Rianna Tate is headed to The Fargo Nationals in July.

The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community member and MMA (mixed martial arts) fighter qualified for the biggest freestyle wrestling tournament in the country by defeating Arizona state champion Madelyn Oliver and other seasoned wrestlers on March 1, at the regional Freestyle National Qualifier at Red Mountain High School in Mesa. 

The qualifier recognized the top three wrestlers from each weight class. Top wrestlers earned a spot on Team Arizona to compete at the 2025 16U & 18U (Junior) National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota at the Fargo Dome.

Tate, a blue belt at 17 years old, went head-to-head with Oliver in the first round, matching point for point, until Tate’s takedown widened the lead; and she won the match 11-6.

She dominated her second-round matchup against Ashlyn Young with takedowns and kept that energy going into the final championship matchup with Mia Johnson. Tate controlled that fight and took home the gold.

“…now time to get back to the mat to improve and get better,” said Tate.

Tate took some time away from Muay Thai (striking/boxing) training to focus on the grappling/wrestling aspect of her MMA, a strategy sure to help her to be more well-rounded as she trains for future fights. She trains in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a self-defense style that includes grappling on the ground and submission holds.

“I’ll be fighting in the cage sometime next year so I’m starting to get prepared for that,” she said. “That’s [when] I’ll be making my adult amateur debut.”

In January, Tate competed in the ADCC Submission Fighting World Federation US Open in San Diego, California. She entered her own division, the women’s adult intermediate blue/purple belt 70kg (under 154 pounds), as well as the women’s adult advanced brown/black belt +70kg (over 154 pounds).

Tate placed first in her division and second in the advanced division.

“I wrestled lot at this tournament and got the job done and went against very tough well-decorated grapplers,” said Tate. “I was very happy with my performance that day, and [I am] still continuing to improve get better.”  

Tate’s father and coach, MMA fighter Joe “Tomahawk” Tate, said to stay tuned for his daughter’s future matchups.

“Ona [Rianna’s nickname] is greatly improving in skill and mindset. She makes me proud,” her father said. “I know she will continue to proudly represent the Community. Tate’s other coaches are Jonathan Van Buren and Adrian Nez (jiu-jitsu), Ray Waters (wrestling) and George Casto (strength and conditioning). Her current sponsors are CTRL Industries and Living Lotus.