No mega-brackets to pour through. The competitors are known, they’re all elite, and they’ll meet early. If you’re not ready to go right out of the gate, you’ll be in the losers bracket in a hurry. Let's get down to business!

The Competitors: 57 kg/125.5 lbs.

2015 U.S. Open champion- Tony Ramos, Iowa City, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC)
Trials Tournament Qualifiers
2015 U.S. Open second place – Andrew Hochstrasser, Boise, Idaho (Titan Mercury WC)
2015 U.S. Open third place – Nick Simmons, Bloomington, Ind. (Sunkist Kids)
2015 U.S. Open fourth place – Joe Colon. Cedar Falls, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC),
2015 U.S. Open fifth place – Matt McDonough, Iowa City, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC)
2015 Northeast Senior Regionals champion - Bradley Pataky, West Point, N.Y. (West Point WC) Tyler Graff, NYAC
2015 Northern Plains Senior Regionals champion – Frank Perrelli, Stillwater, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC)
Wildcard selection  – Angel Escobedo, Ames, Iowa

A year ago Ramos was the hunter, now he’s the hunted. T-Ram made his 57kg debut at this tournament last year and won the whole dang thing. He’s made strides since then, but proved to be extremely close with a number of competitors. He had a tight-ish match with Simmons, then needed to comeback against Colon and then Hochstrasser. He’s the man to beat here.

Looking at potential semi’s and predicting seeds for the mini-tournament, I figure Hochstrasser gets the 1, Simmons 2, Colon 3, McDonough 4, Escobedo 5. Those are guesses on my part. Operating under that assumption. McDonough bested Escobedo this Spring and he looks to still be a notch or so ahead of the Hoosier NCAA champ. So he’ll advance where he’ll likely see Hochstrasser in a rematch from their U.S. Open quarterfinal.  While their match was pretty short, there was a lot you could learn. Hochstrasser controlled most of the positions and was able to get to legs. He turned McD’s offense into a cradle and that was all she wrote. Hochstrasser won’t be horsed around by McDonough as Hoch is a big 57 as well. As one-sided as the first McD/Hoch match was, I think it’s very realistic to think McDonough improves on this performance and makes it a match. McDonough needs to get to the 2nd period and try to wear him out. I promise you this one is not only competitive but in the balance.

The bottom semi will be a familiar one. Simmons v. Colon part 3 (I believe). Simmons has been dominant winning by pin and tech. I think Colon can go with anyone but Simmons seems to be that nightmarish match up. Colon loves to pressure in when he’s hand fighting with underhooks. The upper-body ties don’t fase Simmons. We all know Simmons is the best turner at this weight. If he gets on top, he can end the match. Just look at his U.S. Open performance. He had the one loss to Ramos, then ripped off the following scores: 14-4 tech of Dance, Pin in 1:16 over Escobedo, pin in 2:14 over Mitcheff, 10-0 tech of Colon. Give me Simmons over Colon once more.

So that’ll set up a Hochstrasser v. Simmons Mini-tournament finals. No history between these two as far as I could tell. I do worry about Simmons wearing out by Hochstrasser’s pace. I think Simmons takes care of business here. Hochstrasser’s lack of experience against someone as unique as Nick will prove the difference here. Simmons wins big to set up a rematch with Tony Ramos in the best 2 of 3.

I had wanted to see Simmons v. Ramos for awhile and was a bit disappointed with their first meeting. Not so much in the result, as I don’t really care who wins. I just figured we’d see more action. I give a lot of credit to Ramos for avoiding the early storm and out handfighting an exemplary handfighter in Simmons. With Simmons having gone through the rigor of the mini tournament, I expect fatigue to play a factor here. I think we’ll see Simmons look big early, but Ramos positioning will thwart him on both occasions. The Stare goes back to back for his 2nd World Team trip. Ramos in 2.

*Other Notes - I am assuming we’ll see Graff in the mix here as well. He won the regional at 61 but will be down at 57 for the trials. He’s a factor who can score against anyone, but I’m hesitant to predict him to put an entire match together against the 57 elite.

CP’s Final Predictions:
1. Tony Ramos
2. Nick Simmons
3. Andrew Hochstrasser

The Competitors: 61 kg/134 lbs.
2015 U.S. Open champion- Reece Humphrey, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC)
Trials Tournament Qualifiers
2015 U.S. Open second place – Kendric Maple, Norman, Okla. (New York AC),
2015 U.S. Open third place – Coleman Scott, Chapel Hill, N.C. (Sunkist Kids)
2015 U.S. Open fourth place – Daniel Dennis, Iowa City, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC)
2015 U.S. Open fifth place – Jon Morrison, Stillwater, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC)
2015 Northeast Senior Regionals champion - Joey Lazor, Cedar Falls, Iowa (Panther WC RTC)
2015 Northern Plains Senior Regionals champion – Tyler Graff, Dublin Ohio (NYAC)
Wildcard selection  – Joey McKenna, Kyle Hutter

The big challenge here is the seeding. Kendric and Coleman are a clear 1 and 2, but a guy like McKenna, who only fell to Scott and Dennis at the Open may be deserving of a top 5 seed. It’s tough to predict. With McKenna’s limited Senior experience I’ll operate under the assumption that he and Hutter would be the 6 and 7 seed. That could lead to a LOADED bottom portion of the bracket containing Coleman Scott, Joey McKenna, Kyle Hutter and Daniel Dennis.

After seeing what Coleman did to the backside of 61kg at the Open, I think he’ll take care of the bottom side. McKenna to me looks like the most talented suitor and Coleman had little issue with Joey at the Open. Coleman to the mini tournament finals.

This should provide quite a favorable draw for Kendric Maple who may have a bye to the semi’s where he could potentially face the winner of Lazor v. Morrison. I love Lazor’s style and think his big point scoring potential is interesting, but I think Morrison is too solid and savvy to fall to Lazor.

Maple will face Jon Morrison in my opinion in the semi’s, who I think he takes care of once again (he was a 4-2 winner in Vegas). In that match I felt Maple really took all the risk (and STILL nearly lost) and attacks but with push outs and shot clock points Morrison stayed in the match. Don’t overlook this rematch.

Then that sets up a Maple v. Scott mini tournament final. Part of me watches Kendric against Morrison and thinks Coleman will use his superior positioning and tactics to get the win. Then I watch Maple score 6 points against Reece and wonder if Coleman may get physically overwhelmed by Maples size, strength and offense. Coleman is at his best when he can operate from space and fire off his doubles, in ties he’s got great elbow-contol stuff as well as an ankle pick.  Maple has fantastic re-attacks, but Coleman’s power double from space doesn’t really give as many openings. Essentially, Coleman won’t go where Kendric is good in my opinion.

Forecasting Coleman can be difficult. His talent is unquestioned but his loss to Naser and his performance at the World Cup makes it tough. I still watch him and his motion and believe he is still very much in his athletic prime. Maybe in a year this is Maple’s to lose, but I’m rolling with Coleman.

That sets up Reece v. Coleman part ? Coleman won the most recent match at Fargo, but it was Reece at the 2014 Phase 1 trials, 2013 Open, 2011 NYAC (those are matches that I could find). In these matches there’s just a few things that separate Reece from Coleman. Both are good at getting to legs, so that is essentially a wash. The difference is that Reece finishes at a much higher clip when he gets to his single leg on Coleman’s right leg. When Coleman gets in, whether it’s his double or single, Reece has the flexibility and hips to make the finishes tougher. Combine that with Reece’s prolific top game, how Reece looked at the Open and the fact that Coleman has gone through the mini-tournament. I’m going with Reece in 3 matches.

CP’s Final Predictions:
1. Reece Humphrey
2. Coleman Scott
3. Kendric Maple


65 kg/143 lbs.
2015 U.S. Open champion- Brent Metcalf, Iowa City, Iowa (New York AC)
Trials Tournament Qualifiers
2015 U.S. Open second place – Jordan Oliver, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids
2015 U.S. Open third place – Kellen Russell, Ann Arbor, Mich. (NYAC)
2015 U.S. Open fourth place – Logan Stieber, Monroeville, Ohio (Titan Mercury WC)
2015 U.S. Open fifth place – Frank Molinaro, State College, Pa. (NLWC)
2015 Northeast Senior Regionals champion - Jayson Ness, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
2015 Northern Plains Senior Regionals champion – Jason Chamberlain, Lincoln, Neb. (Titan Mercury WC/Nebraska Wrestling TC)
Wildcard selection – Jimmy Kennedy

The challenge here is figuring out both where Kennedy will be seeded and what he’ll look like up at 65. I thought he was a medal contender at 61, now up a weight will his physicality and power be as much of an advantage? With such an unknown it’s not easy to project, but I’ll do my best here with the guesswork.

Assuming JO gets the bye, he’ll get someone like Molinaro or Kennedy in his semi. The unknown of Kennedy makes that match up at least intriguing. I like JO regardless. On the other side of the bracket the Russell v. Stieber rematch seems all but inevitable. Kellen seems to have the edge. His defense when Stieber gets to his legs is incredible and so far Logan hasn’t really had the answers. So I’m sticking with Kellen til I see Logan figure it out. Maybe he does this weekend. I really don’t know.

So it sets up JO v. Kellen once again in the finals. These matches have always been razor close. It’s more guesswork when you try to make these predictions when they’re so close. You never really know. I’ll stick with JO to get it done again. Leading up to the Open, JO apparently wasn’t able to be on the mat too much due to an injury. Despite that, he still found a way against Kellen. I’ll take him again.

That gives us JO v. Metcalf part 6, 7 and maybe 8. JO only bested Metcalf once and that was during the ball-grab era. Since then it’s been Metcalf, albeit narrowly. JO’s re-attacks gave Metcalf serious problems last year. What gameplan will Zeke Jones have worked up for JO this time. I have a hard time picking against Metcalf, and I won’t. They may not be pretty (The Open certainly wasn’t), but I think he’ll just be a point or 2 better in each match. Brent in two.

CP’s Final Predictions:
1. Brent Metcalf
2. Jordan Oliver
3. Kellen Russell


70 kg/154 lbs.
2015 U.S. Open champion- Nick Marable, Morgantown, W.Va. (Sunkist Kids
Trials Tournament Qualifiers
2015 U.S. Open second place – Dustin Schlatter, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm),
2015 U.S. Open third place – James Green, Willingboro, N.J. (Titan Mercury WC)
2015 U.S. Open fourth place – Kevin LeValley, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
2015 U.S. Open fifth place – Derek St. John, Fargo, N.D. (Titan Mercury WC)
2015 Northeast Senior Regionals champion – Nazar Kulchytskyy, Madison, Wis. (Titan Mercury WC)
2015 Northern Plains Senior Regionals champion – Adam Hall, Raleigh, N.C. (Titan Mercury WC)
Wildcard selection  – Moza Fay

Having Dustin back in the fold has been a treat the last few tournaments. He seems as healthy as he’s been in a long time. I’ve been waiting to see him against Green for a few tournaments but it hasn’t happened yet. I realize that LeValley knocked Green off at the Open, but Green came back to beat him handily on the wrestle back side.

The point I’m getting at here is I don’t see anyone stopping a Dustin Schlatter v. James Green Mini-tournament final. Schlatter will have St. John in his semi in all likelihood, Schlatter teched him last time around, can’t expect a strong deviation from that original result here.

So when Green and Schlatter hit, I’ll make the point I made back in the U.S. Open. Nick Marable and Dustin Schlatter are extremely similar wrestlers. Though Green has had a multitude of opportunities against Marable, he’s fallen short and is yet to truly test Nick. Using those facts, it’s tough for me to think Green will have any more success against Schlatter. Dustin is still a defensive stalwart who can stuff and stop elite leg attacks. It may be numerically close, but I am not sure Green will be able to string the points together. Schlatter pulls the trigger just a few times but when he does, he’ll score. Dustin advances to the finals.

There was one exchange of note in their last meeting at the U.S. Open, if it goes the other way, we’re talking about Marable chasing Dustin. I felt like Marable earned the points on that exchange, but if you think Dustin, I don’t think you’re off base. Regardless, it’s likely going to come down to 1 or 2 exchanges or even a shot clock point. Their first meeting was a 1-1 win for Marable.  Maybe Schlatter takes a match here, but Marable has played this game too many times for me to bet against him. Marable in 2.

CP’s Predictions:
1. Nick Marable
2. Dustin Schlatter
3. James Green

74 kg/163 lbs.
2014 World bronze medalist – Jordan Burroughs, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids/Nebraska RTC)
Trials Tournament Qualifiers
2015 U.S. Open champion- David Taylor, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
2015 U.S. Open second place – Andrew Howe, Norman, Okla. (NYAC)
2015 U.S. Open third place – Anthony Valencia, Pico Rivera, Calif. (Sunkist Kids)
2015 U.S. Open fourth place – Tyler Caldwell, Stillwater, Okla. (Sunkist Kids)
2015 U.S. Open fifth place – Colton Sponseller, Edinboro, Pa. (NYAC)
2015 Northeast Senior Regionals champion – Kyle Dake, Ithaca, N.Y. (Titan Mercury WC/Finger Lakes WC RTC)
2015 Northern Plains Senior Regionals champion – Quinton Godley, Raleigh, N.C. (Titan Mercury WC)

The biggest variable in this whole bracket is going to be where they decide to place Dake. I think if common sense wins out, he goes at the 3 spot ahead of Valencia and Caldwell. The question they have to answer is how much to punish him for all the time he’s missed. Then you have to balance the fact that he’s been extremely successful against Taylor and Howe, the clear top 2 seeds.

I’m getting bogged down in the weeds a bit here, but it’s an important convo. For the sake of this article, let’s say it goes 1)DT 2) Howe 3) Dake 4)Valencia 5)Sponseller. I think that would be fair. So let’s operate under that assumption.

Out of the 4 / 5 spot I see Valencia taking care of business once again. I saw all I needed to see from him at the Open against Caldwell. That will set up David Taylor v. Anthony Valencia, and I couldn’t be more excited. Is Valencia on that level yet? Not exactly. However, I’ve said it before, his style says to me he can sneak a td or two against Taylor who we’ve seen give up a td here and there. Taylor will want to get his hands on him, Valencia will try to avoid that. I see Taylor able to get to his collar tie and should be able to avoid the slide by of Valencia. This may be the match I’m most looking forward to of any mini-tournament match up. I think it will be fantastically exciting. Ultimately, it’s Taylor who has the experience and the superior technique. Look for him to win by a few.

We should see Dake v. Howe once again. Those two have been extremely close in the past. Despite Dake’s time off I view him as the favorite here. He’s not quite the hand fighter that Howe is, but his leg defense is exemplary. We saw that thwart Howe when DT took him out in the Open finals. I see Dake getting to his single’s and finishing, whereas I’m not sure Howe will. It’s going to be close, and potentially boring as both guys tend to pick their spots.

So it sets it up once more: Dake v. Taylor pt 6!? My first proclamation as a Flo contributor back in 2012 was DT > Dake. After Dake’s All Star win, I went with Dake from then on and never looked back. It’s been Dake super close nearly every time. While the close scores may indicate to some: “David, will break through one of these times.” To me it says Dake is just that much better. Some will favor David because he hasn’t been off the mat as long as Dake. While that’s true, it bears mentioning that David Taylor took significant time off the mat after his World Team Trials loss to Burroughs last year to get healthy. Did he miss as much time as Dake? Not even close. However, it is still worth mentioning that DT hasn’t been in the mix a ton either. Taylor has more neutral scoring potential, but I give Dake the defensive edge as well as the par terre edge. I doubt we see a turn from either, but if we do, I think it’s from Dake. Dake has done a good job at capitalizing on the small mistakes DT makes positionally and scoring. I think we’ll see it play out once again. Dake. Close. Again.

So that sets up Jordan Burroughs v. Kyle Dake. You may have heard of them. I can’t pick against JB. I won’t. Against anyone. Dake had his close opportunity in 2013 when he nearly took a match (and would have won had they implemented criteria). Apart from the Marable loss, that’s about as close as anyone has gotten. The thing is, Jordan only gets better and continues to get better. He’s sitting there fully charged after Dake hits Howe and DT and probably one other match? The problems for Dake, Taylor, Howe, anyone really is that when JB needs a score he has scored practically at will on all occasions. I’m not belittling Dake’s opportunity, but when I make these predictions, I try to find the “how,” Jordan Burroughs is the best leg attacker in the world in my opinion. He’s also as clutch as anyone I’ve seen. They will be exciting, and JB may have his back against the wall at certain times, but JB gets his hand raised twice. Burroughs in 2.



CP's Final Predictions:
1. Jordan Burroughs
2. Kyle Dake
3. David Taylor

86 kg/189 lbs.
2015 U.S. Open champion- Jake Herbert, Ann Arbor, Mich. (NYAC)
Trials Tournament Qualifiers
2015 U.S. Open second place – Keith Gavin, Charlottesville, Va. (Titan Mercury WC),
2015 U.S. Open third place – Edward Ruth, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)
2015 U.S. Open fourth place – Deron Winn, Ames, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC)
2015 U.S. Open fifth place – Jon Reader, Brookings, S.D. (Sunkist Kids)
2015 Northeast Senior Regionals champion – Richard Perry, Washington, D.C. (NYAC/Penn WC)
2015 Northern Plains Senior Regionals champion – Phil Keddy, Iowa City, Iowa. (Titan Mercury WC)
Wildcard selection – Clayton Foster, Chris Perry


1-8 this is the deepest of any challenge bracket I’ve seen. Everybody belongs here. Like 65kg, there’s a guy who didn’t wrestle at the Open whose seed is a huge question. Where do you put Clayton Foster? He’s been on par with our top 2 or 3 the last year or so, but couldn’t wrestle at the Open when he failed skin checks. So, like all the weights, there’s guess work to be done on the construction of the bracket.

I’m all in for Ed Ruth for this tournament. As the 1 seed for the mini tournament, if it ends up Foster being the guy in the 4 or 5 seed, that sets up a very interesting semi. Both Foster/Ruth matches were complete nailbiters. I think he’s the biggest threat to Ed in the mini-tournament. I would like to see Foster and Gavin opposite Ed as I believe them to be the 2nd and 3rd most accomplished guys. Let’s operate under that seeding assumption.

I see Ed going untested into the finals to be honest. Reader, Keddy or Winn will test Ed for 6 minutes but I don’t see them as being able to match him point for point. Ed can be scored on, we’ve seen it time and time again. The offensive onslaught is just so tough to avoid over the course of a 6 minute match. So regardless of competition, Ed makes the challenge finals.

On the bottom side, it’s tough to say. I think the upside lies with Foster, and it’s possible he’s got a better collection of wins. However, last time it was Gavin who took him out with that crazy takedown late. I’m going with Foster. Don’t feel great about it, but I’m going with it.

That’ll set up Ruth v. Foster in the challenge finals. We’ve seen incremental growth from Ed, and though he didn’t look his best at the Open, I still have seen gains. Foster is who he is at this point and while that’s a fantastically talented guy, I am doubtful he can unseat Ed. Their World Team Trials match was a much slower paced match, and I’d expect this match to favor that type of tempo. Ed rolls back to the finals once again.

Things have been trending up for Jake Herbert. We’ve commented that he’s potentially wrestling at a higher level than we’ve ever seen. From losing to Ed by fall, to beating him at the Open, Jake has to be considered the favorite. The weird scramble that Jake won, was a scramble that could have been avoided by Ed, and I think we won’t see him try to roll around like that this time around. First of all, Ed ended up head outside. He’s a much better finisher when he’s head inside on a single. Perhaps Jake forced the head outside, perhaps it was Ed’s choice. Regardless, I think we’ll see Ed look to get to his misdirect head inside shot. If he can do that, I think that’s huge. The best part about this potential match up is how easily both guys got to legs. To me I typically view Ed as a better finisher of those attacks. For that reason I’m going Ed. That being said, I think he drops a match in the process. Ed in 3.

CP’s Predictions:
1. Ed Ruth
2. Jake Herbert
3. Clayton Foster

97 kg/213 lbs.
2015 U.S. Open champion- Kyle Snyder, Woodbine, Md. (Titan Mercury WC)
Trials Tournament Qualifiers
2015 U.S. Open second place – Jake Varner, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC),
2015 U.S. Open third place – J.D. Bergman, Columbus, Ohio (NYAC)
2015 U.S. Open fourth place – J`den Cox, Columbia, Mo. (Missouri Wrestling Foundation)
2015 U.S. Open fifth place – Cayle Byers, Stillwater, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC)
2015 Northeast Senior Regionals champion – David Zabriskie, Bethlehem, Pa. (Lehigh Valley AC)
2015 Northern Plains Senior Regionals champion – Micah Burak, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC/OTC)
Wildcard selection  – Dustin Kilgore, Wynn Michalak, Enock Francois

Another extremely deep weight. Part of that is due to a whopping 3 wildcards getting in? Don’t ask me. Varner going down at the Open was the talk of the tourney. Lost in that shuffle was his last second win over Bergman in the semi’s. I don’t know what to make of Varner. I’m not ready to just assume it’s over and he’s not the same guy. He lost one match. His first domestic loss in quite some time. With J.D. opposite Jake I don’t see anyone testing him on the way to the finals. It is worth mentioning that Wynn Michalak owns a win over Varner, so that’s something to pay attention to should Wynn wind up on Jake’s side. That being said, I’d still like Jake.

You could make cases for quite a few of these guys on the bottom side. There is a high probability of an upset to the 2 and 3 seeds. The lower seeded guys are high-level. I think we see J’Den v. Bergman, but I don’t feel terribly confident. Like most guys, J’Den struggled with Bergman’s underhook. I haven’t seen the development in J’Dens handfighting that leads me to believe he’s ready to pull the upset. I’ll take J.D. to make the finals against Varner.

Bergman was the huge obstacle in front of Varner a few years ago. He really struggled with his underhooks (apparently JD is good with underhooks?). I’m going to make a prediction that’s not especially rooted in anything other than conjecture. I think Varner is going to open it up. His keep it close style, while frustrating, was mostly effective. Now that it really bit him, I think he’s going to trust his offense more. He developed an ankle pick over time, but also has a nice single that he could stand to use more. He’s incredibly diverse offensively, we just need to see it. Give me Varner.

That sets up another U.S. Open finals rematch. While I do think Varner will be more offensive this time, there’s a lot to be said about Snyder’s progression. If you could poke a hole in Kyle’s game it is his leg attack defense. It has come leaps and bounds in the last year, but is still not a real area of strength. The issue is that Varner is not getting to legs to expose this relative weakness. Snyder is just that dude. He’s getting to legs better and better, and has vastly improved his finishes. When you combine that with his hand fighting and positioning, I can’t find a way to pick against him. Kyle Snyder in 2.

CP’s Final Predictions:
1. Kyle Snyder
2. Jake Varner
3. J.D. Bergman

125 kg/275 lbs.
2014 World bronze medalist – Tervel Dlagnev, Columbus, Ohio (Sunkist Kids/Ohio RTC)
Trials Tournament Qualifiers
2015 U.S. Open second place – Zach Rey, Bethlehem, Pa. (Lehigh Valley AC)
2015 U.S. Open third place – Dom Bradley, Morgantown, W.Va. (Sunkist Kids WC)
2015 U.S. Open fourth place – Nick Gwiazdowski, Delanson, N.Y. (NYAC)
2015 U.S. Open fifth place – Tyrell Fortune, Phoenix, Ariz. (Titan Mercury WC)
2015 Northeast Senior Regionals champion – Connor Medbery, Madison, Wis. (Titan Mercury WC)
2015 Northern Plains Senior Regionals champion – Tyrell Fortune, Phoenix, Ariz. (Titan Mercury WC)
Wildcard selection – Adam Coon

Freakin’ love this weight. Might have to change my previous statement. THIS is the most complete field. Adam Coon was the wildcard for crying out loud! The mini-tournament talent and depth is so strong.

Steady as he goes, Zach Rey maybe slides under the radar a bit, but he’s been the #2 guy at heavyweight for a bit now. You always wish he’d pull the trigger a bit more, but when he fires off his attacks they’re crisp and he finishes well. Defensively he turns your attacks into his go behinds as good as anyone in the field. He had a battle with Fortune at the Open, and he’ll likely face him in the semi’s here. Fortune couldn’t withstand the 6 minute grind and took an errant shot that cost him late. Look for Rey to find a way again. Fortune has had success against Rey as well, but since bombing Rey, Zach has avoided Tyrall’s upper body stuff.

Dom Bradley and Nick Gwiazdowski seem to always have insanely entertaining matches. Gwiaz has been the winner the last two times. Dom had a big late in their meeting at the Trials in 2014 but Gwiaz ran him down late. Then at the Open a controversial no-pushout call gave Gwiaz another win. I don’t know who’s better, but it’s obviously close. I think these two will meet in the semi’s of the mini tournament. I’ve typically been going with Dom, but I think I’ll go with Gwiaz this time around.

So we’ll see Gwiazdowski v. Rey in the finals. When they wrestled last year Rey was a 9-3 winner. 6 of Zach’s points coming off of counters to Nick’s shots. Nick was getting to legs, but was smashed under his Rey’s hips. I think Gwiazdowski has vastly improved his attacks and finishes. If he can avoid the counter TD’s while maintaining a lot of offensive output, I think he can take it again. Perhaps Rey’s defense is just that good. After all we saw Gwiaz finish on Nelson, someone regarded for his tremendous defense, in the NCAA finals before his trials loss to Rey. Maybe I’m completely idiotic in making this pick, or for even entertaining this notion. Rey is ranked 15th in the World right now. I view Gwiaz as the superior offensive wrestler, and am siding with that. It could be a completely inaccurate assessment. Still, I’m going with it.

So we’ve got Gwiazdowski taking on Dlagnev. Gwiaz spends a lot of time training at ORTC alongside Tervel so there will be some familiarity there. Tervel bested Gwiaz in the Open. Don’t expect anything different here. They’re both uniquely and almost bizarrely nimble for heavyweights that have prototypical size. Hopefully we see a lot of attempts as both guys have great attacks. Tervel is just too seasoned with too many ways to win. Tervel gets it done in 2.

CP’s Final Predictions:
1. Tervel Dlagnev
2. Nick Gwiazdowski
3. Zach Rey