The 57kg bracket at Senior Nationals will have solid senior level depth as well as a number of college guys looking to get their first taste of competition since NCAAs were canceled in March. 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 from the lightweights in Coralville.

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Friday-Sunday, October 9-11, 2020 

Senior Nationals Previews: 74 kg | 86 kg

#6 Vito & #10 Zane at the Top

Vito Arujau and Zane Richards are the two guys at this weight who appeared in the most recent version of the US Domestic Freestyle Rankings. While Vito sits at #6 and Zane is a few spots behind at #10, Zane actually beat Vito for third place at the 2019 US Open. That win could make Zane the top seed.

Both have had solid performances since then. Richards beat Frank Perrelli and Nahshon Garrett last year at the Bill Farrell, and Vito had wins over Zach Sanders and Nick Suriano en route to a third-place finish at Senior Nationals.

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Don't Count Out Cruz, Mueller, Perrelli, Russell, or Mack

While Vito and Zane might be on-paper favorites, they'll be tested by Darian Cruz, Jack Mueller, Frank Perrelli, Sean Russell, and Shelton Mack.

NCAA finalist Jack Mueller may pose the biggest threat to Richards and Arujau. The 2018 U23 World Team Member lost a tight match to Vito at the 2017 Junior World Team Trials but a thrilling come-from-behind win over Richards at the 2019 World Team Trials. He has competed multiple times this summer and could be poised for a breakout performance.

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The NCAA champion Cruz looked to have made gains in terms of both strength and technique in his recent match against Thomas Gilman at the NLWC event. A productive quarantine makes the already explosive Cruz a major x-factor here. In Cruz's NCAA career, he demonstrated the ability to make massive improvements, going from seventh place and round-of-12 finishes at his first two NCAA tournaments to winning the whole thing as a junior. A similar jump here or sometime in the near future definitely seems possible. Cruz already owns a senior level win over Sean Russell from last year's Senior Nationals.

Russell is no easy out. At last year's Bill Farrell, he demonstrated the ability to come from behind in big matches. Most impressive was his 8-7 win over Cory Clark in a match he trailed 4-7. He held a lead over Nathan Tomasello at the break in the same tournament but was unable to hold on to that win. Still, he's capable of excellent results here.

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Frank Perrelli is the wily veteran here. He has been turning out solid results on the senior level for a couple of Olympic cycles. Young wrestling fans might not know much about Perrelli as he's probably more familiar with Nick Arujau than Vito, but he's relevant in this bracket. Just last year, he had a 14-7 win over Sean Russell at Senior Nationals.

Shelton Mack is also a factor here. While his best results have come at 61kg, he's now had a year to dial into 57. He's dangerous offensively and could make big-time noise. In 2019, he took fourth at the World Team Trials at 61kg.

Could We See Gilman?

On a recent episode of the Baschamania Podcast, Gilman said that he planned to compete at Senior Nationals. His plans may have changed as he hadn't registered by the close of the early registration deadline on Monday night. He could still sign up before Thursday night at 8:00 PM EST.

Of course, Gilman would become the favorite if he registered. The top-ranked US wrestler at 57kg has looked outstanding recently with tournament victories at the Matteo Pellicone in January and the Pan Am Olympic Games Qualifier in March. Here's Gilman's Matteo Pellicone final win over Joe Colon.

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College Studs In The Mix

This year's Senior Nationals will have more college athletes than usual as it is one of the few competitions available before the end of 2020. Here are a few of the notable names in the bracket.

Jakob Camacho, NC State

Brandon Courtney, Arizona State

Jack Medly, Michigan

Dom Serrano, Nebraska

Codi Russell, App State

Sam Latona, Virginia Tech

Matt Ramos, Minnesota

Antonio Saldate, Cal Baptist

Beau Bayless, Harvard

Dylan Ragusin, Michigan

Here is a complete list of the 57kg wrestlers who had registered by the early registration deadline.