Valerie Hamilton of Illinois works for a turn in the 145-pound quarterfinals at the Air Force Special Warfare Folkstyle Nationals.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Junior girls finals are set at the Air Force Special Warfare 16U and Junior Folkstyle Nationals with three defending champions earning a return trip to the grand finale at the UNI Dome.
Among those one win away from a Folkstyle Nationals repeat is 145-pound hammer Valerie Hamilton of Illinois, who was a U17 World silver medalist in 2022. Hamilton picked up three falls, plus a uniquely puzzling 36-19 technical fall, on her road to tomorrow morning’s finals.
Hamilton will face Gretchen Donally of Montana, who won both the Brian Keck Memorial Preseason Nationals and National Girls High School Recruiting Showcase in 2023, for the top prize in Cedar Falls. The pair are two of the top ranked wrestlers nationally at 145 pounds, with Hamilton slotting in at No. 4 and Donally at No. 2 as of the most recent National Girls High School Rankings.
Another top-four championship showdown comes at 170 pounds between No. 3 Naomi Simon of Iowa and No. 4 Amarisa Manuel of Michigan. In fact, 21 of the 30 finalists in the Junior girls division are nationally ranked.
Reanah Utterback of Iowa and Tilisa Matakaiongo of Utah join Hamilton as returning champions with a shot at repeating. Utterback will see Caley Graber of Minnesota in the 110-pound finals, while Matakaiongo is up against Ella Brown of Iowa at 235 pounds.
Two defending champions were upended in the early stages of the growing national event. Gigi Bragg of Michigan was pinned by Idaho’s Rihanna Mora in the 115-pound quarterfinals. Leiannah Landreth of Kansas dropped a razor thin 8-7 semifinal to Alexis Schneider of North Dakota at 120 pounds in a match decided on a challenged takedown at the buzzer.
2023 U17 World bronze medalist Heather Crull of Indiana went three-for-three on pins to make her way to the 105-pound championship contest against fellow Hoosier Makenize Smith. Crull wrestled three minutes and 23 seconds in total across her three bouts.
Reigning 16U Folkstyle Nationals champions Kendall Moe of Indiana, Lilliana Banks of Wisconsin, Skylar Slade of Iowa and Ella Brown of Iowa each found themselves in the finals after impressive runs in their respective brackets.
The Air Force Special Warfare 16U and Junior Folkstyle Nationals is the first leg of the USA Wrestling Triple Crown award. The competition resumes at 9 a.m. (CT) on Saturday with the Junior boys semifinals, Junior girls finals, and the start of the 16U boys and Masters events.
Fans can watch the event live on FloWrestling.com. Brackets and match-by-match results are available on Trackwrestling.com.
For more information about this event, please visit usawrestlingevents.com.
2024 Air Force Special Warfare 16U and Junior Folkstyle Nationals | March 15-17, UNI Dome, Cedar Falls, Iowa
Junior Girls
Finals Matchups #
95 pounds #
Mya Hairston (Thoroughbred Wrestling Academy) vs. Siera Becker (Sebolt Wrestling Academy)
100 pounds #
Kendall Moe (Contenders Wrestling Academy) vs. Kennedy Farrar (Arizona Girls Wrestling)
105 pounds #
Heather Crull (Northeastern Wrestling Club) vs. Makenize Smith (Maurer Coughlin Wrestling Club)
110 pounds #
Caley Graber (Summit Wrestling Academy) vs. Reanah Utterback (Sebolt Wrestling Academy)
115 pounds #
Iliana Castaneda (Arizona Girls Wrestling) vs. Julia Kay (Canyon View Falcons)
120 pounds #
Alexis Schneider (North Dakota) vs. Morgan Maschmann (Beatrice High School Wrestling)
125 pounds #
Brooklyn Pace (Champions Wrestling Club) vs. Kailey Benson (Purler Wrestling Inc)
130 pounds #
Kaylan Hitchcock (Lawrence Elite Wrestling Club) vs. Angelina Pena (Michigan)
135 pounds #
Margaret Buurma (Michigan Revolution Wrestling Club) vs. Lilliana Banks (Aviators Wrestling)
140 pounds #
Aleksandra Bastaic (Highland Wrestling Club) vs. Mackenzie Pratt (Illinois)
145 pounds #
Valerie Hamilton (SOT-C) vs. Gretchen Donally (Montana)
155 pounds #
Skylar Slade (Moen Wrestling Academy) vs. Sage Rosario (Kansas)
170 pounds #
Naomi Simon (Northeast Iowa Wrestling Club) vs. Amarisa Manuel (Michigan Revolution Wrestling Club)
190 pounds #
Brooke Huffman (Team Nazar Training Center) vs. Ella Murphey (Mayhem WC)
235 pounds #
Tilisa Matakaiongo (Iron County Wrestling Academy) vs. Ella Brown (Big Game Wrestling Club)
Semifinal Results #
95 pounds #
Mya Hairston (Thoroughbred Wrestling Academy) fall Easton Dadiomoff (Mayhem WC), 2:45
Siera Becker (Sebolt Wrestling Academy) dec. Mackenzie Graves (Threestyle Wrestling Of Oklahoma), 10-5
100 pounds #
Kendall Moe (Contenders Wrestling Academy) fall Amaya Rubalcado (Carrollton Thunder Wrestling), 5:16
Kennedy Farrar (Arizona Girls Wrestling) tech. fall Jennifer Verdin (North Dakota), 18-3
105 pounds #
Heather Crull (Northeastern Wrestling Club) fall Addie Morse (Oklahoma), 1:18
Makenize Smith (Maurer Coughlin Wrestling Club) fall Mileena Notaro (Nebraska Wrestling Training Center), 2:33
110 pounds #
Caley Graber (Summit Wrestling Academy) fall Aroma Marrufo (MO West Championship Wrestling Club), 1:26
Reanah Utterback (Sebolt Wrestling Academy) dec. Madolin Ripley (USAW Maine East Wrestling Club), 3-1
115 pounds #
Iliana Castaneda (Arizona Girls Wrestling) dec. Rihanna Mora (Team Idaho Wrestling Club), 11-5
Julia Kay (Canyon View Falcons) dec. Holly Thacher (Lawrence Elite Wrestling Club), 3-2
120 pounds #
Alexis Schneider (North Dakota) dec. Leiannah Landreth (Mulvane Wrestling Club), 8-7
Morgan Maschmann (Beatrice High School Wrestling) dec. Kandice Spry (Ohio), 11-9, SV1
125 pounds #
Brooklyn Pace (Champions Wrestling Club) forfeit Mackenzie English (Westlake High School Wrestling)
Kailey Benson (Purler Wrestling Inc) dec. Keanna Conrad (Team Idaho Wrestling Club), 6-4
130 pounds #
Kaylan Hitchcock (Lawrence Elite Wrestling Club) dec. Jamie Laswell (Arizona Girls Wrestling), 5-2
Angelina Pena (Michigan) dec. Christina Borgmann (Florida), 7-0
135 pounds #
Margaret Buurma (Michigan Revolution Wrestling Club) dec. Taylor Colangelo (Arizona Girls Wrestling), 4-1
Lilliana Banks (Aviators Wrestling) fall Taylor Dawson (Illinois), 5:56
140 pounds #
Aleksandra Bastaic (Highland Wrestling Club) fall Madison Sherman (Sons Of Atlas Wrestling Club), 3:17
Mackenzie Pratt (Illinois) fall Rita Carey (Ohio), 2:48
145 pounds #
Valerie Hamilton (SOT-C) fall Gabriella Ocasio (Kentucky), 2:41
Gretchen Donally (Montana) dec. Elise Twait (Team Idaho Wrestling Club), 8-2
155 pounds #
Skylar Slade (Moen Wrestling Academy) fall Leila Thomas (Indiana), 3:05
Sage Rosario (Kansas) fall Cali Dupree (Nixa High School Wrestling), 1:53
170 pounds #
Naomi Simon (Northeast Iowa Wrestling Club) fall Kiley Dillow (Chanute Wrestling Club), 2:22
Amarisa Manuel (Michigan Revolution Wrestling Club) fall Emily Novak (Minnesota), 2:43
190 pounds #
Brooke Huffman (Team Nazar Training Center) fall Amie Hartman (Team Idaho Wrestling Club), 5:48
Ella Murphey (Mayhem WC) fall Bella Porcelli (Grand View Wrestling Club), 1:31
235 pounds #
Tilisa Matakaiongo (Iron County Wrestling Academy) fall Jayden Moehle (MO West Championship Wrestling Club), 3:10
Ella Brown (Big Game Wrestling Club) fall Hailey Conley (Kansas), 3:13
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