Freestyle semifinals set for Saturday evening at Last Chance Qualifier
by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling
Photos of Nate Jackson and Mark Hall by Justin Hoch, jhoch.com.
FORT WORTH, Texas – The semifinals are set in men’s freestyle for Saturday evening at the Last Chance Qualifier. The top-two athletes in each weight class will earn bids to the Olympic Team Trials April 2-3 in Fort Worth.
The semifinals will take place at 4 p.m. CT live on FloWrestling, followed by the finals. True-second matches will take place if necessary.
The 86 kg, 97 kg and 125 kg brackets held to seed with the top-four at each weight advancing to the semifinals.
A couple of notable upsets happened throughout the morning session with #6 Sean Russell taking out #3 and National Team member Darian Cruz with a late takedown in the quarters. At 65 kg, unseeded Kizhan Clarke knocked off #3 Mitch McKee and #6 Dean Heil en route to a semifinals bid. Another unseeded wrestler to come through was Branson Ashworth at 74 kg, who defeated #8 Julian Ramirez and #1Ryan Deakin.
Visit FloArena to see the full results of the morning session. Below are the semifinals matchups for today.
SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS
57 kg
Zane Richards (TMWC) vs. Daniel Deshazer (Gopher WC RTC)
Sean Russell (Gopher WC RTC) vs. Jack Mueller (New York City RTC)
65 kg
Patricio Lugo (Hawkeye WC) vs. Matthew Kolodzik (New Jersey RTC)
Kizhan Clarke (DCAC) vs. Evan Henderson (TMWC)
74 kg
Branson Ashworth (Wyoming RTC) vs. Vincenzo Joseph (Nittany Lion WC)
Alec Pantaleo (TMWC) vs. Chance Marsteller (TMWC)
86 kg
Gabe Dean (TMWC) vs. Drew Foster (Panther WC RTC)
Mark Hall (TMWC) vs. Nathan Jackson (NYAC)
97kg
Ben Honis (TMWC) vs. Braxton Amos (Wisconsin RTC)
Scottie Boykin (Spartan Combat RTC) vs. Austin Schafer (NYAC)
125 kg
Daniel Chaid (California RTC) vs. Tanner Hall (Sunkist Kids)
Michael Kosoy (The Dam RTC) vs. Jordan Wood (Lehigh Valley WC)