5 Things To Know About The Captains' Cup Draft on Jan. 23
5 Things To Know About The Captains' Cup Draft on Jan. 23
The Captains' Cup is right around the corner, and Titan Mercury has just released 5 things you need to know.
The Captains' Cup, an event featuring many of the best women in the United States, is right around the corner. Teams for the event will be decided by a draft, and Titan Mercury has released five things you should know about the event.
Watch the Captains' Cup LIVE on FloWrestling
Friday-Saturday, February 13-14, 2021
Original Release by Titan Mercury published by USA Wrestling.
The women’s freestyle Captains’ Cup, held on Feb 13-14 and broadcast live on FloWrestling, is poised to be biggest Senior-level women’s dual meet competition in recent history. Developed through the partnership between USA Wrestling, FloWrestling and Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, the Captains’ Cup will feature six U.S. teams battling for the team title. How teams will be decided will be determined by next week’s draft, which will be broadcast by FloWrestling on Saturday, Jan. 23. Prior to next week’s draft, here are 5 things you will want to know about the draft.
#1: Captains will draft in a snake draft. There are a total of 30 available spots on the line, with 5 of the spots being drafted per Olympic weight: 50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg, and 76kg. The captain with the highest wrestling accolades will earn the first draft pick and the order will continue in the format listed below. The draft itself will be held virtually and each captain will be able to select any weight that want to begin with until their team is completed.
Snake Draft | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 |
Captain #1 | 1st pick | 12th pick | 13th pick | 24th pick | 25th pick |
Captain #2 | 2nd pick | 11th pick | 14th pick | 23rd pick | 26th pick |
Captain #3 | 3rd pick | 10th pick | 15th pick | 22nd pick | 27th pick |
Captain #4 | 4th pick | 9th pick | 16th pick | 21st pick | 28th pick |
Captain #5 | 5th pick | 8th pick | 17th pick | 20th pick | 29th pick |
Captain #6 | 6th pick | 7th pick | 18th pick | 19th pick | 30th pick |
#2: Captains will be competing in the duals. So far, World Champions Tamyra Mensah-Stock and Jacarra Winchester of Titan Mercury Wrestling Club have committed to being captains. World silver medalist Sarah Hildebrandt of the NYAC and World Team member Kayla Miracle from Sunkist Kids will also serve as captains. The position for the two remaining captains will be finalized early next week.
#3: Captains and draft eligible wrestlers will be featured on the draft show. During the virtual draft, all captains will be asked to give insights into why they chose who they drafted. Along with the captains, several drafted wrestlers will be on the show to discuss their excitement of being part of the Captains’ Cup.
#4: Many veterans and the future of USA will be on display at the Captains’ Cup. The six captains will be drawing from a pool of over 50 draft-eligible wrestlers to make their teams. Some of those athletes include former World Team members, National Team members and World medalists at all age divisions. Some key names signed up for the draft are Whitney Conder, Alyssa Lampe, Jenna Burkett, Mallory Velte and Victoria Francis. They will be joined by up-and-coming stars such as age group World champions Emily Shilson and Ronna Heaton, along with two-time Senior National champion Precious Bell and many more.
#5: With 6 weights in the duals, every point matters. As the captains draft their wrestlers, they will need to be very strategic in their picks. Once teams are selected every single point in the competition will count. The six teams will be slotted into pools of three and will cross bracket for the medal rounds. If we learned anything from the RTC Cup, it was that many of the duals team points came down to criteria in which the team wins were split 3-3 and moved down to the next criteria, which is classification points. As we prepare for the Captains’ Cup, more information will be released on the point classification and dual meet scoring.
Don’t miss the Captains’ Cup draft on Jan. 23 live on FloWrestling.