Did USA Wrestling's Junior and 16U National Championships (aka Fargo) feel bigger than ever this year? That's because it was, and we have the stats to prove it! 

We've got participation numbers for all three styles going back to 2010 and the growth, particularly in women's wrestling, is striking. 

For the fifth Fargo in a row (2020's event was canceled due to covid), USA Wrestling saw a rise in the event's high water mark, as 2023 saw 7,131 competitors enter the brackets, good for a healthy 7.2% increase over 2022. 

In ten years, the growth in all three styles has grown at an astounding pace:

• Boys freestyle is up 54%
• Greco-Roman is up 46%
• Girls freestyle is up 412%!!!

We also have a graph breaking those numbers down by style and age, which we can drop here in the blog. 

Growth In The Girls Divisions Is Not Slowing Down

Though it appears that the growth in the Junior and 16U brackets is hitting a plateau, this is due to a change in schedule, and growth in female wrestling is building as steadily as ever. 

In the past, it was common for talented youngsters to compete in both the 16U and Junior brackets. However, with those two tournaments now taking place simultaneously, as opposed to a day apart, the number of girls wrestling in both age divisions plummeted from hundreds to just a couple of brave participants. 

So while the participation number for junior girls weights is technically down year-over-year, the number of distinct individuals in both age levels is up. 

This becomes evident by focusing on just the 16U girls tournament, as juniors are not eligible to participate in the 16U division, but not vice versa. 

It may seem hard to believe now, but 2011 was the first year USA Wrestling hosted a 16U girls tournament at Fargo, and below are the participation numbers for every 16U girls tournament in Fargo history. 

• 2011: 81
• 2012: 85
• 2013: 86
• 2014: 121
• 2015: 164
• 2016: 202
• 2017: 242
• 2018: 258
• 2019: 360
• 2021: 350
• 2022: 518
• 2023: 740

That's over a 20% compound annual growth rate, not bad!

Boys Freestyle Brackets Are Close To Maxed Out

The boys freestyle competitions already stretch over three days, a necessary adjustment to accommodate brackets that often feature a round of 256, meaning someone who has a pigtail and wins the bracket would go 8-0. 

For a live look at how massive the boys freestyle days are inside the Fargodome, check out the video in the tweet X-post below. 

Biggest. Fargo. Ever. pic.twitter.com/xXwKHgWVYx

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) July 17, 2023

The junior boys freestyle brackets have had between 1,560 and 1,600 participants for the last three years. The 16U brackets were about a hundred or so entries off that pace but have caught up in 2023, as both age levels hit all-time highs. 

• 2023 16U boys freestyle participation: 1,595
• 2023 JR boys freestyle participation: 1,596

This has stretched the capacity of the Fargodome to its limits, as all mats that fit in the Fargodome are utilized for those first two days of the tournaments. 

How Much Bigger Can Fargo Get?

That's a question that probably even USA Wrestling can't answer at the moment. 

And that's a question that begets many other questions. Just how large can the brackets go? If we're out of mat space, could the 16U and Junior boys freestyle tournaments be separated and extra days added to the event? Can we get the Greco numbers to match the freestyle numbers? Does the Fargodome have availability for extra days? Can FloWrestling stream a larger event?

Pretty sure the answer to that last question is yes, but we don't want to speak for other departments here at FloHQ. 

The folks at the state wrestling associations, the city of Fargo, and all the other partners that make Fargo the special event that is, will all likely be consulted and then USA Wrestling will have to come up with a new plan. 

Considering that we just went through a fairly substantial change in the scheduling, we're guessing the powers might not have the appetite for another major change to the program a year later, but you never know!

What we can say with certainty is that despite the rapid growth in the event, Fargo still feels like a homecoming of sorts. A family reunion on a scale far more interment than the raw numbers would suggest. And we will be there to cover the next iteration of Fargo no matter how much larger it gets!