The following is a match-by-match preview of the event.
Greco-Roman 75 kilos: Andy Bisek (USA) vs. Kim Hyeon-Woo (Korea)
Bisek will represent the U.S. in the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games at 75 kilos. He is coming off back-to-back bronze medals at the UWW World Championships. As a returning medalist, he automatically reached the finals of the Olympic Team Trials where he defeated Geordan Speiller in a two-match sweep.
In 2012, Kim took the gold medal at the Olympic Games in the 66-kilo weight class. In the semifinals, he defeated returning gold medalist Steeve Guenot (France) before besting Tamás Lőrincz (Hungary) in the finals. Since failing to medal at the 2015 World Championships, Kim has won both the Golden Grand Prix and the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Women's freestyle 53 kilos: Helen Maroulis (USA) vs. Samantha Stewart (Canada)
After winning silver and bronze medals, Maroulis finally broke through last year and won her first World championship. At the U.S. Olympic Trials she defeated Whitney Conder in the best-of-three series to make the team. Maroulis then qualified the weight class for the Olympics with a dominant first-place performance at the World Qualifying Tournament. In her four matches, she scored two technical falls and a pin.
Stewart has continued to build on her bronze-medal performance at the 2014 University World Championships. This year she won the Pan American Championships at a non-Olympic weight.
Women's freestyle 75 kilos: Adeline Gray (USA) vs. Justina Di Stasio (Canada)
Gray is a three-time World champion and five-time medalist. In the past two years alone, she has won the Pan American Games, World Championships, UWW Test Tournament and the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Di Stasio is a two-time gold medalist at the Pan American Championships. Last November she placed third at the Bill Farrell Memorial International.
Junior freestyle 55 kilos: Daton Fix (USA) vs. Kheyrolla Ghahramani (Iran)
Fix is a two-time member of the U.S. Cadet World Team. At last year's Cadet World championships he picked up a bronze medal in the 54-kilo division. He earned his spot at this event by winning the UWW Junior Nationals. During his run there, Fix scored victories over the likes of Austin Gomez and Gavin Teasdale.
Ghahramani had his most success at the Cadet level. In 2012, he won a silver medal at the Cadet Asian Championship. The following year, he took bronze at 46 kilos at the Cadet Worlds. On the senior level he has failed to place at the 2015 Takhti Cup and 2016 Dan Kolov & Nikola Petrov tournament.
Junior freestyle 60 kilos: Mitchell McKee (USA) vs. Peiman Biabani (Iran)
After finishing as a runner-up last year, McKee claimed the UWW Junior Nationals title this year. In the finals he defeated fellow Minnesotan Seth Gross of South Dakota State who was one match away from All-American status at this past year's NCAA tournament.
Biabani represented Iran at the 2015 Junior Asian Championship and captured gold. He won his four matches by a combined score of 25-7. Later in the year, Biabani ended up one match away from making Iran's Junior World Team. He lost a special wrestle off to Iman Sadeghikoukandeh who went on to win his second Junior World title.
Junior Freestyle 74 kilos: Mark Hall (USA) vs. Ahmad Bazrighaleh (Iran)
After winning gold at the Cadet World Championship in 2014, Hall moved up to the Junior level last year. He won a spot on the Junior World Team but ended up finishing ninth. Hall appears determined to improve upon that result this year. In the last two months alone, he has won Junior Nationals and the U.S. Last Chance Olympic Team Trials Qualifier. He posted a 2-2 record at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
In 2014, Bazrighaleh held the 69-kilo spot at the Cadet level for the Asian and World Championships. He scored a bronze medal at the Asian Championships and did not medal at Worlds.
Junior freestyle 84 kilos: Zahid Valencia (USA) vs. Majtaba Goleij (Iran)
Valencia was a member of the 2015 Junior World Team. In the finals of this year's Junior Nationals, he defeated reigning NCAA champion Myles Martin (Ohio State). Valencia will come off redshirt and make his debut for Arizona State next winter.
Goleij is the reigning Junior World champion at this weight class. He did not meet Valencia in the tournament, but Goleij did defeat Musalaliev Arsen (Russia), which knocked Valencia out of a shot in the repechage. Earlier this year, he won a bronze medal at the Takhti Cup on the senior level falling only to Olympic medalist Ehsan Lashgari (Iran).
Men's freestyle 86 kilos: J'den Cox (USA) vs. Meisam Mostafajoukar (Iran)
Cox's entry into the Olympic Team Trials shortly after he won his second NCAA title had a lot of people excited. It turned out to be entirely justified. At the Trials, the Missouri wrestler scored signature victories over Clayton Foster, Keith Gavin and World silver medalist Jake Herbert to reach the finals. There, he edged four-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake in the best-of-three series. Cox went on to qualify the weight for the Olympic Games at the First World Qualifying Tournament.
Mostafajoukar, mostly known as Jokar, is a three-time medalist and one-time champion at the Asian Championships. Last year, he dominated his way through the World Cup. During his run in Los Angeles, he scored tech fall victories over Aleksandr Gostiyev (Azerbaijan), Serdar Boke (Turkey) and Clayton Foster.
Jordan Burroughs is all smiles at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com)At this point, everyone in the wrestling world knows about Burroughs. He is a three-time World champion and one-time Olympic champion. His combined record at the world team trials, Pan American Championships and World/Olympic Championships is 50-1.
Yarahmadi was a Cadet and Junior World bronze medalist. In 2013, he eliminated Northwestern's Jason Tsirtsis from the Junior bracket. Since moving up to the senior level, he has been a part of two World Cup gold medal winning teams and won the Asian Championships.
Schedule:
3:45 p.m. Beat the Streets Youth Exhibition Matches between 42nd and 43rd Streets
4:45 p.m. New York City Girl's Freestyle Dual Meet Championships Finals between 42nd and 43rd Streets
6:30 p.m. World Class Wrestling: Team USA vs. Team Iran, Team Canada and Team Korea between 42nd and 43rd Streets
Followed by Gala Celebration
Richard Mann currently runs the data-driven MMA blog StrikeScoreMMA.com.
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