Jesse Landtroop was the top finisher for Sweet Home at the 2025 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals wrestling tournament held July 12-19 in Fargo, N.D.
Landtroop, who will be a junior this fall, wrestling at 120 pounds in the 16U Division, went 3-2 in Greco and 1-2 in freestyle.
He opened the Greco competition with an 8-0 tech fall over Tyler Shin of Virginia, then beat eventual seventh-place finisher Mateo Gallegos of Pennsylvania 14-3, another tech fall, before losing to then lost 11-6 to Anthony Valls of New York, then beat Hendrix Schwab of Iowa 8-0 (another tech fall) in the consolation bracket before losing to No. 1 seed Corey Brown of Maryland 4-2.
In freestyle, Landtroop beat Jake Benyo of Pennsylvania 9-2 in the first round, then lost to Corey Brown 10-0, before losing 4-2 to Riley Alancar of Pennsylvania.
Tytus Hardee, a senior-to-be this year, wrestling at 126 pounds in the Junior Division, lost 9-7 in first round of the freestyle competition to Joseph DeAngelo of New Jersey, then lost by a 12-1 tech fall to Shea Richter of South Dakota. In Greco he opened with an 8-0 loss Graysen Crites of Colorado to end his tournament.
Keegan Jefferson, wrestling at 113 pounds in the Junior Division, lost both his matches, 13-3 to Anthony Perry III of Ohio in freestyle and 8-0 in Greco to Adam Husseini of Virginia.
Coach Steve Thorpe noted that they were wrestling against the best competition available at the high school level in North America.
The tournament drew a record-breaking 8,531 entries, making it the largest wrestling tournament in the world, according to USA Wrestling.
Thorpe thanked local contributors who helped get the boys to Fargo which, he noted, isn’t a cheap trip, to allow them to compete.
“Any time you’re going to Fargo, you’re testing yourself not just against the best in the state, but the best in the U.S.,” he said. “These guys are doing that stuff, competing the way they’re competing. They’re training through the spring into the summer, then they go to the Santiam Camp and the national camp, then they go to Fargo.”