Nick Suriano is a serious threat for Tokyo.
The Rutgers national champion won the 57 kilogram freestyle gold medal at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix in dominant fashion on Saturday, rolling past Ajerbaijan’s Islam Bazarganov, 7-1, in the tournament final in Nice, France.
Suriano’s win further cements he is a top contender to win the weight at April’s U.S. Team Trials and represent USA Wrestling at the Olympics starting in July. And the manner in which he competed — Suriano outscored his final three opponents 18-2 with dominant defense and frequent offense — indicates he has raised his game since he began training with the Arizona State-based Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club.
Bazarganov had edged two-time Iowa All-American Thomas Gilman, who entered the day as FloWrestling’s top-ranked domestic wrestler at the weight, in the semifinals. Suriano also beat former European champion Mahkir Amiraslanov of Azerbaijan, 7-0, in the quarterfinals.
Suriano previously lost to the third American at the tournament — Cornell All-American Vito Arujau — in a 2-2 criteria defeat in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 Senior Nationals. But Arujau lost to Gilman in the Deglane quarterfinals on Saturday.
Suriano’s breakout showing makes a loaded team trials weight class even stronger. He, Arujau and Gilman will be joined by two-time Iowa national champion Spencer Lee — who beat Suriano in the 2018 NCAA final — and Oklahoma State All-American Daton Fix, who Suriano beat in the 2019 national final. World bronze medalist Joe Colon — who Suriano defeated at Beat The Streets 2019 to begin his freestyle journey — and Wisconsin national champion Seth Gross are also contenders.
Suriano, a Paramus native and four-time undefeated Bergen Catholic state champion, did not compete for Rutgers last season while on Olympic redshirt and Scarlet Knights coach Scott Goodale said it is “50-50″ whether Suriano will return to the program this season. He is enrolled in classes at Rutgers.
“The option is still open,” Goodale said. “He’s chasing this Olympic dream. … Right now, it’s probably 50-50 (that he will return). There’s been good dialogue with the family, and we’re just going to wait and see. We fully support Nick.”
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James Kratch may be reached at [email protected].
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