Gross dominates in Bill Farrell finals, five more wrestlers qualify for Olympic Team Trials

Photo of Seth Gross working to finish a single leg takedown by Larry Slater.

New York, N.Y. – It was standing room only in the sixth floor gymnasium of the New York Athletic Club for the men’s freestyle finals at the Bill Farrell International, and the crowd standing was quite a large one.

Only featuring the six Olympic weight classes, the brackets were stacked, and the finalists were some of the country’s finest wrestlers. With five Olympic Team Trials spots on the line, everyone came ready to battle.

Seth Gross started the finals off in impressive fashion, dominating Nathan Tomasello in an 11-1 technical fall victory. Gross, who wrestles collegiately at 133 pounds and has previously competed internationally at 61 kg, proved the additional weight cut would not be a factor. Throughout the match, Gross executed stellar shot defense, and despite getting to his legs, Tomasello was unable to finish. Gross controlled the hand fighting as well and took a 7-0 lead into the break on the strength of five step outs and a takedown. In the second period, Tomasello managed a step out, but Gross would put the match away with two more takedowns.

Gross said he knew that weight cut was going to be difficult, so he gave himself ample time to prepare.

“It’s been a long process. I’ve been working on getting down for two or three months now. It’s not like oh this week I’m cutting that off, it’s been slowly shrinking my body down and getting where I need to be so that I can get out here and compete, not get out here and fall over my first match. It’s been a big focus, a lot of discipline.”

Isaiah Martinez earned the tournament’s outstanding wrestler award with a 12-0 technical fall over rival Jason Nolf. Martinez hit a body lock off the whistle for four points, which set the tone for how the rest of the match went. Nolf, had his knee heavily taped and was walking with a limp before the match started. Martinez stated that Nolf was not at 100 percent.

“There was definitely something wrong with his knee. He’s a tough dude. It’s important to get that Olympic Trials berth, but it was rough for him out there,” he said.

Alex Dieringer was another wrestler dealing with a weight change. However, he went up instead of down. After spending the last two seasons at 79 kg, Dieringer won his debut tournament at 86 kg with a 7-2 victory over Myles Martin in the finals.

“I’m still as strong as all those guys, if not stronger. It’s good. Obviously I’m not dominating like I am at 79, but it takes time. I’ve got to get used to the new weight, and I think I will as time goes on,” he said.

65 kg featured another rivalry match, where Jordan Oliver defeated Frank Molinaro, 8-6. Molinaro defeated Oliver for a spot on the National Team in May at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament. Oliver credited stylistic change in being a difference maker this time around.

“Looking at my wrestling from when he beat me at the World Team Trials, there was no savviness. I wasn’t physical. I wasn’t clubbing him back. I was a more finesse J.O. last year, and sometimes things got to get ugly. And I understand that, but it took me a hard lesson to understand that,” he said.

At 97 kg, Kyle Snyder was dominant with a 10-0 technical fall over Michael Macchiavello. Snyder was already qualified for the Olympic Team Trials, so Macchiavello punched his ticket as well when he won his semifinal match. Macchiavellomoved up from 92 kg.

The final match of the tournament featured Gable Steveson taking out six-time National Team member Dom Bradley. Steveson, who is currently No. 2 on the National Team, controlled the match for a 4-1 decision.

First Place Matches
57 kg: Seth Gross (Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club) TF Nathan Tomasello (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club/OHIO RTC), 11-1 4:52

65 kg: Jordan Oliver (Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club) dec Frank Molinaro (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club/OKRTC), 8-6.

74 kg: Isaiah Martinez (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club/ILLINIRTC) TF Jason Nolf (Nittany Lion Wrestling Cl b), 12-0 2:02

86 kg: Alex Dieringer (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club/COWBOY WC) dec Myles Martin (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club/OHIO RTC), 7-2

97 kg: Kyle Snyder (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club/NLWC) TF Michael Macchiavello (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club/WOLFPACK), 10-0 2:38

125 kg: Gable Stevenson (Gopher Wrestling Club - RTC) dec Dominique Bradley (Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club), 4-1

Third Place Matches
57 kg: Nick Suriano (Unattached) dec Nahshon Garrett (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club/FLWC), 8-1

65 kg: Evan Henderson (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club) dec Joseph Mckenna (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club/PENNRTC), 14-12

74 kg: Nazar Kulchytskyy (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club/STORM) dec Mekhi Lewis (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club/SERTC), 9-3

86 kg: Nathan Jackson (New York Athletic Club) VPO1 Brett Pfarr (Gopher Wrestling Club - RTC), 4-4

97 kg: Hayden Zillmer (Gopher Wrestling Club - RTC) dec Ty Walz (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club/SERTC), 4-0

125 kg: Amarveer Dhesi (Canada) dec Nick Nevills (Nittany Lion Wrestling Club), 10-2