Jordan Burroughs wrestling Isaiah Martinez at Final X Lincoln in 2018 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors)It is crazy to think we are just over a year away from the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
It seems like it was just yesterday when Helen Maroulis and Kyle Snyder captured gold medals in wrestling at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
As many of you already know, the year before an Olympic Games is hugely important. And the pressure mounts even more on athletes to perform with so much at stake.
The World Championships in the year before the Olympics serve as the main qualifier for the Games. The top six finishers in each Olympic weight category at the 2019 World Championships will qualify their countries for the 2020 Olympics.
That's what makes the upcoming Final X events for Team USA wrestlers paramount. The Final X winners will make up the 2019 United States World Team.
The Final X champions in the 18 Olympic weight classes -- six in men's freestyle, six in women's freestyle and six in Greco-Roman -- will receive the first crack at qualifying the U.S. for the 2020 Olympic Games.
There already is plenty at stake when you are battling to make a world team, but this year obviously takes on much more significance with Olympic qualifying spots being contested.
Believe it or not, it's become even tougher to qualify for the Olympics in international wrestling. In 2020, only 16 athletes will qualify per weight class. That is a reduction from 2016.
Russia qualified the most overall weight classes for the 2016 Olympics with 17 while the U.S. qualified in 14 of 18 weight categories for Rio.
The U.S. qualified in all six freestyle Olympic weight classes in 2016 with the Americans making it in four classes in women's freestyle and four divisions in Greco-Roman.
In addition to the 2019 World Championships, 2020 Olympic qualifiers include the four continental qualifiers and one last chance qualifier.
The top two finishers in each weight class from each of those events also qualify their countries for the Olympics.
The U.S. will compete in the Pan American qualifier in early 2020 in weight classes it did not qualify at the 2019 World Championships.
The World Championships are hugely important to qualify as many wrestlers as you can. As you can imagine, the pressure magnifies significantly for wrestlers and countries who have to qualify in their continental event or in the last chance meet.
In 2016, J'den Cox went overseas in a last chance event and qualified the U.S. for the Olympics in men's freestyle at 86 kg. Cox followed by earning a bronze medal in Rio.
In 2008, Justin Ruiz came through with a dramatic win over Cuba at the Pan American qualifier in Greco-Roman. Ruiz then lost to Adam Wheeler at the U.S. Olympic Trials before Wheeler won an Olympic bronze medal in Beijing, China.
Just qualifying a weight class for the Olympic Games certainly is not easy. Wrestlers who have been in those situations will tell you how difficult it is. Especially in those final qualifiers where they are not only trying to qualify for themselves but for their country.
One interesting scenario for the U.S. this year will be at 86 kilograms. Reigning world freestyle champion David Taylor has been sidelined after a recent knee injury and Pat Downey is expected to replace him at this year's World Championships.
Downey is a past Junior world silver medalist and a talented wrestler, but he's obviously not the proven commodity that Taylor is on the Senior level.
Another scenario involves Maroulis, who became the first American women's wrestler to win Olympic gold in 2016. The two-time world champion will not compete at the worlds this year after being sidelined by injuries the past two seasons.
If the U.S. falls short of qualifying at the World Championships in their weight classes, would Taylor and Maroulis be called upon to help their country qualify for the Olympics in the Pan American and last chance events?
The U.S. could potentially have a men's freestyle world team in 2019 with four young wrestlers -- Daton Fix, Yianni Diakomihalis, Bo Nickal and Gable Steveson -- in Olympic weight classes. Each of those guys competed in college this past season.
Would those young athletes be ready to step up and deliver at their first Senior World Championships? And qualify the U.S. for the Olympics in their respective weight classes? They definitely could with the high level of success they've had at age-group world events.
The U.S. has had plenty of wrestlers do well at their first Senior Worlds. Jordan Burroughs, Kyle Snyder, Kyle Dake and David Taylor all won gold medals in their first trip to the World Championships.
No question, this is a huge year for the United States wrestling team and it is no secret that plenty of pressure-packed matches are on the horizon.
And that's why the Final X is so important this year in determining the U.S. World Team reps at the 18 Olympic weight classes.
The Americans obviously are loaded in men's and women's freestyle right now with a number of superstar athletes. The U.S. Greco-Roman team received a boost from world silver medalist Adam Coon last year and hopes to build on that this year.
No doubt, all eyes will be on the 2019 World Championships this fall in Kazakhstan.
It will have a significant bearing on what might transpire on the big stage at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The stakes are extremely high and the pressure is definitely on for wrestlers and countries to be at their best this year to set them up for a memorable 2020.
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