J'den Cox vs. David Taylor is one of the most anticipated matchups in Lincoln (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)You won't have to look far to find Olympic and world medalists when the nation's best freestyle wrestlers take the mat for the United States World Team Trials.
Look no further than Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champion Jordan Burroughs along with world bronze medalist James Green.
Burroughs and Green are two of the local favorites for the Trials, set for June 9-10 on the University of Nebraska campus in Lincoln. Burroughs won two NCAA titles for the Huskers while Green was a four-time All-American for the Big Red.
Both wrestlers continue to train at NU under the watchful eyes of coaches Mark Manning and Bryan Snyder.
Olympic and world champion Kyle Snyder, and world champion Logan Stieber are among the other top stars who will compete in this prestigious event.
The eight champions at the World Team Trials advance to August's World Championships in Paris, France.
This event typically doesn't draw huge crowds, but it should. This is an elite field of high-caliber wrestlers with the stakes very high. The U.S. has a legitimate chance to make a run at its first world team title since 1995.
This event is definitely worth the price of admission if you decide to check it out.
Here is my weight-by-weight breakdown, along with my fearless predictions, for what fans can look forward to in Lincoln:
57 kilograms/125.5 pounds
Tony Ramos has developed a knack for pulling out close matches. That is what the 2014 and 2015 World Team member did in winning the U.S. Open a few weeks ago.
Ramos has a bye into the best-of-3 finals series since he won the Open, which gives him a considerable edge. But he still needs to beat the challenge tournament winner twice to earn a ticket to France.
This weight class has a number of athletes with the potential to win it, including U.S. Open runner-up and past NCAA champion Nahshon Garrett. Ramos rallied to beat Garrett in the Open finals.
NCAA champions Nico Megaludis and Nathan Tomasello also are capable of being the guy here. 2016 Olympian Daniel Dennis would be in the mix as well, if he chooses to compete. Veteran Tyler Graff is another athlete to watch in this class.
Past Junior world medalist Thomas Gilman also has qualified for the Trials. Gilman has beaten Tomasello and Garrett during his career.
Sesker's pick: Garrett
Defending world champion Logan Stieber is the favorite at 61 kilograms (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)61 kilograms/134 pounds
Logan Stieber's biggest problem in recent years was trying to find a weight class that is the best fit for him on the international level.
Stieber was very good at 65 kilograms, but was a bit undersized. The drop down to 61 kilograms suited him very well last year when he broke through and won his first world title. Stieber has been excelling at this level since high school, but he finally fulfilled some of the promise he generated by winning a Junior world silver medal and four NCAA titles for Ohio State.
Stieber will be heavily favored to win here. He is very big and strong for this division, and he is an aggressive wrestler who typically lights up the scoreboard like a pinball machine.
Stieber clinched a finals berth at the Trials by virtue of winning a world medal in 2016.
The top challengers in this division are NCAA champions Kendric Maple and Cody Brewer along with Brandon Wright, Josh Kindig, Seth Gross and Joe Colon. The challenge tournament will be interesting to watch.
Past NCAA champion Jayson Ness is another wrestler to keep an eye on at 61 kilos.
Sesker's pick: Stieber
Zain Retherford will look to make his first World Team on the senior level (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)65 kilograms/143 pounds
Jordan Oliver is in prime position to make his first World team. The past Junior world medalist and two-time NCAA champion is long overdue to make a world-level team on the senior level. Oliver is as talented as any American wrestler.
Oliver won the U.S. Open to land a finals berth at the Trials. He will meet the winner of what promises to be a rugged and hard-fought mini-tournament in this always deep division.
2016 Olympian Frank Molinaro and past Cadet world champion Zain Retherford, NCAA champions for Penn State, are the leading contenders to knock off Oliver.
Molinaro nearly won an Olympic medal last year in Rio before finishing fifth. Retherford still has a year of college left, but he's primed to make his first World Team on the Senior level. He has a huge upside.
Past World Teamer Jimmy Kennedy is another tough athlete in this class.
Sesker's pick: Retherford
70 kilograms/154 pounds
James Green is the favorite here, and he won the U.S. Open to punch his ticket to the finals of the Trials. Even though he is wrestling at home, Green will have to earn his trip to Paris.
NCAA champion Jason Nolf is among the top challengers here, along with past Division III standout Nazar Kulchytskyy. Chase Pami and Jason Chamberlain are veterans to keep an eye on.
Green continues to grow and develop, and look for him to put on a show for the Cornhusker faithful.
Green's former college rival Dylan Ness also has qualified in this class. The dangerous Ness pinned the top-seeded Green in the quarterfinals of the 2014 NCAA tournament. A Green-Ness matchup certainly would be entertaining for the fans to watch.
Sesker's pick: Green
74 kilograms/163 pounds
Jordan Burroughs is the favorite here, but he will definitely be tested again by Kyle Dake, a four-time NCAA champion and a very tough freestyler.
Burroughs beat Dake 2-2 on criteria in the U.S. Open finals in a match where neither guy scored a takedown.
Burroughs is already in the finals because he won the Open, but Dake isn't expected to have much trouble breezing through the challenge tournament earlier in the day.
One obstacle for Dake could be two-time NCAA champion and three-time finalist Isaiah Martinez, a talented young stud with a promising future ahead in freestyle.
Burroughs is wrestling at home, and that may be the difference in what promises to be a great finals series against Dake. Can't wait to see what happens. Wish the U.S. could enter both guys in Paris.
This is the seventh straight year Burroughs has clinched a spot in the best-of-3 finals at a U.S. Trials before the tournament begins. In the previous six years, he made four World teams and two Olympic teams.
If they do meet again, my only hope is that Burroughs and Dake open up and wrestle a little more. They could put on a tremendous show if they do. I think this series will go the full three matches in Lincoln.
Sesker's pick: Burroughs
86 kilograms/189 pounds
J'den Cox was a surprise winner of the Olympic Trials last year. Then he went overseas to qualify the weight class for the Olympics before earning a bronze medal in Rio. If not for some confusion, Cox very well could have been in the gold-medal match at the Olympics.
Cox hasn't competed since capping his college career with a third NCAA title for Missouri in March, but he's proven that he's a tough competitor who doesn't become rattled in big matches.
Cox does have an advantage in Lincoln as he's already in the finals by virtue of his Olympic medal.
Cox will have his hands full in a much-anticipated finals series against David Taylor, who has had an outstanding season. Taylor dominated at the World Cup, where he pinned Olympic gold medalist Hassan Yazdani of Iran in Iran.
Cox is bigger and more physical than Taylor, but Taylor has filled out and grown more into this weight class in the last year. Taylor never stops wrestling, and if you can't keep up you may be in big trouble.
Whoever wins here will definitely be a medal contender in Paris. As a fan of great wrestling, I would love to see Cox-Taylor go the full three matches. This one is very tough to call.
Past Greco-Roman World Team member Joe Rau also qualified in this class. It will be interesting to see how Rau, who is big for this weight class, fares during the freestyle competition in Lincoln.
Sesker's pick: Taylor
Olympic champion Kyle Snyder will look to add another world title his resume in 2017 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)97 kilograms/213 pounds
What more can you say about the remarkable Kyle Snyder? He's already the youngest Olympic and world champion in U.S. history, and he's only 21 years old. The two-time NCAA champion just keeps getting better and better.
The biggest challenge facing USA Wrestling is to keep him on the mat and out of the UFC cage, at least for a few more years.
Snyder also has a bye to the finals in Lincoln after striking Olympic gold last year.
U.S. Open champion Kyven Gadson, who pinned Snyder in the 2015 NCAA finals, will be the favorite to win the mini-tourney at the Trials.
Snyder and Gadson have not met in competition since that NCAA match. Gadson has showed promise in freestyle as well. Unfortunately, he's in a weight class with a guy who is on course to become one of the greatest American wrestlers of all-time.
Veterans Dustin Kilgore and Micah Burak could contend in the challenge tourney.
Sesker's pick: Snyder
125 kilograms/275.5 pounds
With the retirement of two-time Olympian and two-time world medalist Tervel Dlagnev, the heavyweight class becomes fairly wide open.
Two-time NCAA champion Nick Gwiazdowski has the inside track after winning the U.S. Open. He sits out until the finals of the Trials, keeping him fresh while the rest of the big boys slug it out in the challenge tournament.
There are a handful of challengers hungry for an opportunity to battle Gwiazdowski. That list includes Zack Rey, the U.S. Open runner-up who represented the U.S. at the 2015 Worlds with Dlagnev out with an injury.
Veterans Dom Bradley, Bobby Telford and Tony Nelson also will have a say in who earns a shot at Gwiazdowski in the finals.
Sesker's pick: Gwiazdowski
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