Vinny Ferrari knew all about the lore of Fargo.
The name is synonymous with a prestigious wrestling tournament or TV show — or both, depending on your age — but for the Melissa sophomore-to-be, it was the former.
Growing up with that last name, obviously big-time tournaments were commonplace.
In his first trip to North Dakota for the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals, Ferrari went 6-1 and took second in the 16U 144-pound bracket.
“I went there to win, but second there is a big deal for some people, but I wanted to win,” said Ferrari, competing in Fargo for the first time.
A state champion at 132 pounds at the UIL Class 5A championships, Ferrari posted tech falls in his first three matches to reach the quarterfinals.
He secured an 11-0 tech fall win over Ross Chartier from Alaska in the first match. An 11-0 tech fall victory over Antonio Sutton from Georgia followed. Ferrari dispatched Aedan Ortega from California in the third match with another tech fall —13-2.
In the round of 16, he posted an 11-0 tech fall against Alex Briggs of Ohio.
Ferrari punched his ticket to the semifinals with a 10-5 decision against Gavin Cantera from Ohio, a Division 3 144-pound runner-up at the OHSAA state finals in March. (Runner-up link)
That set up a semifinal showdown with Jeremiah Hayes from Illinois. Hayes won the 16U Folkstyle National Championship and entered the freestyle and Greco brackets at Fargo.
A 10-5 win by Ferrari stopped Hayes on his track to a possible triple crown and put himself in the finals.
‘My semifinal match was a really good match,” Ferrari said. “I knew he was good.”
In the finals, Ferrari faced off against Reece Movahed of Pennsylvania. The two met years ago — 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa, at the USA Wrestling Preseason Nationals Grade School/Middle School event.
Movahed, also a freshman in the 2025-26 season, was coming off a 3rd-place showing at the U.S. Open.
Movahed led 2-0 after a first-period takedown and made it 4-0 with another takedown in the second period.
That was it for scoring.
“I have just got to work on a couple of things from that match, then be back,” Ferrari said, who watched back the match to see what he could learn from.
He was one of two All-Americans from Melissa. Maddox Fields took eighth in the 16U 138-pound bracket.
“It’s amazing,” Ferrari said of the Cardinals’ success. “It shows how far we’ve come as a program to have two guys be All-Americans.”
First Fargo Impressions
Ferrari said he has wrestled in some big tournaments and events, but Fargo was on a different level.
“It was awesome,” he said. “It was definitely the biggest tournament I’ve been to so far,” Ferrari said.
He said he enjoyed the atmosphere around the tournament and the finals, including the introduction leading up to the final matches.
“I wasn’t really nervous before that match,” he said. “I was really excited for that match and that big stage. Everyone was watching and the arena was packed and everything. It was more being excited for that experience in that moment and being in that position.”
He said the only thing he would change was coming out as the champion.
Summer of success
Since the high school season ended, Ferrari has been dominant on the mat.
He took first at the Barrientos Memorial Tournament in April. He followed up with a Texas USA Wrestling freestyle title in May. He won the Southern Plains Regional Championship, also in May, before the Fargo trip.
Ferrari said his next big event will be the Super 32 in North Carolina, slated for Oct. 24-25 in Greensboro.
