'26 Bill Farrell Memorial International (11/6-7) thread

El_Jefe · Oct 29, 2026

Event is early this year -- 1 week before the first dual.

Entries posted so far:

Frank Molinaro back in action!

PSU-related guys in CAPS, plus a few other notables:
- 57 kg: GREY BURNETT; Sammy Sanchez, Hayden Schwab, Sheldon Seymour also at the weight
- 61 kg: JOSH RODRIGUEZ; Nic Bouzakis, Austin DeSanto, Michael McGee, Cruiseliner Nick
- 65 kg: BEAU BARTLETT, NATE DESMOND, CLINTON SHEPHERD; Vito Arujau, Brock Hardy
- 70 kg: FRANK MOLINARO; Melvin Miller
- 74 kg: BEARCLAW; Bryce Andonian, Michael Caliendo, Hayden Hidlay, Quincy Monday, Julian Ramirez
- 79 kg: Patrick Kennedy, Carson Kharchla, David McFadden, Kennedy Monday, Izzy Olejnik
- 86 kg: Zac Braunagel, Tanner Hodgins, Mekhi Lewis
- 92 kg: Trent Hidlay
- 97 kg: Jay Aiello, Stephen Buchanan, Jacob Cardenas, Massoma Endene
- 125 kg: Taye Ghadiali, Coby Merrill, Demetrius Thomas, Jordan Wood

Tom McAndrew · Oct 29, 2026

The 2026 Bill Farrell Memorial International will take place on Nov. 6 & 7 in New York, NY.

US athletes that finish in the top 3 of the tournament will automatically qualify for the 2027 World Team Trials tournament.

Please use this thread for all pre-tournament, in-tournament, and post-tournament discussion of the event.

Wrestlers with PSU connections that appear to have registered (as of 10/29) are:

57 Kg:
- Grey Burnett

61 Kg:
- Nick Suriano
- Josh Rodriguez

65 Kg:
- Beau Bartlett
- Nathan Desmond
- Clinton Shepherd

70 Kg:
- Frank Molinaro

74 Kg:
- Terrell Barraclough

79 Kg:
- none

86 Kg:
- none

92 Kg:
- none

97 Kg:
- none

125 Kg:
- none

Tom McAndrew · Oct 29, 2026

nerfstate · Oct 29, 2026

Gorilla Hulk baby!

OzarkLion · Oct 29, 2026

Does this assume some combination of Ono/Blaze for the dual, as Desmond is the only wrestler with any starting potential entered?

HOA242n! · Friday at 6:07 AM

OzarkLion said:
Does this assume some combination of Ono/Blaze for the dual, as Desmond is the only wrestler with any starting potential entered?

I guess we'll see how Desmond does against some legit competition around 141ish. I am of the opinion that he's much better off at 133 (he's just too small for 141, at least he was last season), but love how he wrestles.

Ernie Ladd · Friday at 1:29 PM

65 Kg =143.3 lb
Curious: how tall is Nate versus Beau?
I always thought Beau’s length translated better to 133, but it is hard to argue his results.

Nightking · Friday at 4:24 PM

Everybody seems to forget that Desmond beat Ragusin at Michigan last year. With the extra time to bulk up i think he would be a very good 141 pounder. He started that year at 125.

CarolinaFan1 · Friday at 5:05 PM

Nightking said:
Everybody seems to forget that Desmond beat Ragusin at Michigan last year. With the extra time to bulk up i think he would be a very good 141 pounder. He started that year at 125.

I like Nate and hope he does well —- best guy should go whoever that is. Just keep in mind Ragusin was a non-qualifier at NCAA last season — not same guy as earlier in career.

Corby2 · Friday at 5:24 PM

After all these years and you guys don't trust in Caels line up decisions that's insane

98lberEating2Lunches · Friday at 5:44 PM

Corby2 said:
After all these years and you guys don't trust in Caels line up decisions that's insane

What decisions? Did you watch the presser

Corby2 · Friday at 5:57 PM

98lberEating2Lunches said:
What decisions? Did you watch the presser

Nope

.

PSU Mike · Friday at 6:07 PM

So Frank is more than double Miller’s age?

Corby2 · Friday at 6:11 PM

PSU Mike said:
So Frank is more than double Miller’s age?

Melvin is 19 his birthday is today and Frank is 37 be 38 in December

PSU Mike · Friday at 6:30 PM

Corby2 said:
Melvin is 19 his birthday is today and Frank is 37 be 38 in December

I guess I get an A-

Shifty15 · Friday at 7:08 PM

Nightking said:
Everybody seems to forget that Desmond beat Ragusin at Michigan last year. With the extra time to bulk up i think he would be a very good 141 pounder. He started that year at 125.

TBH Ragusin was a shell of himself last year. Not dismissing that it was a solid win for Desmond.

nerfstate · Friday at 8:04 PM

Desmond beating an eventual NCAA champ last year was pretty good.

zzs006 · Friday at 9:00 PM

nerfstate said:
Desmond beating an eventual NCAA champ last year was pretty good.

Definitely but it was 125 which seems to be the issue. Is he a 141?

HOA242n! · Saturday at 7:34 AM

zzs006 said:
Definitely but it was 125 which seems to be the issue. Is he a 141?

+1 Just speaking for myself, but the concern with Desmond isn't skill (and certainly not will and grit), but size/strength. Ragusin looked like he was grappling with his (4" shorter and 20lbs. lighter) little brother, and Ragusin wasn't a big 141. At 133, Desmond is a sure thing AA - just a step below those 4 guys who are truly world class, but I'm not seeing it at 141. IMO, he's probably somewhere around Scooter's preseason rankings (#12ish). We had the opportunity to see what he'd look like ~141 (granted, in freestyle) against some tougher competition at the US Open and we'll see what he looks like at 141 in folk (at Bill Farrell).

I understand cutting to 125 is no longer an option for him, but he doesn't look to be bigger than - say - Luke or Bouzakis; how would they fair at 141? There are weight classes for a reason, size matters a ton in any form of grappling.

dicemen99 · Saturday at 7:54 AM

I hear all of you. There is no way we can expect Desmond to be big enough for 41.

Kids just don’t grow or put on muscle weight after age 18. There is no way I could have put on 10 pounds of good weight when I was 19. Come to think of it the large majority of Americans in general weigh what they did at HS graduation.

He was a 33 at 19 and now is trying to go 41 at 20. Unprecedented.

HOA242n! · Saturday at 8:03 AM

dicemen99 said:
I hear all of you. There is no way we can expect Desmond to be big enough for 41.

Kids just don’t grow or put on muscle weight after age 18. There is no way I could have put on 10 pounds of good weight when I was 19. Come to think of it the large majority of Americans in general weigh what they did at HS graduation.

He was a 33 at 19 and now is trying to go 41 at 20. Unprecedented.

He got big-brothered by Bartlett and Pierson Manville at the US Open; has he grown since April? I said this last season (that he's not ideal at 141, barring a growth spurt); that growth spurt hadn't happened as of 6-months ago.

Anon210980 · Saturday at 10:09 AM

HOA242n! said:
He got big-brothered by Bartlett and Pierson Manville at the US Open; has he grown since April? I said this last season (that he's not ideal at 141, barring a growth spurt); that growth spurt hadn't happened as of 6-months ago.

lol give him a chance just a soph

Corby2 · Saturday at 10:13 AM

Believe in Cael

zzs006 · Saturday at 10:26 AM

If he goes 141 I think he will be fine. I was just saying his win against Luke at 125 doesn’t mean he is a title threat 141

LemonPie · Saturday at 11:02 AM

Corby2 said:
Believe in Cael

Maybe Marcus made the decision. Maybe he sees himself as an Olympic 57 instead of 65.

HOA242n! · Saturday at 11:13 AM

LemonPie said:
Maybe Marcus made the decision. Maybe he sees himself as an Olympic 57 instead of 65.

IMO if anybody is going to physically grow out of a weight, it is Marcus. His brother has had a major growth spurt the last few years and he has a bigger frame - not to mention he's younger than Desmond. The cut for him to 57, right now, would probably be brutal but he'd be competing against guys who have been 65kg for years if he tried to jump up. He, like Haines, is going to have to make a tough decision about the Olympics.

Corby2 · Saturday at 11:29 AM

LemonPie said:
Maybe Marcus made the decision. Maybe he sees himself as an Olympic 57 instead of 65.

Maybe but he's gone 65 recently and not 57. Davino is going 57 so Blaze could I guess

Dogwelder · Saturday at 11:52 AM

PSU Mike said:
I guess I get an A-

Yep.

One day late for the A+.

LemonPie · Saturday at 2:43 PM

Corby2 said:
Maybe but he's gone 65 recently and not 57. Davino is going 57 so Blaze could I guess

While weighing 140. I don’t believe he had the option to go 57. Lilledahl won the US open and Spencer was sitting. 65 was his only choice.

Tom McAndrew · 2026-11-04T17:26:46-0600

Coastal2 · 2026-11-04T19:47:41-0600

So far the most interesting thing is that Nic Bouzakis is registered at 61kg.

Is he going to wrestle undersized at 141 or is Davino possibly moving up?

Corby2 · 2026-11-04T20:24:38-0600

Shocked to see Trent competing even with Hayden wrestling. Some other names that most probably haven't seen lately

57 Zane Richards
Richie Figueroa
61 Nick Suriano
70 Frank Molinaro
Dylan Demilio
74 Hayden Hidlay
79 Carson Kharchla
86 Mekhi Lewis
97 Mo Endene

CTStall · 2026-11-04T23:17:55-0600

dicemen99 said:
I hear all of you. There is no way we can expect Desmond to be big enough for 41.

Kids just don’t grow or put on muscle weight after age 18. There is no way I could have put on 10 pounds of good weight when I was 19. Come to think of it the large majority of Americans in general weigh what they did at HS graduation.

He was a 33 at 19 and now is trying to go 41 at 20. Unprecedented.

Kyle Dake ???

CTStall · 2026-11-04T23:21:52-0600

I posted a while back that Desmond is sliding in at 141. Only other viable was Blaze going up.
Ono not "grasping " folk style .

Scam likely · 2026-11-05T01:09:01-0600

According to iron head Ono may not wrestle for penn st until after he qualified for japans Olympic team in December. Also penn st would like to know how many years of eligibility he has before he takes the mat. If Desmond is a true strong 141 pounder ,ok let's roll.

CTStall · 2026-11-05T02:36:05-0600

Scam likely said:
According to iron head Ono may not wrestle for penn st until after he qualified for japans Olympic team in December. Also penn st would like to know how many years of eligibility he has before he takes the mat. If Desmond is a true strong 141 pounder ,ok let's roll

As I noted before, freestyle is different than folk mat wrestling. I heard something spefic but can't elaborate. I watched the Ironhead interview. I'm calling him for a bluff if I'm playing cards. He knew more about Ono and his current status in the room. He certainly isn't going to elaborate about details.

As an outsider looking at the situation. My thought is, if Ono is getting close to competing in college you would see him in tournaments. ??? I'm probably going up to Army and would love to see him at 133 and Blaze at 141 as a dress rehearsal to a line up option .
Maybe Ono's value is more for the NLWC freestyle lightweight room . He gets better from the quality in the room and helps Blaze (ect.)get better on their feet.

LostInTransition · 2026-11-05T05:17:58-0600

CTStall said:
As I noted before, freestyle is different than folk mat wrestling. I heard something spefic but can't elaborate. I watched the Ironhead interview. I'm calling him for a bluff if I'm playing cards. He knew more about Ono and his current status in the room. He certainly isn't going to elaborate about details.

As an outsider looking at the situation. My thought is, if Ono is getting close to competing in college you would see him in tournaments. ??? I'm probably going up to Army and would love to see him at 133 and Blaze at 141 as a dress rehearsal to a line up option .
Maybe Ono's value is more for the NLWC freestyle lightweight room . He gets better from the quality in the room and helps Blaze (ect.)get better on their feet.

Right now I'm fascinated by the idea that world class wrestlers struggle when going from free to folk or folk to free. We just saw Team USA loaded with the very best folk style wrestlers dominate the freestyle world and yet we're hearing that World Class Ono is struggling with the transition. On the other hand, we've seen Desmond excel at folk style but continually get rag dolled in freestyle.

I'm not completely sold on the argument that Desmond isn't big enough for 141 because Pierson Manville big brothered him at the Open. Young Mr. Desmond has a history of getting thumped in freestyle. Here's his list of TF losses.

2024 Bill Farrell, Daniel Deshazer, 57kg, TF 10-0
2025 US Open, U20, 61kg, Aaron Seidel, TF 11-0 and Elijah Cortez, TF 10-0,
2026 US Open, Sr, 65kg, Beau Bartlett, TF 11-0 and Manville, TF 11-1

His USA Bracketing profile shows no significant wins in freestyle. Am I missing any?

LostInTransition · 2026-11-05T05:40:05-0600

dicemen99 said:
I hear all of you. There is no way we can expect Desmond to be big enough for 41.

Kids just don’t grow or put on muscle weight after age 18. There is no way I could have put on 10 pounds of good weight when I was 19. Come to think of it the large majority of Americans in general weigh what they did at HS graduation.

He was a 33 at 19 and now is trying to go 41 at 20. Unprecedented.

Unprecedented? You serious, Dice? We've seen it a number of times, Dake was mentioned above, DT went from a scrawny 157 to, eventually, 86kg, Cassar lifted and ate his way from 197 up to 225, Zain jumped easily from 141 to 149, and the most recent and probably best comp is Tyler Kasak. Tyler started at 141 at the beginning of his freshman year before finishing 3rd at 149 that season, then 3rd again at 157 as a sophomore. Tyler appeared to be cutting heavily to 141, much like Desmond cutting to 125.

You may end up being right about Desmond but you can't say the jump is unprecedented.

nerfstate · 2026-11-05T05:48:11-0600

Some of you would really benefit from a sarcasm font option on this board.

LostInTransition · 2026-11-05T06:12:01-0600

nerfstate said:
Some of you would really benefit from a sarcasm font option on this board.

Guilty. I went back and forth on the response to Dice. Point stands though, Kasak is the best, most recent precedent.

'26 Bill Farrell Memorial International (11/6-7) thread

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