recent individual 16U title (2019). 

Wisconsin has a total of 751 All-Americans and 95 champions.

2019 All-Americans

16U MFS: Ben Bast (8th), Greyson Clark (7th), Nicolar Rivera (4th), Matthew Bianchi (3rd), Clayton Whiting (3rd), Jaren Rhode (6th).

16U WFS: Sophia Brynman-Metcalf (4th), Brianna Staebler (1st) 

16U GR: Joey Showalter (8th), Brayden Sonnentag (7th), Greyson Clark (4th), Nicolar Rivera (1st), Gavin Drexler (2nd), Matthew Bianchi (5th), Jared Stricker (6th), Jaren Rhode (5th). 

JR MFS: Keegan O’toole (3rd), Dajun Johnson (5th), parker Keckeisen (3rd), Samuel Mitchell (7th).

JR WFS: Josie Bartishofskie (2nd), Gabrielle Skidmore (1st), Brianna Staebler (4th).

JR GR: Kaleb Casey (3rd), Caleb Gross (4th), Logan Hatch (8th), Kaden Reetz (4th), Dajun Johnson (6th), Kalyn Jahn (5th). 

 

Wisconsin’s All-Time Champions

16U MFS (12)

  • Rick Huspen (1987, 88)
  • Garrett Lowney (1985)
  • Ryan Lewis (1986)
  • Kalvin York (2007)
  • Alex Dieringer (2009)
  • Devin Peterson (2009)
  • Hunter Marko (2012)
  • Beau Breske (2013, 14)
  • Jacob Raschka (2015)
  • Nicolar Rivera (2018)

 

16U Greco (26)

  • Jim Gruenwald (1986)
  • Troy Spencer (1990)
  • Shawn Smith (1993)
  • Rudy Ruiz (1994)
  • Brandon McNab (1995)
  • Garrett Lowney (1995)
  • Nate Piasecki (1997)
  • Luke Smith (1998)
  • Matt Bauman (2001)
  • Cole Schmitt (2006)
  • Ben Provisor (2006)
  • Jesse Thielke (2007, 08)
  • Alex Dieringer (2009)
  • Zak Benitz (2009)
  • Brad Dolezal (2009)
  • Devin Peterson (2009)
  • Ryan Gartner (2010)
  • Hunter marko (2012)
  • Joseph Nelson (2012)
  • Josh Bird (2013)
  • Beau Breske (2013, 14)
  • Hunter Lewis (2017)
  • Tyler Hannah (2018)
  • Nicolar Rivera (2019)

 

16U WFS (6)

  • Macey Kilty (2016, 17)
  • Jayden Laurent (2016)
  • Hannah Ramos (2016)
  • Natalie Kemp (2017)
  • Brianna Staebler (2019)

 

JR MFS (21)

  • Mitch Hull (1975)
  • Grant Smith (1978)
  • Leroy Murnane (1979)
  • Hugh Bohne (1980)
  • Rod Lamarche (1982)
  • Kyle Richards (1983)
  • Eric Swick (1996)
  • Garrett Lowney (1996, 97, 98)
  • Jeremy Maye (1999)
  • Craig Henning (2002)
  • Ben Askren (2002)
  • Cole Konrad (2002)
  • Alex Dieringer (2010, 11)
  • Devin Peterson (2011)
  • Hunter Marko (2013)
  • Beau Breske (2015)
  • Eric Barnett (2018)
  • Keegan O’toole (2018)

 

JR Greco (23)

  • Mitch Hull (1975)
  • Bob Kopecky (1979)
  • Hugh Bohne (1980)
  • Jeff Smward (1982)
  • Fritz Lehrke (1986)
  • Dennis Hall (1987, 88, 89)
  • Eric Swick (1994)
  • Garrett Lowney (1997, 98)
  • Willy Holst (2000)
  • Davin Kraege (2001)
  • Joe Henning (2002)
  • Cole Konrad (2002)
  • Jordan Crass (2003)
  • Cole Schmitt (2008)
  • Kalvin York (2008)
  • Niko Bogojevic (2009)
  • Devin Peterson (2010, 11)
  • Alex Dieringer (2011)
  • Tyler Dow (2018)

 

JR WFS (7)

  • Sara Kouba (2016)
  • Alisha Howk (2017)
  • Macey Kilty (2017, 18)
  • Jayden Laurent (2017, 18)
  • Gabrielle Skidmore (2019)

 

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