2019 Senior Nationals - US Olympic Trials Qualifier

Week 8 Roundup: Senior Nationals' Impact On NCAA Season

Week 8 of NCAA wrestling saw a number of solid duals, but all eyes were on Senior Nationals where a handful of the nation's top guys competed.

Dec 23, 2019 by David Bray

Week 8 Roundup: Senior Nationals' Impact On NCAA Season

Week 8 of NCAA wrestling had a number of dual meets, but all eyes were on the freestyle action in Fort Worth as a handful of the nation's top NCAA wrestlers competed for spots at the 2020 Olympic Trials.

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The Senior Nationals - US Olympic Trials Qualifier was a tournament packed with results that could impact the NCAA season. Here are the biggest stories of the weekend:

Spencer Lee, Zahid Valencia Lead NCAA Athletes at Senior Nationals

NCAA athletes took a third of the titles this weekend in Fort Worth as Spencer Lee and Zahid Valencia both won their brackets. Lee and Valencia are two of the favorites to win this year’s Hodge Trophy and, after this weekend, both are clearly contenders for the 2020 Olympic Team as well.

Spencer Lee dominated a loaded 57kg field, beating both NCAA champion Darian Cruz and Junior World silver medalist Vito Arujau by technical superiority on his way to the finals. Lee’s finals match was a convincing 8-2 win over NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello.

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Valencia’s bracket was also impressive. His finals match with Myles Martin was one of the most exciting bouts of the tournament. On his way to the finals, Valencia sparked a rivalry with Penn State freshman Aaron Brooks.

Valencia and Brooks could meet at this year’s NCAA tournament, and after the chippy conclusion to their semifinal match this weekend, that rematch would be one of the most highly anticipated of the tournament. Valencia addressed that match in his post-finals interview.

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While Lee and Valencia were the only two NCAA athletes who won Senior Nationals, several others qualified for the Olympic Trials by placing in the top five. Here’s the complete list:

57kg

Spencer Lee, Iowa (#1 at 125)

Vito Arujau, Cornell (Olympic Redshirt)

Nick Suriano, Rutgers (Olympic Redshirt)

65kg

Yiammi Diakomihalis, Cornell (Olympic Redshirt)

Nick Lee, Penn State (#4 at 141)

74kg

Logan Massa, Michigan (Olympic Redshirt)

Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech (Olympic Redshirt)

Evan Wick, Wisconsin (#3 at 165)

Anthony Valencia, Arizona State (#8 at 174)

86kg

Zahid Valencia, Arizona State (#1 at 184)

97kg

Kollin Moore, Ohio State (#1 at 197)

125kg

Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State (Redshirt)

Top NCAA Talent Still Looking for a Spot at Trials

While a number of NCAA wrestlers earned their spots at the Olympic Trials, a longer list of NCAA eligible athletes did not qualify this weekend. The next two opportunities to qualify for the Olympic Trials are the NCAA Championships and the Last Chance Qualifier March 26-28 in Millersville, PA. Athletes who win NCAAs or place top two at Last Chance will be qualified for the Olympic Trials.

This raises the question of whether any eligible wrestlers who have yet to qualify might trade in their Olympic Redshirts for a second qualifying opportunity by re-entering the NCAA season. This list includes Matt Kolodzik, Max Dean, AJ Nevills, Zach Elam, and Jaydin Eierman. Also of note, Michigan's Kanen Storr did not compete this weekend which suggests that we might see him return to the Michigan lineup.

Here is the complete list of NCAA wrestlers who competed but did not qualify for a spot at the Olympic Trials:

57kg

Gabe Townsell, Stanfort (#24 at 125)

65kg

Jaydin Eierman, Iowa (Olympic Redshirt)

Matt Kolodzik, Princeton (Olympic Redshirt)

Dom Demas, Oklahoma (#3 at 141)

74kg

Carson Kharchla, Ohio State (Redshirt)

Josh Shields, Arizona State (#5 at 165)

86kg

Max Dean, Cornell (Olympic Redshirt)

Aaron Brooks, Penn State (#25 at 184)

125kg

AJ Nevills, Fresno State (Olympic Redshirt)

Zach Elam, Missouri (Olympic Redshirt)

Anthony Cassar, Penn State (#1 at 285)

Tanner Hall, Arizona State (#5 at 285)

How Senior Nationals Shapes the Iowa/PSU Team Race

This topic might be worthy of its own article, but here's a summary of the Hawkeyes' and Nittany Lions' weekends at senior nationals and how those results shape our perception of the team race moving forward.

At 57kg, Spencer Lee made his senior-level freestyle debut, and he looked good doing it. He created distance between himself and his opponents including two former NCAA champions. If anyone had doubts that Lee was the clear frontrunner, they should have those doubts no longer.

Both Iowa and Penn State had significant results at 65kg, as Penn State's 141-pounder Nick Lee qualified for the Olympic Trials placing third here and Iowa's recently announced transfer Jayden Eierman, who's currently in Olympic Redshirt, did not qualify for the trials.

These results beg two questions: First, would Iowa consider bringing Eierman into the lineup at 141 to both offer him another chance to qualify for the Olympic Trials and bolster their chances at a team title, and is this even possible from an eligibility perspective? Second, if Eierman does enter the NCAA mix, how would he stack up with Nick Lee, who beat him 10-6 in Fort Worth?

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The story at 74kg was the absence of Penn State's Vincenzo Joseph, who did compete at the Bill Farrell. He didn't wrestle this weekend, and we haven't heard a clear explanation of why that is. Hopefully Cenzo is healthy and simply opted not to add a competition date to his calendar.

At 86kg, we had a chance to see Penn State's Aaron Brooks against the high level competition. He's currently sitting at #25 in the rankings, only because he hasn't had a lot of high-level NCAA matches so far. He had wins over NCAA finalist Max Dean and All-American Sammy Brooks, which suggest that he's more than ready to compete at a high level this college season. He also had the heated match with #1-ranked Zahid Valencia mentioned above, and it appears that he still has work to do in order to push for the top spot on the podium in March.

Penn State's top-ranked heavyweight Anthony Cassar and top heavyweight prospect Greg Kerkvliet had significant results this weekend as well. Cassar was injured in his semifinal bout against Dom Bradley. The severity of the injury and its long-term impacts are unknown.

Kerkvliet dropped a tight semifinal bout to two-time NCAA champion Tony Nelson and went on to finish third, qualifying for the Olympic Trials. He had two wins over Penn State All-American Nick Nevills during the event. His success and Cassar's injury have wrestling fans asking about his potential eligibility for the second semester, a story we'll follow as it unfolds.

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The Return of Gable Steveson

While most of the top stories this week came out of Fort Worth, another huge event shifted the landscape at heavyweight. Gable Steveson made his Golden Gopher debut on Friday night after the news broke that he would not be charged in a case stemming from an incident this summer.

While Steveson hadn’t wrestled a folkstyle match this fall, he has been active on the freestyle mats, most recently winning the Bill Farrell in November, knocking off Senior Nationals champ Dom Bradley in the finals. Gable joins the ranks of wrestlers with both NCAA and Olympic aspirations for 2020.

Steveson looked dominant in his first match of the NCAA season and is an immediate threat to win the NCAA title. Hopefully, Cassar will return from his injury at full strength so we can see that rivalry renewed.