Kansas and Colorado Wrestlers to Watch at Fargo 2026

Kansas and Colorado are two western states where girls wrestling has grown explosively and the freestyle/Greco pipeline is producing athletes who can compete nationally at Fargo. Kansas has more than 12,700 rostered wrestlers and over 353,000 matches in the database. Colorado has more than 7,000 rostered wrestlers and is punching well above its weight in terms of elite talent. Both states are sending wrestlers to the 2026 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals who will be very difficult to beat.

Colorado's Marlee Solomon is the highest-rated wrestler from either state — and one of the highest-rated wrestlers in the entire country. Solomon carries a 2653 overall rating on a 153-12 record with a 2258 freestyle rating and a 2096 Greco-Roman rating. Those numbers make her a genuine favorite in any bracket she enters at Fargo. Behind her, Cooper Mathews of Cherokee Trail (2463, 144-24) is a dual-style threat with a 2095 freestyle rating and a 2235 Greco-Roman rating. Chase Gilbert of Lewis-Palmer (2451, 83-10) mirrors that profile with 2142 freestyle and 2192 Greco marks. Colorado's cross-style depth is remarkable — Duane Leslie of Mead (2334, 113-13) adds a 2062 freestyle and 2171 Greco rating, and Parker Wickam of Eaton (2341, 87-11) carries 2032 freestyle and 1984 Greco ratings. On the girls side, Jaydin Cuevas of Prairie View (2429, 76-5) and Katey Valdez of Doherty (2388, 78-12) lead a growing Colorado girls program.

Kansas has one of the deepest girls wrestling programs in the country. Roman Tuttle of Southeast of Saline leads the state's boys at 2505 on a 97-7 record, but the girls roster is where Kansas truly stands out. Gray Joyce of Wichita Training Center (2407, 45-6) carries a 2154 freestyle rating that makes her a Fargo freestyle contender. Juliana Villanueva of Junction City (2407, 72-2) matches her overall rating. Presley Beard, also of Wichita Training Center (2355, 72-9), is one of the few Kansas wrestlers rated above 2000 in both freestyle (2052) and Greco-Roman (2005). And Peyton Eklund (2351, 250-36) has logged an extraordinary 250 career wins — the most of any wrestler on this list from either state.

On the Kansas boys side, the Maize pipeline stands out. Everett Joyce of Maize (2372, 78-7), Antonio Guebara of Maize (2357, 91-8), and Vincent Rosas of Maize (2320, 91-11) give the program three rated wrestlers, with Rosas carrying a 2091 freestyle rating. Caeleb Hutchinson of Manhattan (2381, 82-11) leads the non-Maize boys with a 1952 freestyle and 1882 Greco rating. Cooper Reves of Salina-Central (2373, 51-5) and Murphy Randolph of Abilene (2319, 121-21) add depth, with Randolph carrying a 2061 Greco-Roman rating that makes him a Fargo Greco threat.

The contrast between these two states tells an interesting story. Colorado's advantage is top-end elite talent — Solomon is in a class by herself, and Mathews, Gilbert, and Leslie all carry freestyle and Greco ratings above 2000, the kind of cross-style profile that produces Fargo medalists. Kansas wins on depth, particularly in girls wrestling, where the state has more than a dozen girls rated above 2290 and a culture of high-volume competing (Eklund's 250 wins, Marina Loera's 137). Both states benefit from active club programs — Wichita Training Center in Kansas, and programs like Cherokee Trail and Pomona in Colorado — that keep athletes training and competing in international styles year-round.

For the full profiles on any of these wrestlers — including WPR scores, archetype breakdowns, rating trajectories, and complete match histories — click through to their MatMetrics profile. Summer qualifiers will move some of these ratings, but the picture is clear: Kansas and Colorado are sending legitimate Fargo contenders in 2026.