Below is a list of 10 wrestlers with college wrestling eligibility who have been missing in action this spring that could make noise at the Trials if they earn wildcard selections (or win the Northern Plains Regional).
Please note: Some wrestlers may not be competing due to injury.
Jason ChamberlainChamberlain earned a spot on the All-American podium for the first time in his college wrestling career this past season with a third-place finish at 149 pounds. He has a strong freestyle wrestling pedigree. Chamberlain represented the U.S. at the Junior World Championships in 2009 and 2010. He narrowly missed earning a medal at the 2010 Junior World Championships, losing in three periods to Anton Afansyeu of Belarus in the bronze medal match.
Derek Garcia (Ohio State)
Garcia, a high school senior in 2009-2010, deferred enrollment at Ohio State to spend a year training freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The Washington native, who won a Junior Nationals freestyle title in the summer of 2009, has seen limited action in competition over the past year, but has received high praise from Brandon Slay and Bill Zadick, two coaches on the U.S. freestyle staff. Garcia is expected to step in the lineup at 165 pounds for the Buckeyes in 2011-12 and many believe he will be an immediate impact freshman.
Tyler GraffGraff, a two-time All-American at Wisconsin, has been active on the freestyle scene throughout this entire career, which is why his inactivity this spring is a bit puzzling. He represented the U.S. at the Junior World Championships in 2007 and 2008. Last spring, Graff was runner-up at the University World Team Trials, losing in three periods to 2011 U.S. Open champion Reece Humphrey. He competed at the 2010 U.S. World Team Trials and went 1-2.
Matt McDonough (Iowa)
McDonough has gone 64-3 in his first two seasons in the Hawkeye lineup, winning an NCAA title as a freshman in 2010 and finishing as an NCAA runner-up this past season. He won the FILA Junior World Team Trials at 60 kg last spring, which earned him a spot on the U.S. Junior World Team.
Jordan OliverOliver, an undefeated NCAA champion this past season, has openly stated that he wants to win World and Olympic gold medals in freestyle, which is no surprise considering he uprooted from his home state of Pennsylvania and moved to Oklahoma to be coached by John Smith, widely considered to be the greatest American freestyle wrestler ever, and Eric Guerrero, a 2004 Olympian in freestyle. Oliver has had a considerable amount of success in age group freestyle events, not only domestically, but also overseas. He earned a bronze medal at the 2009 Junior World Championships.
Chris Perry (Oklahoma State)
Perry, the younger brother of Illinois associate head coach Mark Perry and nephew of Oklahoma State head coach John Smith, is another Cowboy with a strong freestyle wrestling pedigree who has been inactive this spring. He placed in the top five at the Junior World Championships in both 2009 and 2010, earning a Junior World bronze medal last summer at 84 kg. Perry also placed fourth at the 2010 U.S. Open.
Zach ReyRey, an NCAA champion, continues to progress as one of the nation's top young heavyweights. He benefited greatly from the addition of Steve Mocco to the Lehigh coaching staff this past season. Rey placed seventh at the both the U.S. Open and University World Championships last year, but the Lehigh big man has been inactive in freestyle this year.
Kellen Russell (Michigan)
Russell was an undefeated NCAA champion this past season at 141 pounds, but rarely gets mentioned in conversations about the nation's best pound-for-pound college wrestlers because of the fact that he wrestles many close matches. But Russell is a winner. Wrestlers who win at the highest levels of wrestling are those who find ways to win the close matches ... and Russell has proven to be one of those wrestlers. Russell was two-time Junior Nationals finalist in freestyle, winning a title in 2006, but he has not competed much in freestyle since becoming a Wolverine. He finished runner-up to Jordan Burroughs at the 2008 University World Team Trials.
Ed RuthAs a collegiate 174-pounder, Ruth finds himself in between freestyle weight classes. If Ruth does compete at the 2011 U.S. World Team Trials, it will likely be at 84 kg (185 pounds), but he would be giving up some size to bigger, stronger wrestlers like Jake Herbert and Bryce Hasseman. Ruth finished fourth at the 2010 FILA Junior Nationals, losing to Iowa's Grant Gambrall and soon-to-be Penn State teammate Morgan McIntosh.
David Taylor (Penn State)
Taylor has been among the nation's best in freestyle at every level in which he has competed. He won national titles in freestyle as a Cadet and Junior. Taylor represented the U.S. at the Junior World Championships in 2007. He also won a University Nationals title last spring. Taylor competed at 157 pounds this past season for Penn State and will likely be moving up to 165 pounds next season. Like Nittany Lion teammate Ruth, Taylor is a tweener in freestyle right now. He is too big to drop down to 66 kg (145.5 pounds), but would be undersized competing at 74 kg (163 pounds).
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