6 Unseeded Wrestlers To Watch At Senior Nationals
6 Unseeded Wrestlers To Watch At Senior Nationals
We've pick one unseeded competitor from each men's freestyle weight class at Senior Nationals to keep an eye on.
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As the first major senior level event in the USA since December of 2019, the registration list for Senior Nationals was bound to produce some surprises. In this article, we will attempt to highlight some names that, for whatever reason, didn't capture the attention of the seeding committee, but are worth keeping an eye on in Coralville.
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Friday-Sunday, October 9-11, 2020
57 Kilograms
Sam Latona
Virginia Tech's Latona has one of the best redshirts seasons of anyone in the country last season. He finished his first year on campus with a sterling 20-2 record, with one of the losses being a 6-4 defeat at the hands of three-time All-American Nick Piccininni at the Southern Scuffle.
Originally from Alabama, Latona will look to anchor the bottom of the Hokie line up for the next four years.
Watch Latona beat 2020 ACC champ Jakob Camacho at the Southern Scuffle:
Other names to keep an eye on
Dylan Ragusin: A true freshman at Michigan who will is a leading candidate to assume 133-pound duties for the Wolverines once Stevan Micic graduates.
Dominick Serrano: The Nebraska Cornhuskers registered a ton of names, including this blue-chip true freshman from Colorado.
Britain Longmire: Though he never qualified for the NCAAs while at Cal Poly, Longmire has been notching wins on at major senior-level events for the past five years. He placed 5th at the 2018 & 2019 US Opens, both times in Greco-Roman.
65 Kilograms
Earl Hall
As usual, 65kg is the deepest weight class at the event, with more seeded wrestlers (16) than any other division. There are plenty of diamonds in the unseeded rough, however, like the two-time All-American at Iowa State who now competes with the Cavalier RTC in Charlottesville, VA.
Originally from South Florida, Hall now trains with Travis and Trent Paulson, also former Cyclones, at the University of Virginia under head coach Steve Garland. Although Hall failed to place at the last Senior Nationals in December, he did place 7th at the 2019 US Open and is as dangerous an opponent as they come.
Watch Hall win a first-round barnburner at the 2019 Open over Ben Whitford:
Other names to keep an eye on
Ian Parker: Iowa State rising senior received the #6 seed at 2020 NCAAs and will be looking to show out in the Hawkeyes' backyard.
Jaden Abas: Had an electric true frosh season at Stanford, going 23-4 and winning the Southern Scuffle.
Josh Heil: Qualified for this third NCAAs last season while Campbell, receiving the #10 seed.
Kevon Davenport: The Nebraska redshirt freshman beat 2020's #8 seed Henry Pohlmeyer while amassing an 18-2 record last season. He is the favorite to start at 149 for the Huskers this season.
Noah Gonser: As tough on top as they come. Gonser was seeded 8th last season at NCAAs as a senior at Campbell.
Cody Trybus: National qualifier last season Navy who has one more year of eligibility remaining.
Doug Zapf: A national qualifier for Penn that racked up 30 wins last season.
74 Kilograms
Collin Purinton
A starter for Nebraska his freshman and senior year, Purinton was robbed, like many others, of his final chance at the NCAA podium by covid. He was the 10th seed, so he would've been favored to at least make the bloodround. That was all down at 149-pounds, so it will be interesting to see how Purinton handles wrestling guys that are cutting from 174-pounds to make 76 kilograms (there is a two kg allowance for this event).
Purinton certainly has the frame to pack on the pounds, it's just a matter of how quickly can he adjust to the weight.
Austin Kraisser: Entering his final season of eligibility with the Campbell Camels.
Cam Amine: Cousin to fellow Wolverines Malik and Myles Amine, Cam has the inside track for the starting 165-pound job this upcoming season.
Jacob Wright: A qualifier for the 2020 NCAAs for Fresno State as sophomore.
Jarrett Jacques: Qualified for the last two NCAAs as a true freshman and true sophomore for Missouri. Senior Nationals will be an excellent opportunity to see if Jacques has made a level jump in his third-year of collegiate competition.
Paddy Gallagher: Fresh off defending his #1 ranking at Who's #1, the St. Edward high schooler and Ohio State commit is going to try his hand wrestling on the senior circuit.
Philip Conigliaro: Earned the #19 seed at the NCAAs as a freshman at Harvard.
Quentin Perez: A three-time NCAA qualifier at Campbell, Perez followed coach Kolat and now trains with the Navy Marine Corp Mat Club in Annapolis.
86 Kilograms
Hunter Bolen
Bolen jumped levels after his true freshman season when he started at 174 for Virginia Tech. After qualifying for, but failing to win a match at, the 2018 NCAAs at 174-pounds, Bolen bumped up to 184-pounds and has been elite ever since.
The Virginia native beat multiple All-Americans while redshirting during the 2019 season, suffering just one loss, to Penn State's Shakur Rasheed. Bolen was nearly perfect again last season, losing a match to Taylor Lujan at the CKLV (a match he would avenge at the same tournament to win third) and suffering a late-season defeat to ACC rival Nino Bonaccorsi in tiebreakers.
Bolen would later win an ACC Championship and receive the #2 seed at the canceled 2020 NCAAs.
Watch Bolen's third-place victory at the CKLV over future #1 seed at NCAAs, Taylor Lujan:
Andrew Morgan: We just recently got word that Morgan will be back for another season at Campbell, which is great news as the California native was seeded 8th last season at NCAAs and will be a strong contender to make the podium for the Camels next March.
Parker Keckeisen: The heir apparent to the Panthertrain's 184-pound position, recently vacated by Taylor Lujan and Drew Foster. Can Keckeisen keep the momentum going and cement Northern Iowa's claim to being 184-pound U?
97 Kilograms
Nathan Traxler
The admins at Stanford decided to give their wrestling team a one-season stay of execution, which almost seems cruel as it prolongss the impending closure of the program, but at least it gives senior Nathan Traxler an opportunity to finish his career in a Cardinal singlet.
Traxler has been on the cusp of the NCAA podium throughout the course of his career. He won two matches at both the 2018 and 2019 tournament and was seeded ninth going into 2020's tournament. With so many of the top senior level American 97 kilogrammers in the bracket, the Illinois native will get a good sample of what his post-collegiate career will be like.
Gavin Hoffman: The highly regarded recruit was caught between weight classes and stuck behind Kollin Moore last season. He'll be a force if he can find his grove at 97kg/197-pounds.
Silas Allred: A true freshman from Indiana, Allred is being groomed to take over the 197-pound starting spot from senior Erc Schultz the season after next.
125 Kilograms
Demetrius Thomas
No NCAA tournament meant no opportunity for Thomas to improve on his junior year performance where he fell a couple of matches short of the podium. Big Meech was an NAIA national champion and runnerup at William Baptist University in his two seasons prior to his arrival in Pittsburgh.
There are some heavy hitters in the heavyweight bracket, but Thomas should be able to hang with them, so don't be surprised if he makes the final eight in Coralville.
Josh Heindselman: Expected to start for the Sooners as a redshirt freshman this season.
Christian Lance: Battled all season long for the starting job with Husker teammate David Jensen. Jenson ultimately got the postseason nod but Lance is back for another run this season.
That was but a sampling of the wrestlers to watch. There are yet more unseeded men's freestyles that could do big things in the Xtreme Arena in Iowa. Who did we miss?