Frantic Fargo is all about finding inner peace in a field of 3,192 national wrestlers
FARGO — If you want to stay alive in the 16U and Junior Freestyle National Championships you need to find comfort in the chaos.
With 3,192 wrestlers competing in two tournaments on 30 mats, Fargo, N.D., is one fine frenzy.
That makes finding your Zen a must.
Thirty-eight Greater Akron/Canton athletes headed into the FargoDome Monday with championship aspirations in the three-day tournament.
Thirteen of them are still alive on the top of the bracket.
Highland's Brandon Bickerton (88 pounds) and Austin Bickerton (106) and Brecksville's Cayden Pluhar (132) made it out of the 16U bracket.
So did Perry's Liston Seibert (106), Cameron Plotts (138) and Caige Horak (160), Wadsworth's Kyle Jardine (132) and Barberton's Jackson Phillips (220).
Jackson's Ethan Dimos (106), Buckeye's Colyn Limbert (113), Wadsworth's Jaxon Joy (145) and Aurora's Luke Green (106) and Johnny Green (113) are alive in the Junior Freestyle bracket.
“We’ve had a lot of new challenges this year with Fargo,” Joy said. “I’ve just been trying to focus on the good things. It’s not hot this year. I’m comfortable walking around outside. I take every positive and have a good mindset.”
A championship mindset will take wrestlers far in Fargo
That thinking is needed when you’re facing one state champion after the next in a tournament of future World and Olympic champions.
Both tournaments used to run on separate days, but are run together this year.
There’s more to Team Ohio this season, however.
North Dakota State University, where the tournament is wrestled, is under heavy construction this summer.
With less housing available and with the Buckeye state bustling in terms of numbers, Team Ohio did USA Wrestling a favor and is staying at Concordia University 4½ miles away.
That brings logistics into the mix.
“You have to stay focused on what you’re here to do,” Limbert said. “There’s a lot of kids doing different things. Some kids aren’t here to get on the podium. You have to stay focused, eat the right food, drink, put energy in your body and just go out and be ready to go.”
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Greater Akron/Canton area wrestlers make the most of what could have been a bad break
For those like Joy, Limbert and Green, prior experience in the toughest high school summer tournament in the nation helps.
Limbert and Green lost last year in the round to place. Joy earned All-America status with a seventh-place finish.
All three see the positive of staying away from NDSU when they aren’t wrestling.
“It’s kind of nice,” Green said. “Before, we would stay in the dorms and eat in the dining hall with all the other states. Being out there alone [in Concordia], it’s kind of nice. You’re walking around and not seeing other teams. It kind of just gets you focused on whatever is next.”
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Fargo national championships will eat wrestlers alive if they let it
