This article was first published by FloWrestling here (link).
With Fargo coming up (Junior & Cadet Nationals) here is a list of the California D1 All-Americans from the past few seasons who participated at Fargo during their high school days. Numbers show that there is a good connection between national placers in Fargo that go on and become Division 1 All Americans.
Over the past 10 years, it has been proven that 82.3% of the possible 791 eligible Division I All Americans have competed at Fargo. California has had a lot of hammers that have went from the stage at Fargo to the stage at the NCAA tournament.
Thanks to Jason Bryant for his statistical contributions to this article. For the complete Almanac of Cadet/Junior Nationals click here. See the full list here at FloWrestling.
2015
125
Nahshon Garrett – 7th (Junior 119/2011)
157
Isaiah Martinez – Champ (Junior 160/2012)
165
Jim Wilson – 7th (2009 FS 152) & 5th (2011 GR 160)
197
Morgan McIntosh – Champ (Junior 189/2010, Junior 215/2011)
2014
125
Jesse Delgado – 3rd (Cadet 119/2008)
Nahshon Garrett – 7th (Junior 119/2011)
174
Bryce Hammond – 2nd (Cadet 152/2008)
197
Morgan McIntosh – Champ (Junior 189/2010, Junior 215/2011)
2013
125
Jesse Delgado – 3rd (Cadet 119/2008)
Nahshon Garrett – 7th (Junior 119/2011)
149
Scott Sakaguchi – Did Not Compete
157
Jason Welch – 5th (Cadet 145/2005)
184
Ryan Loder – 3rd (Cadet 189/2007)
Mike Larson – Did Not Compete
285
Matt Gibson – Did Not Compete
2012
125
Jesse Delgado – 3rd (Cadet 119/2008)
141
Boris Novachkov – Champ (Junior 98/2005)
149
Scott Sakaguchi – Did Not Compete
157
Jason Welch – 5th (Cadet 145/2005)
285
Clayton Jack – Did Not Compete
Ryan Flores – 3rd (Cadet 215/2004)
In Closing…
The 2015 Dropoff: There is really not much to make of it. The numbers are minimal and as we saw, there were a bunch of upsets throughout the tournament this past season. Guys like Joey Dance, Earl Hall, Zane Richards and Nick Dardanes were all Fargo All Americans, who according to seeding, “should have” became an All American this season.
The Takeaway: The Point is that Fargo matters! All NCAA Division I coaches use Fargo to recruit talent for a reason. Over the past ten years 89 out of the 100 D1 National Champions competed at Fargo, while 80 out of the 100 placed in Fargo. You can’t argue with the numbers.