2019 Bill Farrell Recap: Vicki Vortex Sole U.S. Champ, Velte Battles New Face, OTT Qualifiers

Victoria Anthony was the sole U.S. champion at the 2019 Bill Farrell Open. Shot from 2016 Olympic Team Trials. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / wrestlersarewarriors.com

by Derek Levendusky, AWW staff writer

NEW YORK CITY - There were plenty of big moments at the 2019 Bill Farrell Open on November 16th, some by familiar Senior level athletes, but also some by new kids on the block who gave standout performances. Here’s a quick recap:

50 kg
In a tangle of talent and Senior level rivalry, Victoria “Vicki Vortex” Anthony, Erin Golston, and Amy Fearnside squared off in a group that also included elite foreigners like Canadians Natasha Fox and Madison Parks who finished 3rd and 4th, respectively. #1 seed Golston made the finals when she nipped Fearnside 5-5 in the semis, while #2 seed Anthony cruised to the finals with a bye and two tech falls. Anthony controlled the finals to get the 5-0 win and claim the Bill Farrell gold. Anthony was the sole U.S. champ at this year’s Farrell. Fearnside lost another heartbreaker in the Consi-Semis, falling 7-7 to Canadian world teamer Fox. Young Augsburg University star Emily Shilson, just coming off a competitive performance at U23 Worlds, made quick work of 2019 WCWA runner-up, currently #1 NCAA-ranked Angelina Gomez of Lion Wrestling Club. Shilson fell to Amy Fearnside 10-0 before exiting the tournament with a 3-1 loss to Canadian Madison Parks 3-1.

53 kg
Japan’s Yuka Yago pinned 2016 Olympian Haley Augello in the finals, though Augello won two nail-biters en route to her finals match, a 3-2 win over Areana Villaescusa and a 2-1 close-your-eyes-until-it’s-over heart-pounder against the resurgent Katherine Shai. Villaescusa beat Gracie Figueroa 2-1 to advance to the bronze match, where she rolled over Shai 10-0. In a battle of
upcoming Senior level talent, Gracie Figueroa scored the fall over young phenom Tiare Ikei of Hawaii. Figueroa was the 2019 WCWA champ and Ikei won the U.S. Open last April as a high school senior.

57 kg
The finals featured two foreigners, as Canada’s Alexandria Town defeated Mexico’s Alma Valencia. Germany’s Laura Mertens took the bronze when she defeated top U.S. finisher Ronna Heaton 10-4, an almost replica result of her earlier match with Heaton, when she beat her 11-4 in the quarterfinals. Heaton’s only two losses were to the German.

62 kg
The story here was the high drama playing out in the battles between 2018 World bronze winner Mallory Velte, and the young and fierce Emma Bruntil, a freshman at #1 NCAA school, McKendree University. Velte beat 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Michelle Fazzari 6-4 to set up the first match with Bruntil in the quarters. To get to Velte, Bruntil won a 1-1 criteria match over Mexico’s Alejandro Romero Bonilla, another world teamer. Velte and Bruntil held position and defended everything to bring the match to a 1-1 grind going into the final minute, with the younger holding the lead. Bruntil was put on the shot clock with 47 seconds left, and she scored a takedown with :18 on the clock to seal the 3-1 win. Bruntil then lost her semi to eventual champion Yui Sakano of Japan, a 5-4 hold-your-breath-to-the-end battle. Velte and Bruntil won their way to the 3rd place match, setting up the rematch. It was a close one again. Bruntil held the lead again in the closing moments, when this time Velte scored the dramatic 2, taking down Bruntil with 10 seconds left to secure the 4-3 win. Japan’s Sakano beat Brazil’s Lais de Oliveira in the finals 8-0.

68 kg
Canadian world teamer Danielle Lappage beat fellow Canadian Veronica Keefe in the finals. The battle for bronze, and the Olympic Team Trials spot, came down to McKendree Bearcat Alexandria Glaude and a leveled-up Skylar Grote. In her first match, NYAC-affiliated Grote handled Mexican world teamer Michell Garnica Flores 6-0 and followed up with a 6-2 win over Army/WCAP’s Randi Beltz. She fell to Lappage before teching 2019 WCWA national champion Jayden Laurent to advance to the bronze match. Glaude also got by Laurent in a 5-3 battle before falling to Keefe 3-0 in the semis. Glaude stopped the red-hot Ashlynn Ortega 4-2 in the Cons-Semis before downing Grote 6-2 for the second time in two weeks. She’d beaten her 6-1 at the SFU Open two weeks previous. With the win, Glaude earned a spot at the 2020 Olympic Trials.

72 kg
Three foreigners won the medals, as 2016 Olympic gold medalist, Eric Wiebe of Canada took Bill Farrell gold without giving up a point all day, Aline da Silva Ferreira of Brazil took silver, and Japan’s Rino Abe took bronze. Top U.S. finisher Hannah Gladden of Lion Wrestling Club took 4th, getting a fall over Canada’s Taylor Follensbee to advance to the bronze match, where she fell 11-3 to Abe.

Who qualified for the Olympic Team Trials?
The Bill Farrell was a qualifying event for the 2020 Olympic Team Trials. The top U.S. wrestler finishing in the top three of each weight class gains a coveted spot in the big event next April 4-5 at Penn State. A wrestler could also qualify if they finished behind a U.S. world teamer from the current Olympic quad (2017-2019), as U.S. world team members automatically qualify. That puts runner-up Erin Golston in theOTT as she finished behind 2x world teamer Victoria Anthony, and it gives a spot to 3rd place Areana Villaescusa as she finished behind 2x world teamer and 2016 Olympian Haley Augello.

Olympic Team Trials qualifiers:
Victoria Anthony (Sunkist)*
Erin Golston (NYAC)*
Haley Augello (Sunkist)*
Areana Villaescusa (Army/WCAP)*
Mallory Velte (Titan Mercury)*
Alexandria Glaude (Titan Mercury)*

Bill Farrell Finishers

50 kg
1. Victoria Anthony (Sunkist)*
2. Erin Golston (NYAC)*
3. Natasha Fox (CAN)
4. Madison Parks (CAN)

53 kg
1. Yuka Yago (JPN)
2. Haley Augello (Sunkist)*
3. Areana Villaescusa (Army/WCAP)*
4. Katherine Shai (Titan Mercury)

57 kg
1. Alexandria Town (CAN)
2. Alma Valencia (Mexico/Nittany Lion)
3. Laura Mertens (German)
4. Ronna Heaton (Sunkist)

62 kg
1. Yui Sakano (JPN)
2. Lais de Oliveira (Brazil)
3. Mallory Velte (Titan Mercury)*
4. Emma Bruntil (McKendree Bearcat Wrestling Club)

68 kg
1. Danielle Lappage (CAN)
2. Veronica Keefe (CAN)
3. Alexandria Glaude (Titan Mercury)*
4, Skylar Grote (NYAC)

76 kg
1. Erica Wiebe (CAN)
2. Aline da Silva Ferreira (Brazil)
3. Rino Abe (JPN)
4. Hannah Gladden (Lion WC)

* Olympic Team Trials qualifiers.