2019 Senior Nationals - US Olympic Trials Qualifier

Senior Nationals Bracket Reactions!

Senior Nationals Bracket Reactions!

Brackets are out for the Senior Nationals - Olympic Trials Qualifier. Here are our early reactions.

Dec 21, 2019 by David Bray
Senior Nationals Bracket Reactions!
Check out complete Senior Nationals - Olympic Trials Qualifier brackets in arena. Here are our initial reactions to the brackets.

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Check out complete Senior Nationals - Olympic Trials Qualifier brackets in arena. Here are our initial reactions to the brackets.

Watch the Senior Nationals – US Olympic Trials Qualifer LIVE on FloWrestling

Friday-Sunday, December 20-22 | 9:00 AM ET

57kg

How can you not love this bracket?! Up top, Tomasello is your top seed and starts with Daniel DeShazer, then U23 world teamer Gabe Townsell in the second round. He’ll get the winner of Frank Perrelli and Josh Rodriguez in his quarter.

We’ve got an NCAA finals rematch between Cory Clark and Nahshon Garrett in the second round, with the winner there getting the winner of four seed Zane Richards and Alan Waters in the quarter. That takes care of the top half. Remember, the semis are tonight.

Ok, now for the real juice: Bottom side has Nick Suriano the 2 seed and Spencer Lee the 3 seed. That means the match we’ve all been waiting for should be sometime around 6:30 PM or so Eastern time. Spencer’s road to the semis goes through the winner of Sean Russell and Darian Cruz.

Suriano opens up with Shelton Mack. The second round features an excellent match between Vito Arujau and Zach Sanders, and that winner goes on to face Suriano. Quarterfinals start at 5PM eastern, and then we roll right into the all important semis. Don’t miss it, and set your FloArena alerts for mat assignments just to be safe.

Best Early Matches

Round of 32: Sean Russell vs Eddie Klimara

Round of 16: Frank Perrelli vs Josh Rodriguez

Evening Session

Quarters: Nick Suriano vs Vito Arujau

Semis: SPENCER LEE VS NICK SURIANO

65kg

Another excellent bracket. Yianni’s got a couple solid ones with Mario Mason and then Nick Dardanes. I am very excited for the Dom Demas/Ben Whitford Round of 16 bout, with the winer facing Yianni in the quarters. If seeds hold, we’ll get a rematch of the Bill Farrell third place match with Evan Henderson and Joey McKenna in the quarters. However, to get there Henderson has to beat Matt Kolodzik and then Johnni DiJulius. McKenna will have 2010 Hodge winner and persistent pinner Jayson Ness to get to the quarters.

The bottom side is setting up for Jordan Oliver/Frank Molinaro round 75. Joey Lazor vs Earl Hall should be high scoring, but the winner gets Gorilla Hulk. Nick Lee opens with Backpack Lizak, and then future Hawkeye Jaydin Eierman. Winner there gets Molinaro. Bryce Meredith starts with youngster Josh Saunders, then an NCAA finals rematch in round two with Dean Heil. One of them will be JO’s foe in the quarters.

Best Early Matches

Round of 32: Evan Henderson vs Matt Kolodzik

Round of 16: Dom Demas vs Ben Whitford

Evening Session

Quarters: Frank Molinaro vs Jaydin Eierman

Semis: Jordan Oliver vs Frank Molinaro

74kg

The top four seeds at this weight are Nazar Kulchytskyy, Mekhi Lewis, Tommy Gantt, and Logan Massa. The potential Kulchytskyy vs Lewis final would be a rematch of the bronze medal match at the Bill Farrell, a match that Kulchytskyy controlled. But this weight could get shaken up as there will be plenty of solid early matches.

Lewis’ path could run through 7 seed Chance Marsteller in the quarterfinals. Marsteller is a veteran who could present problems for the Junior World Champ. If he survives that, Lewis could see 3 seed Tommy Gantt in the semis. Lewis and Gantt had a great match in the Bill Farrell consolation semis, so that potential semi could be fire.

On the top side of the bracket, Kulchytskyy’s projected quarterfinal opponent is Alec Pantaleo who originally registered for this tournament at 65kg. If Nazar gets past Pantaleo, he could see another Michigan Wolverine in 4 seed Logan Massa. Nazar would be the favorite here.

Keep your eyes on the qualifying spots at this weight as there are a number of wild early matchups in the works.

http://arena.flowrestling.org/event/2559d0af-3fa9-44cd-b7a8-91e454a30d7a

Round of 32: Carson Kharchla vs Tyler Berger; Nick Becker vs Dan Vallimont

Round of 16: Tyler Berger vs Chance Marsteller; Dylan Ness vs Anthony Valencia

Evening Session

Quarterfinals: Anthony Valencia vs Logan Massa

86kg

An even 32 wrestlers have entered the 86 kilo division, making for the prettiest looking bracket here in Fort Worth. And like a Christmas present wrapped in the finest paper and ribbon, this pristine bracket will torn to shreds in short order. 

NCAA champions and All-Americans abound. 2019 champ Drew Foster could only muster a #9 seed. He’ll have to beat 2017 NCAA finalist Brett Pfarr in the round of 16 just to a crack at 2019 Final X competitor and three-time NCAA champion Alex Dieringer in the quarterfinals.

NCAA champ and four-time All-American Myles Martin is slated to meet US Open and NCAA finalist Nick Heflin in the other quarterfinal bout on the top seed.

The bottom half of the bracket is chockablock with more NCAA and international accolades. Zahid Valencia is out or prove he’s the “baddest dude on planet earth”, and as the #2 seed, he’ll be the favorite to reach the finals and guarantee a spot in the Olympic Team Trials. 

You can’t go wrong with any of the early-round matchups, but one that stands out as truley exception for a first round bout is Pete Renda vs Nate Jackson. That is how you kick off one of the gnarliest brackets in the gnarliest domestic freestyle tournament of the year. 

97kg

Can anyone stop Gadson? 1st world team alternate 3 years in a row, a heavy favorite, but Jacob Kasper or Scottie Boykin loom in the quarters. Both pack a lot of firepower into 97kilos. The winner of that quarter will get either Kollin Moore or Derek “Cowboy Slim Job” in the semis. The Farrell was the first time we saw skinny D White. Can he make it to the podium this time?

On the other side of the bracket, Zillmer at the #2 seed is the favorite. Ty Walz is the #3 seed, setting up a rematch of the Bill Farrell third place match in the semis here in Ft Worth. Zillmer won in November, can Walz get revenge? 

125kg

Nick Nevills likely has one of the most unusual paths to the top five of anyone in the Fort Worth Convention center. If he wins his round of 32 bout he’ll see his brother, AJ, who is already in the round of 16 with a bye. If big brother prevails, he’ll likely see his alma mater’s newest heavyweight recruit, Daniel Kerkvliet. Another win and it’s a date with the #1 seed (probably) Tony Nelson in the finals. 

On the bottom half of the brackets, we’ve got an Anthony Cassar and Dom Bradley set on a semifinal collision course. Cassar hasn’t wrestled in a major freestyle tournament since the 2015 Junior World Championships. The freight train double Cassar has perfected works in either folkstyle or freestyle, but Bradley is a seasoned veteran who has some of the quickest feet in the division. And don’t be shocked if there is an upset or two amongst the top seeds. Heavyweight in the US is as deep as it’s ever been, as evidenced by this very bracket.