2017 U.S. Open Wrestling Championships

Student Athletes To Watch At The Open

Student Athletes To Watch At The Open

With the 2017 US Open right around the corner I've saturated my time with open archives. As I went through old brackets and videos I noticed that the US Open has been the coming out party for many of our country's soon-to-be-elite young talent.

Apr 12, 2017 by Michael Malinconico
null
With the 2017 US Open Wrestling Championships right around the corner, I've saturated my time in the archives of past tournaments. As I went through old brackets and videos, I noticed that the US Open has been the coming out party for many of our country's soon-to-be-elite young talent. In 2010, Logan Stieber made it all the way to the semis of the Open. In 2015, Kyle Snyder won it after taking second as a true freshman at NCAAs. 

Watch the 2017 US Open Wrestling Championships LIVE on FloWrestling on April 25-29

Because of the nature of social media and the fact that we have eyes on younger athletes these days, finding that diamond in the rough is much easier. So here is a list of student athletes who can make an immediate impact on the senior level if they decide to wrestle in Las Vegas on April 25-29.

Nathan Tomasello, 57kg
Considering that Stieber, the reigning world champion and teammate, will be sitting in the best-of-three series in Nebraska at 61kg, it looks as though Nato will making the descent to 57kg. With Dan Dennis out of action, Tony Ramos will likely be a front-runner, with Nahshon Garett and Tyler Graff rounding out the elite of the field. Tomasello, who just finished his redshirt junior year at Ohio State, will likely throw a monkey wrench into one of their plans. 

Seth Gross, 61kg
A junior world team member a year ago, Gross put together an impressive NCAA season as a sophomore at South Dakota State, finishing second with only two losses on the year. Gross' ability to get non-controlled exposure off of a belly wizzer makes him dangerous to bigger, stronger guys at the weight such as Cody Brewer and Jayson Ness. 

Zain Retherford, 65kg
Lost in the pageantry that is the Olympic Team Trials was the fact that Retherford was third. The Penn State junior may be poised to make a move this year. One thing that may hurt his chances is that 65kg Olympian Frank Molinaro has seen him wrestle every day since 2014. 

Jason Nolf, 70kg
Nolf is operating at a very different level than anyone he wrestled at the college level this past year. The sport is slowing down for the Penn State sophomore. He's seeing things happen before his opponents, and he's making things up on the fly like the Nolf Roll and holding an opponent's leg behind the back in the NCAA finals. 



How To Watch

ON TV: Now available on Roku & Apple TV
STREAMING: Available only on FloWrestling. JOIN NOW.