Highlighted by five individual national champions, 20 other All-Americans, and a team runner-up finish in the Junior Men’s Greco Tournament, Oklahoma turned in a strong performance at the prestigious 2024 US Marine Corps 16U and Junior National Tournament (Fargo).
Winning national titles and the coveted “stop signs” were Kali Hayden, Millie Azlin, Cason Craft, Rhett Peak and Jude Randall.
Kali Hayden overwhelmed the field in winning the 170 lb. title in the Junior Women’s freestyle tournament. Kali’s domination can be seen in that she only wrestled a total of 5:02 in going 6-0 with five falls and a tech fall to win the title. Hayden, the #3 seed, easily moved into the finals with falls in 1:05, 0:59, 0:50, 1:09, and a semifinal fall in 0:45 over #2 seed Jael Miller from Pennsylvania. In the finals Hayden faced West Virginia’s 4th seed Kaylie Hall (who beat the #1 seed 9-2 in the semifinals). Kali hit a 4-point takedown just 23 second into the match, and ended the match in 1:14 with a 12-0 tech fall win to claim her title. Hayden was a national runner-up in 2022 in the 16U tournament.
Millie Azlin rolled to the 170 lb. title in the 16U Women’s freestyle tournament, going 6-0 with two falls and one tech fall. Azlin, the #6 seed, earned a tough 5-3 win in the quarterfinals over #3 seed (and eventual 3rd place finisher), Elizabeth Madison from Ohio and then won the title with a thrilling 11-9 win in the finals over #1 seed Matilda Hruby from Colorado. Azlin earned All-American honors last year with a 6th place finish.
Cason Craft won the 106 lb. title in the Junior Men’s Greco Tournament by going 5-0 with two falls and a tech fall. Craft, the #2 seed, won in the finals with an exciting 7-6 win over #1 seed Dylan Ota from Texas. Craft led 4-0 after the first period and extended the lead to 7-2 before fighting off a comeback attempt by Ota to win the title. Craft earned double All-American honors at Fargo as he opened the week with a 5th place finish in the freestyle tournament. He was the only Oklahoman to accomplish that feat this year. Cason was also a double All-American last year, finishing 3rd in Greco and 6th in freestyle.
Rhett Peak won the 132 lb. title in the Junior Men’s Greco Tournament by going 6-0 with three tech falls. Despite being a returning runner-up, Peak entered the tournament as the #11 seed. He proved them wrong, opening the tournament with a 0:23 tech fall win and advancing to the finals with dominating tech fall wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals. In the finals, Peak faced #4 seed Treygen Morin from Idaho (who beat the #1 seed 10-6 in the semifinals). Peak’s four-point arm spin in the first period was the only scoring as controlled the action the rest of the way to finish his remarkable tournament and earn the title.
Jude Randall was Oklahoma’s third Junior Greco champion as he went 7-0 with five tech falls to win the 157 lb. title. Randall, the #2 seed, opened the tournament with tech fall wins in 0:20 and 0:39. He continued his impressive run to the finals with a 9-4 win over the #7 seed and two more tech falls, including a 0:42 tech fall win in the semifinals over the eventual 3rd place finisher, Tucker Roybal from Utah. In the finals, Randall faced #1 seed Brett Back from Wisconsin. It was a tight match all the way, but Randall claimed the title with the 4-3 win. The championship was Randall’s third Greco All-American finish as he placed 4th in 2021 (16U) and 6th last year.
In addition to the three champions (Craft, Peak and Randall), Oklahoma had four others earn All-American honors as the team claimed the runner-up finish in the Junior Men’s Greco Tournament. Isaiah Jones
