Bracket Reactions, Senior Nationals Day 2
Bracket Reactions, Senior Nationals Day 2
Brackets are officially official. Check out some of the fantastic action we could see on day 2 of Senior Nationals.
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We now have brackets for the second half of women's freestyle and all six men's freestyle weights. Here are some of the best matches we could see at Senior Nationals.
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57kg Men's Freestyle
The first notable change to the pre seeds is that Zane Richards is out. That means this bracket is seeded to see semis between Vito and Jack Mueller on the top side and Frank Perrelli and Darian Cruz on the bottom. Vito owns a wild win over Mueller from 2017, so he'll be the favorite to make the finals. Cruz's more recent success makes him the favorite over Perrelli.
This bracket is packed with college guys who could shake things up. There is lot of upset potential and plenty of high level matches to get excited about.
Best Round of 32 Matches
Brody Teske vs Brandon Courtney
Codi Russell vs Dom Serrano
Justin Portillo vs Sean Russell
Best Potential Round of 16 Matches
Jakob Camacho vs Teske/Courtney
Shelton Mack vs Sam Latona
Jack Medley vs Sean Russell
Seeded Quarterfinals
Vito Arujau vs Brandon Courtney
Shelton Mack vs Jack Mueller
Frank Perrelli vs Sean Russell
Skyler Petry vs Darian Cruz
65kg Men's Freestyle
Seeds held here for the most part, so we're slated to see semis between Joey McKenna and Andy Simmons on the top and Evan Henderson vs Jaydin Eierman on the bottom. This bracket is bound to get busted though as the parity starts early.
In the top quad, we have a Jaden Abas vs Austin Gomez match in the round of 64! We could see Kevon Davenport test himself against Joey McKenna in the round of 32. In the second quad, a potential Kanen Storr vs Earl Hall round of 32 match is enticing. In the third quad, college rivals Ian Parker and Chad Red square off in the round of 64. This bracket is absolutely nuts!
Best Potential Round of 64 Matches
Jaden Abas vs Austin Gomez
Ian Parker vs Chad Red
Best Round of 32 Matches
Joey McKenna vs Kevon Davenport
Noah Gonser vs Abas/Gomez
Andrew Alirez vs Josh Heil
Kanen Storr vs Earl Hall
Best Potential Round of 16 Matches
Andrew Alirez vs Mitch McKee
Kanen Storr vs Yahya Thomas
Nick Dardanes vs Andy Simmons
Evan Henderson vs Chad Red
Luke Pletcher vs Dean Heil
Matt Kolodzik vs Sean Heil
Ethan Lizak vs Jaydin Eierman
Seeded Quarterfinals
Joey McKenna vs Mitch McKee
Kanen Storr vs Andy Simmons
Evan Henderson vs Dean Heil
Matt Kolodzik vs Jaydin Eierman
74kg Men's Freestyle
Like 65kg, this bracket is full of intrigue. Last. year's Senior Nationals champ, Logan Massa sits on top of the bracket and is seeded to see Junior World silver medalist Ryan Deakin in the semis. On the bottom half, Anthony Valencia and Evan Wick have the #3 and #2 seeds respectively. These top four will surely be pushed, however, and we'll learn a lot about the landscape of 74kg after this bracket shakes out.
This does bracket does not appear to have as much early round upset potential as 65kg, but of course someone will prove me wrong. Check out some of the most exciting matches we could see early.
The David Carr vs Ryan Deakin quarterfinal is fascinating. Both of those guys have had age level success. Deakin's Junior level success has translated to the senior level as he made it to Final X in 2019. Can Carr make a similar move this weekend?
Best Potential Round of 16 Matches
Danny Braunagel vs Dan Vallimont
Rick Durso vs Hayden Hidlay
Joey Levallee vs AC Headlee
Evan Wick vs Cam Amine
Seeded Quarterfinals
Logan Massa vs Dan Vallimont
David Carr vs Ryan Deakin
Anthony Valencia vs Hayden Hidlay
Joey Lavallee vs Evan Wick
86kg Men's Freestyle
Sound the alarms! We have a match between an NCAA champ and an NCAA #2 seed in the round of 32 when Drew Foster and Hunter Bolen hit. In the same round, Brett Pfarr will have an opportunity for revenge against Zach Braunagel who beat him in dramatic fashion at Rumble on the Rooftop this summer. Great early action here.
Nate Jackson and Brett Pfarr are seeded to come out of the top half of this bracket while Trent Hidlay and Gabe Dean are seeded to come out of the bottom. If Seeds hold, Dean and Lujan, two entrants in the 195lb 8-man bracket will meet in the quarterfinals while Drew Foster would need to upset #4 seed Pfarr for a chance at top seeded Jackson.
Best Round of 32 Matches
Drew Foster vs Hunter Bolen
Brett Pfarr vs Zach Braunagel
Best Potential Round of 16 Matches
Drew Foster vs Taylor Venz
Mike Labriola vs David McFadden
Taylor Lujan vs Devin Skatzka
Seeded Quarterfinals
Nate Jackson vs Max Dean
Drew Foster vs Brett Pfarr
Trent Hidlay vs David McFadden
Taylor Lujan vs Gabe Dean
97kg Men's Freestyle
Captain America, Kyle Snyder should run to the semis where Kyven Gadson will likely be waiting for him. On the bottom side, Kollin Moore could have a rematch with Hayden Zillmer who beat him 10-10 on criteria at this event last year.
College guys like Eric Schultz, Nino Bonaccorsi, Lucas Davison, Nathan Traxler could look to break up these parties, but they'll have their work cut out for them.
Erik Hinckley has become a fan favorite, more for his personality and willingness to lay it on the line than for his results on the mat. He drew a pretty short straw in Hayden Zillmer in round 1.
Best Potential Round of 16 Matches
Jake Woodley vs Nick Reenan
Ben Honis vs Eric Schultz
Nino Bonaccorsi vs Kyven Gadson
Lucas Davison vs Ty Walz
Seeded Quarterfinals
Kyle Snyder vs Nick Reenan
Ben Honis vs Kyven Gadson
Kollin Moore vs Ty Walz
TJ Dudley vs Hayden Zillmer
125kg Men's Freestyle
Dom Bradley should see the winner of Tanner Hall and David Orndorff in the semifinals on the top side while Mason Parris should see the winner of Youssif Hemida and Trent Hillger. Parris will have to get past Jordan Wood in the quarterfinals to make this happen, however, and that's no cakewalk.
Bradley was the champ at this event last year. He's the favorite, but a potential final between Bradley and Parris is fascinating! Both are Junior World champs. Like many of these weights, we'll see some great early action.
Best Potential Round of 16 Matches
Derek White vs Danny Chaid
Tanner Hall vs AJ Nevills
Jordan Wood vs Zach Elam
Seeded Quarterfinals
Dom Bradley vs Danny Chaid
Tanner Hall vs David Orndorff
Yousiff Hemida vs Trent Hillger
Jordan Wood vs Mason Parris
62kg Women's Freestyle
This bracket starts in the quarters but should still offer some exciting action. Circle the semis here as Macey Kilty should take on Lexie Basham and Jackie Cataline is expected to face Jennifer Page.
Kilty is the top seed and the #5 ranked woman at 62kg. Page is just a couple spots behind her at #7. If these two make the finals as they're seeded to do, we should see a fantastic match.
Quarterfinals
Macey Kilty vs Fatima Avalos
Jackie Cataline vs Bridgette Duty
Andrea Schlabach vs Jennifer Page
68kg Women's Freestyle
Four women entered this bracket, so we'll get to see them all hit in a round-robin format. Forrest Molinari is the #2 ranked 68kg woman in the US, and she's the favorite. Skylar Grote is ranked #6 and expected to finish 2nd. Rachel Watters and Marilyn Garcia round out the weight class.
76kg Women's Freestyle
The top 4 seeds at this weight are all ranked in the top 3 in the country. Adeline Gray is a five-time World champ and the top seed. She could see #3 ranked Dymond Guilford in the semis. On the bottom side, Victoria Francis, the #3 ranked 68kg woman in the US is expected to see #2 ranked Precious Bell in the semifinals. Those are some high-level semis for a bracket of 8!
Quarterfinals
Adeline Gray vs Samantha Springer
Tristan Kelly vs Dymond Guilford
Victoria Francis vs Geneva Gray
Alexandra Castillo vs Precious Bell