Three Long Island wrestlers place in top 8, earn All-American status at Fargo wrestling tournament

Three Long Island wrestlers returned home from Fargo, North Dakota with hardware.

North Babylon’s Xavier Seabury, Lindenhurst’s Anthony Severino and Bellmore JFK’s Peter Mikedis each placed in the top eight of their weight class at last week’s U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals to earn All-American status.

The tournament, commonly known as “Fargo,” is widely considered the toughest high school wrestling tournament in the country.

Becoming a Fargo All-American is tough enough to do once, but Seabury did it twice in the same week.

The rising junior placed seventh at 120 pounds in both the 16U Men’s Freestyle and Greco Roman tournaments.

Seabury won a 7-6 decision over Wisconsin’s Mason Moody to secure a spot on the freestyle podium. He beat Cody Householder (Pennsylvania) 10-0 by technical fall in 1:23 in the seventh-place match.

Seabury earned All-American honors in the Greco Roman tournament with a 14-13 decision over Tucker McLennan (Minnesota). He defeated Dylan Phillips (Michigan) 11-2 by technical fall in 2:29 for seventh place.

“It’s really cool being a double All-American. It was a lot of wrestling,” said Seabury, who wrestled 19 matches in five days. “I went into the tournament thinking I was going to win it all. I wrestled kids who I’d never seen before and they don’t care about who you are or what you’ve done. They’re all fundamental wrestlers. Everyone is hungry there.”

Seabury won the Division I state title at 110 pounds in March to become North Babylon’s second state champion and first since 2016. In June, Seabury announced his commitment to the New York Military Academy (NYMA), a private, college preparatory school, for his final two high school years.

“It’s just a better placement for my future,” Seabury said. “I get to wrestle against the best kids in the country and be in a classroom with a small group of people to learn better.”

Seabury won’t be eligible to compete in the state tournament, and instead will compete in the National Prep Wrestling Championships. With a career record of 123-9, Seabury leaves behind a large legacy at North Babylon.

“The North Babylon wrestling room is the first room I’ve ever wrestled in,” Seabury said. “Coach [Paul] Turano really got me into wrestling. I grew up with everyone on the team. It’s been an unforgettable experience and I’ll always be grateful for that. It’s going to be hard leaving all my friends. It’s a new chapter.”

Severino ends HS career on high note

Severino, who graduated from Lindenhurst in June, will head to NYMA for a post-grad year.

After falling a few matches short of the podium in the Junior Men’s Freestyle, Severino said he was disappointed with his performance and wanted to leave before the Greco Roman tournament.

“I got my head back into it shortly after because I had a whole other tournament to wrestle,” Severino said.

His decision to stick around paid dividends: he placed eighth at 144 pounds.

Severino lost in the round of 16, but won three straight consolation matches to earn a spot on the podium. He pinned Anthony Delgado (Nevada) in 1:45 to secure All-American status.

“Honestly, I was so surprised,” Severino said. “I don’t really practice Greco Roman, so I didn’t go into that tournament with any expectations, I just wanted to go and have fun. I pinned [Delgado] in the blood round and I looked up at my dad, and even he said that it didn’t look like I believed it.”

Severino is a two-time state finalist and three-time state place winner. Earning a spot on the Fargo podium is the cherry on top to a fantastic high school career.

“Every match at Fargo is a barn-burner,” Severino said. “After I won the blood round, I lost the next two matches and placed eighth, but I still left happy. It’s the hardest tournament to place at in the country. Just winning a match at Fargo proves that you’ve done something.”

Mikedis takes 'huge step'

Of the eight New York boys who became All-Americans, Mikedis placed the highest.

He reached the semifinals of the 16U Greco Roman tournament at 175 pounds, where he lost to eventual champion Tyde Nelsen (Iowa). Mikedis, a rising junior, defeated Arel Francke (California) 8-0 by technical fall in 1:06 to place fifth.

Mikedis is Bellmore JFK’s first Fargo All-American since Travis Sickle placed sixth in freestyle in 1999 and the Cougars’ first Greco Roman All-American since Scott Beck’s sixth-place finish in 1984, according to coach Brian DeGaetano.

“We’ve had some good kids go out there, it’s just very difficult,” DeGaetano said. “It’s the toughest tournament in the country, hands down. This is a huge step for Peter. We’re real proud of him.”

Mikedis also won five matches in the freestyle tournament, but fell short of the podium. In February, Mikedis became Bellmore JFK’s first Nassau champion since 2013. He placed sixth at the state tournament.

“He came to practice on Monday with his award to show everybody and you could already see that his confidence is through the roof,” DeGaetano said. “I’ve been coaching him since sixth grade and every year, he takes another step. There’s no question this puts him in a better position to win a state championship this upcoming season.”