2023 U20 World Team Trials & U23 Nationals Entries - FloWrestling
The entries for the U20 World Team Trials and U23 Nationals - June 2-4 in Geneva, Ohio.
www.flowrestling.org
This is the list of who has entered so far. Why are only some of the US open champions who are in the finals and waiting to wrestle the winner of this tournament entered? I’m assuming that the US open winners are not competing in the WTT tournament as they are already in the finals and yet most of them are listed in FLO’s entry list but not all of them. I don’t see Bouzakis, Shapiro, or Mesenbrink listed but every other US open champion is. Have those 3 just not registered yet?
Most of the weights look to have great competition especially at 86kg, 79kg, and 70kg. 74kg surprisingly only has 4 guys entered.
At 57kg Lilledahls main competition will probably be Spratley or Volk. Nasdeo is entered and has been wrestling great and Meza who beat Lilledahl about a month ago is entered as well. Would love to see a best of 3 between Volk and Lilledahl. Their finals match at the open was super fun
At 61kg I would expect one of Cael Hughes, Emilio Ysaguirre, Jr, Kyler Larkin, Zan Fugitt, or Kale Peterson to win and get to challenge Bouzakis for the world team spot.
At 65kg Tyler Kasak is waiting in the finals. Top guys who could make the finals opposite Kasak are Pierson Manville, Cole Brooks, KJ Evans, and Dylan Gilcher.
70kg is a stacked weight with a good mix of high school and college studs but waiting in the finals is the number 1 overall recruit Meyer Shapiro. Daniel Cardenas, Antrell Taylor, Jordan Williams, Kaleb Larkin, Jackson Arrington, Beau Mantanona, and Paniro Johnson are all capable of making the final and wrestling Shapiro. I’m hoping Paniro wins the tournament and gets a best of 3 against Shapiro. I think that would be a really fun series and Meyer already handled Cardenas and Taylor fairly easily.
74kg has new PSU wrestler Mitchell Mesenbrink sitting in the finals. The only 4 guys entered so far are PSU recruit Joseph Sealey, Hunter Garvin, William Henckel, and Kamdyn Munro. Garvin beat Sealey and lost to Mesenbrink at the US open. Munro beat Levi Haines last summer so he’s capable of beating top competition. I think Sealey reverses the result against Garvin and will see Mesenbrink with a world team spot on the line.
At 79kg we have Iowa commit Gabe Arnold waiting in the finals. This is a super fun weight with a lot of great kids including PSU commit Josh Barr, Rocco Welsh, AJ Heeg, Matthew Singleton, Noah Mulvaney, and MJ Gaitan. I’m hoping Josh Barr can reverse a couple of his recent losses because we would all love to see a Barr vs Arnold final but I’m actually picking Singleton to come out and make the finals. He’s super tough plus he has a year in a great college room at NC State.
86kg is the deepest weight in my mind. Bennett Berge won the US open and is in the finals. His top competitors are Max McEnelly, Brayden Thompson, Rylan Rogers, PSU commit Connor Mirasola, Clayton Whiting, and Tate Naaktgeboren. I think all of these guys have the talent to win the bracket on any given day making it super difficult to pick a winner. I’ll be a homer and pick Mirasola or Rogers.
92kg has Jack Darrah as the US open winner. Guys he could see in the final are Cole Mirasola, Wyatt Voelker, Gavin Nelson, Stephen Little, and Gabe Sollars. I’m thinking Nelson wins and meets up with Darrah.
97kg has Camden McDanel waiting in the finals. This weight only has 3 other guys registered and they are Damion Shunke, Sawyer Bartelt, and Ben Kawczynski. I put $ on it being a Bartelt vs McDanel final.
125kg is one of the more interesting weights in my eyes. Sitting in the final is the very very good Christian Carroll who won the US open. This weight is interesting because Koy Hopke is registered after not competing in the open. A Hopke vs Carroll best of 3 final might be the matchup I would be most intrigued by. Both guys are top 5 overall recruits in their respective classes. Some guys who might challenge Hopke to get the chance at Carroll are Nathan Taylor, Chase Horne, Aden Attao, Navarro Shunke, and Harley Andrews.
None of the weights have a ton of kids entered. I’m sure a few more guys will register so this could change some but probably not much. PSU is well represented and could send guys at 6 weights but 3 is more likely. Overall, this USA team looks like it will be stacked and should have a great chance to win a team title at worlds.