Namecheck

Have seen so many people who have Spencer favored to win (again) online. Granted, a few of the guys at 57kg have moved up (harutyunyan, zhou from china, Aman not competing). But still, in the last year he got tech’d by Harutyunyan, pinned at raf, headlocked for a loss by Luke, and nearly went the whole 6 mins against Teske and Knox. As noted by other poster it is definitely the weakest field so he may have a clear path to gold if things line up / peoples cuts go poorly. I also think this year will be his last legitimate shot to win gold in his career (assuming he doesn’t leave HWC for another club). He won’t beat the Chong if they meet in the finals.

Assuming no PIN seeding system, does Lee get the 1 seed at 57kg and create a (most likely) Nico vs Suriano semi? Or does the Open back in April where Lee forfeited out against Suriano make Lee the 2 and Nick the 1?

Spencer and co. have seemingly always believed he needs live matches to get going. If he wrestles here, at an international tournament in January or February, and then nothing till the OTT, he will have wrestled 13-14 matches over the college months, which I think is a good plan for him.