Idaho wrestlers won four national titles, earned 16 All-American honors at Fargo
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- Idaho wrestlers won 4 national titles and secured 16 All-American honors in Fargo.
- Ivan Ivanov earned back-to-back national titles and historic outstanding wrestler honors.
- Idaho placed second in 16U Greco-Roman team standings.
Idaho wrestlers cleaned up at the country’s premier tournament earlier this month, capturing four individual national titles and 16 All-American honors in Fargo, North Dakota.
Incoming Eagle junior Ivan Ivanov (175 pounds) led the group at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals, winning his second straight 16-and-under Greco-Roman title while earning back-to-back outstanding wrestler awards — a first in category history.
Other Gem State national champs included Bishop Kelly grad Matthew Martino (junior Greco, 150 pounds), incoming Mountain View junior Gage Ponton (16U Greco, 215) and Mountain Home grad Amie Hartman (girls junior freestyle, 207).
“Everyone just loves working hard,” Ponton told USA Wrestling about Team Idaho. “It’s a great community, a great family we all have together.”
Ivanov continued to dominate the nation’s top tournament despite competing with a broken wrist and foot. He racked up seven straight tech falls in his bracket, outscoring opponents 73-12 for another national title.
He shrugged off the injuries, which forced him to miss the World Team Trials, in a postmatch interview with USA Wrestling.
“Since I broke all my toes, I couldn’t hit any backsteps,” Ivanov said. “I couldn’t hit my signature headlock, arm throws, arm spins. I couldn’t hit them. So I had to adjust my style to body locks, more over-the-back throws.”
Ponton showed a similar level of mastery, winning his first four matches via tech fall without surrendering a point. He then recorded two straight decisions to outscore opponents 47-7, giving Idaho two national champs in the division and leading the state to a second-place finish in the team standings in the 16-and-under Greco-Roman division.
The last time Idaho brought home two national titles in the division came in 1996, the tournament’s first year in Fargo.
Martino brought considerably more drama to his first national title. Ohio’s Dmytro Chubenko opened the junior Greco 150-pound title match by scoring a grand amplitude throw for a 5-0 lead. But the Princeton signee whittled away and rallied for a 6-5 victory.
“Mike Tyson once said, ‘Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face.’ My coach reminded me of that,” Martino told USA Wrestling. “It’s kind of the same thing. Everyone has a plan until you get five’d on the Fargo stage. That’s my second time getting five’d this tournament.
“But we had a style. We stuck to it, and six unanswered points and winning 6-5, sometimes that’s how you have to do it.”
Martino also took third in the junior freestyle bracket, making him a rare All-American in both styles.
Hartman wrapped up Idaho’s title haul, pulling out back-to-back one-point victories to become the fifth girl from Idaho to win a Fargo national title. The future Dickinson State (NAIA) wrestler said her approach to this year’s tournament helped her on the mat.
“I had a real big problem of psyching myself out the past couple years,” Hartman told USA Wrestling while clutching her trademark cowboy hat. “This tournament, I didn’t look at the bracket. I didn’t know I was the first seed. I went through the whole first day without knowing where I was.
“… I just went out there and gave it my all. That was kind of the difference. I just had a pretty good mindset this time.”
IDAHO FARGO ALL-AMERICANS
Below is a complete list of Idaho Fargo All-Americans.
Boys junior Greco-Roman
- 1st place - Matthew Martino, 150 pounds, Bishop Kelly grad
- 3rd - Boden Banta, 126, South Fremont grad
- 7th - Saxton Scott, 126, Idaho Falls grad
Boys junior freestyle
- 3rd - Matthew Martino, 150, Bishop Kelly grad
Boys 16U Greco-Roman
- 1st - Ivan Ivanov, 175, Eagle junior
- 1st - Gage Ponton, 215, Mountain View junior
- 2nd - Blake Nevils, 132, Meridian sophomore
- 4th - Holten Crane, 106, Bishop Kelly junior
- 4th - Greysen Packer, 113, South Fremont sophomore
Boys 16U freestyle
- 7th - Brand’n Edstrom, 113, Madison junior
Girls junior freestyle
- 1st - Amie Hartman, 207, Mountain Home grad
- 4th - Joely Slyter, 115, Lewiston grad
- 4th - Elise Twait, 145, Meridian grad
Girls 16U freestyle
- 2nd - Olivia Bezdicek, 130, Jerome junior
- 7th - Ali Svancara, 110, Buhl junior
- 8th - Molly Olague, 170, Skyline junior
TWO IDAHO GRADS SIGN WITH MLB TEAMS
The Phillies agreed to terms with Mountain View grad Jack Barker (2023), and the Twins inked Idaho Falls grad Merit Jones (2022) after selecting both in the MLB Draft earlier this month. Both signed for a reported $150,000 signing bonus, according to MLB’s Draft Tracker.
Philadelphia took Jones in the 13th round after he set school records at the College of Southern Idaho this season in batting average (.455), hits (92), doubles (22) and triples (seven). He was a first-team all-state selection as a senior at Mountain View in 2023, and MLB.com referred to him as “an elite left-handed-hitting outfielder.”
Minnesota drafted Jones for the second straight season after failing to sign him as a 20th-round pick last year. The 14th-round pick and former Idaho all-class Gatorade player of the year went 4-6 for Utah this spring with a 6.95 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 79 innings. After three seasons, the 6-foot-4 right-hander leaves the Utes ranked sixth in career starts (40) and 10th in career strikeouts (175).
JONES WINS PAN-AM GOLD MEDAL
Former Mountain View wrestler Shilo Jones (2024 grad) captured his third major title of the year, dominating the heavyweight Greco-Roman bracket at the U-20 Pan-American Games earlier this month in Peru.
The incoming sophomore at North Dakota State went 4-0 in a five-man round robin, surrendering just one point while scoring three technical falls and a pin.
The gold medal follows first-place finishes at the U-20 Greco-Roman U.S. Open in April, and America’s U-20 Greco-Roman World Team Trial in May.
HOWELL NAMED WORLD CUP ALL-STAR
Boise grad Avery Howell (2024) led Canada to a fourth-place finish at the FIBA U-19 Women’s World Cup in Czechia earlier this month, earning a spot on the all-tournament second team.
Howell finished as Canada’s second-leading scorer in the tournament, averaging 14.1 points per game while shooting 48.6% from the field and sinking 18 3-pointers. Her top performance saw her score 26 points in a 115-52 win over China in the group stage.
This story was originally published July 30, 2025 at 12:03 PM.
