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Engel, Finesilver brothers among winners at Maccabiah USA Trials; champs qualify for Maccabiah Games in Israel

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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling

2017 U.S. Maccabiah Games wrestling team, after the Trials event in Philadelphia. Photo courtesy of Ed Gould.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Nate Engel of Annapolis, Md. and the Finesilver brothers from Greenwood Village, Colo., Mitchell and Matt, were among the prominent champions at the Maccabiah USA Team Trials in wrestling, held at the University of Pennsylvania on Sunday.

Winners will represent the United States at the 20th World Maccabiah Games in Israel, July 4-18, and features Jewish athletes from all over the world. Although the Maccabiah USA Wrestling Team Trials were held in freestyle, the winners will compete in both freestyle and Greco-Roman in Israel.

Engel, longtime Team USA member in Greco-Roman and currently an assistant wrestling coach at the U.S. Naval Academy, came out of retirement to qualify for his second straight Maccabiah Games team with a victory at 57 kg/125.5 lbs.

Engel went 4-0 in a five-athlete round robin, winning all of his matches by technical fall. Included in those wins was a victory over Colorado state high school champion Moshe Schwartz, a past USA Wrestling Cadet Triple Crown winner, by a 12-2 margin.

Engel wrestled in the 19th Maccabiah Games in 2013, where he won gold medals in both freestyle and Greco-Roman and finished the tournament with a perfect combined 5-0 record.

The Finesilver brothers, who compete for Duke University, won consecutive weight classes, with Mitch taking gold at 70 kg/154 lbs. and Matt winning at 74 kg/163 lbs.

Both won four-athlete round robins with perfect 3-0 records. Mitch had two technical falls and a pin, including a 10-0 technical fall over Maryland native and former Penn wrestler Eric Friedman. Matt piled up three technical falls, including a 10-0 technical fall over runner-up Zachary Spira of New Jersey, who wrestles for Drexel.

Blair Academy’s National Prep School champion Zachary Sherman of Plantation, Fla. won a three athlete roundrobin at 61 kg/134 lbs. with a 2-0 record, both by technical fall. Sherman, who has committed to attend the University of North Carolina, defeated Colorado prep star and eventual runner-up Joshua Finesilver in an 11-0 technical fall.

The other four weight classes went to college wrestlers, with Binghamton’s Parker Kropman of Rochester, N.Y. (65 kg/143 lbs.), Hofstra’s Sage Heller of Riverwoods, Ill. (86 kg/189 lbs.), Rider’s Donald McNeil of Plainville, Mass. (97 kg/213 lbs.) and NC State’s Michael Kosoy of Boca Raton, Fla. (125 kg/275 lbs.) all winning their weight classes.

Kropman finished with a 4-1 record in a six-athlete roundrobin, and needed tie-breakers to come out ahead of two others with 4-1 records, runner-up Bo Schlosser and third-place finisher Jack Mutchnik. Kropman scored a technical fall over Schlosser, who coaches with the SOT Academy in Colorado. Mutchnik, who wrestles for American University, defeated Kropman in a 10-0 technical fall, but lost to Schlosser, 8-6.

Heller won five matches in his weight class, including a pin in 1:29 of eventual runner-up Gordon Wolf, who wrestles for Lehigh.

McNeil had a perfect 3-0 record, with a pair of technical falls and a pin. He beat eventual runner-up Benjamin Kenis in a 12-1 technical fall.

Kosoy went 2-0 in his roundrobin, including a 10-0 technical fall over runner-up Matt Kaminer, who wrestles for Washington and Lee University.

Maccabiah World Games, a competition for Jewish athletes across the world, is the third largest multi-sport event on earth behind the Olympic Games and the Pan American Games. Wrestlers will be part of the overall 1,100+ member Team USA at the 2017 World Maccabiah Games, which features 10,000 athletes, from 80 countries, participating in 43 sports.

20th USA Maccabiah Games wrestling team
57 kg/125.5 lbs. - Nathan Engel, Annapolis, Md.
61 kg/134 lbs. - Zachary Sherman, Plantation, Fla.
65 kg/143 lbs. - Parker Kropman, Rochester, N.Y.
70 kg/154 lbs.- Mitchell Finesilver, Greenwood Village, Colo.
74 kg/163 lbs.- Matt Finesilver, Greenwood Village, Colo.
86 kg/189 lbs. - Sage Heller, Riverwoods, Ill.
97 kg/213 lbs. - Donald McNeil, Plainville, Mass.
125 kg/275 lbs. - Michael Kosoy, Boca Raton, Fla.

NOTE: For the first time, a Maccabiah Junior Nationals was held for Jewish high school wrestlers, as a way to build the program and encourage younger athletes to seek a spot on future Maccabiah Games teams. Champions were Joe Butler (46-50 kg), Max Berger (60/66 kg), Benjamin Mendelovits (70 kg) and Simon Kangoun (84/96 kg).

MACCABI USA WORLD TEAM TRIALS
At Philadelphia, Pa., April 2


57 kg/125.5 lbs.
1st Place - Nathan Engel, Annapolis, Md.
2nd Place - Mosha Schwartz, Franktown, Colo.
3rd Place - Jacob Luterman. North Potomoc, Md.
4th Place - Larry Colton, Lafayette Hill, Pa.
5th Place - Daniel Grobman, Bryn Mawr, Pa.
Round 1 - Jacob Luterman (Unattached) won by tech fall over Daniel Grobman (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 1 - Nathan Engel (Unattached) won by tech fall over Larry Colton (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 2 - Nathan Engel (Unattached) won by tech fall over Mosha Schwartz (Unattached) (TF 12-2)
Round 2 - Larry Colton (Unattached) won by tech fall over Daniel Grobman (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 3 - Mosha Schwartz (Unattached) won by tech fall over Larry Colton (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 3 - Nathan Engel (Unattached) won by tech fall over Jacob Luterman (Unattached) (TF 12-1)
Round 4 - Mosha Schwartz (Unattached) won by tech fall over Jacob Luterman (Unattached) (TF 14-3)
Round 4 - Nathan Engel (Unattached) won by tech fall over Daniel Grobman (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 5 - Mosha Schwartz (Unattached) won by tech fall over Daniel Grobman (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 5 - Jacob Luterman (Unattached) won by tech fall over Larry Colton (Unattached) (TF 10-0)

61 kg/134 lbs.
1st Place - Zachary Sherman, Plantation, Fla.
2nd Place - Joshua Finesilver, Greenwood Village, Colo.
3rd Place - Ethan Hartman, River Edge, N.J.
Round 1 - Zachary Sherman (Unattached) won by tech fall over Joshua Finesilver (Unattached) (TF 11-0)
Round 2 - Zachary Sherman (Unattached) won by tech fall over Ethan Hartman (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 3 - Joshua Finesilver (Unattached) won by tech fall over Ethan Hartman (Unattached) (TF 10-0)

65 kg/143 lbs.
1st Place - Parker Kropman, Rochester, N.Y.
2nd Place - Bo Schlosser, Franktown, Colo.
3rd Place - Jack Mutchnik, Owings Mills, Md.
4th Place - Jacob Tanenbaum, San Jose, Calif.
5th Place - Morgan Flaharty, Colorado Springs, Colo.
6th Place - Ben Rosen, Crete, Neb.
Round 1 - Parker Kropman (Unattached) won by decision over Jacob Tanenbaum (Unattached) (Dec 14-13)
Round 1 - Bo Schlosser (Unattached) won by decision over Jack Mutchnik (Unattached) (Dec 8-6)
Round 1 - Morgan Flaharty (Unattached) won by decision over Ben Rosen (Unattached) (Dec 10-6)
Round 2 - Jacob Tanenbaum (Unattached) won by tech fall over Morgan Flaharty (Unattached) (TF 16-6)
Round 2 - Bo Schlosser (Unattached) won by fall over Ben Rosen (Unattached) (Fall 2:31)
Round 2 - Jack Mutchnik (Unattached) won by tech fall over Parker Kropman (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 3 - Jacob Tanenbaum (Unattached) won by tech fall over Ben Rosen (Unattached) (TF 14-4)
Round 3 - Parker Kropman (Unattached) won by tech fall over Bo Schlosser (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 3 - Jack Mutchnik (Unattached) won by tech fall over Morgan Flaharty (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 4 - Jack Mutchnik (Unattached) won by decision over Jacob Tanenbaum (Unattached) (Dec 9-0)
Round 4 - Bo Schlosser (Unattached) won by decision over Morgan Flaharty (Unattached) (Dec 15-11)
Round 4 - Parker Kropman (Unattached) won by fall over Ben Rosen (Unattached) (Fall 1:23)
Round 5 - Bo Schlosser (Unattached) won by tech fall over Jacob Tanenbaum (Unattached) (TF 11-1)
Round 5 - Jack Mutchnik (Unattached) won by tech fall over Ben Rosen (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 5 - Morgan Flaharty (Unattached) won by tech fall over Parker Kropman (Unattached) (TF 13-0)

70 kg/154 lbs.
1st Place - Mitchell Finesilver, Greenwood Village, Colo.
2nd Place - Eric Friedman, Baltimore, Md.
3rd Place - Naftali Horowitz, Passaic, N.J.
4th Place - Chaim Averick, Staten Island, N.Y.
Round 1 - Mitchell Finesilver (Unattached) won by fall over Chaim Averick (Unattached) (Fall 1:11)
Round 1 - Eric Friedman (Unattached) won by tech fall over Naftali Horowitz (Unattached) (TF 12-1)
Round 2 - Naftali Horowitz (Unattached) won by tech fall over Chaim Averick (Unattached) (TF 15-4)
Round 2 - Mitchell Finesilver (Unattached) won by tech fall over Eric Friedman (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 3 - Eric Friedman (Unattached) won by injury default over Chaim Averick (Unattached) (Inj. 0:00)
Round 3 - Mitchell Finesilver (Unattached) won by tech fall over Naftali Horowitz (Unattached) (TF 10-0)

74 kg/163 lbs.
1st Place - Matt Finesilver, Greenwood Village, Colo.
2nd Place - Zachary Spira, Mahwah, N.J.
3rd Place - Dylan Schwartz, Holland, Pa.
4th Place - Garrett Brams, Bethesda, Md.
Round 1 - Zachary Spira (Unattached) won by decision over Dylan Schwartz (Unattached) (Dec 8-0)
Round 1 - Matt Finesilver (Unattached) won by tech fall over Garrett Brams (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 2 - Dylan Schwartz (Unattached) won by tech fall over Garrett Brams (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 2 - Matt Finesilver (Unattached) won by tech fall over Zachary Spira (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 3 - Matt Finesilver (Unattached) won by tech fall over Dylan Schwartz (Unattached) (TF 12-2)
Round 3 - Zachary Spira (Unattached) won by injury default over Garrett Brams (Unattached) (Inj. 0:00)

86 kg/189 lbs.
1st Place - Sage Heller, Riverwoods, Ill.
2nd Place - Gordon Wolf, Lawrenceville, N.J.
3rd Place - Jared Forman, Oceanside, Calif.
4th Place - Zachary Goldrosen, Morganville, N.J.
5th Place - Jesse Weiner, East Meadow, N.J.
6th Place - Jonathan Wechter, Edmond, Okla.
Round 1 - Jared Forman (Unattached) won by fall over Jesse Weiner (Unattached) (Fall 1:24)
Round 1 - Sage Heller (Unattached) won by tech fall over Jonathan Wechter (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 1 - Gordon Wolf (Unattached) won by fall over Zachary Goldrosen (Unattached) (Fall 2:22)
Round 2 - Jared Forman (Unattached) won by tech fall over Zachary Goldrosen (Unattached) (TF 12-2)
Round 2 - Gordon Wolf (Unattached) won by tech fall over Jonathan Wechter (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 2 - Sage Heller (Unattached) won by fall over Jesse Weiner (Unattached) (Fall 1:30)
Round 3 - Gordon Wolf (Unattached) won by tech fall over Jared Forman (Unattached) (TF 17-7)
Round 3 - Jesse Weiner (Unattached) won by decision over Jonathan Wechter (Unattached) (Dec 17-8)
Round 3 - Sage Heller (Unattached) won by tech fall over Zachary Goldrosen (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 4 - Sage Heller (Unattached) won by decision over Jared Forman (Unattached) (Dec 14-10)
Round 4 - Zachary Goldrosen (Unattached) won by tech fall over Jonathan Wechter (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 4 - Gordon Wolf (Unattached) won by tech fall over Jesse Weiner (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 5 - Jared Forman (Unattached) won by fall over Jonathan Wechter (Unattached) (Fall 4:50)
Round 5 - Sage Heller (Unattached) won by fall over Gordon Wolf (Unattached) (Fall 1:29)
Round 5 - Zachary Goldrosen (Unattached) won by decision over Jesse Weiner (Unattached) (Dec 12-6)

97 kg/213 lbs.
1st Place - Donald McNeil, Plainville, Mass.
2nd Place - Benjamin Kenis, Holland, Pa.
3rd Place - Drew Brenowitz, Germantown, Md.
4th Place - Yisrael Frasko, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Round 1 - Donald McNeil (Unattached) won by tech fall over Drew Brenowitz (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 1 - Benjamin Kenis (Unattached) won by fall over Yisrael Frasko (Unattached) (Fall 2:22)
Round 2 - Donald McNeil (Unattached) won by tech fall over Benjamin Kenis (Unattached) (TF 12-1)
Round 2 - Drew Brenowitz (Unattached) won by tech fall over Yisrael Frasko (Unattached) (TF 12-1)
Round 3 - Donald McNeil (Unattached) won by fall over Yisrael Frasko (Unattached) (Fall 2:35)
Round 3 - Benjamin Kenis (Unattached) won by decision over Drew Brenowitz (Unattached) (Dec 8-0)

125 kg/275 lbs.
1st Place - Michael Kosoy, Boca Raton, Fla.
2nd Place - Matt Kaminer, Hewlett, N.Y.
3rd Place - Alexander Knapp, Bronx, N.Y.
Round 1 - Michael Kosoy (Unattached) won by tech fall over Alexander Knapp (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 2 - Michael Kosoy (Unattached) won by tech fall over Matt Kaminer (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 3 - Matt Kaminer (Unattached) won by tech fall over Alexander Knapp (Unattached) (TF 10-0)

MACCABIAH JUNIOR NATIONALS
At Philadelphia, Pa., April 2


46-50 kg
1st Place - Joe Butler of Unattached
2nd Place - Ethan Habib-Wells of Unattached
Round 1 - Joe Butler (Unattached) won by tech fall over Ethan Habib-Wells (Unattached) (TF 13-3)
Round 2 - Joe Butler (Unattached) won by tech fall over Ethan Habib-Wells (Unattached) (TF 10-0)

60/66 kg
1st Place - Max Berger of Unattached
2nd Place - Gidon Averick of Unattached
3rd Place - Zachary Gurwitz of Unattached
Round 1 - Max Berger (Unattached) won by tech fall over Zachary Gurwitz (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 2 - Max Berger (Unattached) won by tech fall over Gidon Averick (Unattached) (TF 10-0)
Round 3 - Gidon Averick (Unattached) won by tech fall over Zachary Gurwitz (Unattached) (TF 22-11)

70 kg
1st Place - Benjiman Mendelovits of Unattached
2nd Place - Avi Dier of Unattached
Round 1 - Benjiman Mendelovits (Unattached) won by fall over Avi Dier (Unattached) (Fall 3:33)
Round 2 - Benjiman Mendelovits (Unattached) won by fall over Avi Dier (Unattached) (Fall 1:00)

84/96 kg
1st Place - Simon Kangoun of Unattached
2nd Place - Ryan Kaplow of Unattached
Round 1 - Simon Kangoun (Unattached) won by fall over Ryan Kaplow (Unattached) (Fall 1:11)
Round 2 - Simon Kangoun (Unattached) won by tech fall over Ryan Kaplow (Unattached) (TF 10-0)

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