Ohio State's Nic Bouzakis at the U20 Open (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Geneva, Ohio will host the U20 World Team Trials and the U23 Nationals from June 2-4. Some of the best wrestlers in the nation will take part in this competition, which will also choose the world team for each age group.
The wrestlers I am looking forward to seeing in Geneva are listed below.
Names that immediately stand out to me at 57 kg, we have Luke Lilledahl, Jore Volk, Troy Spratley, Cael Nasdeo, and Bo Bassett. Luke Lilledahl breezed through the Open save for a 2-2 match in his quarterfinal encounter against Kenneth Hendriksen. There are already big hopes for Lilledahl as the 2022 U17 World champion and a recent Penn State commit. However, I am anticipating Lilledahl to win gold again if he joins the team given that he defeated 2022 U20 World champion Jore Volk in the finals 10-4 at the Open.
Troy Spratley, who won the 57 kg Open last year, did not take part in this year's competition. In the finals of the previous year, Volk and Spratley wrestled one, in my opinion, of the best three-match series. The 57 kg wrestlers are just so fast and I love continuous action at this weight. Despite losing the series, Spratley managed to defeat Volk in one match. If they do meet each other this year, he'll only need to triumph once. Although Adrian Meza is the only competitor in the field to have recently defeated Lilledahl, he may be too young for this to be his tournament. With all that being said, I wouldn’t exactly count out Braeden Davis or Cael Nasdeo who are also both Penn State commits, and of course Bo Bassett, who is hands down one of the best high school wrestlers I have ever seen. Realistically, I see the finals match being Lilledahl and Volk, but Spratley could surprise me. A healthy Nasdeo could do some damage. Bassett could also just come in and put everyone to shame. It would be electric to see two of the same school commits in the finals as well.
*Jax Forrest just entered the tournament, too, as of June 1.*
Names that immediately stand out to me at 61 kg, Nic Bouzakis, Aden Valencia, Emilio Ysaguirre Jr., and Andre Gonzales. The finals are currently being watched by longtime standout Nic Bouzakis. Bouzakis has switched things up the past couple of years switching from Greco to freestyle in a dominating fashion. Aden Valencia is currently the most popular name in town, the town of Madison that is. At the Open, Valencia competed in the Senior division and defeated Daniel DeShazer, Josh Rodriguez, Shelton Mack, and Michael Colaiocco. While Bouzakis has a significant edge against Valencia by waiting until the finals, Valencia has gained vital experience competing at these Senior competitions. Emilio Ysaguirre dropped a 7-6 decision for fourth place in the open competition. He is an extremely dangerous opponent for anyone due to his electrictrifying style, and at Arizona State, he has only gotten stronger. Arizona State must drink different water than most of us in the country. Again, it would be fun to see Bouzakis wrestle Gonzales with them being current teammates at Ohio State. Realistically, I see it being Bouzakis and Valencia, though.
Names that immediately stand out at 65 kg, Tyler Kasak, Jesse Mendez, Vince Cornella, Ryder Block, and Pierson Manville. 65 kg is my favorite weight class in freestyle. 61 kg being a close second. Tyler Kasak has a significant advantage by waiting until the finals because the field is so deep. By defeating Vince Cornella, Kannon Webster, and Pierson Manville at the US Open, Kasak gained that advantage. Kasak demonstrated he can compete at the highest level by winning a U17 World silver medal the previous year. Jesse Mendez is a different breed on the mat. He was in the 61 kg bracket last year. He was one of the best true freshman wrestlers this past NCAA season. No matter what bracket he is in, he has a phenomenal shot for that top spot. He struggled to get going offensively against Kannon Webster in the Open. A rematch between these two wrestlers would be electric. I think Block, Iowa commit, and Manville, uncommitted, are very much the underdogs here, and I think they have some more growing pains to really make their presence known in the 65 kg bracket, but anything can happen in wrestling. I have really enjoyed watching Cornella the past year, and I think he could give Kasak a run for his money this weekend.
Names that stick out at 70 kg, Meyer Shapiro, Paniro Johnson, Beau Mantanona, and Daniel Cardenas. Although 70 kg is exceedingly difficult, Meyer Shapiro, the top dawg, is waiting for the winner in the finals. Shapiro, who is ranked first overall among wrestlers in the Class of 2023, dominated the Open, never winning a match by less than five points. He defeated Paniro Johnson 12-1 in the Open semifinals. Beau Mantanona's Open performance was lacking. Mantanona is one of the few wrestlers who can accept defeat and move on, so I decided to place him among the top guys who have a good chance of being in the finals. After having a difficult summer in losing at Fargo and going 0-2 at U20s, he recovered by defeating Tyler Kasak at Who's Number One. I see Shapiro and Johnson in the finals, but Shapiro coming out victorious. They are both extremely good, but I just think Shapiro is quicker on his feet. Cardenas is impressive with his technique, too.
Names that stand out at 74 kg, recent Penn State transfer, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Joe Sealey, another Penn State commit, Hunter Garvin, and Matt Bianchi. One of my most eagerly awaited prospective matches is Mesenbrink versus Sealey. Garvin's victory over Sealey in the US Open semifinals prevented us from seeing this match. The final match saw Garvin fall to Mesenbrink 16-6. Sealey and Mesenbrink may face off on the roster in the future due to both committing to Penn State. I’ve seen Bianchi a few times this past season and think he can make a splash in this bracket. I see Mesenbrink coming out on top against Sealey, though.
79 kg is such a deep weight class with Gabe Arnold, Rocco Welsh, Josh Barr, Luca Augustine, Matthew Singleton, and Tate Picklo. Welsh is so impressive for his age, and he is no stranger to any of the guys in this bracket. Welsh, Arnold, and Barr are all top 20 recruits for the 2023 recruiting class. They have met more than once in the past. Arnold holds one above Welsh while Welsh holds one over Barr. Arnold just beat Welsh in the Open finals. Arnold vs. Barr was prevented from occurring when Augustine defeated Barr 10-2 at the Open. Later, Arnold defeated Augustine 8-1. Another freshman to keep an eye on is Singleton. I have high hopes for him. I also want to see how Picklo can do in this bracket. I do see another rematch for Arnold and Welsh, though.
Turning my attention to the U23 bracket, the Names I'm drawn to in the 57 kg bracket are Bobby Garnder, Brett Ungar, Stevo Poulin, Blake West, and Marco Vespa just to name a few. My eyes draw to the regular MAC conference guys and the guys that are starters at other NCAA schools. I’d really like to see West and Caleb Smith medal higher than they did last year. I could see Ungar, Poulin, or Smith in the finals.
61 kg is the bracket you can’t blink during, you’ll miss all the action. Names that are sticking out to me are Isaac Crowell, 3x NAIA AA for SEU Wrestling, Julian Farber, Julian Chlebove, Ethan Oakley, and Tristan Lujan. I would love to see Farber make adjustments and medal higher. Crowell is a force in the NAIA world, so it would be fun to see what damage he can do in the freestyle world. If Farber makes the necessary adjustments, he could slide into the finals.
65 kg is loaded with names like Cole Matthews, Jeffrey Boyd, Josh Saunders, Matthew Rodriguez, and Jesse Vasquez. Saunders and Matthews placed last year in the same bracket, Matthews coming out victorious. Saunders taking sixth. Vasquez is electric in Arizona State’s room, and I think with the right moves we could see him and Matthews in the finals. Rodriguez can be sneaky, being the brother of NWLC’s Josh Rodriguez, who has medaled in a multitude of freestyle tournaments such as second in the US Open, fourth at World Team Trials, and 2019 Pan Am Champion throughout the years.
Daniel Manibog and Ed Scott are the most notable contenders 70 kg bracket. Last year, Manibog took seventh over NC State’s Scott, 10-0. They could meet Cade Balestrini, Cayden Henschel, Caleb Tyus, Doug Zapf, and Jaden Abas to name a few. Henschel is naturally a D2 wrestler, but also open on his social media about how he has made a lot of changes to improve his wrestling and be better than before. Tyus, Zapf, and Abas are no strangers to tough competition all being D1 National Qualifiers. I would like to see if Scott can avenge his loss to Manibog. I love to watch tough wrestling and see the guys improve better than they did the last time. 70 kg feels like a wildcard bracket. Anyone can go into the finals, anyone can place.
Peyton Hall returns to the 74 kg bracket, and I can safely say I believe he could come out on top. He dropped the best two out of three matches to Patrick Kennedy last year. With Kennedy at the senior level, the world is Hall’s oyster. Hall is going to have to wrestle through (possibly) Matt Lee and Bubba Wilson. Wilson and Hall could be a finals match we see. Julian Ramirez sits in the bracket, too, and Spartan Combat doesn’t mess around in their freestyle.
There is a lot of wrestling to be covered this weekend, and these are just a “few” guys I’ll be anticipating watching this weekend.
The U23 Nationals champions will earn a position on Team USA's U23 World Team and compete at the U23 World Championships in Tampere, Finland, from October 23–29. The Senior national team member (top 3 in each weight class) who is under 23 years of age will, nevertheless, take precedence over the U23 Nationals champion.
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