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57kg: Spencer is pretty clearly the best guy at the weight. 6 weeks ago I thought his toughest match would likely be RBY in the semis with Musa Mekhtikhanov, and Chonsong Han also being tough outs. RBY strikes me as the toughest stylistic matchup with his ability to create from space and his speed, they did hit at a ranking series and Spencer got up earlier and RBY socred late however those scores seemed more of a result of Spencer completely shutting it down. I really like RBY's trajectory but I do not see him beating Spencer. Musa Mekhtikhanov is very skilled but he does not have anything specific that makes me feel as though he can score enough or do enough to beat spencer and lastly Chongsong han who we have 4 matches to look at at the Asian championships but in those matches he looked very dynamic. He presents a similar style to Zhou that has historically given Spencer issues and he will come in unseeded. North Korea only sends guys they have supreme confidence in so in my mind Han has to be a threat to medal. Now I mentioned 2 months ago because Arsen Harutyunyan was previously expected to go 61kg, which is where he generally wrestles during none Olympic years but he has decided to make the cut to 57kg. Harutyunan is very very talented he is a 3x senior world bronze and 2x u23 world champ as well as winning senior euros last year and teching RBY. To me however he has always looked his best at 61kg. He will give Spencer all he can handle for the first 3 minutes, but if the match is close going into the second I expect the wheels to really fall off, he does not have particularly great cardio at 61kg and it seems to get significantly worse after the cut to 57kg. Predictions: (not accounting for full brackets) Gold: Spencer Silver: Harutyunan Bronze: RBY Bronze: Han 61kg: This weight is super deep, however it really lacks that final boss type guy at the top. Some people may look at Uguev as that guy but he has yet to win a medal at 61kg pacing 5th twice. Uguev and Suda are the two biggest on paper favorites going into this followed by a huge tier of guys who if they were to upset either would not be shocking Abakarov, Tairybek Uulu, Yessengeldi, Jax, Ahmad Javan, Udit. Now in my opinion I think Jax is going to win this weight, However I think his draw will be important. Uguev I believe is a great matchup for Jax. I do not think Uguevs high c is super effective against Jax he seems to almost always score off of guys own high c's and his head hands has improved immesely so if Uguev gets to it, it will likely because Jax was ready for it. The guys that worry me the most for Jax are Abakarov, Suda and Uulu. Abakarov has a great ability to counter score coupled with great strength and explosivity which are all qualities I think you need to beat Jax. Uulu shares these traits, and Suda seems like a mini Ono with less power but more length. Now I think Jax can beat all of these guys but in a bracket setting where he could potentially wrestle all 3 I think thats where things get very difficult. I am going to predict he either does not hit all 3 or beats them all probably because I'm biased and he's my favorite guy to watch but I truly believe he can get it done. Predictions: Gold: Jax silver: Suda bronze: Uguev bronze: Uulu 65kg: I have been pretty pessimistic about Real's chances at this weight. I think for his first full year training free he has been incredible, but I worry about him being able to get to his positions against some of these guys, and I still worry about the second period for him. Amouzad and Kiyooka are the returning Olympic finalists and have both looked the part this year not taking any losses. They are far and away the favorites to hit again in the finals. The next tier of guys are Sebasitan Rivera, Sujeet, Ibragimov, Tevanyan. I think Real can beat most of those guys, but with how the seed are he is going to have to more than likely wrestle one of Amouzad or Kiyooka first and then get drawn back in where he would more than likely need to beat at least two of these guys which I just do not see at this moment. If I were to pick 2 guys to unseat Kiyooka or Amouzad It would be Seabass or Sujeet. Seabass was very close to knocking off Kiyooka last year and I think has the arsenal and style to also potentially give Amouzad fits. Sujeet is very young but has most Indians do has a crazy motor and good offense if he can keep it close with Amouzad late I think he could take him out, I do not think he can beat Kiyooka. Sujeet could hit Amouzad in the quarters and Seabass could hit Kiyooka in the semis. Predictions: Gold: Kiyooka Silver: Amouzad Bronze: Seabass Bronze: Sujeet 70kg: This weight is very deep. Similarly to 65kg there are a ton of guys that can medal here and there are one or two top guys but they do seem beatable although Kaipanov could change the view of that very easily here. Kaipanov and Amir Yazdani are the two gold favorites to me followed by a huge tier 2 of Kazyrk (russian nats champ), Akmataliev, Rassadin, Aoyagi, Adreasyan, Dudaev, Gomez, Heybatov, Kemertelidze, Ochir, Duke. Needless to say PJ is going to have to battle out there. I think you can condense this list based off of the past years results though, Ochir has not looked great and neither has Dudaev. Adreasyan is very strong and does not break position but PJ will be in a match with him and if he can get a lead I feel confident he could hold on. Rassadin,Aoyagi,Akmataliev,Gomez are the ones I worry about for PJ. All of them are dynamic and will probably be able to hold up in the hand fight with him. Overall I think we are a year or two away from PJ medaling but this will be invaluable experience for him. Predictions: Gold: Kaipanov silver: Akmataliev Bronze: Aoyagi Bronze: Gomez 74kg: God this weight is awesome. Your gold favorites are Valiev, and Sidakov but to me this weight has 5 potential champs and 2 sleepers. Those 5 are Valiev,Sidakov,Carr,Salkazonov,Takahashi. The sleepers are Emami and Khaniev. Khaniev may be a bit off of peoples radar but he was the 70kg u23 champ last year and is super slick and creative. He struggled with Takahashis athleticism in the ranking series final and I think he would also struggle with Carr but I could see him potentially knocking off one of the other guys. Sidakov lost to Valiev at Euros in a crazy final sequence and then was thought to be out for the year but he was able to recover much quicker than expected. In his wrestle off I thought he looked good but certainly beatable. Valiev of course infamously lost after the match on a fleeing the hold call at the olympics which I have never seen before to the eventual champ Zhamolov. He has not lost since. So to me Valiev is probably a slight on paper favorite. That said the Japanese Burroughs amazes me every time he wrestles and David carr made him go life and death. If you wrestle this weight 10 times you probably either get Sidakov winning it 10 times or four different champs, and that is why I am so excited for it. Predictions: Gold: Takahashi Silver: Valiev Bronze: Sidakov Bronze: Carr 79kg: This weight is far more wide open than I originally thought. When levi lost to Kougi I was not very optimistic that he would medal but once I looked deeper into the entries I realized Kougi may just be one of the top 4 guys at the weight and I think that is a result Levi could potentially reverse. This weight has two very good guys at the top with Usmanov and Nohkodi and Usmanov is an absolute monster at 79kg historically but he looked pretty human at Euros. Nohkodi of course beat JB last year and is great as well but he missed nearly the entire year recovering from and Injury so I think it is possible that he is not quite at his best. After those two guys the medal contenders to me are Evloev, Kougi, Gamkrelidze, Levi, Mykhailov. To me these are all winnable matches for Levi. Evloev is super tricky, he is incredible in a crackdown and floats his hips super well but he has taken some bad losses and that is certainly a match levi can win, and Mykhailov lost to Ruiz a month ago so thats another guy I feel good about Levi going up against. Gamkrelidze is never a guy that impresses me a ton and perhaps I am underrating him but thats another match I feel ok about for Levi and we have seen the Kougi matchup and that seems winnable. Predictions: Gold: Nohkodi Silver: Usmanov Bronze: Levi Bronze: Gamkrelidze 86kg: This weight from a pure highlight reel standpoint is going to be asburd. Seems as though Ramazanov is out which is definitely a big deal although he would not have been my pick to win. Excluding Ramazonov my favorites for gold are Ghasempour, Kadiev, Zahid, Kadi. Throwing Kadi in may be a stretch but I would have included Ramazonov and Kadi had him dead in the water until his lungs stopped working so I am going to throw him in. The 4 guys I mentioned all have very contrasting styles. Ghas is a brick shit house thats going to push and pull and look for his high C. Kadiev has his own offense but really thrives when you are in on his legs and if you do not finish quickly he is probably going to score on you, he has an insane feel and crazy hips/rubber knee stuff. Zahid is going to use your pressure against you and can also blow through you from space, and Kadi is as explosive as they come, well at least for 4 minutes. Other medal contenders are Kentchadze (world gold at 79 last year), Dhizoev, Dauletbekov. (I do not think Ghas is going to be able to make the weight effectively that is factored into my predictions) Predictions: Gold: Zahid Silver: Kadiev Bronze: Ghas Bronze: Kadi 92kg: I could be foolish but to me this weight is a 2 horse race I think its Trent and Firouzpour. Of course 4 guys medal so the guys that could sneak in for Bronze to me would be Nurmagomedov,Kurugliev,Punia,Akturk. I really want to pick Trent the dude works so damn hard but I think that Firouzpour may be the most underrated guy in the world right now. Predictions: Gold: Firouzpour Silver: Trent Bronze: Kurugliev Bronze: Nurmagomedov 97kg: The battle we've wanted since 2023 Taz vs Sadulaev. As someone who once rooted for Sadulaevs downfall I am now really hoping he can get it done, it would be a great story. I will say I think Azarpira could have his say on if this matchup actually happens, but it is definitely and outside shot. Rounding out the medal threats are Snyder, Yoshida, and Magomedov. I view this weight as the big guys tier 1, Azarpira tier 2 and then Yoshida and Snyder tier 3. Predictions: Gold: Sadulaev Silver: Taz Bronze: Azarpira Bronze: Snyder 125kg: A lot of people seem to be writing Wyatt into the finals, I am definitely not that confident but I do think there is a world that his style gives Zare fits. If Wyatt makes the finals I think it could be a 50/50 matchup but I think navigating the bracket will be difficult for him. Zare is obviously the guy to beat. Then you have Wyatt, Munkthur, Meshvilidishvili, Sharipov. I like Wyatt to beat all of those guys, but they are all good enough that if he takes a risk and it results in a chain of points they could shut it down and it will be difficult for him. Munkthur is the biggest worry for me. Munkthur and mesh are same side so assuming Wyatt is on that side (lets hope) one of the two will not win bronze. Predictions: Gold: Zare Silver: Wyatt Bronze: Meshvilidishvili Bronze: Sharipov

back in my day it was all about your Top 8

It's not surprising whatsoever. Primary points are based off previous year's championship results at the weight currently being contested (eg. Dake would have 0 seeding points at 86) and supplemental points from rankings series (4 total tournies this year not heavily attended by any single athlete) + continental tourneys (1 per region [Pan-Am, Euros, Asian, Oceania, African]). Out of the Team USA roster only 12 total tourneys were wrestled and none more than twice. Given the turnover of the team and the fact that a couple guys were wrapping up their junior year studying for the SAT, the numbers don't lie. Zagreb Tiran Mongolia Pan-Ams Budapest Total (Feb) (Feb) (May) (May) (July) 57 Spencer 1st --- --- --- --- 1 61 Forrest --- --- --- 1st --- 1 65 Woods --- 3rd --- --- --- 1 70 Duke --- --- --- --- --- 0 74 Carr 2nd --- --- --- 3rd 2 79 Haines --- --- --- --- --- 0 86 Zahid 1st --- --- 1st --- 2 92 Hidlay --- --- --- 1st 1st 2 97 Snyder 1st 3rd --- --- --- 2 125 Pindrickson --- --- --- 1st --- 1

Even though, the seedings are a result from various wrestlers attending, placing,(AND winning) various ranking tournaments... it IS surprising to see that only FOUR (Lee #1 @ 57Kg, Valencia #4 @ 86Kg, Trent Hidlay #8 @ 92Kg, & Synder #3 @ 97Kg) are seeded. Much like the U20, the Senior World Championships will start off w/ the FS tournament 1st, on Saturday, September 13. (61, 70, 86, and 125 kg) For some... pairing off w/an unseeded American may be a dangerous draw. (Wyatt HENDRICKSON anyone? ) D3

So hard to know the skill level of people in international freestyle. The league needs a season and everyone wrestling a lot more matches. Compared to high school or ncaa, we are guessing based on months and years in the past. When someone top ranked loses to someone lower ranked, it's not even considered a real upset since it happens so frequently.

You are correct. One time we shared a ride that he ordered and I can confirm he is a "LyftMormon"

Nobody fears any of the above. They want special treatment, and saying no to their request isn't fear.

The problem is that a liberal woman wants a man with conservative behaviors and attributes that votes liberal. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.

But what happens if the points are tied at the end of the regulation season? Is there.... Criteria?

Ok, skimmed through the entrants list and didn't spot anyone. So it could impact Firouzpour.

No one would have predicted Jordan Burroughs, some random American kid who barely won NCAAs twice to become the best wrestler in US history. No one would have predicted Kyle Snyder to bounce back from a juniors bronze + getting pinned in 90 seconds to becoming the P4P best in the world from 2015-17. No one would have predicted college J'Den Cox to even make OTT or WTT finals at any point with his style, much less have stellar international success. No one would have predicted David Taylor, who was never better than 3rd best domestically at any weight, to pack on 33 pounds and at one point become the P4P best in the world. No one would have predicted Gable Steveson to enter his first senior international tournament and go absolutely gangbusters on the olympic bracket. Then again, no one predicted Wyatt Pindrickson to beat him a few months ago. There is precedent. It is an intimidating changing of the guard, and following our renaissance generation is certainly intimidating. But if I have learned anything this season, it's that this crop of young guns is cold as ice and not afraid of the lights on the big stage.

It’s intellectually dishonest to not notice the OP placed a link in the first post. Not saying I disagree or not, but did you not take a look at that?

I understand her district went through a big change during the redrawing, recently.

Says the guy who loves to throw out transphobic and able-ist slurs.

BOOM! Got me, right there. Cheerios all over my screen.

At that same tournament Noah Nininger beat Zepeda 6-3. Noah's probably a bit underrated but he's not Blaze, Bassett, etc.

I'm 110% happier than rv ... prove me wrong.

Without research, my stereotype assumptions are that conservatives are happier because they value the nuclear family, they give more, they often believe in a higher power as something bigger than themselves, and they take confidence/pride in success from their own merit. I hypothesize that they have lower lows when they cannot achieve their goals because they have no one to blame but themself.

Yup. For the same reason Trump claims to be a Christian. It's popular.

Israel isn't sending a team

Hey D3, you gave me a meaningful potato during U20's. You fickle basta** - now handing them out like they are... some kind of easy tubers.

How easy was it to secure the border... 1st and foremost - the border still isn't secure. Migrants are still making their way across it EVERY DAY. 2nd - that (failed) effort cost taxpayers $165 billion - so, no, it wasn't easy at all. In a time where our countries checking account is already overdrawn to the tune of trillions of dollars. Running up more charges in the hundreds of billions is just plain dumb. It's just common sense that tells us this is an epic failure. Politicians and other dopes are telling us it was some kind of success.... but it wasn't. Throwing money at a problem to try to solve it never solves it. That's what the Democrats used to try to do (and failed) - now it's the Republicans trying to do it (and are failing.) Simply because that strategy will never work. (Both parties realized it, and both parties responded the same way - declaring success. As if we're all morons.)

Cross is damn tough

Trivializing a woman getting robbed because they only caught a 19 time felon with her packages he stole from her home and making fun of Louis vatton getting robbed for 250k is a strange way of showing it boss.

omg the cope in this post

Trip tripped and landed on his keyboard.

Melvin Miller drops a new and interesting top group: OSU Ohio State Nebraska VT Michigan Penn State Ohio state and VT were not on the initial list. Also, Hokies will start visits here soon with three home football games in a row.

Must’ve missed the day they studied paragraphing.

Let's not kid ourselves both parties have nut jobs. It just so happens the Democrats have us beat 3 to 1. Maybe more.

Almost done. I got a few lbs of beef bones and made a 12 hour hour beef stock with the bones mirepoix tomato paste and some aromatics. today I smoked 6 lbs of chuck roast and some short ribs. Then braised them in a consume with the stock above and some dried guajillo and Arbol chilies. Shredding the beef soon gonna make some quesa birria shortly

I was in 1981 We had guys go d 1 every year. We had 2 become all American. Other did not aa but upset #2 . I beat round 8 guy twice during year. Martucci Trenton state won d 1. Brockport state won nationals d111 twice while I was there. Beat #12 ranked Syracuse in dual that year. Usually lost though to them. Maybe only time we ever won match. You may want take look D11 cal Bakersfield. When azvedo and Gonzales or custard they had others . I think they took 7th team. At d 1 nationals was d 11. Probably different now.

And our women are prettier. Theirs are petty.

Yes the Harvard PhD professor is an idiot. BTW I'd love for you to provide a link to that debate.

Willie's tiny started a new account eh?

This is a recycled topic. Probably true but you have to dig deeper and look at the reasons. That's where the wingers like to change the subject.

Western State is currently known as Western Colorado University. Pretty solid D2 program traditionally. Hiram is currently a D3 school in Ohio that restarted the sport not that long ago. Tom Jarman coached at Northwestern for a while before finishing his career at Manchester. Recently passed away.

... he's been on a mission the last 15+ years.

His ability to get to legs contrasted with Angelos ability to extend positions with someone in on his legs truly makes for such an exciting matchup this upcoming season.

Hmmm... true dat! ... and keep that Baked Potato sir, well played. D3

I'm giving you a Baked Potato, 11986. (At no cost!) D3

I never even heard of Hiram and I have no idea where "Western State" is - sounds like a made up college for a National Lampoons flick. And being an IL native, the fact that SIU Carbondale had 3 D1 national champs is pretty damn mind blowing. Times have certainly changed in the college wrestling world.

Jimmy wants a piece of Kramer!

I remember when George Billy (or vice versa) assaulted a kid on the mat, unintentionally messy him up really bad, and Koll made a statement along the lines of "We're embarassed by George's actions, they reflect horribly on him and the program, we are not going to extend the damage to the program by dealing with it in a sensational or public manner," and I thought that was a good, if not terribly satisfying, response. Cael's silence reads like "i'm untouchable, F off".

I would agree and with Penn State's history you'd think journalists would be asking questions and admins would be clarifying situation.

I think you should have gone with a "resident athlete vs student athlete" thing as opposed to "prostitution and steroids aren't scandalous".

Certainly the school has had a huge scandal, one of the biggest, most awful ever. But wrestlers getting nailed for PEDs, drinking, and prostitution, does not rise to the level of scandal. Unseemly, sure, but not scandalous. The things alleged by the Bartlett's are criminal. It seems that crimes should be reported to the police and investigated by the police. And at least one was. The police found no evidence to support the claim. Maybe it happened anyway. Some thieves get away with it. And some accused of crimes, never commit any. Let's face it. Starocci is unlikeable. Bartlett is very likeable. Sometimes opinions flow from that.

this one surprised me. been impressed w/ Hartman recently