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For what it's worth I don't judge the kids. I save that for their parents who never paid attention during the spelling and grammar portions of class.

John Smith Lost At Multiple World Tournaments Those six golds have asterisks. He changed the game, but let's not act like he ran the table like what has to be done in a normal tournament in present day. He would be treated like Spencer Lee if he took one of those losses early.

Snyder was certainly playing by Calvinball rules until he was caught

Since these are pro athletes on pro athlete contracts it's time to start talking trades like a real league: Would Hawkeye RTC and CKWC make a deal: Spencer Lee for Real Woods? Former medalist for a current medalist at the toughest weight. Good trade for both sides...

My vote was Adeline. I'm sure someone who belongs in The Zoo will make an awful argument.

Adeline 6 gold, 10 medals Burroughs 7 gold, 10 medals Helen 5 gold, 11 medals and counting Snyder 5 gold, 10 medals and counting Smith 6 consecutive gold (and lost at 2 worlds/olympics but still got a gold) Baumgartner 5 gold, 13 medals

We aren't comparing male vs female. We are comparing the greatest USA wrestlers of all time.

Flo wants access. That's the end of it. It's a crappy closed-off ecosystem because our sport is too small. Also, Snyder simultaneously looked like he could not wait to get out of there while also wanting to be anywhere but "home with his family." Just own it and quit being a hypocrite. Literally just say "folks, I screwed up real bad and I'm glad Taz lost and Sad wasn't here to give me the ass kicking I deserved. Did I mention I did a really, REALLY bad and hypocritical thing? Because I did and I have to own that the rest of my life and now my family does too." Would go a long way, and spare them some decency.

I am also torn on Adeline vs Helen. I put less weight on olympics because weight classes exist for a reason which limits our sport and in general a person who peaks on the 4th year of an arbitrary calendar does not make them better than the person who peaks on the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, but I recognize I'm in the minority on that opinion.

@jchapman any insight as to why Amos didn't go for a team spot this year?

Zahid 3 techs, one decision, allowed zero points Helen 3 pins, one decision, allowed two points At first glance you have to give it to Zahid on the no points allowed, but there is nothing more dominating than a pinfall.

I appreciate your points about outliers which are valid for someone hoping to chase history. However, you can also look at the list and see how many won before 20, before 23, and disappeared entirely. 65 is so tough and has such a short shelf life but also such an amazing high-level peak. There is a reason it is consistently considered the toughest weight in the world. Here is to hoping that Amouzad makes history and we all witness a rarely seen sustained level of greatness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_and_Olympic_Champions_in_men's_freestyle_wrestling

Can't wait to see what he does at Fargo next year

Bounced back after losing to Gilman, who had all the momentum with a big near-4, by ending his career with a techpinfall. Chipped away to come back from a quick 6-1 hole 90 seconds into the match vs Zhou at the olympic global qualifier. It's okay, bad losses happen. Snyder has taken a few over the years. The world's P4P Taz just lost to a guy he should beat 10/10 times. Blaydes got teched out of the building this morning. Did you see the part above about Gilman getting techpinned? Dake was teched by Kadi and nearly teched by Takatani. Taha would have been teched by Gable if he didn't run backwards for 3 mins straight. Amouzad just teched Kiyooka, and a year ago Kiyooka beat the absolute crap out of him for olympic gold. In the words of Aaron Rodgers: "R-E-L-A-X"

You are absolutely correct, simply not discounting the valid arguments that the cut is hard, 65 has a drastically short peak every 2-3 years before nearly full turnover (similar to the 1500 in track), and 26 is, relatively speaking, "old" for 65. Here is the complete history of champions over the age of 25 since the shift to 66kg in 2002 + 65kg in 2014. Musukaev (30) 2023 Yonemitsu (turned 26 just six days prior to the date of competition) 2012 Sushil Kumar (27) 2010 Bill Zadick (33) 2006 Elbrus Tedeyev (30) 2004, 28 (2022). Side note that he was a 4x world/oly champ and 6x total medals. Outlier