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The U.S. Marine Corps Junior National Girls Wrestling Championships in Fargo ended Saturday with a string of upsets and a one-point team thriller that will reshape High School On SI’s final girls national rankings for 2025–26. New Mexico’s Eloise Woolsey emerged as the tournament’s defining individual, and Pennsylvania edged Michigan 165–164 to claim the team crown.
Woolsey’s upset streak steals the show
Ranked No. 8 coming into Fargo, Eloise Woolsey put together a string of high-stakes wins that earned her the tournament’s **Outstanding Wrestler** distinction. Her path to the 155-pound title included clinical early stoppages and three signature upsets against higher-seeded opponents.
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Woolsey opened with a series of emphatic finishes — a sub-minute pin and a technical fall among them — before dispatching No. 2 Matilda Hruby, 15–6, in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Sarah Henckel, 6–4, in the semis. In the final she faced No. 1 Ella Poalillo of New Jersey, a U17 World Bronze medalist from 2025. Woolsey led 1–0 after the first period; Poalillo briefly took a 2–1 lead early in the second, but Woolsey responded with a step-out, then landed a double leg with exposure to swing the score to 6–2. A follow-up scramble produced two more points for Woolsey and the match ended 8–5.
Beyond the scoreboard, Woolsey’s performance matters because it injects a new contender into the national conversation for the coming school season and will influence how editors and coaches evaluate upper-echelon weight classes.
Quick finishes and dominant displays
Fargo produced several decisive title runs — some measured in minutes, others in mere seconds.
- Mackenzie Carder (Ohio, 125) closed out the final by fall in 1:05 after a sequence that included a navy roll and an arm-bar cradle.
- Brooke Huffman (Wisconsin, 190) pinned nearly every opponent she faced, including a 1:13 fall over No. 2 Tevia Nau Rarick in the final — a performance that underscored her physical dominance.
- Emma Bacon (Pennsylvania, 135) repeated as champion with a string of sub-minute pins, finishing the final in 27 seconds with an arm-bar after a single-leg entry.
- Jaclyn Bouzakis (Pennsylvania, 105) avenged a recent loss to Emma Faczak and closed the final on a technical fall, 12–2.
Team race decided by a single point
Pennsylvania’s depth paid off. The Keystoners collected three champions — Bacon, Bouzakis and Marlee Solomon (120) — and a host of scoring placers to squeeze past Michigan by one point.
Michigan’s lineup included repeat champions and breakout performances of their own, but the narrow margin at the end illustrates how every pin, tech fall and bonus point at Fargo carries weight when final national rankings are compiled.
| Place | State | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pennsylvania | 165 |
| 2 | Michigan | 164 |
| 3 | Indiana | 117 |
| 4 | Texas | 84 |
| 5 | California | 68 |
| 6 | Arizona | 68 |
| 7 | Ohio | 61 |
| 7 | Wisconsin | 61 |
| 9 | Iowa | 60 |
| 10 | New Jersey | 57 |
Other headline winners and turning points
– Marlee Solomon (120) picked up her first Fargo gold after a 16U silver in 2025, winning a low-scoring 4–0 final against Hailey Delgado.
– Lillee Denson (100) stunned a higher seed with a 45-second pin in the semifinals and followed with a comprehensive 11–3 final victory.
– At the upper weights, Phoenix Molina (207) returned to the top after missing the podium last year, shutting out Maddie Hayden 6–0 in the final.
There were also breakout runs from unseeded competitors who reached later rounds, underscoring the event’s role as both a proving ground and a predictor for the next scholastic season.
Why this matters now
Fargo closes the junior summer season and supplies the most current, head-to-head evidence editors use when setting end-of-year national rankings. Upsets by wrestlers like Woolsey and strong team depth from Pennsylvania will influence High School On SI’s final girls national standings for 2025–26, and they’ll likely prompt reassessments of several top-ranked athletes ahead of the high school season.
Coaches, recruits and ranking committees will be watching how Fargo’s results translate into fall seedings and college interest. For readers tracking the sport, the tournament provides an early look at which wrestlers are trending upward and which programs are building sustainable depth.
Full brackets and complete medal results were published by the event organizers and provide the match-by-match detail behind these summaries.
