Cory Land was just beginning to break through on the national scene a couple years ago when he made his first Greco-Roman Cadet World Team. 

At the time, he had never been on a plane before, let alone overseas. But Land’s Greco skills took him to Bulgaria in 2019, they’ve helped take him on a climb the national rankings and they’ll take him to Hungary later this summer for his second shot at the Cadet World Championships.  

The Alabama native cruised to the 55-kilogram finals Friday in Wisconsin Dells and then took out Iowa’s Gable Porter in two straight bouts to secure a spot on his second Cadet Greco squad. 

“I dealt with a lot of stuff this time,” Land said. “Two days before we were going to leave I hurt my ribs in practice, had to go get X-Rays and they were cracked. I had a lot of debate with my coaches about whether or not I was even going to come today. Thankfully, they talked me into it and now I’m back on the World Team. It feels great.” 

Land is surrounded by an entirely new bunch of teammates this time around. He went 1-1 two years ago at the Cadet World Championships and placed eighth, leaving Bulgaria as the highest-finishing American in Greco. 

“I’m going out there to win it,” Land said. “I said that last time. It didn’t happen, but I have a totally different mindset. I’ve grown up, it’s been two years. Last (time) I was (going into my) sophomore (year) when I went and now I’m going into my senior year next year. I’ve filled out the weight, I’ve filled out the age group, I have the experience now, I know what to do, so I’m going out there to win it.” 

Here’s a look at the rest of the Greco-Roman Cadet World Team:

45 kg — Bo Bassett (Young Guns WC) 

48 kg — Aden Valencia (Greco-Roman Development )

51 kg — Kaedyn Williams (Lancaster Alliance WC) 

55 kg — Cory Land (Ironclad WC)

60 kg — Brock Bobzien (Poway HS Wrestling)

65 kg — Jadon Skellenger (Suples WC)

71 kg — Braden Stauffenberg (Izzy Style Wrestling)

80 kg — Ryder Rogotzke (Pinnacle WC) 

92 kg — Nathan Wemstrom (Izzy Style Wrestling)

110 kg — Jim Mullen (New Jersey) 

By The State 

Alabama — Land 

California — Valencia,  Bobzien 

Idaho —  Skellenger 

Illinois — Stauffenberg, Wemstrom

Minnesota — Rogotzke 

New Jersey — Mullen

Pennsylvania — Bassett, Williams

By The Numbers

0 — Matches that went the full four minutes for Bassett and Valencia. 

1 — Number of final series that went to a decisive third bout — Williams defeated Idaho’s Treygen Morin two matches to one to claim the spot at 51 kilograms. 

2 — Points allowed Friday by Rogotzke.  

3:53 — Total time Land spent on the mat during his first five matches of the tournament. 

5 — Shutout technical superiority victories for Skellenger in six matches Friday. 

6 — Number of matches in which Stauffenberg overcame a deficit on Friday. 

7 — Number of matches Stauffenberg won on Friday. 

56 — Points scored by Bobzien, who outscored his opponents by a combined 56-5 count. 

58 — Total points scored in the three-match series between Williams and Morin.