With the World Team Trials coming up this week, I decided to update my USA Freestyle pound for pound rankings! We've done a few installments of these but this will be the first set for this Freestyle season. 

Comparing various bodies of work across different weights as well as the varied (and often limited) competition schedules present quite a challenge.  Here's what I came up with!  Feel free to comment, criticize, and provide your own top 20 as well!
 




1. Jordan Burroughs-King stay the king.

2. Tervel Dlagnev-Pillar of consistency domestically and internationally.

3. Brent Metcalf-Still adding layers. Made Yarygin finals.

4. David Taylor-Open title on top of tech of 4x World/Olympic Medalist.

5. Kyle Snyder-JR World Champ, beat Olympic Champ, beat World Medalist from Cuba.

 

6. Ed Ruth-I know Jake beat him, he also beat Jake. He also smacked Salas who beat Jake at BTS. It’s close.

7. Jake Herbert-Jake is back to being Jake and that’s a good thing for the USA.

8. Jake Varner-Only one tournament away from being back in the top 4. 

9. Kyle Dake-The biggest mystery of World Team Trials.  Despite the long layoff, I still think he merits top 10 consideration.  Wins over DT, Marable, Howe, Tsargush, etc. 

10. Nick Marable-Limited O, Impenetrable D.

11. Andrew Howe-He finishes that single on DT this could be a very different looking list.Yarygin finalist, don’t forget. 

12. Reece Humphrey-Looked as good as I’ve seen him last month at the Open.

13. Tony Ramos-He’s the man domestically, still needs more international wins.

14. Jordan Oliver-Good international wins, solid domestic track record.

15. Coleman Scott-The backside of U.S. Open version of Coleman is what I’d expect at World Team Trials. So watch out.

16. Keith Gavin-Under the radar but as technical as anyone in our country.

17. Jimmy Kennedy-At 61, he’s much higher. Not sure what we’ve got at 65.

18. Clayton Foster-He's an under the radar guy.  To the point that I initially didn't even consider him for this list.  He failed skin checks at the open and looked rough at the World Cup but this is a guy with multiple wins over World/Olympic medalists.  
 
19. Anthony Valencia-Nearly Unparalleled talent, Howe showed he can be worn down.

20. Kellen Russell-He’s notched some big wins: 2 over Logan Stieber, a few over Oliver (though he lost the most recent installment).