Local wrestlers headed to Fargo for Cadet/Junior nationals

Stanwood High School junior Riley Van Scoy has been wrestling at an elite level most of his life.

He’s won Washington State Wrestling Association freestyle and Greco-Roman championships in multiple age groups, and has multiple youth national titles to his credit.

Those achievements are alongside a pair of top-four finishes at Mat Classic in his first two high school seasons.

It’s all been preparation for his first trip to Fargo.

This week, along with nine other Snohomish County wrestlers (five boys, four girls), Van Scoy will travel to North Dakota’s largest city for the Cadet/Junior National Championships, the toughest tournament for high school-aged wrestlers in the country.

Van Scoy said he and his family will be traveling to North Dakota on Wednesday. The tournament begins Saturday with the freestyle competition. The Greco-Roman portion of the event starts July 18 and runs through July 20.

“It’s one of the toughest tournaments in the nation,” said Van Scoy, who will compete at 152 pounds in the Cadet division, which is for wrestlers born in either 2002 or 2003. “There might be 100 kids in my bracket, maybe more. Everyone that goes is really tough, and some of the kids that you expect to place really high don’t even place.”

Joining Van Scoy in the Cadet division will be Granite Falls’ Hayden Long, Marysville Pilchuck’s Cayden White, Lake Stevens’ Wyatt Springer, Glacier Peak’s Kiley Hubby and Snohomish’s Alycia Pidgeon.

Lake Stevens’ Isaac Gust, Marysville Pilchuck’s Austin Davis, Lakewood’s Cassidy O’Hara and Snohomish’s Joessie Gonzales will compete in the Junior division, for wrestlers born in 2000 or 2001.

Justin Springer, Wyatt’s father, will be one of the coaches for Washington’s representatives in Fargo.

Van Scoy, Long, White and Springer were part of the Washington team that took second place at the Cadet National Duals in Spokane in June, and will look to carry over that success to this individual tournament.

Before the Duals, Van Scoy spoke about how he and his teammates were looking forward to competing together after battling against one another inside and outside of high school competition.

That all goes away this week.

“You just go out and lay everything out there,” he said. “It’s only you that’s wrestling, and you either win or you lose. I’m expecting tough matches, but I’m confident about it.”