Columbus North’s, from left, Evan Saevre, Justice Thornton and Cohen Long competed in last week’s USA Wrestling Cadet/Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
The USA Wrestling Cadet/Junior Nationals are more commonly referred to by the town in which they take place.
“Fargo,” as in Fargo, North Dakota, hosts the nation’s top tournament for high school wrestlers each fall. Last week, three Columbus North wrestlers had a chance to compete in the prestigious event for Team Indiana.
“It was a pretty cool experience, a lot of people there, big tournament,” incoming sophomore Cohen Long said. “I got to talk to people from a lot of different states. I didn’t do as good as I would have liked, but it was pretty solid overall. It will take a lot of the pressure off because nothing will feel as big as that tournament did.”
Long wrestled in both the freestyle and Greco-Roman events in the Cadet (16-and-under) division. He went 5-4 overall and made Round of 32 at 144 pounds in Greco before falling in Blood Round, one match away from placing.
Incoming senior Justice Thornton went 3-2 at 144 for freestyle in the Junior (18-and-under) division. He also made the Round of 32.
“I didn’t do as good as I’d have liked,” Thornton said. “I could have done better. There’s always room for improvement, but overall, pretty decent.”
Thornton, a two-time high school state qualifier, was making his second trip to Fargo.
“I’ve already been there, and it just made it seem easier than the first time,” Thornton said. “I wasn’t as nervous. I didn’t have as much to try to prove.”
Long and incoming senior Evan Saevre each were making their Fargo debuts. Saevre lost both of his matches at 190 for Greco in the Junior division.
“It was a lot of fun,” Saevre said. “I got to meet a lot of new people from around Indiana that I kind of look up to. The experience was great. I didn’t do as well as I wanted to, but it just makes me hungry for the season. It was a big tournament, a lot of people, put a lot of pressure on me, so I think when the season comes around, I won’t have as much pressure on me.”
North coach Matt Joyce didn’t get to make the trip to Fargo this year, but watched his wrestlers from home and provided some tips via phone.
“I think they all wrestled really well,” Joyce said. “Evan’s matches, he wrestled really tough, and I think he put too much pressure on himself in some spots where he maybe got beat by a kid where if it were in any other venue or any other setting, he probably beats both of those kids. For Justice and Cohen to go win the matches that they did and compete at the national level — this is truly the national tournament that really gets looked at — for them to do as well as they did is really encouraging.
“That’s the first time in a long time North has had someone make the second day,” he added. “Even winning a couple of matches out there is a big deal. There’s tons of kids that will go out and lose their first two matches. It’s a big environment. It’s a big national-level tournament. So to be top-32 is a really big deal.”
