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FARGO, North Dakota – Colorado’s Eila Schultz knocked off the first No. 1 seed of the 16U Girls freestyle tournament at the 2026 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals on Thursday evening at the FARGODOME to headline the day.

At 135 pounds, Schultz scored a 12-1 technical fall against No. 1-seeded Emma Grimes of Pennsylvania in the round of 64. Schultz kept her strong run going in the round of 32 with a 30-second pin of Londyn Long of Illinois.

�Ѿ��ԲԱ���dzٲ�’s Emma Antoni entered the tournament as the only 91���� Triple Crown contender. To start her run toward the Triple Crown, she pinned Melody Vazquez of Indiana in 1:51 into the bout. Antoni’s next opponent is Ilyana Martinez of Missouri in the round of 32.

2025 U17 World bronze medalist Maisie Elliott of Washington rolled to a pair of 10-0 victories in her first two contests of the tournament. Elliott is also one of six wrestlers competing in both the 16U and Junior divisions. Of the six, Elliott, Iowa’s Abigail Peterson and Colorado’s Peggy Susan Dean are still on the championship sides of both their brackets. Elliott and Peterson are both competing at 100 pounds and are on opposite sides of both brackets, while Dean is in the 110-pound bracket.

Sophia Valdez of Colorado is the only other age-group World Team member in the 16U Girls division. She kicked off her Fargo run with an 11-0 technical fall over Pennsylvania’s Faylinn Smith at 95 pounds. Valdez is slated to represent Team USA at the U17 World Championships later this month in Baku, Azerbaijan.

There will be 16 new championships this year as no 2025 16U champions are back in the division this year. There are four returning runners-up from last year, and each is still in championship contention. Brooklyn Henry (95) and Riley Karwowski (110) of Pennsylvania, Gail Sullivan of New York (130) and Gray Joyce of Kansas (145) all bonused their way through day one of 16U Girls freestyle competition at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals.

Three returning Fargo All-Americans in Grimes, Kendra Ege of Illinois at 100 pounds and Addison Hunt of Texas (115 pounds) were pushed into the consolation side of the bracket after defeats on Thursday.

Chloe Medlock of Oklahoma leads the way in most falls in the least amount of time with three pins in 2:23 at the 110-pound weight class.

Pennsylvania has the most wrestlers left in the tournament, with 61. Illinois is just behind with 52, followed by California’s 45. Rounding out the top five are Ohio (44) and Wisconsin (39).

Competition at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals continues on Friday at 9 a.m. CT with both Junior and 16U Girls divisions in action.

The U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals is being broadcast live on . Brackets and match-by-match results are available on .

Visit the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals Event Hub and 91����’s social media platforms for complete coverage of the action in Fargo.

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1. Pennsylvania, 61

2. Illinois, 52

3. California, 45

4. Ohio, 44

5. Wisconsin, 39

6. Iowa, 32

7. Missouri, 29

8. New York, 27

9. Oklahoma, 24

T10. Michigan, 23

T10. Nebraska, 23