No. 11 seed Jesse Mendez advanced to the 65 kg men’s freestyle semifinals on Friday morning at Bryce Jordan Center.
Semifinal matchups set at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling in State College
by Cody Goodwin, Special to TheMat.com
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The preliminary rounds of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling set a mean pace for what’s expected to be a tremendous two-day tournament here at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Friday’s opening session, which included the first-round and quarterfinal matches, featured current high-schoolers and young college stars beating their Senior-level peers and pushing world team members and Olympic medalists. It included a couple of surprising semifinal runs and some dominant performances by true contenders.
There was a lot to unpack. Here’s a rundown of the highlights from Session I:
Men’s Freestyle
57 kg – A couple of high-schoolers, Luke Lilledahl and Jax Forrest, made things interesting in the quarterfinal round. Lilledahl stayed within striking distance against top-seeded Zane Richards, but ultimately fell, 5-3. Forrest actually led Thomas Gilman, 2-0 and 4-2, but Gilman muscled his way back for a 5-4 win. In the semifinals, Richards gets Spencer Lee, who beat Nico Megaludis, 8-0, and Gilman gets Daton Fix, who scored a late takedown to ice a 5-1 win over Nick Suriano in a rematch from the 2019 NCAA finals.
65 kg – Jesse Mendez, the 11-seed, stormed into the semifinals with back-to-back wins over Joey McKenna, 8-2, and James Green, 6-3. Up next, Mendez, a 2024 NCAA champ, gets Yianni Diakomihalis, who scored late to outlast Kaleb Larkin, 13-8. The winner of that matchup gets Zain Retherford for a spot in the best-of-three finals.
74 kg – Like Mendez, Jarrett Jacques is into the semifinals here as an 11-seed. He scored a 4-point takedown late in the first, which held up in a 6-6 criteria win over Vincenzo Joseph in round one, then took out Quincy Monday, the U.S. Senior Nationals champ, in the quarters, 5-0. He’ll get Jason Nolf in the semifinals. Up top, Jordan Burroughs rallied and outlasted Alex Facundo, 5-3. Burroughs gets another Penn State wrestler, Mitchell Mesenbrink, in the semifinals. Mesenbrink soundly beat Cadet World champion Ladarion Lockett 13-3.
86 kg – There were a couple of upsets here. Connor Mirasola, a high-school senior from Wisconsin, knocked off David McFadden 4-0. Evan Wick then locked up a mean leg lace and beat Max Dean by 13-1 technical fall. But then top four seeds — Aaron Brooks, Alex Dieringer, Trent Hidlay, Chance Marsteller — all ultimately advanced to the semifinals. The Hidlay-Marsteller winner gets Zahid Valencia in a second semifinal matchup. The winner there gets the winner of Brooks-Dieringer in the challenge finals.
97 kg – J’den Cox needed a second period shot-clock point for a 1-1 criteria win over Oklahoma State freshman Christian Carroll. It was a wildly different match from Kollin Moore’s 16-6 technical fall over Nathan Jackson, setting up a Moore-Cox semifinal. Elsewhere, Jay Aiello rallied with a takedown and two turns for an 8-4 win over Mike Macchiavello. He’ll get another former N.C. State wrestler, Isaac Trumble, in the semifinals.
125 kg – Dom Bradley, 35 years young, rallied from down 6-3 to win 12-8 over Wyatt Hendrickson to reach the semifinals, where he’ll face top-seeded Hayden Zillmer, who scored a takedown with 81 seconds left to top Demetrius Thomas, 4-2. Greg Kerkvliet and Nick Gwiazdowski both advanced via technical fall victories on the opposite side of the bracket.
Women’s Freestyle
50 kg – Needed to score 10 points to win in the quarterfinals at this weight. Samara Chavez beat Kendra Ryan, 10-3, while Sage Mortimer beat Mia Palumbo, 10-2, to advance to the semifinals on the bottom side. Up top, both Audrey Jimenez and Erin Golston won 10-0 to advance.
53 kg – The top four seeds advanced here, but Katie Gomez put the exclamation point on the round with a 10-0 win over Iowa’s Brianna Gonzalez in 153 seconds. She’ll get Haley Augello, a 2016 Olympian, in the semifinals. Up top, top-seeded Vayle Baker and Areana Villaescusa advanced to the other semifinal.
57 kg – After a dominant first-round win, Cristelle Rodriguez scored four points in the second period to take out second-seeded Amanda Martinez, 4-2, in the quarters. Rodriguez gets Abby Nette next in the first semifinal, and the winner there gets Jacarra Winchester, a 2023 world finalist at 55 kilos.
62 kg – Ashlynn Ortega scored eight straight points and took out Maya Latona, 8-2, while Mallory Velte, Katie Lange, and Aduago Nwachukwu all won by technical fall to advance. Both the semifinal winners here will have to face returning world medalists in a second semifinal round.
68 kg – Reese Larramendy survived a close one against Brooklyn Hays, 10-8, to advance. Larramendy led 10-3 with a minute left when Hays charged back with four points in the final 22 seconds. Larramendy, who won the U20 World Team Trials last weekend, gets second-seeded Alex Glaude next in the bottom-side semifinal. Up top, Forrest Molinari, a 2021 world bronze medalist, and Aine Drury both advanced to the semifinal.
76 kg – The top four seeds — Kennedy Blades, Dymond Guilford, Yelena Makoyed, Kylie Welker — all advanced here without any fuss. The semifinals will be Blades-Guilford and Welker-Makoyed, and the latter is a rematch from the NCWWC national finals, where Welker won 11-0 to help Iowa clinch the team title.
Greco-Roman
60 kg – Sammy Jones won a hard-fought quarterfinal matchup 5-0 over Randon Miranda, to reach the semifinals as a 5-seed. He’ll get two-time Olympian Ildar Hafizov, who rolled through Phillip Moomey, 9-0. Max Black and Dalton Roberts both advanced on the bottom side.
67 kg – Xavier Johnson brought the fireworks with a pair of 4-point moves in a 9-0 win over second-seeded Peyton Omania in the quarterfinals. He’ll get 2012 Olympian Ellis Coleman, who outscored his first two opponents 13-0, in the bottom-side semifinals while Alejandro Sancho gets Pat Smith up top.
77 kg – Four previous world team members all advanced to the semifinals here. Kamal Bey, a three-time world team member, will get RaVaughn Perkins, a 2018 World Team member, in one semifinal while Benji Peak, a 2022 World-Teamer, gets Aliaksandr Kikiniou, a two-time Olympian and 2009 World bronze medalist for Belarus, in the other semifinal.
87 kg – Zac Braunagel scored a takedown near the edge with 12 seconds left to knock off two-time Olympian Ben Provisor. He advances to the semifinals and will face Peyton Jacobson, who took out second-seeded Richard Carlson, 4-0. Olympians Mahmoud Sebie and John Stefanowicz both breezed through their quarterfinal opponents on the top side.
97 kg – Braxton Amos, who reached the best-of-three finals of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials, bowed out on Friday after sustaining a shoulder injury in his first match against Diante Cooper. Amos led 7-4 at the time of the injury. Cooper gets Nick Boykin in one semifinal while Joe Rau and David Orndorff, both shutout winners in their quarterfinal matches, will wrestle in the other.
130 kg – Donny Longendyke won the only match contested at this weight in this session, scored five unanswered points for a 5-3 over Jeremiah Imonode. Longendyke gets Adam Coon next. Aden Attao and Courtney Freeman will wrestle in the other semifinal.
2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling | April 19-20, Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pa.
Session II
- When: Friday, 6:30 p.m. ET
- Watch: USA Network + Peacock
- Brackets: Trackwrestling
Challenge Tournament Semifinal Matchups
Men’s Freestyle
57 kg
Zane Richards (Illinois RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Spencer Lee (Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC)
Daton Fix (Cowboy WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Thomas Gilman (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
65 kg
Nick Lee (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
Jesse Mendez (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Yianni Diakomihalis (Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC)*
*Winner faces Zain Retherford (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) in second semifinal
74 kg
Jordan Burroughs (Pennsylvania RTC/Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Mitchell Mesenbrink (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC
Jarrett Jacques (Tiger Style WC) vs. Jason Nolf (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
86 kg
Aaron Brooks (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Alex Dieringer (Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC)
Trent Hidlay (Wolfpack RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Chance Marsteller (New Jersey RTC/Titan Mercury WC)*
*Winner face Zahid Valencia (Sunkist Kids WC) in second semifinal
97 kg
J`den Cox (Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Kollin Moore (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
Johnathan Aiello (Cavalier WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Isaac Trumble (Wolfpack RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
125 kg
Hayden Zillmer (Gopher WC) vs. Dom Bradley (Tiger Style WC/Sunkist Kids WC)
Daniel Greg Kerkvliet (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Nick Gwiazdowski (Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
Women’s Freestyle
50 kg
Audrey Jimenez (Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Erin Golston (New York AC)
Samara Chavez (Team Tornado WC) vs. Sage Mortimer (Titan Mercury WC)
53 kg
Vayle Baker (West Point WC/New York AC) vs. Areana Villaescusa (U.S. Army WCAP)
Haley Augello (Izzy Style/New York AC) vs. Katie Gomez (Sunkist Kids WC)
57 kg
Xochitl Mota Pettis (Rise RTC) vs. Alex Hedrick (Titan Mercury WC)
Abigail Nette (U.S. Army WCAP) vs. Cristelle Rodriguez (Tiger WC)*
*Winner faces Jacarra Winchester (Titan Mercury WC) in second semifinal
62 kg
Mallory Velte (Beaver Dam RTC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Ashlynn Ortega (New York AC)*
Katie Lange (Minnesota Storm) vs. Adaugo Nwachukwu (U.S. Army WCAP)**
*Winner faces Jen Page (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) in second semifinal
**Winner faces Macey Kilty (Sunkist Kids WC) in second semifinal
68 kg
Forrest Molinari (Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Aine Drury (New York AC)
Reese Larramendy (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Alex Glaude (Beaver Dam RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
76 kg
Kennedy Blades (Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Dymond Guilford (Titan Mercury WC)
Yelena Makoyed (Cardinal WC/Titan Mercury WC) vs. Kylie Welker (Iowa Women’s WC/Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
Greco-Roman
60 kg
Ildar Hafizov (U.S. Army WCAP) vs. Sammy Jones (Sunkist Kids WC)
Max Black (Northern Michigan) vs. Dalton Roberts (U.S. Army WCAP)
67 kg
Alejandro Sancho (U.S. Army WCAP) vs. Pat Smith (Minnesota Storm)
Ellis Coleman (U.S. Army WCAP) vs. Xavier Johnson (U.S. Army WCAP)
77 kg
Kamal Bey (U.S. Army WCAP) vs. RaVaughn Perkins (New York AC)
Aliaksandr Kikinou (New York AC) vs. Benji Peak (Norther Michigan/Sunkist Kids WC)
87 kg
Mahmoud Sebie (New York AC) vs. John Stefanowicz (U.S. Marine Corps)
Zachary Braunagel (Illinois RTC/New York AC) vs. Payton Jacobson (Northern Michigan/Sunkist Kids WC)
97 kg
Josef Rau (Titan Mercury WC) vs. David Orndorff (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC)
Nicholas Boykin (Sunkist Kids WC) vs. Diante Cooper (Air Force RTC)
130 kg
Adam Coon (Cliff Keen WC/New York AC) vs. Donny Longendyke (Minnesota Storm)
Aden Attao (Beaver Dam RTC/New York AC) vs. Courtney Freeman (U.S. Marine Corps)
Challenge Tournament Quarterfinal Results
Men’s Freestyle
57 kg
Zane Richards (Illinois RTC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Luke Lilledahl (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), 5-3
Spencer Lee (Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Nico Megaludis (Pitt WC/Titan Mercury WC), 8-0
Daton Fix (Cowboy WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Nick Suriano (New Jersey), 5-1
Thomas Gilman (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Jax Forrest (Bishop McCort), 5-4
65 kg
Nick Lee (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Alec Pantaleo (Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC), 9-2
Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado RTC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Beau Bartlett (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), 6-2
Jesse Mendez (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. James Green (Nebraska WTC/Sunkist Kids WC), 6-3
Yianni Diakomihalis (Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Kaleb Larkin (Sunkist Kids WC), 13-8
74 kg
Jordan Burroughs (Pennsylvania RTC/Sunkist Kids WC) dec. Alex Facundo (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), 5-3
Mitchell Mesenbrink (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) tech. fall Ladarion Lockett (Cowboy WC/Titan Mercury WC), 13-3
Jarrett Jacques (Tiger Style WC) dec. Quincy Monday (New Jersey RTC/Titan Mercury WC), 5-0
Jason Nolf (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Alex Marinelli (Hawkeye WC/Titan Mercury WC), 7-2
86 kg
Aaron Brooks (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Connor Mirasola (Nittany Lion WC/Askren Wrestling Academy), 11-5
Alex Dieringer (Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Mark Hall (Pennsylvania RTC/Titan Mercury WC), 5-2
Trent Hidlay (Wolfpack RTC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Carter Starocci (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC), 6-4
Chance Marsteller (New Jersey RTC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Evan Wick (Titan Mercury WC), 6-0
97 kg
J`den Cox (Cliff Keen WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Christian Carroll (Cowboy WC/ Titan Mercury WC), 1-1
Kollin Moore (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC) tech. fall Nate Jackson (New Jersey RTC/New York AC), 16-6
Johnathan Aiello (Cavalier WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Mike Macchiavello (Lehigh Valley WC/Titan Mercury WC), 8-4
Isaac Trumble (Wolfpack RTC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Eric Schultz (Nebraska WTC), 7-3
125 kg
Hayden Zillmer (Gopher WC) dec. Demertius Thomas (Pitt WC/New York AC), 4-2
Dom Bradley (Tiger Style WC/Sunkist Kids WC) dec. Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force RTC), 12-8
Daniel Greg Kerkvliet (Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC) tech. fall Christian Lance (Nebraska WTC/Sunkist Kids WC), 10-0
Nick Gwiazdowski (Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC) tech. fall Jaron Smith (Orange Crush WC), 12-1
Women’s Freestyle
50 kg
Audrey Jimenez (Sunkist Kids WC) tech. fall Nyla Valencia (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC), 10-0
Erin Golston (New York AC) tech. fall Kaelani Shufeldt (Lock Haven), 10-0
Samara Chavez (Team Tornado WC) dec. Kendra Ryan (Cardinal WC), 10-3
Sage Mortimer (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Mia Palumbo (Statesmen WC), 10-2
53 kg
Vayle Baker (West Point WC/New York AC) dec. Amy Mason (Titan Mercury WC), 5-3
Areana Villaescusa (U.S. Army WCAP) dec. Alisha Howk (Sunkist Kids WC), 5-2
Haley Augello (Izzy Style/New York AC) dec. Felicity Taylor (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC), 5-1
Katie Gomez (Sunkist Kids WC) tech. fall Brianna Gonzalez (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC), 10-0
57 kg
Xochitl Mota Pettis (Rise RTC) tech. fall Cameron Guerin (Bearcat WC/Titan Mercury WC), 12-2
Alex Hedrick (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Bridgette Duty (U.S. Army WCAP), 6-3
Abigail Nette (U.S. Army WCAP) tech. fall Amani Jones (Cardinal WC), 13-2
Cristelle Rodriguez (Tiger WC) dec. Amanda Martinez (Cardinal WC/Titan Mercury WC), 4-2
62 kg
Mallory Velte (Beaver Dam RTC/Titan Mercury WC) tech. fall Claire DiCugno (Team Tornado WC), 12-2
Ashlynn Ortega (New York AC) dec. Maya Latona (New York City RTC/Titan Mercury WC), 8-2
Katie Lange (Minnesota Storm) tech. fall SaVannah Cosme (Sunkist Kids WC), 13-1
Adaugo Nwachukwu (U.S. Army WCAP) tech. fall Lauren Louive (New York AC), 12-2
68 kg
Forrest Molinari (Sunkist Kids WC) tech. fall Solin Piearcy (Titan Mercury WC), 11-0
Aine Drury (New York AC) dec. Alara Boyd (Cardinal WC), 5-1
Reese Larramendy (Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Brooklyn Hays (Unattached), 10-8
Alex Glaude (Beaver Dam RTC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Caitlyn Davis (Southern Oregon RTC), 6-0
76 kg
Kennedy Blades (Sunkist Kids WC) tech. fall Skylar Grote (Titan Mercury WC), 11-0
Dymond Guilford (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Tristan Kelly (U.S. Army WCAP), 9-0
Yelena Makoyed (Cardinal WC/Titan Mercury WC) tech. fall Precious Wieser (Titan Mercury WC), 12-2
Kylie Welker (Iowa Women’s WC/Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC) tech. fall Marlynne Deede (Iowa Women’s WC), 10-0
Greco-Roman
60 kg
Ildar Hafizov (U.S. Army WCAP) tech. fall Phillip Moomey (Spartan Combat RTC/Titan Mercury WC), 9-0
Sammy Jones (Sunkist Kids WC) dec. Randon Miranda (New York AC), 5-0
Max Black (Northern Michigan) dec. Dylan Gregerson (New York AC), 4-1
Dalton Roberts (U.S. Army WCAP) tech. fall Taylor Lamont (Gopher WC/Sunkist Kids WC), 9-1
67 kg
Alejandro Sancho (U.S. Army WCAP) dec. Jamel Johnson (U.S. Marine Corps), 10-4
Pat Smith (Minnesota Storm) dec. David Stepanian (Northern Michigan/New York AC), 4-2
Ellis Coleman (U.S. Army WCAP) dec. Robert Perez III (Sunkist Kids WC), 4-0
Xavier Johnson (U.S. Army WCAP) tech. fall Peyton Omania (Unattached), 9-0
77 kg
Kamal Bey (U.S. Army WCAP) tech. fall Vincent Dolce (Air Force RTC), 9-0
RaVaughn Perkins (New York AC) dec. Danny Braunagel (Illinois RTC/New York AC), 4-1
Aliaksandr Kikinou (New York AC) dec. Jesse Porter (New York AC), 6-0
Benji Peak (Norther Michigan/Sunkist Kids WC) tech. fall Tyler Eischens (Tar Heel WC), 9-0
87 kg
Mahmoud Sebie (New York AC) dec. Ryan Epps (U.S. Army WCAP), 6-0
John Stefanowicz (U.S. Marine Corps) tech. fall Tim Young (U.S. Army WCAP), 8-0
Zachary Braunagel (Illinois RTC/New York AC) dec. Ben Provisor (New York AC), 3-2
Payton Jacobson (Northern Michigan/Sunkist Kids WC) dec. Richard Carlson (Minnesota Storm /New York AC), 4-0
97 kg
Josef Rau (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Brandon Marshall (Big Game WC), 7-0
David Orndorff (Ohio RTC/Titan Mercury WC) dec. Michael Altomer (Curby 3-Style/New York AC), 6-0
Nicholas Boykin (Sunkist Kids WC) dec. George Sikes (Northern Michigan/New York AC), 3-2
Diante Cooper (Air Force RTC) inj. def. Braxton Amos (Wisconsin RTC/Sunkist Kids WC), 2:06
130 kg
Adam Coon (Cliff Keen WC/New York AC) received a bye
Donny Longendyke (Minnesota Storm) dec. Jeremiah Imonode (U.S. Army WCAP), 5-3
Aden Attao (Beaver Dam RTC/New York AC) received a bye
Courtney Freeman (U.S. Marine Corps) received a bye