In my opinion, this is the toughest and deepest weight at this weekend's Senior Nationals. In fact, it has the most seeded wrestlers than any other weight. From top-seeded Joey McKenna to #16 seed Austin Gomez, it's loaded with All-Americans, world team members, and hammers with a bevy of freestyle experience. We won't know the full field until late registration closes on Thursday evening, but here's the gist of what we're likely to see in the bracket in Coralville.

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Friday-Sunday, October 9-11, 2020

Pre-Seeds

1. Joey McKenna (TMWC)
2. Jaydin Eierman (Hawkeye WC) - YEPsev
3. Evan Henderson (TMWC) - YEP
4. Andy Simmons (CKWC)
5. Kanen Storr (CKWC)
6. Dean Heil (TMWC) - YEP
7. Matthew Kolodzik (NYAC) - YEP
8. Mitch McKee (Gopher WC RTC) 
9. Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado RTC)
10. Sean Fausz (TMWC) - YEP
11. Luke Pletcher (Pittsburgh WC)
12. Yahya Thomas (Wildcat WC) 
13. Nick Dardanes (TMWC) - YEP
14. Chad Red (Nebraska WTC)
15. Ethan Lizak (NYAC) - YEP
16. Austin Gomez (Cyclone RTC) 

A ridiculous seven of the top 16 seeded wrestlers (McKenna, Eierman, McKee, Fausz, Thomas, Lizak, Gomez) have made a Cadet, Junior, or U23 world teams at some point during their careers. 

McKenna's Weight To Lose?

Joey McKenna has had incredible success at every level of wrestling but has really excelled at freestyle making a Cadet, two Junior, and a U23 world team. In three of those four World Championship appearances, McKenna finished top eight and twice brought home a medal. That success continued on the Senior level as he won the 2018 U.S. Open and advanced to Final X before falling to Logan Stieber. At Senior Nationals last December, McKenna was second in a bracket that featured seven of the other seeded wrestlers and he picked up wins over Jayson Ness, Evan Henderson, and Yianni Diakomihalis.

Watch McKenna beat Yianni at Senior Nationals back in December.

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Eierman Back On The Mat

Since Jaydin Eierman announced his decision to transfer to Iowa, we've only seen him in action once at Senior Nationals back in December. Eierman was knocked off on the front side by Nick Lee and then fell to Frank Molinaro on the backside. I'm excited to see how Eierman bounces back and looks in his first action in 10 months. It also doesn't hurt that he is one of the most exciting wrestlers in the country.

Watch Eierman take out Logan Stieber at the 2018 U.S. Open

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Depth On Display

As you can see below, the bracket is loaded with hammers who have had a lot of success on the collegiate level as well. Dean Heil is the only NCAA champion, but Ethan Lizak and Joey McKenna also made appearances on the big stage. I thought 86kg had a lot of former All-Americans in the mix, but 65kg has even more.

National Champion

Dean Heil

All-Americans

Andrew Alirez

Nick Dardanes

Jaydin Eierman

Noah Gonser

Earl Hall

Josh Heil

Evan Henderson

Matt Kolodzik

Ethan Lizak

Mitch McKee

Joey McKenna

Ian Parker

Luke Pletcher

Chad Red

Kanen Storr

Watch a high school version of Andrew Alirez take out Dean Heil at the Dave Schultz in 2019.

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Current D1 College Wrestlers In The Mix 

Josh Heil, Campbell

Danny Fongaro, Columbia

Josh Brown, CSUB

Lawrence Saenz, Fresno State

Michael Jaffe, Harvard

Jaydin Eierman, Iowa

Austin Gomez, Iowa State

Ian Parker, Iowa State

Kanen Storr, Michigan

Matt Santos, Michigan State

Cody Trybus, Navy

Kevon Davenport, Nebraska

Christian Miller, Nebraska

Jevon Parrish, Nebraska

Chad Red, Nebraska

Andrew Alirez, Northern Colorado

Yahya Thomas, Northwestern

Doug Zapf, Penn

Jaden Abas, Stanford

A lot of young talent will be on display this weekend as well. I'm excited to see Chad Red, Jaden Abas, Andrew Alirez, and Ian Parker just to name a few.

Complete Entries

Here is a complete list of the 65kg wrestlers who had registered by the early registration deadline.