National Duals kicked off Wednesday morning with the 14U and 16U Greco teams competing at opposite ends of the country. As is custom, teams were drawn into preliminary pools based on PIN ratings and advanced to medal pools based on their results. Team Wisconsin, loaded with talent, is coming home as national runners-up in 16U and a sixth-place finish in 14U Greco—two outstanding top-10 finishes for the first age groups to take on National Duals in 2025.

16U Greco—2nd overall in Herriman, UT
Wisconsin made a statement out on the West Coast. “I’m super proud of the guys and how they fought and battled,” said Head Coach Tyler Dow. Six straight wins is what it took for the 16U Greco team to secure a spot in the National Duals finals against Pennsylvania.

They started in Pool B with a bye and then a dual with Montana that featured more forfeits than matches. After that, they defeated Texas (45-31) and Utah Gold (52-23) to claim the Pool B title. Dow said their battle with Texas was closer than what they wanted, and it was after that the team really responded well to the message consistent across both days: “We’re at a national event—each and every dual we wrestle is going to be a fight.” Fight they did.

The scores tightened up on Thursday. In the Gold/Silver pool, Wisconsin pieced together three gutsy wins over Indiana (45-31), California (44-34), and Washington (46-35) to land in the finals, where they dropped a hard-fought battle to No. 1 seed Pennsylvania.

Wisconsin came in a little under the radar from a national perspective. However, behind the No. 7 seed, anyone invested in Wisconsin Greco saw a lot of the behind-the-scenes work put in throughout the last calendar year. “We’ve got a lot of dudes that are really good at wrestling and good at Greco,” Dow said. “It doesn’t matter what the seed was; we can wrestle with everyone.”

Yes, it would have been nice to win,” Dow said, “But if you take a look at the growth over the last calendar year, it has been substantial.”

After Fargo last year, the coaching staff implemented a series of one-day camps—not only to invest in the technical skills of the athletes but to meet athletes that would eventually fill out the national teams and foster an environment where friendships and camaraderie are the norm. The team added a practice the day before they travelled this year to further this. “Being able to compete with your friends makes it a lot easier,” Dow said. Year over year, he said it has been a night-and-day difference in all areas.

One of the takeaways the coaching staff is ready to move forward with is putting a second attack in action. “When things got a little hard, we sometimes didn’t know what to do to build on our number one attack, but when that doesn’t work, we gotta be able to put something together.” It’s a solid charge to give the athletes headed back to Wisconsin to work on before Fargo next month or the season ahead.

“We’re back to the level of expectation that WI Greco is very good,” said head coach Tyler Dow.

Dow extended a “Thank You” to everyone who has contributed to Wisconsin Greco. “This isn’t just a one-person thing. We have a lot of people who do a lot for the state and the program, and I’m just thankful for them.”

14U Greco National Duals: 6th overall in Oaks, PA
Across the country in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin’s 14U Greco squad finished strong in a stacked national field, earning a hard-fought 6th-place finish.

“This group gelled really quickly,” said Head Coach Tony Schaaf. “One of the things that led to that was 88-pounder Kolten Mueller. He’s a fireball—he got everyone pumped up.” A statement you could feel ring true, even watching remotely.

Their run began with a commanding 63-10 win over New Jersey, followed by a 52-23 victory over Kansas. In the Pool B final, Wisconsin battled past California, 45-30, to earn a spot in the Gold/Silver bracket. The team stayed hot into the evening, topping Iowa 43-36 to close out a perfect first day.

Day 2 brought a tougher road. Wisconsin was edged out in three duals as they dropped close matches to Maryland (41-34) and Pennsylvania (43-33). They put points on the board and fought to stay in the matches—claiming their own streak of wins on what Coach Schaaf called a bit of a murderers' row—but ultimately fell to California in the 5th-place dual, settling into 6th overall. “You’ve got to give so much credit to the guys who pulled us back in,” Schaaf said of the team’s response to adversity early on in those matchups. “We just didn’t have enough in the tank at the end.”

An early finish gave the team time to unwind and get out of the venue. “It was great to watch the other coaches already having the team laughing by the time they made it out to the bus,” Schaaf said.

A short memory is key at events like this and especially so for this team, which is comprised of athletes competing in both styles in the 14U division. They watched the 16U team finish strong and got to visit the iconic Rocky monument in Philadelphia.

Two wrestlers, Keilan Yang (105) and Hawke Garrett (110), held a perfect 6-0 record and were named to USA Wrestling’s All-Tournament team.

Action continues for both age groups on Friday morning in Utah and Pennsylvania.

16U Greco: 2nd overall with a 6-1 record

• Complete Results
• Pool B: Quarters - Wisconsin over Montana (Dec 75-2)
• Pool B: Semis - Wisconsin over Texas (Dec 45-31)
• Pool B: 1st Place Match - Wisconsin over Utah Gold (Dec 52-23)
• Gold/Silver: Champ. Round 1: Wisconsin over Indiana (Dec 45-31)
• Gold/Silver: Champ. Round 2: Wisconsin over California (Dec 44-34)
• Gold/Silver: Champ. Round 3: Wisconsin over Washington (Dec 46-34)
• Gold/Silver: 1st Place Match: Pennsylvania over Wisconsin (Dec 51-22)

14U Greco: 6th overall with a 4-3 record

• Complete Results
• Pool B Quarters: Wisconsin over New Jersey (Dec 63-10)
• Pool B Semis: Wisconsin over Kansas (Dec 52-23)
• Pool B 1st Place Match: Wisconsin over California (Dec 45-30)
• Gold/Silver: Champ. Round 1: Wisconsin over Iowa (Dec 43-36)
• Gold/Silver: Champ. Round 2: Maryland over Wisconsin (Dec 41-34)
• Gold/Silver: Champ. Round 3: Pennsylvania Blue over Wisconsin (Dec 43-33)
• Gold/Silver: 5th Place Match: California over Wisconsin (Dec 43-28)

Helpful Notes
→ Team WI Rosters: https://bit.ly/43zCkts
→ Stream live on FloWrestling
→ Brackets posted on USA Bracketing
→ ABOUT: National Duals are age-level USA Wrestling events featuring some of the most talented freestyle and Greco wrestlers on state association teams nationwide.

Featured photo by Heather Droessler.

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The Wisconsin Wrestling Federation, guided by USA Wrestling, provides quality opportunities for its members to achieve their full human and athletic potential. Wisconsin Wrestling Federation will strive to be USA Wrestling’s best state organization.