Fargo is the great American wrestling thermometer, taking the temperature of all the states in the country and giving us a snapshot of their condition. There are many factors that go into a state's performance at the U.S. Marine Corp U16 and Junior National Championships, some are beyond the control of the state associations, but many are not. 

To get a better idea of which states were having a banner season and which were having a Fargo to forget, we averaged the results from the last five Fargos prior to 2019 and compared them to the results from last week. Also, please note that unfortunately we don't have the history of the women's freestyle tournaments handy, so we'll be delving into that information a little later. For now, we are just considering that the aggregate from each state in Junior and U16 (formerly called Cadet) men's freestyle and Greco-Roman tournament.

So which states did better and worse in 2019 than they have in recent years? Let's find out!

Points

The last column on these tables is the most important, as it shows the difference in points scored by each state in 2019 compared to the average of 2014 through 2018. 

As the numbers plainly state, Team Georgia went berserk in Fargo. They scored more than three and a half more points in 2019 than they averaged in the previous five years. Nebraska, California, and Iowa also had exceptional Fargos in this regard. 

On the other side of the spectrum, Illinois, New Jersey, and Utah all racked up fewer points than usual, though it should be noted that Illinois scored more total points in the men's divisions than any other state, which lessens the sting of such a steep drop. It's more a testament to their outstanding performances of the past than it is any indication that 2019 should be considered a letdown. 

Helping Illinois amass that huge point total were folks like Josh Ogunsanya, who picked up an extra team point when he won his seventh-place match over Pennsylvania's Gabe Miller, which you can watch below.

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All-Americans

We can also compare the number of All-Americans each state had this year compared to the average from the previous five seasons. Unsurprisingly, Georgia once again set a team record (we'll return to focus on Team Georgia in another article in the near future). 

Nebraska also put up unusually good numbers, with more than 10 more All-Americans than they typically get. Camden Russell's championship performance in the 126-pound Junior Greco finals, which you can watch below, helped Nebraska amass their impressive total. 

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The Garden State was decidedly less prolific than its cornhusking counterpart, collecting 11 fewer All-Americans than its typical Fargo haul. Illinois also missed its mark by double digits, but this is once again coming from an insanely high standard. Not as disappointing a result as it must be as for Team New Jersey we are guessing. 

Likewise for the Utah male wrestlers, only five of whom managed to earn a place on the podium this year. Although this is more than Utah's one male All-American in 2018, it is far fewer than in 2014, 2015, and 2016, when the Utes tallied at least 17 AAs at each event. 

Champions

Finally, when considering Fargo champs,  Illinois once again had the highest total. However, it was California that made the biggest gains, notching seven male champs in 2019, four more than its recent average. The Bear Republic have state treasures like Jonovan Smith to thank for their good fortune. You can watch Jonovan win a stop sign in the video below.

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Missouri, while having an excellent Fargo overall, with more All-Americans than usual, had less luck in scoring champions, managing only one, while averaging more than three over the previous five years.