InterMat Staff

Last week, Ohio RTC stalwart Kollin Moore announced his retirement from competition at the Senior level. We didn’t have to wait long until we found out his next step. Today, the Ohio RTC announced that Moore would remain with the clubs as a coach. Not only does the Ohio RTC retain Moore, but they have also added Coleman Scott as an RTC coach. On the Senior level, Moore made it to Final X in 2022 and the finals of the Olympic Team Trials in 2021. In both instances, he fell to former Ohio State teammate Kyle Snyder. At Ohio State, Moore captured three Big Ten titles and earned NCAA All-American honors each time he competed at the national tournament - topping out at 2nd in 2019. Moore was the favorite to capture an elusive national title in 2020 before the tournament was canceled at the outset of the COVID pandemic. Scott comes to the Ohio RTC after spending a year at his alma mater, Oklahoma State. He was assumed to be the head coach-in-waiting for when John Smith decided to step down. That day came this spring and Oklahoma State ended up hiring David Taylor. Before coming back to Stillwater, Scott spent eight years as the head coach at North Carolina. While at UNC, Scott led the Tar Heels to top-20 finishes at every NCAA Tournament between 2017 and 2023 - with each year building upon the previous finish. Additionally, Scott guided Austin O’Connor to a pair of undefeated NCAA title-winning seasons. As an athlete, Scott earned NCAA All-American honors four times culminating in a first-period fall in the 2008 national finals for a championship in his senior season. Scott continued on the freestyle circuit and claimed a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. The Ohio State collegiate program is coming off an eighth-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships in a year where they had six freshman national qualifiers. In addition to four returning All-Americans, the Buckeyes also have an incoming freshman class that was ranked fifth in the nation by InterMat. But wait, there’s more. The Buckeyes also have verbal commitments from two of the top-15 prospects from the Class of 2025.

For the second consecutive week, the University of Iowa’s women’s team announced a massive addition. Last week it was 2023 World silver medalist Macey Kilty. Today, Clarissa Chun’s team has signed 2024 Olympian Kennedy Blades. Blades earned her place on the 2024 Olympic Team by unseating the legendary Adeline Gray for the spot at 76 kg. She was able to defeat the 10x World/Olympic medalist in two straight matches, 11-6 and 8-3. Though the upcoming Olympic Games represent Blades’ first Senior World-level event, she has plenty of international experience. Blades has made world teams at the Cadet, Junior/U20, and U23 levels. Along the way, she won a gold medal at the 2021 Junior World Championships. Two years later, she returned and captured a bronze medal. Also in 2023, Blades was a silver medalist at the U23 World Championships. Blades and Kilty join an Iowa team that won an NCWWC national title in 2024, their first year of attached competition. The Hawkeyes captured all three national titles between 143 lbs and 170 lbs in 2024 - which is presumably where Blades would compete for Iowa. Blades has primarily trained at Arizona State with the Sunkist Kids but is originally from Chicago, Illinois, so a move to Iowa is much closer to home.

It’s late July which means the 2024 Olympic Games are right around the corner. Over the next two weeks, InterMat will bring you individual weight class previews for each of the 18 weights contested at the Olympic Games. The 2024 version has already been slightly different from years past. Earlier in the summer, United World Wrestling announced a list of wrestlers from Belarus and Russia who would not be permitted to compete due to their support of the war with Ukraine. After this decision, Russia decided to withdraw all of its entries for wrestling. That led to replacements being named earlier this month. With all of the moving parts, and a field that wasn’t confirmed until later in the game, previewing the action had to take a back seat since we weren’t sure who would actually be in Paris. UWW has recently published entry lists for each of the three styles, so we are good to go. We’re circling back to men’s freestyle and the second weight class preview - 65 kg. This might be the most fun of any weight class in the tournament. It’s loaded with potential gold medal threats and wrestlers that are generally fun to watch. In addition to the United States representative, Zain Retherford, there are two other notable ex-NCAA stars competing for medals in this weight (Austin Gomez/Mexico and Sebastian Rivera/Puerto Rico). Buckle up, but get your popcorn ready for the roller coaster that will be 65 kg. 65kg entries Shamil Mamedov (AIN - Russia) Islam Dudaev (Albania) Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) Georgii Okorokov (Australia) Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) Alejandro Valdes Tobier (Cuba) Goderdzi Dzebisashvili (Georgia) Iszmail Musukaev (Hungary) Rahman Amouzad (Iran) Kotaro Kiyooka (Japan) Ernazar Akmataliev (Kyrgyzstan) Austin Gomez (Mexico) Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia) Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico) Gaku Akazawa (Samoa) Zain Retherford (USA) photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com Seeds 1. Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) 2. Rahman Amouzad (Iran) 3. Iszmail Musukaev (Hungary) 4. Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico) 5. Shamil Mamedov (AIN - Russia) 6. Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) 7. Islam Dudaev (Albania) 8. Tulga Tumur Ochir (Mongolia) Past Senior World/Olympic Medalists:(10) Akmataliev, Aliyev (x5), Amouzad, Mamedov, Musukaev (x3), Retherford, Rivera, Tevanyan, Tumur Ochir, Valdes Tobier (x2) 2020(1) Olympic Medalists (65 kg) Gold: Takuto Otoguro (Japan) Silver: Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) Bronze: Gadzhimurad Rashidov (Russia) Bronze: Bajrang Punia (India) photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com 2023 World Medalists (60 kg) Gold: Iszmail Musukaev (Hungary) Silver: Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico) Bronze: Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia) Bronze: Shamil Mamedov (AIN - Russia) How they qualified: 2023 World Championships: Mamedov, Musukaev , Rivera, Tevanyan, Amouzad Asian Qualifier: Kiyooka, Akmataliev African/Oceania Qualifier: Akazawa, Okorokov European Qualifier: Aliyev, Dzebisashvili, Pan-American Qualifier: Gomez, Valdes Tobier World OG Qualifier: Dudaev, Retherford, Tulga Ochir Key Recent (ish) Matches between Qualifiers 2024 Hungarian Ranking Series Bronze Medal: Aliyev over Gomez (12-3) 2024 Hungarian Ranking Series semifinals: Kiyooka over Gomez (12-6) 2024 Hungarian Ranking Series: Musukaev over Aliyev (9-3) 2024 Hungarian Ranking Series: Aliyev over Kiyooka (5-2) 2024 Hungarian Ranking Series: Kiyooka over Musukaev (7-2) 2024 Last Chance World OG Qualifier: Tulga Ochir over Retherford (7-2) 2024 European Olympic Qualifier semifinals: Aliyev over Dudaev (6-3) 2024 Asian Championship final: Amouzad over Tulga Ochir (2-1) 2024 Zagreb Open semifinals: Tevanyan over Rivera (9-1) 2023 Asian Games final: Tulga Ochir over Amouzad (11-1) 2023 World Championship finals: Musukaev over Rivera (11-0) 2023 World Championship semifinals: Musukaev over Amouzad (6-5) 2023 World Championship semifinals: Rivera over Tevanyan (10-9) 2023 World Championship quarterfinals: Tevanyan over Aliyev (12-2) 2023 World Championship Round of 16: Aliyev over Tulga Ochir (3-3) 2023 Hungarian Ranking Series quarterfinals: Tulga Ochir over Musukaev (3-0) 2023 Asian Championship finals: Amouzad over Tulga Ochir (3-1) 2023 Zagreb Open Ranking Series semifinals: Tulga Ochir over Musukaev (6-2) The American Entry: Zain Retherford 65 kg has been an issue for multiple cycles for the Americans. Despite having tons of talent in that range, we have more often than now, come away from Olympic/World Championship events empty-handed. In 2021, the United States was able to qualify the weight for the Tokyo Games. We appeared to be heading in that direction earlier this year after Austin Gomez defeated Nick Lee in the semifinals of the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. Lee would end up losing in the Olympic Trials finals to former Penn State teammate Zain Retherford, which allowed Retherford to head to Istanbul for the Last Chance OG Qualifier. History seemed to be on the verge of repeating itself as Retherford fell in the round of 16 to Mongolia’s Tulga Tumur Ochir. However, Retherford would not be denied and grinded out four straight wins to punch his ticket to Paris. Retherford is a seasoned veteran on the International circuit. While this is his first Olympic appearance, he has made four world teams since 2017. The two-time Hodge Trophy winner made the 70 kg world finals in 2022 - then took it a step further in 2023 when he collected a world title. Retherford’s best international results have come at 70 kg; however, he did look very strong at the lower weight in the Trials. Before winning his best-of-three series with Lee, Retherford edged 2024 NCAA champion Jesse Mendez, 3-2. With the talent in this bracket, and Retherford coming in unseeded, he could face a monster in his first match and quickly get knocked out or he could methodically take out stud after stud. We’ll talk more about the unpredictability of this bracket. The X-Factor: Kotaro Kiyooka Even though three past world medalists are slated to start the tournament without a seed, we’ve targeted Kotaro Kiyooka as the X-factor here. Kiyooka is in Paris because he defeated 2020 Olympic gold medalist Takuto Otoguro in the semifinals of the All-Japan Championships. This will be Kiyooka’s first time representing Japan at the Senior World Championships. In June, Kiyooka proved his mettle by winning the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial (aka the Hungarian Ranking Series event). Along the way, he picked up wins over Musukaev, Aliyev, and Austin Gomez. A few months earlier, Kiyooka went 3-0 at the Asian Olympic Qualifier to lock up a slot in Paris. Despite his lack of World/Olympic experience, Kiyooka has defeated both of the 2020 Olympic finalists and a 2023 World Champion within the last year - so he should be considered a gold medal threat in August. The Bracket: A glaring issue with the bracket is the top half of it. After the Russian Federation removed their wrestlers from consideration, Shamil Mamedov’s name remained in the entry list and seeds. A few days later those were released, word spread amongst message boards and social media that Mamedov was injured and unable to wrestle in the Olympics. Let’s not get into conspiracy theories or anything but, it is … strange. Anyhow, Mamedov will not be replaced in the bracket. Presumably, his first-round opponent will advance via forfeit. If that were to be Kiyooka or Retherford, that’s fine and they are certainly worthy of wrestling in place of the fifth seed. If it isn’t them, then the bottom half of the bracket could be very lopsided. The top has #1 Tevanyan, #4 Rivera, and #8 Tulga Ochir. The bottom has #2 Amouzad, #3 Musukaev, #6 Aliyev, #7 Dudaev. And that’s without the unseeded wrestlers being drawn in. Analysis: With the majority of international weight classes, I think you could get someone who follows the sport closely to bang out decent seeds within an hour or two. Seeds that would be better than what the rankings series and world results produce. This weight class would be the exception. I don’t envy anyone who would try to seed this bracket. You can look at the recent results (2023-2024) above and try to make sense of it. The returning world champion has three losses in that span, two to the #8 (Tulga Ochir) and one to an unseeded wrestler (Kiyooka). The #1 seed (Tevanyan) has lost to the #4 seed (Rivera), but has since avenged the loss. I said it when describing the 57 kg weight class and it applies even more in this bracket. You could wrestle this one five times and probably come up with five different champions. Perhaps five different finals matchups. This weight class will be as matchup-dependant as any in any style in Paris. Tulga Ochir has proven to be a tough riddle to solve for Musukaev; however, they couldn’t meet until the finals. Someone like Austin Gomez, does he get paired with an opponent that wants to wrestle a wide-open match? If so, Gomez is certainly capable of pulling an upset or two. He, along with Sebastian Rivera and Retherford, are former NCAA stars in this bracket. Last year proved to be a breakout tournament internationally for Rivera - can he do it again or will his international foes “have a book” on him? Speaking of matchups. Retherford has always been known for his heavy hands and pace. Musukaev and pace generally don’t get along. Maybe the defending world champion is actually a favorable matchup for the American? I highly recommend casual fans tuning into every single match at this weight class. Even if Retherford is not in action. Not only are most of them toss-ups, but the wrestlers involved generally score points and create action. I’d be shocked if we see very many 3-2 final scores in this bracket. Previous Olympic Previews: Men's Freestyle 57 kg Women's Freestyle 50 kg Men's Greco-Roman 60 kg

It’s late July which means the 2024 Olympic Games are right around the corner. Over the next two weeks, InterMat will bring you individual weight class previews for each of the 18 weights contested at the Olympic Games. The 2024 version has already been slightly different from years past. Earlier in the summer, United World Wrestling announced a list of wrestlers from Belarus and Russia who would not be permitted to compete due to their support of the war with Ukraine. After this decision, Russia decided to withdraw all of its entries for wrestling. That led to replacements being named earlier this month. With all of the moving parts, and a field that wasn’t confirmed until later in the game, previewing the action had to take a back seat since we weren’t sure who would actually be in Paris. UWW has recently published entry lists for each of the three styles, so we are good to go. Our first Greco-Roman weight is 60 kg. Unfortunately, there is not an American competing at this weight. Followers of the Greco-Roman discipline will enjoy this weight as it has one returning Olympic medalist and a handful of others who have gotten onto the medal stand at the world championships. In Belgrade, at the 2023 World Championships, 60 kg was the Olympic weight class with the highest-scoring gold medal matchup. That means even in the high-pressured environment of a gold medal contest, there still could be plenty of fireworks here. 60kg Abdelkarim Fergat (Algeria) Murad Mammadov (Azerbaijan) Liguo Cao (China) Kevin DeArmas (Cuba) Moamen Mohamed (Egypt) Jamal Valizadeh (EOR) Mehdi Mohsen Nejad (Iran) Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) Aidos Sultangali (Kazakhstan) Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) Victor Ciobanu (Moldova) Se Ung Ri (North Korea) Razvan Arnaut (Romania) Georgij Tibilov (Serbia) Enes Basar (Turkiye) Islomjon Bakhramov (Uzbekistan) Raiber Rodriguez (Venezuela) Seeds 1. Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) 2. Liguo Cao (China) 3. Victor Ciobanu (Moldova) 4. Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) 5. Mehdi Mohsen Nejad (Iran) 6. Islomjon Bakhramov (Uzbekistan) 7. Raiber Rodriguez (Venezuela) 8. Razvan Arnaut (Romania) Past Senior World/Olympic Medalists:(9) Bakhramov, Basar, Cao, Ciobanu (x2), Fumita (x5), Mammadov (x2), Sharshenbekov (x4), Sultangali (x2), Tibilov 2020(1) Olympic Medalists (60 kg) Gold: Luis Orta Sanchez (Cuba) Silver: Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) Bronze: Sergey Emelin (Russia) Bronze: Sailike Walihan (China) 2023 World Medalists (60 kg) Gold: Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) Silver: Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) Bronze: Liguo Cao (China) Bronze: Islomjon Bakhramov (Uzbekistan) How they qualified: 2023 World Championships: Sharshenbekov, Fumita, Cao, Bakhramov, Mohsen Nejad Asian Qualifier: Sultangali, Ung Ri African/Oceania Qualifier: Fergat, Mohamed European Qualifier: Ciobanu, Basar Pan-American Qualifier: Rodriguez, DeArmas World OG Qualifier: Mammadov, Tibilov Reallocated Quotas: Arnaut Key Recent (ish) Matches between Qualifiers 2024 Hungarian Ranking Series final: Mammadov over Ciobanu (10-0) @ 63 kg 2024 World OG Qualifier wrestle-off: Tibilov over Arnaut (5-2) 2024 World OG Qualifier semifinals: Mammadov over Arnaut (8-2) 2024 European Olympic Qualifier Round of 32: Basar over Tibilov (9-0) 2024 European Championship quarterfinals: Ciobanu over Tibilov (8-0) 2023 Asian Games quarterfinals: Bakhramov over Cao (3-1) 2023 World Championship finals: Sharshenbekov over Fumita (11-6) 2023 World Championship repechage: Cao over Ciobanu (9-7) 2023 World Championship semifinals: Sharshenbekov over Mohsen Nejad (4-3) 2023 World Championship semifinals: Mammadov over Tibilov (4-1) @ 63 kg 2023 World Championship quarterfinals: Fumita over Cao (3-1) 2023 World Championship Round of 64: Fumita over Ciobanu (3-1) 2023 European Championship semifinals: Ciobanu over Tibilov (5-2) The American Entry: None The United States was not able to qualify this weight the the 2023 World Championships, the 2024 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier, or the 2024 Last Chance OG Qualifier photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com The X-Factor: Murad Mammadov Though he’s a few weeks shy of his 30th birthday, Murad Mammadov has been a fixture on the Senior level for Azerbaijan for almost a decade. During that time, Mammadov has represented Azerbaijan four times at the Senior World Championships - earning medals (silver in 2023 and bronze in 2021) on two occasions. He attempted to qualify for the 2020 Olympics but came up short. Mammadov must’ve had difficulty staying down at 60 kg, as he was at 63 kg for the 2023 World Championships and into 2024. Since his ‘23 world medal came at a non-Olympic weight, he was forced to work through the qualifying process. Azerbaijan did not send Mammadov to the European Olympic Qualifier, but he did go to the Last Chance qualifier and got the job done with relative ease. Later, he would defeat world medalist Victor Ciobanu to win the Hungarian Ranking Series event up at 63 kg. Since Mammadov’s results that factor into the seeding process have come at 63 kg, he will be unseeded in Paris. That shouldn’t be much of a hindrance as he has posted three wins within the last year over Olympic qualifiers - two of which came at the expense of seeded opponents. The bracket: The most glaring takeaway from looking at the seeds is that the two wrestlers who have been the best at this weight are likely to meet in the semifinals with Sharshenbekov and Fumita. The pair met in the 2023 World finals with Sharshenbekov winning an exciting 11-6 contest. The two also account for the most world/Olympic medals of anyone in this weight (Fumita - 5 and Sharshenbekov - 4). The bottom half actually has more world medalists (Cao, Ciobanu, and Bakhramov); however, they are not on the same level as the 2023 world finalists. There will be four world medalists drawn into the bracket as unseeded, so they could make the bottom half even more lopsided in terms of number of contenders. Analysis: At first glance, this weight appears to be a two-horse race between the multi-time world medalists Sharshenbekov and Fumita. Sharshenbekov has typically separated himself from the rest of the bracket. He did have a scare from Iran’s Mehdi Mohsen Nejad in the 2023 World semifinals; however, the majority of his bouts within the last year-plus have ended in tech falls. Fumita has been very consistent, but has grinded out close wins - moreso than Sharshenbekov has had to do. He also happens to be the only medalist from the previous Olympic Games that has returned in 2024. Whoever comes out of the top half of the bracket will be viewed as a favorite over anyone from the bottom half. Anyone being the keyword. It wouldn’t be much of an upset if the sixth seed, Bakhramov, or an unseeded wrestler makes the finals on the other half of the bracket. Previous Olympic Previews: Men's Freestyle 57 kg Women's Freestyle 50 kg

Sullivan County

Port Allegany

Wasatch via Snow College

Layton

North Sanpete via Snow College

Ponderosa

Teton

Tahoma

IC Prep

Thunder Ridge

Wyoming Seminary

Bishop Kelly

Lone Peak via California Baptist

Palo Verde

It’s late July which means the 2024 Olympic Games are right around the corner. Over the next two weeks, InterMat will bring you individual weight class previews for each of the 18 weights contested at the Olympic Games. The 2024 version has already been slightly different from years past. Earlier in the summer, United World Wrestling announced a list of wrestlers from Belarus and Russia who would not be permitted to compete due to their support of the war with Ukraine. After this decision, Russia decided to withdraw all of its entries for wrestling. That led to replacements being named earlier this month. With all of the moving parts, and a field that wasn’t confirmed until later in the game, previewing the action had to take a back seat since we weren’t sure who would actually be in Paris. UWW has recently published entry lists for each of the three styles, so we are good to go. We’re moving on to a 50 kg women’s freestyle weight class which has been dominated, of late, by one of the biggest wrestling stars in the world, Yui Susaki. Will she be able to add to her already-legendary legacy or can someone from this deep field pull one of the biggest upsets of the entire Olympic tournament? Entries: Ibtissem Doudou (Algeria) Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan) Ziqi Feng (China) Alisson Cardozo Rey (Colombia) Yusneylis Guzman Lopez (Cuba) Nada Mohamed (Egypt) Anastasia Blayvas (Germany) Vinesh Phogat (India) Yui Susaki (Japan) Gabija Dilytle (Lithuania) Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (Mongolia) Son Hyang Kim (North Korea) Evin Demirhan (Turkiye) Oksana Livach (Ukraine) Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) Aktenge Keunimjaeva (Uzbekistan) Seeds: 1. Yui Susaki (Japan) 2. Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (Mongolia) 3. Ziqi Feng (China) 4. Evin Demirhan (Turkiye) 5. Alisson Cardozo Rey (Colombia) 6. Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) 7. Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan) 8. Oksana Livach (Ukraine) Past Senior World/Olympic Medalists:(10) Blayvas, Demirhan, Dolgorjav (x3), Feng, Hildebrandt (x5), Kim, Livach, Phogat (x2), Stadnik (x10), Susaki (x5) 2020(1) Olympic Medalists (50 kg) Gold: Yui Susaki (Japan) Silver: Yanen Sun (China) Bronze: Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) Bronze: Mariya Stadnick (Azerbaijan) photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com 2023 World Medalists (50 kg) Gold: Yui Susaki (Japan) Silver: Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (Mongolia) Bronze: Sarah Hildebrandt (USA) Bronze: Ziqi Feng (China) How they qualified: 2023 World Championships - Susaki, Dolgorjav, Hildebrandt, Feng, Demirhan Asian Qualifier: Keunimjaeva, Phogat African/Oceania Qualifier: Doudou, Mohamed European Qualifier: Livach Pan-American Qualifier: Cardozo Rey, Guzman Lopez World OG Qualifier: Blayvas, Kim, Stadnik Reallocated Quotas: Dilytle Key Recent (ish) Matches between Qualifiers 2024 World OG Qualifier semifinals: Kim over Stadnik (10-3) 2024 Hungarian Ranking Series Final: Feng over Dolgorjav (12-2) 2024 Asian Olympic Qualifier: Keunimjaeva over Kim (7-7) 2024 Asian Championship finals: Susaki over Feng (8-4) 2024 Asian Championship semifinals: Feng over Dolgorjav (11-0) 2024 European Olympic Qualifier semifinals: Livach over Stadnik (Fall 5:54) 2024 European Championship finals: Stadnik over Demirhan (Fall) 2024 European Championship semifinals: Stadnik over Livach (7-0) 2024 Zagreb Open bronze medal match: Dolgorjav over Demirhan (7-6) 2024 Zagreb Open semifinals: Feng over Dolgorjav (12-2) 2023 World Olympic Wrestle-Off: Demirhan over Cardozo Rey (4-1) 2023 World semifinals: Dolgorjav over Hildebrandt (7-5) 2023 World quarterfinals: Hildebrandt over Stadnik (14-3) 2023 World Round of 16: Stadnik over Guzman Lopez (7-2) 2023 European Championship finals: Stadnik over Livach (9-4) 2023 Hungarian Ranking Series championship: Hildebrandt over Feng (4-2) 2023 Hungarian Ranking Series Round of 32: Hildebrandt over Dolgorjav (10-0) The American Entry: Sarah Hildebrandt 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Sarah Hildebrandt is back and looking to add to her incredible resume. Hildebrandt has brought home medals from each of the last four World/Olympic Championships and has five medals total. She’s also made each of the last seven World/Olympic teams. The only time since 2016 when she has not made a World/Olympic team was in 2017 when she suffered a gruesome elbow injury. Hildebrandt has quietly been perhaps the most dominant domestic wrestler in comparison to the rest of her weight class over the last six years. She has shut out each of her four Final X opponents to the tune of 64-0 and has posted four techs in her last four Olympic Trials finals matches. The only item left to accomplish for Hildebrandt is a gold medal. That will be extremely tough to come by as this weight class has been dominated by the baby-faced superstar Yui Susaki of Japan. Susaki has won every world/Olympic event she’s entered since 2017 (five titles). Though this weight class is loaded with potential threats chasing Susaki, Hildebrandt does own wins over most, if not all, of the top competitors aside from Susaki. Within the last year-plus, she’s beaten both of the other medalists (aside from Susaki) from the 2023 World Championships. photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com The X-Factor: Son Hyang Kim (North Korea) We haven’t seen much from North Korea internationally over the past few years and, in turn, their 50 kg threat Son Hyang Kim. As a 20-year-old, Kim claimed a bronze medal at the World Championships in 2017. At that tournament, Kim suffered a close 5-2 loss to Susaki in the semifinals and then teched American Victoria Anthony for the bronze medal. In 2018, Kim beat American Whitney Cox, nee Conder, before falling to Mariya Stadnik in the semifinals. She would lose to an opponent from China in the bronze medal matchup. A year later, she defeated Whitney again and fell to the same foe from China, but didn’t make it to repechage. Kim did not have any international competition from 2019 to October of 2023, so she’s likely had to shake off some rust. That may have been evident by a loss at the Asian Olympic Qualifier, however, Kim did rebound to defeat Stadnik at the OG Qualifier. Kim is not seeded and could be drawn into the bracket anywhere. She’ll be an incredibly tough first-round match for anyone at this weight. The bracket: Anytime you have ten past world medalists there isn’t necessarily a “good” or “bad” side of the draw. The top half has Susaki as the one seed. For now, it appears as if she has a much less competitive half of the bracket. The bottom half has the three remaining 2023 world medalists, plus Stadnik. That means that two of this group will not medal: Hildebrandt, Stadnik, Feng, and Dolgorjav. And that doesn’t include anyone drawn into the bottom half. Provided the seeds hold, there could be some excellent quarterfinal matchups here with #2 Feng/#7 Stadnik, and #3 Dolgorjav/#6 Hildebrandt. The winners will at least wrestle for a medal, while the losers have to put faith in their opponent's hands. Analysis: Susaki will come into this tournament as a heavy favorite to capture her second Olympic Gold medal and her sixth world/Olympic title. She’ll head into Paris with a winning streak on the Senior level that dates back to 2019. One opponent who has given Susaki her closest matches has been Feng. The Chinese world medalist managed to limit the damage, in the amount of 8-4, during their 2024 Asian Championships bout. Barring a shocking upset, the only way these two could square off again would be in the Olympic finals. While Susaki is a huge favorite to emerge from the top half of the bracket - the bottom half is wide open. It features a group of women who have wins over each other and could come out from the chaos on their best day. As we’ve mentioned already, 10 of the 16 participants in this bracket have some sort of Senior world/Olympic medals to their name already. Plus, some quality women are looking to earn their first. There are no easy matches or tune-ups in this group, which will make for fun viewing. Previous Olympic Previews: Men's Freestyle 57 kg

It’s late July which means the 2024 Olympic Games are right around the corner. Over the next two weeks, InterMat will bring you individual weight class previews for each of the 18 weights contested at the Olympic Games. The 2024 version has already been slightly different from years past. Earlier in the summer, United World Wrestling announced a list of wrestlers from Belarus and Russia who would not be permitted to compete due to their support of the war with Ukraine. After this decision, Russia decided to withdraw all of its entries for wrestling. That led to replacements being named earlier this month. With all of the moving parts, and a field that wasn’t confirmed until later in the game, previewing the action had to take a back seat since we weren’t sure who would actually be in Paris. UWW has recently published entry lists for each of the three styles, so we are good to go. Let’s get the previews started by looking at an exciting and wide-open 57 kg weight class in men’s freestyle. Entries: Zelimkhan Abakarov (Albania) Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan) Bekzat Almaz Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) Roman Bravo-Young (Mexico) Darian Cruz (Puerto Rico) Vladimir Egorov (North Macedonia) Arsen Harutyunyan (Armenia) Rei Higuchi (Japan) Diamantino Iuna Fafe (Guinea-Bissau) Meirambek Kartbay (Kazakhstan) Spencer Lee (USA) Stevan Micic (Serbia) Gamal Mohamed (Egypt) Aliabbas Rzazade (Azerbaijan) Aman Sehrawat (India) Wanhao Zou (China) Seeds 1. Stevan Micic (Serbia) 2. Rei Higuchi (Japan) 3. Arsen Harutyunyan (Armenia) 4. Meirambek Kartbay (Kazakhstan) 5. Zelimkhan Abakarov (Albania) 6. Aman Sehrawat (India) 7. Wanhao Zou (China) 8. Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan) Past Senior World/Olympic Medalists:(4) Abakarov (x2), Harutyunyan (x3), Higuchi (x2), Micic (x2) 2020(1) Olympic Medalists (57 kg) Gold: Zavur Uguev (Russia) Silver: Ravi Kumar (India) Bronze: Thomas Gilman (USA) Bronze: Nurislam Sanayev (Kazakhstan) photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com 2023 World Medalists (57 kg) Gold: Stevan Micic (Serbia) Silver: Rei Higuchi (Japan) Bronze: Zelimkhan Abakarov (Albania) Bronze: Arsen Harutyunyan (Armenia) How they qualified: 2023 World Championships - Micic, Higuchi, Harutyunyan, Abakarov Asian Qualifier - Almaz Uulu, Abdullaev Africa/Oceania Qualifier: Mohamed, Iuna Fafe European Qualifier: Rzazade Pan-American Qualifier: Bravo-Young, Cruz World OG Qualifier: Lee, Sehrawat, Zou Reallocated Quotas: Egorov, Kartbay Key Recent (ish) Matches between Qualifiers 2024 World OG Qualifier Round of 16: Lee over Zou (10-9) 2024 Asian Olympic Qualifier: Almaz Uulu over Zou (3-2) 2024 Hungarian Ranking Series Final: Higuchi over Sehrawat (11-1) 2024 Hungarian Ranking Series Quarterfinals: Rzazade over Abdullaev (Fall 1:47) 2024 Zagreb Open Round of 16: Zou over Cruz (2-2) 2023 World Finals: Micic over Higuchi (7-4) 2023 World semifinals: Micic over Abakarov (6-2) 2023 World quarterfinals: Higuchi over Harutyunyan (16-14) 2023 Asian Championship semifinals: Sehrawat over Zou (7-4) The American Entry: Spencer Lee Finally, we’ve had the opportunity to see Spencer Lee compete at the Senior level - and it was worth the weight. Lee put together an incredible set of results on the age-group level with a Cadet world championships and two Junior world gold medals. He went on to Iowa and had a legendary, yet injury-filled career with the Hawkeyes. Most of his collegiate offseasons were spent trying to rehab injuries rather than competing in freestyle, so he was a bit of an unknown coming into the lead-up to the Olympic Trials. At the Trials, Lee downed 2023 World Team member, Zane Richards, 13-6 before dispatching four-time World/Olympic medalist Thomas Gilman twice in the best-of-three series to make the team. After winning the Trials, Lee still needed to head to Istanbul to qualify the weight for the Olympic Games at the World OG Qualifier event. He did so in grand fashion winning three of his four matches via tech. American fans have to be confident about their prospects at 57 kgs with Lee in the red, white, and blue singlet. He will not come into the tournament seeded, but that shouldn’t be an issue. He has the mentality to thrive being inserted anywhere into the bracket. Despite his lack of Senior-level experience, before this spring, Lee should be considered a solid medal contender and possibly a threat for the gold. photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com The X-Factor: Roman Bravo-Young Similar to Lee, Roman Bravo-Young is someone who had good success pre-college but did not compete in freestyle often once he was at Penn State. Bravo-Young represented the United States at the 2016 Cadet World Championships and was a Junior Pan-American champion in 2019. Since then, he has decided to wrestle for Team Mexico at the Senior level. In his first competition for Mexico, Bravo-Young claimed a gold medal at the Henri DeGlane - a tournament that featured two other members of this field. Bravo-Young then got the job done in qualifying the weight at the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier - posting tech falls in two of his three bouts. Since then, Bravo-Young notched two wins over the African representatives at the Ziolkowski Memorial in late June. Also like Lee, Bravo-Young will not be seeded. With Lee’s wins at the OG Qualifier, there is a bit more evidence to assume he’s a strong medal contender. Bravo-Young hasn’t faced quite as much high-quality competition, just yet. But to overlook him in this bracket would be foolish. The bracket: As the bracket is constructed with the eight seeded wrestlers, it is relatively balanced on both sides. Were actual seeding done, rather than a point system, Micic would have been the top-seed, so that checks out. His 2023 world finals opponent, Higuchi, is on the bottom half. Each has a world bronze medalist from 2023, potentially in the semifinals. The issue could be if the unseeded wrestlers are all drawn in on one side. As illustrated earlier, Lee and Bravo-Young could be problems in this regard. After them, Kyrgyzstan’s Bekzat Almaz Uulu is probably the most imposing unseeded wrestler. Also, don’t overlook 2017 NCAA champion Darian Cruz who is representing Puerto Rico. He reversed multiple losses to Richards at the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier - which forced the United States to rely on earning a spot at the Last Chance Qualifier. Analysis: 57 kg in men’s freestyle is a young man’s weight class. That’s evident in the fact that none of the Olympic medalists from three years ago returned. They have all either retired, moved up in weight, or been beaten out for the spot in their respective country. Or have been barred from competition like the reigning gold medalist, Zavur Uguev. With that type of turnover, we will see plenty of new faces on the medal stand. All four of the returning medalists from the 2023 World Championships are back - Uguev did wrestle in that tournament and came away medal-less. The story of 2023 was Micic’s road to gold. Micic defeated Uguev, Abakarov, and Higuchi in back-to-back-to-back matches to earn (with an emphasis on earn) the gold medal. While the 2023 medalists return and will certainly be in the mix, new blood like Lee, Bravo-Young, Sehrawat, and others could push one or more of the incumbents off the medal stand in Paris. Like 2023, this bracket might produce multiple winners were it to be contested five times. That means there is no dominant favorite and each match is a must-watch.

2004 Olympic silver medalist Jamill Kelly talks with Ryan Holmes about all angles of his Olympic experience. From getting to go to the 2000 Games as Cary Kolat's training partner, to making the 2004 team in a three-match series, to the Opening Ceremonies alongside stars like LeBron James and Michael Phelps, Kelly hits plenty of topics. Oh, and the competition itself. Kelly describes how his mindset changed from college at Oklahoma State to the Senior level, along with his confidence after training with the best in the world and his vast knowledge of his competition. The two finish up by discussion changes to freestyle wrestling since his competitive days concluded - rule changes, training options and more. For the full interview:

Fargo 16U National Greco-Roman final results Team Race 1. Iowa 2. California 3. Illinois 4. Ohio 5. Missouri 6. Indiana 7. Pennsylvania 8. Colorado 9. Nebraska 10. Texas 88 lbs Champion - Thales Silva (California) over Hudson Chittum (Tennessee) 3-2 Third Place - Wyatt Dannegger (Ohio) over Hunter Shirley (Washington) 8-0 Fifth Place - Cameron Schofield (Indiana) over Damien Yeoman (Iowa) 8-0 Seventh Place - Onofre Gonzales (Colorado) over Stephano Calderon (South Carolina) 8-5 94 lbs Champion - Ariah Mills (Georgia) over Tristan Pino (Colorado) 6-1 Third Place - Tyler Verceles (Maryland) over Lazarus McEwen (Washington) Fall 1:28 Fifth Place - Thiago Silva (California) over Dylan Nieuwenhuis (Michigan) 10-0 Seventh Place - Vince Von Bernewitz (Virginia) over Lucas Forman (Nevada) Fall 3:37 100 lbs Champion - Loc Webber (Ohio) over Landon Thoennes (Minnesota) 9-0 Third Place - Chase Karenbauer (Pennsylvania) over Symon Woods (Illinois) 9-0 Fifth Place - Drew Dawson (Oregon) over Coy Mehlert (Iowa) 16-6 Seventh Place - Ethan Humphrey (Iowa) over William Webb (New Jersey) 4-4 106 lbs Champion - Hayden Schwab (Iowa) over Montero Royal (South Carolina) 8-0 Third Place - Chase Kastner (Connecticut) over Brycen Dawley (Washington) 15-10 Fifth Place - William Atkinson (Alabama) over Jackson Shipley (Texas) 7-2 Seventh Place - Cruzer Dominguez (Nebraska) over Coleton Klipa (Pennsylvania) 8-0 113 lbs Champion - Alexander Pierce (Iowa) over Zaiyahn Ornelas (Nebraska) 14-5 Third Place - Jordan Manyette (Pennsylvania) over Jensen Boyd (Indiana) 9-1 Fifth Place - Liam Collins (Minnesota) over Jorge De La Rosa (Oregon) 8-0 Seventh Place - Kellen Downing (Montana) over Jack Baker (California) 8-4 120 lbs Champion - Arseni Kikiniou (California) over Rocco Cassioppi (Illinois) 9-0 Third Place - Will Detar (Pennsylvania) over Weston Borgers (Ohio) 13-5 Fifth Place - Gavin Landers (Iowa) over Abraham Coronado (Nevada) 9-0 Seventh Place - Gage Spurgeon (Iowa) over Reid Yakes (Florida) 10-9 126 lbs Champion - Matthew Orbeta (California) over Bruno Cassioppi (Illinois) 6-2 Third Place - Deven Lopez (Colorado) over Mason Carlson (Utah) 9-0 Fifth Place - Brenden Jorden Agcaoili (Nevada) over Carter Wallis (Missouri) 8-0 Seventh Place - Gabriel Ballard (Pennsylvania) over Dominic Way (West Virginia) Injury Default 132 lbs Champion - Austin Collins (Colorado) over Dawson Youngblut (Iowa) 8-0 Third Place - Legend Ellis (Oklahoma) over Jet Brown (Missouri) Fall 1:42 Fifth Place - Sean Hall (Idaho) over Ryan Ferrera (New York) FFT Seventh Place - Matthew Dailey (Pennsylvania) over Keagan Sieracki (Texas) 11-1 138 lbs Champion - Miller Sipes (Missouri) over Jovani Sipes (Florida) 5-3 Third Place - Anthony Delgado (Nevada) over Marcus Kilgore (Arizona) 10-1 Fifth Place - Brandon Green (Illinois) over William Christopher (Wisconsin) 5-3 Seventh Place - Austin Gyorkos (Michigan) over Vinnie Gutierrez (California) Fall 1:51 144 lbs Champion - Dominic Wilson (Texas) over James Whitbred (Pennsylvania) 8-0 Third Place - Noah Bull (Utah) over Gregory Torosian (California) 14-11 Fifth Place - Drake Morrison (Idaho) over Ladd Holman (Utah) 8-0 Seventh Place - Jake Kos (Minnesota) over Thunder Page (Kansas) 3-2 150 lbs Champion - Chance Ruble (Missouri) over Dokken Biladeau (Iowa) 9-0 Third Place - Matthew Staples (Indiana) over Emerson Tjaden (Kansas) 5-4 Fifth Place - Thomas Gibbs (Indiana) over Titus Norman (Tennessee) 9-6 Seventh Place - Maximus Dhabolt (Iowa) over Daniel Acosta (Texas) 12-4 157 lbs Champion - Ivan Ivanov (Idaho) over Eli Esguerra (Ohio) 15-6 Third Place - Ismael Bereket (Illinois) over Jaxon Miller (Iowa) 8-0 Fifth Place - Daniel Patrick (Oregon) over Max Harris (Kansas) 8-0 Seventh Place - Zachery Little (Tennessee) over Miles Lesley (Georgia) 14-5 165 lbs Champion - Aaron Stewart (Illinois) over Lucas Boe (Indiana) 8-0 Third Place - Carter Nekvapil (Texas) over Parker Casey (Iowa) 11-10 Fifth Place - Salah Tsarni (Maryland) over Riley Johnson (Nebraska) 12-4 Seventh Place - Slava Shahbazyan (California) over Caige Horak (Ohio) 11-1 175 lbs Champion - Carter Temple (Missouri) over Isai Fernandez (California) 8-0 Third Place - Xavier Smith (Indiana) over Brody Kelly (Illinois) Injury Default Fifth Place - Brayden Koester (Iowa) over Cody Savage (Vermont) 4-4 Seventh Place - Camden Crew (Oklahoma) over Frederick Hammond (Michigan) Fall :45 190 lbs Champion - David Calkins (California) over Ronan An (Georgia) 9-0 Third Place - JT Smith (Nebraska) over Andy Franke (Iowa) 10-0 Fifth Place - Michael Boyle (Ohio) over Seer Godwise (Indiana) 6-2 Seventh Place - Blaise Turner (Idaho) over Jace Renfro (Missouri) 8-0 215 lbs Champion - Alex Taylor (Ohio) over Danny Zmorowski (Ohio) 3-1 Third Place - Preston Krueger (Wisconsin) over Noah Mathis (Kansas) 14-5 Fifth Place - Josh Hoffer (Illinois) over Mason Koehler (Iowa) FFT Seventh Place - Carter Green (Kansas) over Sam Tanner (Utah) 9-2 285 lbs Champion - Jonathan Rulo (Illinois) over Brady Hagan (Iowa) 5-0 Third Place - Preston Wagner (Nebraska) over JT Kelso (Iowa) 3-1 Fifth Place - Chandler Moore (Ohio) over Bradyn McConneha (Pennsylvania) FFT Seventh Place - Kyler Kuhn (Missouri) over Jeremy Marshall (Illinois) 9-0

Fargo Junior National Greco-Roman final results Team Race 1. Illinois 2. Oklahoma 3. Minnesota 4. Colorado 5. Pennsylvania 6. Idaho 7. California 8. Wisconsin 9. Texas 10. Utah 100 lbs Champion - Michael Rundell (Illinois) over Jose Cordero (Tennessee) 10-0 Third Place - Vincent DeMarco (Illinois) over Jameson Thomas (Alabama) 10-2 Fifth Place - Xavier Diaz (Pennsylvania) over Ray Long (Illinois) 13-3 Seventh Place - Kacen Jones (Utah) over Trexden Olsen (Utah) 9-0 106 lbs Champion - Cason Craft (Oklahoma) over Dylan Ota (Texas) 7-6 Third Place - Caden Correll (Illinois) over Brady Byrd (Indiana) Fall 1:03 Fifth Place - Roderick Brown (Florida) over Maddox Martinez (New Mexico) 18-7 Seventh Place - Caden Smith (Virginia) over Hunter Hurl (Utah) 9-2 113 lbs Champion - Nicolas Enzminger (North Dakota) over Ezekiel Witt (Kansas) Cautions Third Place - Roman Luttrell (New Mexico) over Caleb Noble (Illinois) 11-2 Fifth Place - Dunia Sibomana (New York) over Santana Ramon (Michigan) 8-0 Seventh Place - Everest Sutton (Colorado) over William Jakeway (South Carolina) Fall :59 120 lbs Champion - Kody Tanimoto (Texas) over Isaiah Jones (Oklahoma) 7-4 Third Place - Gage Singleton (Oregon) over Musa Tamaradze (Massachusetts) 9-0 Fifth Place - Maximus Riggins (Iowa) over Davis Motyka (Pennsylvania) 10-1 Seventh Place - Brayten Casey (Wisconsin) over Jeremiah Wachsmuth (Oregon) 10-6 126 lbs Champion - Anthony Ruzic (Illinois) over Jackson Heslin (Connecticut) 6-0 Third Place - Jaxton Packer (Idaho) over Logan Schwanz (Minnesota) Fall 1:40 Fifth Place - Lawson Eller (Minnesota) over Sawyer Hackbarth (Oklahoma) 9-0 Seventh Place - Drew Hansen (Michigan) over Boden Banta (Idaho) 5-5 132 lbs Champion - Rhett Peak (Oklahoma) over Treygen Morin (Idaho) 4-0 Third Place - Manuel Saldate (Nevada) over Geronimo Rivera (Utah) 12-1 Fifth Place - Brian Grabner (Alaska) over Moses Mendoza (California) FFT Seventh Place - Jarvis Little (Tennessee) over Edwin Sierra (California) 8-0 138 lbs Champion - Landon Drury (Washington) over Alex Braun (Minnesota) 8-0 Third Place - Dmytro Chubenko (Ohio) over William Anderson (Alabama) 8-4 Fifth Place - Dillon Cooper (Kansas) over Amryn Nutter (Wisconsin) 15-6 Seventh Place - Layne Kleimann (Utah) over Landon Thomas (Michigan) 10-2 144 lbs Champion - Pierson Manville (Pennsylvania) over Wyatt Medlin (Illinois) 9-0 Third Place - Maksym Chubenko (Ohio) over Luis Alberto-DeSilva (Pennsylvania) 7-5 Fifth Place - Derek Barrows (Colorado) over Emil Necula (Georgia) Fall 1:40 Seventh Place - Jake Miller (Oklahoma) over Brayden Canoyer (Nebraska) 8-3 150 lbs Champion - Brandon Dean (Colorado) over Garrett Reece (Colorado) 1:57 Third Place - Paul Kelly (California) over Hunter Sturgill (Indiana) 2-2 Fifth Place - Bas Diaz (Iowa) over Tre Haines (Washington) 1-1 Seventh Place - Rafael Garcia Morales () over Anderson Heap (Florida) 9-3 157 lbs Champion - Jude Randall (Oklahoma) over Brett Back (Wisconsin) 4-3 Third Place - Tucker Roybal (Utah) over Leister Bowling (Colorado) 4-3 Fifth Place - Patrick Brackett (Colorado) over Logan Glynn (Nebraska) 9-0 Seventh Place - Matthew Randolph (Minnesota) over Will Scherer (Missouri) 4-3 165 lbs Champion - Aliaksandr Kikiniou (California) over Griffin Lundeen (Minnesota) 3-1 Third Place - Trae Rios (Oklahoma) over Jarrett Wadsen (Minnesota) Fall 4:23 Fifth Place - Bradlee Farrer (Utah) over Evan Roudebush (Indiana) 6-5 Seventh Place - Kolin Weaver (Georgia) over Maximus Norman (Tennessee) 6-0 175 lbs Champion - Adam Waters (Pennsylvania) over Aidan Squier (New Jersey) Fall :33 Third Place - Waylon Cressell (Indiana) over Matthew Jens (Illinois) 8-0 Fifth Place - Hudson Rogers (Idaho) over Ben Smith (Utah) 12-6 Seventh Place - Lukas Ricketts (Kentucky) over Jonathan Sims (Ohio) 11-2 190 lbs Champion - Zakary McPhee (Minnesota) over Alihan Bereket (Illinois) Fall 5:04 Third Place - Aiden Cooley (Texas) over Brenden Heying (Iowa) 8-0 Fifth Place - William Ward (North Dakota) over Breyson Kelley (Wisconsin) 14-4 Seventh Place - Alexander Smith (Florida) over Riley Hucks (South Carolina) Fall 1:22 215 lbs Champion - Soren Pirhoun (Virginia) over Mikey Calcagno (Illinois) 10-1 Third Place - Angelo Posada (California) over Cason Howle (South Carolina) 10-2 Fifth Place - Jayden Tadeo-Gosal (California) over Cittadino Tuttle (Minnesota) InjDef Seventh Place - Carson Gooley (Idaho) over Henry Christensen (Alabama) Fall :31 285 lbs Champion - Shilo Jones (Idaho) over Micah Hach (South Dakota) 13-10 Third Place - Grant Stromberg (Wisconsin) over Mustafa Woodi (Ohio) 8-1 Fifth Place - Hunter Vander Heiden (Wisconsin) over Alexander Bajoras (Massachusetts) 2:33 Seventh Place - Dean Bechtold (Pennsylvania) over Willie Cox (Alabama) Fall :45

Detroit Central Catholic

Iowa State finished fourth in 2024, their highest finish since 2010. With four All-Americans the Cyclones earned a team trophy, albeit given much later in the year. They won the Big 12 for the first time since 2009 and are returning four potential conference finalists. They have some absurd depth in the middleweights and smartly used the transfer portal to strengthen other areas. While filling a David Carr-sized hole isn’t easy, Dresser and Co. have put together another potential trophy team. 125lbs: Kysen Terukina (Senior) Heading into his senior season Terukina is a three-time NCAA qualifier with a career record of 35-26. He was right in the chaos of 125, with wins over All-Americans Tanner Jordan and Eric Barnett proving he is a contender. A fourth-place finish in a stacked Big 12 weight class was the best in his career and led to the 24 seed at NCAA’s where he went 1-2. While this is his senior season Terukina has not taken a redshirt yet, and an injury-shortened 2023 season could potentially lead to another year of eligibility. Regardless, Terukina has proven to have podium potential and is one good run away from scoring big points for the Cyclones. 133lbs: Evan Frost (Soph.) Heading into the 2024 season many expected young transfer Garrett Grice to step into this weight class. Frost won the wrestle-off and never looked back, finishing sixth at NCAA’s as a redshirt freshman. A recruit outside of the top 200 in high school, Frost had a busy redshirt season where he had a solid, but unassuming, 11-5 record against Division I opponents. His 2024 season started strong, going 4-0 in duals before a runner-up finish at CKLV. Through the regular season, his only losses came to Kai Orine, Nasir Bailey, and Daton Fix. He continued to show his consistency at Big 12’s where he dropped a decision to Fix in the finals. Those matches against Fix showed Frost’s development, as he went from an 11-3 major decision loss in the dual, to an 8-5 decision loss at Big 12’s, to an OT rideout 2-1 loss in the NCAA quarterfinals. Frost went on to beat Big 10 Champ Dylan Shawver before losses to Ryan Crookham and Dylan Ragusin. With the podium finish Frost was ISU’s first All-American at the weight since 2016, and the Big 12’s first All-American not named Daton Fix since 2018. I dove as deep as I could and found that Frost was also the state of Louisiana’s first qualifier in almost a decade and its first AA since 2013. After all the accolades, Frost is the heavy favorite for the Big 12’s and a title threat nationally. 141lbs: Jacob Frost (Soph.)/Zach Redding (Junior) The next handful of weights are a bit up in the air with potential weight changes and redshirts coming into play. Word is that Anthony Echemendia is moving up in weight after a breakout season, leaving the Cyclones with some options. There is potential for Frost and Terukina to both bump up, but there is depth and experience here as well. Frost and Redding wrestled off last season with Frost getting a 10-5 win. Echemendia started the season at 149 but took the spot once he dropped to 141. Frost had a solid 13-4 redshirt record but only competed in seven matches in 2024, with a 5-2 record. He did have a win over Missouri’s Josh Edmond in 2023, while redshirting. Redding on the other hand is a two-time qualifier at 133, making the bloodround in 2023. Last season he competed at 141 to start the year, but moved up to 149 and went 4-2 in duals while Casey Swiderski was injured. He beat NCAA qualifier Ethan Fernandez, so he is a bit more proven against ranked wrestlers compared to Frost. Depending on how the weights change I wouldn’t be surprised to see either wrestler start or a returning starter move into the weight. Either way, it is clear that at the very minimum, the Cyclones should be fitted with a qualifier at this weight with upside potential. 149lbs: Anthony Echemendia (Junior) Listed here is returning All-American and Big 12 champ Echemendia, who had a breakout year in his first official year as a starter. After a year at Ohio State and a year unattached, Echemendia wrestled to a 23-6 record that saw him finish fifth. After a seventh-place finish at CKLV, he went 13-1 with a conference title heading into NCAA’s. Included in that run were wins over Vince Cornella, Cael Happel, and Josh Edmond. Last year’s starter Casey Swiderski has a redshirt available, so the move makes sense with the depth of talent spread through these weights. Echemendia beat Swiderski in the wrestle-off, so it’s clear that he can have success at the weight. This weight returns six qualifiers from last season including Big 12 champ and All-American Ty Watters. Echemendia’s exciting style should make for a number of highlight reel moments in 2025. 157lbs: Paniro Johnson (Soph.) Another interesting weight is at 157 where 2023 Big 12 Champ Paniro Johnson is returning after a controversial gambling suspension led to him redshirting. He competed at 157 with a 7-1 record, only losing in overtime to SDSU’s Cael Swensen at the Soldier Salute. His 2023 run saw him post wins over Brock Mauller, Colin Realbuto, Victor Voinovich, and Shayne Van Ness. This summer he made the U23 team at 70kg which included wins over All-Americans Ed Scott and Daniel Cardenas. Johnson is a conference title contender and is in the podium discussion at a difficult 157 lb weight class. Last year’s starter Cody Chittum was a true freshman and likely to redshirt with Casey Swiderski. Chittum and Swiderski are likely the best 1-2 punch to redshirt this season and an impressive showing of ISU’s depth. 165lbs: Connor Euton (Soph.)/Manny Rojas (Soph.) David Carr will undoubtedly go down as one of the best to ever wear maroon and gold and leaves a large hole in a stacked lineup. Both of these young wrestlers were ranked out of high school, with Rojas at #19 and Euton at #77 on the 2022 Big Board. In two seasons Rojas has a 12-7 record, with all but two of those matches at 174. Euton has a 10-3 record, all at 165 last season. Euton’s wins include qualifiers Jack Thomsen, Blaine Brenner, and Joey Bianchi. Rojas didn’t compete much last season, but did beat bloodround finisher Jared Simma twice in 2023. With no clear favorite, Euton appears to have an edge on paper. Rojas was higher ranked out of high school, but with only two matches at 165, there’s no guarantee he even makes the move down. Euton has multiple ranked wins at the weight and looks like he should at least be a qualifier in one of the toughest weight classes nationally. 174lbs: MJ Gaitan (Soph.) Another young standout for the Cyclones, Gaitan had an impressive first season with a bloodround finish at NCAA’s. Sporting one of the more exciting and dangerous styles at the weight, he had a 22-9 record while finishing 4th at Big 12’s. After a rocky CKLV where he finished 8th, he won his last ten matches in duals. A top-two seed at Big 12’s he was upset early by Gaven Sax, but recovered for a fourth-place finish to qualify. Gaitan took the 15th seed at NCAA’s and scored wins over Jackson Turley, Adam Kemp, and Ben Pasiuk to make the bloodround. After a season of experience, Gaitan should be a podium contender for 2025 and with ten falls last season could be a big point scorer. 184lbs: Evan Bockman (Senior)/Tate Naaktgeboren (RS Fresh.) This is another weight that the Cyclones have some impressive options between recruiting and the transfer portal. Naaktgeboren was a top-30 recruit in the class of 2023 and redshirted last season. He went 1-4 against Division I opponents, but three of those losses came to Parker Keckeisen while the other was to WVU’s Dennis Robin. Naaktgeboren did bonus all other opponents, so if he makes a jump in his second year could be someone to look out for. The competition attempting to stop him comes in Utah Valley transfer Evan Bockman. After qualifying the last three seasons at 197, Bockman comes to ISU with years of experience. He has a 54-29 record in the past three seasons and has one year left. With the addition of Christian Carroll from the portal, it leaves a path for Bockman to come down to 197. He wrestled in 2019 at 174 lbs, but him at 184 is still a question. While neither wrestler may have the big-move ability of last year’s starter Will Feldkamp, both seem to fit into the NCAA qualifier mold. With Naaktgeboren’s youth and a potential weight change for Bockman, they both have potential upside as well. 197lbs: Christian Carroll (RS Fresh.) The #2 overall recruit for 2023 is no stranger to the Big 12 after redshirting at Oklahoma State, but he’ll be wearing an Iowa State singlet in his first season as a starter. Carroll transferred after the coaching changes at OSU, and slots in as an immediate starter. He has a long list of credentials from high school, and saw success in freestyle recently with wins over Jacob Warner, Tony Cassioppi, and Trey Munoz. After expecting to be a heavyweight in college Carroll made a descent to 92 kg with the plan to compete at 197 this season. During his redshirt season, he only wrestled three matches between two opens, dropping a match to Missouri’s Seth Nitzel at heavyweight for his only D1 match. If Carroll can handle the cut and grind of a full season at 197, his athleticism and talent make him an immediate podium contender. 285lbs: Yonger Bastida (Senior) One of the more surprising results to me at NCAA’s was Yonger Bastida missing the podium. After a fifth place finish at 197 in 2022, Bastida looked like a future title contender if he improved on the mat. The strong freestyle background was evident in his matches, but a tough weight cut led to a round of 16 finish in 2023. It was announced that Bastida would make the move to heavyweight, and the work in the weight room was clear at the start of the season. Bastida appeared to be a full-sized heavyweight and reportedly lowered his body fat percentage. His athleticism was unreal and the new scoring system was even more in his favor as he started the year with three tech falls. A highlight reel at CKLV was a breakout as he beat Nick Feldman and Lucas Davison. Wins over Cohlton Schultz, Josh Heindselman, and Zach Elam only furthered his hype into the postseason. That continued into the Big 12 tournament as he scored three bonus wins before a barnburner with Wyatt Hendrickson to give himself a 24-0 record and an argument for the top seed. Unfortunately, an injury appeared to cause him issues in Kansas City, as he dropped the rematch to Davison in the quarters and was upset by Yaraslau Slavikouski in the bloodround. Now heading into his final season, Bastida should be back to a title threat and a leader for the Cyclones. If he can repeat his standout regular season and improve his NCAA showing, he has title-threat potential. Previous “Never Too Early Lineup Looks:” Air Force Indiana Lock Haven North Carolina Oregon State West Virginia