nhs67

74 KG is pretty straightforward. I don't think anyone except JB is making it through that bracket (with a note that Marsteller has said he is going 86 KG). I think Nolf has an outside chance to beat JB and that he will be the one in the Day 1 finals against JB. I don't think Stalrocci will make the semi-finals. I think Dieringer, depending on seed, could play spoiler. That said, my pick is Dake over JB in two straight (again). 74 KG - Dake

65 KG will be just as bonkers to seed. 1 - Lee 2 - Johnny D 3 - McKenna 4 - Kolodzik 5 - Bartlett 6 - Henderson 7 - Ashnault 8 - Lovett 9 - Lugo 10 - Pletcher Where do Pantaleo and Garrett slide in? Pantaleo before McKenna and Garrett after McKenna? Puts it as... 1 - Lee 2 - Johnny D 3 - Pantaleo 4 - McKenna 5 - Garrett 6 - Kolodzik 7 - Bartlett 8 - Henderson 9 - Ashnault 10 - Lovett 11 - Lugo 12 - Pletcher These are guesses, btw. Not sure. Is Oliver giving it a go this time? He could be the 1, 2, 3, or 4 right? Brandon Wright might get a seed in there somehow... not sure how they intend to seed this. Anyways lets assume Oliver doesn't give it a go. I have Lee over McKenna in the top half semi-finals. I have Pantaleo over Johnny D in the QF for the right to see a well rested Retherford in which Retherford wins. I have Retherford beating Lee in the best of three on Day 2. 65 KG - Retherford

I also expect Johnny D to challenge Lee for the right to win at Pan Ams, although I think Lee wins that one again.

All that order can be jumbled up... and I expect it to actually. I expect Gilman to challenge for the right to go to the Pan Am qualifiers and I expect him to beat Richards this time. I am not sure on Arujau and Fix at this point as far as challenging. Both have a season to compete at 133lbs. Both will have difficulty making 57 KG and then competing at 133 against the likes of Nagao and Latona.

Without actually diving in to it to see who will get what seed... I think the topside of will be Richards (1) vs either Fix or Lee (4/5) in the semi-finals. I have Fix or Lee winning that one. It is possible NATO gets seeded over Lee, which pushes Lee to 6th. Not sure there. I don't think Colon gets a good seed. Could be 8/9 and play spoiler to Richards. I think Garrett probably tries to go up again? Not sure. Gross is definitely in there too for a 5/6 seed (maybe ahead of Lee as well?). Richards should be the 1 either way. I think Gilman gets the 2, Suriano the 3, Fix/Lee/Gross some combo of 4/5/6 with NATO possibly being 5 ahead of Gross/Lee. So for 57 KG I have this... and it's just... bonkers... Not sure on Desanto and Garrett as far as weights... 1 - Richards 2 - Gilman 3 - Suriano 4 - Fix 5 - Desanto 6 - NATO 7 - Gross 8 - Lee 9 - Colon 10 - Comacho That is bonkers right? So I have Lee (Sorry @ILLINIWrestlingBlog) VS Fix in the topside Semifinals. I have Gilman-Suriano in the bottom QF for the right to meet Arujau. I think Arujau beats Suriano but not Gilman and I think Gilman-Suriano is a toss-up, but Gilman-Gross is also a toss-up as is Suriano-NATO. Styles make matches. Gilman destroys NATO but not Suriano and Gross is a bad matchup for Suriano, but Gilman isn't. Add in that Arujau is going to be at least a couple/few hours after weigh-ins and fresh. Either way I have Arujau VS a healthy Lee in the finals. I still have faith in Lee. If Garrett goes down then he goes in above Fix at the 4 seed. If Desanto goes up, move everyone up. My guess is Desanto goes down and Garrett goes up. Arujau, weighed in and in a best of three up against Lee? I think Arujau is just too fast and takes it. Recency bias aside... if he makes that decent well... his toughest test will be Gilman who has already had at least two (2) tough matches before he meets him. 57 KG - Arujau

There is a (small) chance Retherford goes 74 KG and not 65 KG, which doesn't really mean anything other than he must win two to get to the Bo3 rather than one.

As a reminder... this is how stupid 57 KG will look (Arujau), 65 KG will look (Retherford), 86 KG will look (Valencia). For 57 KG and 65 KG the topside Semi-final winners will move on the the best of three finals against the bottom side semifinals winner between the 61/70 KG medalists and bottom side quarter-finals match winner. For 86 KG, those winners will face off for the right to meet DT in the Bo3 Day 2.

I don't think Stalrocci is a tweener. I think he would be well sized for 86 KG with a season's preparation.

In other positive news... this is pretty cool...

The feed is fine. I have had zero problem with the feed. My issue that has compounded today and was intermittent yesterday is FloArena doing whatever TF it wants to do.

Flo is honestly embarrassing the sport at this point. Arena was on top of it with the upcoming matches as well as how fluid it was through every single MFS day. All morning has been a pain in the ass and even yesterday had spots where it was shitty all-around. You'd think they would try to be consistent across all styles to show that they actually care about all styles. When it gets to greco, I expect rolling blackouts.

Gable wrap for the German.

Oof. Mongolia looks like they tried to take Germany's eye here on Mat B.

Japan with a tech as well. She will have Norway next in the semi-finals. Japan is just so good.

FYI - Dom is still very much alive after dropping her first match. The lady from India has rattled off impressive win after impressive win.

Miracle is out.

Norway techfelled the Romanian 1M19S in to the first.

Norway is up 6-0 on Romania with 2M15S to go in the first. Not looking good.

Miracle needs the Romanian to beat Norway then the winner of Japan/Brazile to be pulled back in to repechage.

TMS owned the Mongolian, fwiw.

It is looking like she will have Mongolia in her semi-finals.

Brintil is wrestling for a medal. 2-1 victory for her.

In current events: Bruntil is up 2-0 on her Russo opponent with 1M3S to go. She wins and she will wrestle for a medal.

With Japan on her side, I don't think Miracle will wrestle for a medal/qualify the weight. Page will sit out until the semi-finals at 62 KG, unless she decides going down behooves her better.

All our troubles, we'll lay to rest, and We'll wish we could come back to these days, these days