2014 Greco World Team TrialsJun 9, 2014 by Christian Pyles
Why You Can't Miss Greco 59 KG!
Why You Can't Miss Greco 59 KG!
The depth and excitement of this weight class was predictable after they removed 60 KG from Greco and moved 55 up to 59. Essentially you have a combination of two weights. That has lead to a perfect storm full of talent. The wrestling world will shift its eyes to this weight class Friday, and it isn't hard to figure out why.
Spenser Mango, a USA Greco legend is looking to make his 7th consecutive World and Olympic team. Mango won the US Open in April, but struggled to separate from Greco Roman Veteran, Joe Betterman. Mango rarely leaves the mat without a “wow” moment.
Spenser sits in the finals of the tournament already. He and Robbie Smith both will await the winners of a challenge tournament. The qualifications vary a bit compared with Freestyle. In Greco you must not only win the US Open but wrestle in a World medal match the previous year to be eligible to sit in the trials finals.
Jesse Thielke made no bones about his expectations for this tournament. He is coming to Daytona expecting to win. Bold? A little. True? Very possibly. Thielke was on the World Team a year ago at 60, now will cut the additional kilo. Will his size advantage over Mango play a factor?
Brother against brother. Ryan Mango is ditching the Freestyle route and is sticking with the family tradition of tossin’ dudes. Mango and Thielke tangled last year for a spot on the World Team in a classic best of 3 battle. Here’s to a rematch? Mango has the big move ability of his brother, but I’m not sure he’s on par with Spenser on top in Par Terre. The idea of two brothers in the finals looking to take the World Team spot from one another is drama that is nearly unheard of. No chance I’m missing that.
Then there’s Sam Hazewinkel. Olympian in Freestyle, the veteran is looking to find a spot on the World Team any way he can. He’s got the chops for Greco and was one of the top contenders to Spenser before switching to Greco. It will be interesting to see how the time away will affect his performance.
I don’t know who it’s going to be. Spenser is the favorite, but whoever emerges from the challenge tournament will have what it takes to challenge Mango. Taking the spot from him may be easy to strategize, but let’s see if anyone can execute.
Spenser Mango, a USA Greco legend is looking to make his 7th consecutive World and Olympic team. Mango won the US Open in April, but struggled to separate from Greco Roman Veteran, Joe Betterman. Mango rarely leaves the mat without a “wow” moment.
Spenser sits in the finals of the tournament already. He and Robbie Smith both will await the winners of a challenge tournament. The qualifications vary a bit compared with Freestyle. In Greco you must not only win the US Open but wrestle in a World medal match the previous year to be eligible to sit in the trials finals.
Jesse Thielke made no bones about his expectations for this tournament. He is coming to Daytona expecting to win. Bold? A little. True? Very possibly. Thielke was on the World Team a year ago at 60, now will cut the additional kilo. Will his size advantage over Mango play a factor?
Brother against brother. Ryan Mango is ditching the Freestyle route and is sticking with the family tradition of tossin’ dudes. Mango and Thielke tangled last year for a spot on the World Team in a classic best of 3 battle. Here’s to a rematch? Mango has the big move ability of his brother, but I’m not sure he’s on par with Spenser on top in Par Terre. The idea of two brothers in the finals looking to take the World Team spot from one another is drama that is nearly unheard of. No chance I’m missing that.
Then there’s Sam Hazewinkel. Olympian in Freestyle, the veteran is looking to find a spot on the World Team any way he can. He’s got the chops for Greco and was one of the top contenders to Spenser before switching to Greco. It will be interesting to see how the time away will affect his performance.
I don’t know who it’s going to be. Spenser is the favorite, but whoever emerges from the challenge tournament will have what it takes to challenge Mango. Taking the spot from him may be easy to strategize, but let’s see if anyone can execute.