Burroughs-Taylor Complete Card Preview
Burroughs-Taylor Complete Card Preview
Take a look at everything you need to know about the Burroughs-Taylor card live only on FloWrestling on January 9, 2021.
2020 is finally in the books and we are ringing in 2021 with one of it not the best card in the history of wrestling! Before it all goes down deep in the heart of Texas on Saturday night, educate yourself on each match that will take place.
Watch FloWrestling: Burroughs vs Taylor LIVE
Saturday, January 9, 2021 | 8 PM EST
Watch the press conference for all the matches happening Saturday by clicking here.
86kg - Jordan Burroughs vs David Taylor
*THIS MATCH HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 13*
After two months of going back and forth on social media, it's finally happening. Jordan Burroughs and David Taylor will meet on January 9, 2021, exclusively on FloWrestling at 86kg.
Burroughs, an eight-time world and Olympic medalist, and Taylor, a 2018 world champion and #1 ranked wrestler in the world at 86kg, have not met since 2014 when Burroughs swept Taylor in the World Team Trials finals.
Burroughs is 4-0 all-time against Taylor, but those matches took place six and seven years ago, respectively, and two of those matches were decided by just one point. This time, however, Burroughs will not be the same size as Taylor. The match will take place at 86kg or 189.2 lbs. This will be the second match in a row that Burroughs will be significantly undersized compared to his opponent. In November, Burroughs wrestled Zahid Valencia at 185 lbs and weighed in at just 178.2.
Check out what Jordan Burroughs and David Taylor had to say before they square off.
76kg: Adeline Gray vs Tamyra Mensah-Stock
Jordan Burroughs won't be the only World champion moving up in weight to take on another World champion on January 9th. 2019 68 kg World champion Tamyra Mensah-Stock will move up to 76 kg to take on five-time World champion Adeline Gray.
Why Gray vs Mensah-Stock is the women's match of the year.
The two World champs have squared off once before at the 2017 Dave Schultz with Gray winning 8-0. However, as mentioned above, Mensah-Stock has since moved to the OPTC and improved tenfold, becoming a World champion. Now, can she reverse the result?
Watch Gray and Mensah-Stock on The Bader Show before they square off on the mat.
97kg - J'den Cox vs Hayden Zillmer
Two-time defending world champion J'den Cox will step on the mat for the first time since last February when he won the Cerro Pelado in Cuba and will be making his debut up at his new weight of 97kg. His opponent, Hayden Zillmer, is currently ranked #5 domestically at the weight, and the Jackpine Savage will be a good test size-wise as well. Zillmer recently went 3-1 at the RTC Cup picking up wins over Mike Macchiavello, Ty Walz, and Tim Dudley, and his only loss was to Kollin Moore on criteria.
Cox and Zillmer met three times previously, most recently, in June 2018 at Final X - Lehigh where Cox won consecutive matches to make the U.S. World Team at 92kg.
Watch Cox and Zillmer's first match from Final X - Lehigh in 2018.
152 lbs - James Green vs Pat Lugo
Two of our 150 lbs 8-man bracket competitors who didn't get the chance to scrap last month when they were in Austin will now get their chance deep in the heart of Texas. James Green rolled to the finals of that tournament with wins over Bryce Meredith and Alec Pantaleo before ultimately falling to Bajrang Punia in the finals.
Pat Lugo's tournament was shorter after he fell to Punia in the opening, but he was impressive in defeat. In my opinion, he had a takedown at the end of the first period, he scored the bout's first points, and the score was 2-1 with less than 1:30 remaining in the match.
Will Lugo pick up his biggest win on the Senior level or will Green continue to impress as he works his way down to 65kg for the Olympic Trials?
Watch Lugo battle with Bajrang Punia at the 150 lbs 8-man bracket.
51kg - Emily Shilson vs Erin Golston
Erin Golston enters this matchup ranked #6 domestically at 50kg, and the young superstar Emily Shilson sits at #7. While both ladies are currently factors on the Senior level, they were dominant on the age-group level. Golston was a Junior World finalist and has also won two Junior World bronze medals. That success continued on the Senior level as she has finished in the top four at the World Team Trials six times since 2013.
On the other hand, Emily Shilson is a two-time Cadet world finalist, 2018 world champion, and 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion. She's also made a U23 world team and was fourth at Senior Nationals in 2019.
Watch Shilson win a U23 National title in November.
65kg - Nahshon Garrett vs Joey McKenna
At wrestling 57 (+3kg) at the RTC Cup, Nahshon Garrett will bump up to 65kg to take on Joey McKenna who is currently ranked #6 domestically at the weight. McKenna was supposed to compete in Austin last month but was forced out of the 150 lbs 8-man bracket due to an injury. He last competed at Senior Nationals in October where he finished third after losing to Andrew Alirez.
It was a mixed bag for Garrett at the RTC Cup. He opened the event with losses to Jack Mueller and Vito Arujau, but on the second day, he beat Seth Gross and nearly avenged his loss to Arujau. Garrett looked massive on the second day of competition, and I don't expect him to be outmatched against the larger McKenna.
Watch Garrett beat Seth Gross at the RTC Cup.
143 lbs - Ethan Lizak vs Matt McDonough
The last time Matt McDonough wrestled a competitive match? The 2015 World Team Trials where he beat Frank Perrelli and fell to Joe Colon and Tyler Graff. Lizak finished his career at Minnesota in 2019, a three-time All-American and NCAA finalist. He has since returned to his home state where he's training at the Penn RTC and is competing at 65kg. Lizak has a lot of history with Hawkeye wrestlers, and it should be exciting to see another chapter in that rivalry.
Watch Lizak beat Earl Hall at Senior Nationals in October.
61kg - Seth Gross vs Zane Richards
Since September, Seth Gross has wrestled Joe Colon at Beat The Streets, Zach Sanders, Darian Cruz, Jakob Camacho, and Nahshon Garrett at the RTC Cup, and Bryce Meredith and Thomas Gilman in one-off cards. He'll now add Zane Richards who is currently ranked #9 at 57kg to that list.
Richards was third at the 2019 U.S. Open with wins over Jesse Delgado, Frank Perrelli, Darian Cruz, and Vito Arujau. These guys aren't afraid to let it fly, and there should be plenty of points on the board.
Watch Gross beat Jakob Camacho at the RTC Cup.
215 lbs - Nate Jackson vs Wynn Michalak
Like Gross, Nate Jackson is a guy who has been competing a lot since quarantine began in March. He was the runner-up at Senior Nationals in October to Gabe Dean, he took third in the 195 lbs 8-man bracket on Halloween night, and was 3-2 at the RTC Cup with wins over Sammy Brooks, Brett Pfarr, and Drew Foster.
Joining Matt McDonough in coming back to the mat on this card is Wynn Michalak. Michalak has wrestled much sooner than McDonough having competed in 2019 where he was seventh at the U.S. Open, but this will be just the second time he's hit the mats since the 2016 Olympic Trials. Michalak was a three-time All-American and NCAA finalist. Michalak had a lot of success on the Senior level as well as making the 2014 U.S. Open finals, winning the 2015 Senior Nationals, and qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Trials.
Watch Jackson beat Keith Gavin for third place at the 195 lbs 8-man bracket.
60kg - Ronna Heaton vs Desiree Zavala
#5 at 53kg Ronna Heaton and #8 at 62kg Desiree Zavala, will meet in the middle for a top 10 showdown of two of the brightest stars on the women's freestyle scene. They both recently won U23 National titles in November as well.
Watch Heaton win a U23 National title back in November.
155 lbs - Mitch McKee vs Tristan Moran
Over their last two NCAA seasons, these two met three times and each match was exciting from start to finish. Tristan Moran won their first match with a sudden victory pin in a match that saw 16 points in regulation. Mitch McKee was able to get revenge in a 7-6 match at the 2019 NCAA Championships, and then last season Moran flipped the script and came out on top 7-6 himself. How many points will we see this time?
Watch McKee and Moran's epic overtime bout in 2019.
Don't forget it all goes down Saturday night at 8 PM ET! You can't let yourself miss the biggest card of the year.