The World Team Trials' Most Anticipated Matchups
The World Team Trials' Most Anticipated Matchups
Might we see these colossal matchups at the 2018 senior men's freestyle World Team Trials in Rochester, Minnesota?
The second phase of the road to Final X is nearly upon us. All of the qualifying tournaments have been completed. Every weight class has one Final X participant locked up. Who will be their challengers? We find out in Rochester, Minnesota, this weekend.
WATCH 2018 WORLD TEAM TRIALS LIVE ON FLO
WHEN: May 19-20 | WHERE: Rochester, MN
But what are the biggest matchups we might see at the World Team Trials? Below are some of the most colossal bouts we hope to witness in Rochester.
79kg
One of the most dearly missed wrestlers at the Open was NCAA champ Zahid Valencia. Much to everyone collective relief, the Z-Man is registered for Rochester. Might we get a best-of-three series between him and Alex Dieringer? It would be the most anticipated matchup of the event, at least in the estimation of your humble correspondent.
Fingers crossed!
Watch Dieringer battle Kyle Dake to the brink at the U.S. Open:
125kg
Heavyweight is deeper in the USA as it’s been in recent memory, and a big reason for that is veterans like Jake Varner, a 2012 Olympic champ at 97kg who is continuing his career up at 125kg, and because of young stars like 2017 junior world champion Gable Steveson recently making their senior debuts.
If Varner and Steveson meet, there will be a difference in age of 15 years. Steveson got to where he is as quick as he did by having the nimblest of feet for a big man. Varner still has some pep in his step to help him hit his bread-and-butter ankle picks. Regardless of the outcome, it will be quite the accomplishment if Steveson can even keep things interesting with a bruising vet like Varner.
Check out Steveson take on national team member Dom Bradley a month ago in Vegas:
65kg
65kg has no one sitting in the finals of Day 2 in Rochester since the first Final X spot was determined at the U.S. Open. That means we might see Jaydin Eierman and Logan Stieber in a best-of-three final on Day 2.
Don’t sleep on BJ Futrell though. The veteran was on the national team last year and sat out the Open after qualifying via the Dave Schultz Memorial. If he’s healthy, he could throw a monkey wrench in the Eierman/Stieber finals plan.
See Eierman upset Stieber in this U.S. Open instant classic:
70kg
Are Kellen Russell and Kyle Ruschell healthy and will they compete in Rochester? I sure hope so, because not only would that be a fire match between the 2017 Dave Schultz champ (Russell) and the 2017 Pan-Am champ (Ruschell) but also their names are very similar and that’s interesting to me.
And what about 2016 Olympian Frank Molinaro potentially getting a match with Alec Pantaleo? Can any single mat contain that much muscle? Will Rochester have enough bronzer for the two of them? Will they settle a tie by criteria or with a pose-off?
57kg
Daton Fix ripped through his side of the bracket at the U.S. Open before being stopped by Tony Ramos in the finals. That gives T-Ram a bye to the second day of the Team Trials. Fix is favored to make the finals again, so we could be getting at least two more matches between those two studs.
On Day 1, keep David Terao on your radar. He’ll be in the challenge tournament, and a matchup between him and folks like Eddie Klimara or Zane Richards has the potential to light up the scoreboard.
61kg
Almost every match at this weight at the U.S. Open was a must see. And the best thing about the trials is we could see many of these crazy matchups all over again.
Seth Gross vs. Nahshon Garrett was an insane high-scoring affair in Vegas. We might see it again. But we could also see Gross take on another NCA champion that he didn’t wrestle in Vegas, Nico Megaludis. Megaludis has a way of frustrating opponents with the flexibility that makes takedowns nearly impossible. Will Gross—or anyone for that matter—be able to get through Nico's Gumby-like defenses and win the matches on the mat?
I certainly hope we get the chance to see the answer to that question
Watch Gross and Garrett's 31-point bonanza:
74kg
Not seeing Nazar Kulchytskyy at the U.S. Open was a disappointment, but that just makes the anticipation for his appearance at the Trials that much greater. A match between him and the indefatigable Tommy Gantt could be a real slobber knocker.
The winner would likely be set up with a match against Isaiah Martinez, who is sitting in the challenge finals on Day 2. So you know, we got that going for us. Which is nice.
86 kg
At the most recent U.S. Open, we already saw Richard Perry beat Nick Reenan. We also saw Reenan beat Tim Dudley for third. But a matchup we haven’t seen yet is Joe Rau vs. Richard Perry. Rau qualified for the trials by winning the Bill Farrell, whereas Perry finished runner-up at the U.S. Open to David Taylor.
Can Rau solve Perry, the presumptive favorite to reach Final X? We could see that play out over a best-of-three series in the challenge tournament finals.
And looming in the shadows is the always dangerous Pat Downey. PDIII did not have his best performance at the Open, but he did his job and qualified for trials. Might a few weeks of focused training make the difference? Air Downey will get another crack at the competition this weekend.
92kg
Deron Winn is in the midst of a whirlwind of activity. He placed fourth at the U.S. Open, then won is Bellator MMA debut with a knockout two weeks later. A mere week from his last pro MMA fight will see him try to make Final X at the Team Trials challenge tournament.
With Enoch Francois a question mark for participating, the favorites to make the finals are Winn and Open runner-up Hayden Zillmer. We didn’t see this match in Vegas; we could see it three times in Rochester.
97kg
Austin Schafer was the biggest surprise winner at the U.S. Open. With Schafe-and-Bake sitting in the challenge tournament finals on Day 2, the stage is set for some electrifying Day 1 matchups.
Kyven Gadson was Kyle Snyder's chief competition last year. This year Snyder will have to go through Ty Walz, who fell to Schafer in the Open finals. If Gadson wins, he’ll get another shot at Schafer, who upset the Iowa State NCAA champ in the Open semifinals. If Gadson falls, it’s the former Hokie who will have a shot at redemption in Rochester.
See you in Minnesota, wrestling fans!