It’s been a whirlwind two weeks for me. Vegas, Austin then back to VA to catch up on work lost in all the commotion. With the 2015 U.S. Open now in the rear view, I wanted to get a few of my thoughts out there before I'm on to the next thing. 

Truly, it’s been tough to gather all the thoughts necessary for this article. When you have the collection of athletes all in one tournament there are tons of conclusions and observations you can make.

D1 wrestling is really my wheelhouse So I look at a lot of things through that lense, so indulge me a moment to make a few college wrestling related observations from UWW Juniors.

UWW-Juniors
I’m doubling down on Jason Nolf. Can he beat Mark Hall in Madison? I’m not sure, but I know that if there’s anyone that can beat I-Mar next year, it may be him. I think he’s one of the most relentless attackers I’ve seen. He’s got more time to build on an already fantastic collection of skills. Can’t wait to watch him both at Madison and the entire D1 season to come. Missouri’s definitely got something with Daniel Lewis. This was my first opportunity to watch him in person. Very impressive. Chance Marsteller had a very under the radar tournament wrestling back for 3rd beating Massa, Jo-Jo and only falling to Nolf in a very competitive match. Wrestling is more interesting when Chance Marsteller is in the tournament. If Jon Jay Chavez can make it into the Cornell lineup next year and can somehow meld his international ability to Folkstyle he’s going to be a treat for everyone to watch.

The name Archie Colgan is going to come up more and more I get the feeling.  That 70KG bracket he bested was no joke. Watch where he knocked off Micah Jordan then Alec Pantaleo. 

Stevan Micic lost to Daton Fix. So what? Nothing changes for me, there’s a spot on the podium for Micic next year. I still believe that. No more/less impressed with him. Just a statement about how tremendous Daton is. Anthony Cassar and Marcus Harrington are going to be excellent college wrestlers. We may miss a year of Cassar as he waits on McIntosh to graduate, but these two 97 pounders are going to be fun to watch.

Mark Hall, Anthony and Zahid Valencia: I’m terrified to imagine how good these three will be in their first year of college wrestling. These three are still more than a year (or maybe two) away from wrestling a varsity D1 match. They’ve been college ready for awhile now, and all three of them continue to improve. The level these guys have reached at such a young age makes having their services such an advantage.  Stars win team titles.  

Greco
They got over the hump last year when Bisek brought home Bronze. Could this be the year of multiple medals for Greco? It is so tough to evaluate our guys compared to domestic competition. I’ll say this: Robby Smith, Caylor Williams looked to be markedly improved from even a year ago. How that will translate both into the Greco Trials June 4th and the impending World Championships, I’m not sure. I’m a fan and appreciator of the style and want to see our Greco teams reach the highest possible level of success and participation. While our #1’s look solid, we still need to shore up the depth. I made some mental notes of where we are now depth wise, and hope in a year or two we see some improvement there. I know it’s important to Coach Lindland. I look forward to seeing his efforts pay off.

Women’s
A few interesting notes and observations. 1) Victoria Anthony and Veronica Carlson exclusively wrestle amazing matches.  2) Helen Maroulis went 4 for 4 with techs out scoring her opponents 41-0. Yikes. World Champ Adeline Gray wasn’t to be outdone with two techs and two pins. 3) Fight! Fight! Fight! A little drama and extracurriculars never hurt nobody! Our ladies have been bringing home the World hardware, let's hope that continues!





Men’s Freestyle
Tony Ramos feels like the guy at 57 now more than ever. If he was going to be knocked off this year it would have been last week. Down 4 to Colon and on the ropes against Hochstrasser, Ramos shows what makes him so dangerous: His confidence. He never panics and never believes he’s out of a match. The World stage is a different animal as he learned at the World Cup. I’m stoked that he’ll get another crack at Bonne-Rodriguez at Beat The Streets after getting pinned last time around.

Kendric Maple can make the World Team. His run reminded me a bit of Ed Ruth’s run last year at the U.S. Open. You felt like with a little more time and refinement he’d ultimately find his way to the top. The challenges will be greater and the improvements may not be as vast as Ed’s were from U.S. Open to Trials last year. However, seeing the current 61KG landscape and seeing how close Maple was to Reece. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make it happen in Madison. Check out Humphrey and Maples fantastic U.S. Open final:

 

It appears increasingly unlikely that Brent Metcalf will be unseated anytime soon. Sitting in the finals Metcalf will have a full head of steam to take care of whoever makes their way through the meat grinder of the challenge tournament. I will say I was surprised Metcalf couldn’t widen the gap a bit more on a visibly hobbled Oliver. How close to 100% will JO be by Madison? It’ll be here before you know it.

I thought Dustin Schlatter was the threat to Nick Marable and I feel like I was right. Whoever gets that 4 gets the match. Could have gone either way. Schlatter will have to navigate the mini-tournament, but I’m not sure there’s many there that could pose a threat to him. I thought Dustin seemed to move pretty well, though he still seems very prone to battle in the ties more than attack consistently.

Anthony Valencia belongs. However, he’ll go down as an also-ran in this bracket. He’ll place, potentially top 5 which is still incredible. That being said this is our best weight (by far). He won’t get embarrassed, but he won’t make the World Team either. David Taylor looked as good as ever, but I still wonder if Dake is going to be a tough match up he's been over the years. If that’s a challenge tourney semi, that’s just incredible. However, I'm struggling to shed the thoughts that whoever gets to Burroughs won't have enough to truly challenge JB.

Has Jake Herbert ever looked better? I’m dead serious. He got the job done against Ed where he really took advantage of the scrambles. Those are the situations where Ed’s inexperience can rear its ugly head. We’ll learn more this week when he takes on World Silver Salas at Beat The Streets. That match up has gone poorly for him before, but that was awhile ago. Ed is the only guy who looks to have a shot of unseating Jake. I left the U.S. Open with that conclusion.

Apparently Kyle Snyder is the now. There are a number of ways to look at this tournament/weight. On one hand, JD Bergman was a few seconds away from doing the exact same thing Snyder did. So maybe this was inevitable. Will Varner come out with a new mentality/approach going forward? I don’t see his strategy of keeping things close paying off in Madison. He’s a point scoring machine when he attacks. I’m not ready to count Varner out, but I am preparing myself for him not even winning the challenge tournament. The problems JD always presented Jake are still present. They’ll be there waiting for him in Madison. The thing is will JD make it to Jake? Bergman had an early lapse last year at WTT’s. Getting back to Snyder his hand fighting will make him simultaneously in every match yet vulnerable all the same. If he makes the World Team it may appear to be by the skin of teeth, but that’s just how Kyle will do it here.

I thought Tervel looked fine. He’s still a year or two away from even being considered vulnerable to anyone else in my opinion. I still think it’ll be Gwiazdowski that is the next guy in line, but he’s still just a clip behind.

Those are a few of my thoughts and takeaways from the U.S. Open as we head to Madison.  We've got not too much time before the team will be set, but we've got a lot coming up in the next few weeks.  Beat The Streets this week, then Universtity/Cadet Trials, Greco then BAM, we're back in Madison!