Cant be Mocco’s kid, I saw no kicks or punches.
Oh shut up, you knew SOMEONE was gonna say it.😜
Fargo 2023
- Thread starter BigFella235
- Start date
Oh shut up, you knew SOMEONE was gonna say it.😜
Hmmm 220 before he can drive, a HWT in College? Ya think!
Connor Mirasola’s match is at 1:36:00, in the video below.
You're leading for poster of the year as far as I'm concerned.
yeah, wow. Mirasola looked so crisp, savvy, and decisive in that bout! I don't think I've given those boys enough credit. He's already at a very high level as a junior--imagine what the PSU experience can add....
The Mirasola boys look like jumbo sized Nick Lees. Not sure about wrestling styles, but looks-wise
And J'Den Cox was 215 as a HS soph, has yet to wrestle HWT since enrolling at Missouri other than an occasional one-off bump up.
There are some really really good young kids who doubled up at Fargo. At 120 Jayden Raney won a killer freestyle bracket and ran through greco as well. Him and his brother are both going to be big time recruits.
At 152 Kyler Knaack from IA won both styles. He is a sophomore state champ who placed 6th as a freshman
Aaron Stewart is the kid I’m keeping a close eye on. Kid is an absolute beast. I highly recommend watching a few of his matches. He won both styles at 160 pounds wrestling out of Illinois
Probably the best of all of these kids is the 195lb double champion Dreshaun Ross from Iowa. Scary thing is that he is supposedly an even better football player. He won Iowa states as a freshman this past year. He also teched everyone in both styles this weekend! Pretty sure he’s the only kid to do that this tournament. Ross made the U17 world team in greco and took 2nd in freestyle losing to Aeoden Sinclair in the finals all while only being 15 years old. Kid is scary talented
Finally, we have Michael Mocco who doubled up at 220. He was voted the OW of the freestyle tournament. Michael is the son of national champion and Olympian Steven Mocco.
Lots of great young talent on the way. It’s fun to start following these guys and watch them improve. Wrestling is in a pretty great place right now. The talent level has never been higher
At 152 Kyler Knaack from IA won both styles. He is a sophomore state champ who placed 6th as a freshman
Aaron Stewart is the kid I’m keeping a close eye on. Kid is an absolute beast. I highly recommend watching a few of his matches. He won both styles at 160 pounds wrestling out of Illinois
Probably the best of all of these kids is the 195lb double champion Dreshaun Ross from Iowa. Scary thing is that he is supposedly an even better football player. He won Iowa states as a freshman this past year. He also teched everyone in both styles this weekend! Pretty sure he’s the only kid to do that this tournament. Ross made the U17 world team in greco and took 2nd in freestyle losing to Aeoden Sinclair in the finals all while only being 15 years old. Kid is scary talented
Finally, we have Michael Mocco who doubled up at 220. He was voted the OW of the freestyle tournament. Michael is the son of national champion and Olympian Steven Mocco.
Lots of great young talent on the way. It’s fun to start following these guys and watch them improve. Wrestling is in a pretty great place right now. The talent level has never been higher
I would not be shocked if Ross ends up going to a SEC school for football that tells him they would prefer he doesn't wrestle his senior year of college because they don't give two damns about it and don't want him getting injured.
Jesus I just watched the Stewart kid. How have I never heard of him before. He is a first year U16 and looks like a College Senior on great supplements. Explosive and fast, Illinois got a monster
Mocco’s son could be better than he was, which is down right scary.
PA struggles bad at Greco! When did Colorado and Idaho take over Greco?
Graduated seniors wrestling fargo is crazy, does PA ever have Grad Seniors going? I don’t remember that ever
Sem, Faith, NDGP, and Mcort all had the best showings. Why does no Public schools take this event serious like the recruiting Preps/privates do? Most of the Public school coaches must be off the clock
Got our first AA in a hot minute in 16U Greco, today. Easily the best drive home from Fargo in years. Big day for our little hole-in-the-wall club.
I love the tournament, but I'm never sad to get home.
I love the tournament, but I'm never sad to get home.
Most public school kids play multiple sports, with summer camp/2 adays, football kids generally are not doing Fargo. The cost is also a big factor, compared to when I went it outrageous and doesnt even include transportation. Im in D4, most of our best kids train year round, but they kinda take it easy in the summer and I dont blame them. Its a grind for the kids,parents, and coaches. I want my kids to want to wrestle in college. Honestly, thats the only way we'll get most of these kids to go. Freestyle and Greco just isnt a big deal to most of the kids in our area. It hasn't really hurt the performance side and a bunch are going D1 so its not hurting that side either.
Also, Fargo is forever away from PA. Orlando is a shorter drive from all of PA, and by several hours for most of the state. (That's before getting stuck in Chicago traffic.)
Plus you can fly the family cheap nonstop to Orlando from PA, and then not need a car once there.
So if all other things are equal (they're not), and you're planning your summer family vacation around a wrestling tournament, who's driving 16+ hrs (from Erie) or 20+ hrs (from PHL) to Fargo? This seems like an easy decision for all except the very top of the heap.
You can't possibly be serious about this. You're the same guy who complains nonstop about how the private schools have poached all of the talent, and now complaining that public schools didn't have good showings.
Aside from that, more than half of the PA JR freestyle medalists are public school kids.
PAUSAW did a great job this year with organizing the Fargo trip. It was $675 if just doing freestyle and that included registration, transportation, lodging, and food. I’d be interested in seeing the numbers, PA has to have one of the largest showings at Fargo.
We’re a bordering state, and it cost us more than that this year.
I was sitting in the airport in Minneapolis last night waiting for my delayed flight to arrive. Looked over and I saw a kid with a Fargo t-shirt on. I caught his eye and nodded to the t-shirt and asked if he had wrestled. He nodded yes and seemed very pleased with himself when he mentioned that he had made top 32. I agreed that Fargo is brutal and congratulated him. He seemed like a sincerely nice kid. I asked if he had any future plans and he said he wanted to wrestle at Cornell. He's a 126 from somewhere in the Niagara falls area. I sat next to him for a while and we chatted quite a bit about this and that. I believe he was wrestling Greco at Fargo, but may have wrestled freestyle as well.
His name is Nikolas Massaro from St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute. He went 2-2 at 126lbs in Junior Greco and did not wrestle Freestyle. Matburn (NY’s version of the PA-wrestling website) says he took 5th at the Division I NY State tournament last year
Fun PA fargo Facts
Every PA Champion At Fargo transferred schools going into High school. As you all know I am and always will be a public school advocate. But it’s hard to deny families more than ever are moving and transferring their kids to these schools for obvious reasons. I guess after all it would be hard to blame them.
Sidun- Transferred to Norwin from Yough
Miller- Transferred to Mcort from Forrest hills
Forest- Moved from NC
Bouzakis- moved from FL to Sem to NDGP
Deter- Transferred Cumberland valley to Trinity
The Fargo Girls won their first title and they had at least four girls from Florida on the squad. People say it all the time kids have moved into pa for years but doesn’t it seem like more and more kids are transferring to PA from other states recently?
Every PA Champion At Fargo transferred schools going into High school. As you all know I am and always will be a public school advocate. But it’s hard to deny families more than ever are moving and transferring their kids to these schools for obvious reasons. I guess after all it would be hard to blame them.
Sidun- Transferred to Norwin from Yough
Miller- Transferred to Mcort from Forrest hills
Forest- Moved from NC
Bouzakis- moved from FL to Sem to NDGP
Deter- Transferred Cumberland valley to Trinity
The Fargo Girls won their first title and they had at least four girls from Florida on the squad. People say it all the time kids have moved into pa for years but doesn’t it seem like more and more kids are transferring to PA from other states recently?
That is a much better number than we have seen the last few years. Glad to hear it, at least they listened to all the complaints.
Sidun has been competing for Norwin for at least 2 years before entering HS, maybe more.
The board has had this debate before, so I'm not interested in revisiting it , but I don't consider a kid a transfer just because he doesn't end up at the HS of his 3rd grade school district.
I would be.
SEC schools/coaches are far more ok with wrestling than you would think. Just in general, when it comes to playing multiple sports - they prefer it. They want/love true athletes as opposed to just a good football player.
once again some of your info is incorrect (imagine that). Sidun has BEEN at Norwin for at least 2-years now, and to be honest, why would he even consider Yough in the first place? Very small (actually I don't know they even field a full team), and he made the move well before HS.
Detar moved to a struggling Trinity team, and let's be honest, it wasn't for partners. So not the typical transfer to a loaded team. And my understanding is Bouzakis is back at Sem.
If transfers are done within the rules and regulations, then not much you or I can say. The cases above are not recruitment in any way.
Idaho is moving up on the Greco scene. Saxton Scott looked good winning OW giving up one point all tournament. Couple nice heavies coming up as well. Fun to see some of the little states do well. As for the travel distance.... Welcome to our world where everything is a long travel. Boys would bus 4 hours one way for a in district dual meet. Just life in the fly over states.
I agree with you 100%. I never thought recruiting at all. I think that word is used all the time and rarely ever the case. I just was pointing out in wrestling, families relocate for their kids and to better their chances. This has been going on for decades. Trust me when Zain moved it only made sense and I was beyond angry when they made him sit out. Then miles up the road wrestlers did it and were wrestling that same season.
I'm not sure that we're talking about the same kid. I think he mentioned to me that his first name was Israel. My hearing isn't great and it wouldn't be shocking for me to have missed something though, so perhaps you're right.
Pa power article: kudos to these guys for putting the work in. I have been around for years and this team could go down as one of the greatest PIAA teams ever assembled. I had the pleasure to sit by some of their folks last year at team states and these people are great people.
Faith Christian will be one of the Top Teams in the Nation Next Year
We all knew Faith Christian would be EVEN better than they were in 2023 when they won a PIAA Class 2A State Dual Team Championship, but after Fargo, it seems the gap is widening between them and any other team in Pennsylvania. If Faith Christian was a State , they would have finished Top 10 in both divisions. Mark Effendian proved he is capable of being one of the best young heavyweights in the Nation with a 3rd place finish. Mason Wagner had a break-out performance at 139 pounds – where his teammate Arment Waltenbaugh was 5th. Incoming rookie Nicholas Singer showed-out at 152 pounds taking 4th and added more complexity into the Faith Christian line-up come next season. Sophomore Kole Davidheiser added another Fargo stop sign to his growing collection. Oh, and not to mention freshman State Champion Adam Waters beat State Champ Holden Garcia for the third time. Once the line-up gets worked out, Faith Christian will be the best team in Pennsylvania and a Top 10 dual team in the Nation.
Faith Christian will be one of the Top Teams in the Nation Next Year
We all knew Faith Christian would be EVEN better than they were in 2023 when they won a PIAA Class 2A State Dual Team Championship, but after Fargo, it seems the gap is widening between them and any other team in Pennsylvania. If Faith Christian was a State , they would have finished Top 10 in both divisions. Mark Effendian proved he is capable of being one of the best young heavyweights in the Nation with a 3rd place finish. Mason Wagner had a break-out performance at 139 pounds – where his teammate Arment Waltenbaugh was 5th. Incoming rookie Nicholas Singer showed-out at 152 pounds taking 4th and added more complexity into the Faith Christian line-up come next season. Sophomore Kole Davidheiser added another Fargo stop sign to his growing collection. Oh, and not to mention freshman State Champion Adam Waters beat State Champ Holden Garcia for the third time. Once the line-up gets worked out, Faith Christian will be the best team in Pennsylvania and a Top 10 dual team in the Nation.
That's surely him. Like I said, really a nice kid and seemed super excited to find a wrestling fan in the airport and was happy to chat about this and that (he talked about a tournament (I think the NY state tournament) where his opponent forfeited and Kyle Dake stood in so that he could get his hand raised)..
Penn State Commit Connor Mirasola Teched His Way Through Fargo - All His Full Matches at Fargo. Connor must possess some next level strength, as most guys could not stop his gut wrench, all while Connor made it look effortless.
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If I were him, I'd definitely get a pic of the ref raising my hand next to Dake, blow it up to poster size and frame it.
I disagree. Freestyle helps to improve finishing skills and mat awareness. Greco really focuses on handfighting, athleticism, and positioning. Training in the international styles can really accelerate an young wrestler's development, and the college rules move a little closer to FS every year.
And Bachmans weren't there (wrestling for Puerto Rico next week at Worlds). Both would have been likely to make the podium at the lower weights had they gone.
Detar actually went to Catholic school most of his life. Went to CV foe 2 years when his Catholic elementary/middle closed then chose to go back.
Correct on Sidun - they have been at Norwi. For a while.
As for the out of state move-ins. I have a hard time giving credit to PA for those reaults. Most were developed elsewhere - Florida in particular ctually has a great track record of developing wrestlers in the last decade. I'd bet most would be just as good had they stayed home.
