Smith, Ortiz and Russell Lead Gophers at US Senior Nationals

Current and former Gophers led a Minnesota contingent at the US Senior Nationals this past weekend at Xtream Arena & GreenState Family Fieldhouse in Coralville, Iowa. Pat Smith and Alec Ortiz finished second and third in Greco-Roman, respectively, while Sean Russell placed fourth in freestyle.

Smith and Ortiz advanced to a semifinal matchup at 77kg with Smith moving on to the finals with a 4-1 victory. Smith fell in the championship bout against No. 3 Kendrick Sanders, while Ortiz rallied for a third-place finish.

Russell began his tournament run with three straight wins at 57kg, including a 3-2 upset of No. 3 Frank Perrelli in the quarterfinals. After a loss in the semifinals, he rebounded for a fourth-place showing.

Competing as part of the Gopher Wrestling Club, former North Dakota State All-American Hayden Zillmer earned third place in freestyle at 97kg.

Final Results

#1 Pat Smith – Greco-Roman – 77kg – Second Place – 3-1 record
Round of 16 – Smith VPO Zachary Grimes CO (SWAT), 7-0
Quarterfinals – Smith VSU #8 Peyton Robb (Nebraska Wrestling Training Center), 11-0 3:34
Semifinals – Smith VPO1 #4 Alec Ortiz MN (Minnesota Storm), 4-1
Finals - #3 Kendrick Sanders MI (New York Athletic Club) VSU Smith, 8-0 1:33

#4 Alec Ortiz – Greco-Roman – 77kg – Third Place - 4-1 record
Round of 16 – Ortiz VSU Michael Napier TX (Panhandle Wrestling Club), 8-0 1:25
Quarterfinals – Ortiz VPO Fritz Schierl WI (TMWC/OHIO RTC), 6-0
Semifinals – #1 Patrick Smith MN (Minnesota Storm) VPO1 Ortiz, 4-1
Consolation Semifinals – Ortiz VP01 Zachary Grimes CO (SWAT)
Third Place – Ortiz VPO1 Peyton Robb MN (Nebraska Wrestling Training Center), 6-1

*#2 Hayden Zillmer – 97kg – Third Place – 5-1 record
Round of 32 – Zillmer VSU Erik Hinckley (Unattached), 12-0 0:24
Round of 16 – Zillmer VSU1 Evan Hansen (TMWC Cavalier RTC), 13-2 5:11
Quarterfinals – Zillmer VP01 #7 Timothy Dudley (SKWC), 4-3
Semifinals - #3 Kollin Moore (TMWC/Ohio RTC) VP01 Zillmer, 6-5
Consolation Semifinals – Zillmer VSU #2 #12 Eric Schultz (Nebraska Wrestling Training Center), 10-0 3:26
Third Place – Zillmer VSU #7 Timothy Dudley (SKWC), 10-0 3:58
*Wrestled at NDSU; Member of the Gopher Wrestling Club RTC

#6 Sean Russell – 57kg – Fourth Place – 4-2 record
Round of 32 – Russell VSU1 Justin Portillo (Viking Wrestling Club (IA)), 12-2 3:00
Round of 16 – Russell VSU #12 Jack Medley (Cliff Keen Wrestling Club-RTC), 10-0 2:59
Quarterfinals – Russell VP01 #3 Frank Perrelli, 3-2
Semifinals - Dylan Ragusin (Cliff Keen Wrestling Club-RTC) VSU1 Russell, 16-5 3:13
Consolation Semifinals – Russell VSU Sam Latona (TMWC / SERTC), 10-0 3:37
Third Place - #4 Jack Mueller (TMWC / New York City RTC) VP01 Russell, 8-2

#7 Skyler Petry – 57kg – 2-2 record
Round of 32 – Petry VSU Alex Logsdon AK (Cougar Wrestling Club), 10-0 1:09
Round of 16 - Petry VP01 #11 Matthew Ramos IL (Gopher Wrestling Club - RTC), 3-1
Quarterfinals - Dylan Ragusin (Cliff Keen Wrestling Club-RTC) VP01 Petry, 8-1
Consolation - #6 Shelton Mack (TMWC/New York City RTC) VP0 Petry, 6-0

#11 Matthew Ramos – 57kg – 3-2 record
Round of 32 – Ramos VPO1 Britain Longmire NV (Unattached), 5-1
Round of 16 - #7 Skyler Petry MN (Minnesota Storm) VP01 Ramos, 3-1
Consolation – Ramos VP01 #9 Brandon Courtney (Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club), 8-4
Consolation – Ramos VP01 #2 Darian Cruz (New York Athletic Club), 12-9
Consolation - Sam Latona (TMWC/Ohio RTC) VP01 Ramos, 14-8

#8 Mitch McKee – 65kg – 2-2 record
Round of 32 – McKee VFA Joshua Brown CA (Unattached), 8-0 1:29
Round of 16 – #9 Andrew Alirez (Unattached) VP01 McKee, 11-5
Consolation – McKee VFA Doug Zapf (Pennsylvania RTC), 8-0 2:47
Consolation – #7 Matthew Kolodzik (New York Athletic Club) VSU1 McKee, 11-1 4:47

*Elroy Perkin – 74kg – 2-2 record
Round of 64 – Perkin VSU1 Alejandro Torres (Unattached), 12-2 0:43
Round of 32 – Perkin VSU Aaron Goldman (Spartan Mat Club), 10-0 1:12
Round of 16 – #3 Anthony Valencia (Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club) VP01 Perkin, 16-13
Consolation - Andrew Torres (Firestorm Wrestling Club) VP01 Perkin, 7-4
*Wrestled at UW-Eau Claire; Member of the Gopher Wrestling Club RTC

#4 Brett Pfarr - 86 kg – 1-2 record
Round of 32 - Zachary Braunagel (Illinois Regional Training Center/Illini WC) VP01 Pfarr, 5-5
Consolation – Pfarr VSU Kyle Summers (Unattached), 11-0 3:00
Consolation - Pfarr VIN #10 Devin Skatzka (Gopher Wrestling Club - RTC), 6-4 3:48
Consolation - #9 Rocky Elam (Tiger Style Wrestling Club) VSU Pfarr, 10-0 4:26

#10 Devin Skatzka – 86kg – 1-2 record
Round of 32 – Skatzka VSU1 Austin Kraisser (Buies Creek Wrestling Club), 22-12 4:38
Round of 16 - #7 Taylor Lujan (Panther Wrestling Club RTC) VSU Skatzka, 10-0 1:08
Consolation - #4 Brett Pfarr (Gopher Wrestling Club - RTC) VIN Skatzka, 6-4 3:48

Garrett Joles – 86kg – 2-2 record
Round of 32 – Joles VP01 David Richardson (Unattached), 10-4
Round of 16 - #3 Trent Hidlay (TMWC / Wolfpack RTC) VSU1 Joles, 13-2 4:09
Consolation – Joles VP0 Ryan Epps (Unattached), 4-0
Consolation –#8 CJ Brucki (Unattached) VP0 Joles, 4-0

Keaton Kluever – 125kg
Freestyle (0-2 record)
Round of 32 – #12 Aj Nevills (Titan Mercury Wrestling Club) VP01 Kluever, 5-2
Consolation - #11 Mauro Correnti (New York Athletic Club) VSU1 Kluever, 11-1 3:47

Greco-Roman (0-2 record)
Round of 16 - #3 Luke Luffman (Illinois Regional Training Center/Illini WC) VP01 Kluever, 11-7
Consolation - Donny Longendyke (Minnesota Storm) VSU Kluever, 8-0 1:36

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Players Mentioned

Garrett Joles

Keaton Kluever

Mitch McKee

Skyler Petry

Sean Russell

Devin Skatzka