PNWfan

Agree, he was buried on the depth chart and a long way from being a contributing team member that saw significant playing time. Any talk about him being a NFL prospect at this stage is just speculation and nonsense. If there was a 220lb weight class in NCAA wrestling, I don't think this would be an issue. But, as it stands, he seems like a tweener that is too big for 197lbs and too small to beat the stronger guys at HWT.

Is Ferrari still at Bakersfield? I noticed he was posting on social media about being home for Thanksgiving, doing clinics in New Jersey, etc. This seems like it would be difficult to pull off during the middle of a college wrestling season. Anybody know if we will be seeing him in Vegas this weekend?

Best match by a country mile was Geno vs. Zare. I was so happy for Geno to get that gold, the one missing piece from his legendary resume.

Eight weights would be ideal. I'm sure lots of folks on here would like 10, but I fear that things become a bit watered down with that many weights.

Tough draw for Mason but a match he should have won. He didn't wrestle smart at all, firing off low percentage shots from distance at the beginning and tiring himself out which allowed Munkhtur to take control of the match in the second period. I went into the tournament thinking that Mason was being overhyped and a win over Geno was far from a given, as some seemed to think, but I did not see him bombing out first round. He got a harsh taste of what the Olympics can be like if you wrestle a bad match. As for Snyder, I hope we have a new rep at 97kg in 2028. It is obvious that Snyder is not getting any better, his style is boring, and his interviews are worse. He has represented the USA well the last 10 years, but it is time for a change. He was probably the third best guy at 97kg, but losing to Taz and Azarpira (two youngsters who are trending up) does not give me a ton of confidence for his future.

Agree. Anyone who saw that match knows how bad that review was. As someone who watched the tournament from start to finish, I did not think there were many truly awful calls, but this one was the absolute worst. I assumed Zhamalov's challenge was pure desperation and he had no chance of winning it, given Valiev did not even back up on the final exchange, he merely circled to hold center while Zhamalov fired off a wild last attempt. Review officials gifted Zhamalov that win.

Too much weight being placed on last years World Championship results in some cases. Love SeaBass, but in no world should he be +500 at 65kg ahead of guys like Tumur-Ochir, Kiyooka, Aliyev, etc.

I'll be surprised if Brooks falls victim to getting controlled by Yazdani's underhooks. His baseline defense is extremely high level and Yaz will need to have in the back of his mind that if he is too reckless with his charging/underhooks, Brooks can counter him and change the entire match. As you said, Brooks will need to be calculated with his shots, cannot get stuck in that front headlock position where Yazdani is able to conserve his energy while also being a threat to score. This is one of the most highly anticipated matches of the Olympics and I cannot wait to see how it unfolds.

Was shocked to hear Brooks say he doesn't lift and even more shocked by his response that he "just wrestles". I was expecting him to say something like " I don't lift, but I do 500 push ups a day, 150 pull ups, and 250 sit ups." I would guess he is not trying to give away too many trade secrets less than a month away from the biggest and highest stakes tournament of his life...

Meh, disagree. If Dake gets gold, most people will see it as just that. A small percentage of wrestling die-hards will discount the gold because of no Russia or Belarus, but keep in mind that there will still be four Russians at 74kg representing other countries.

Wish I was going, would love to watch high level wrestling and eat some steak frites. Hopefully LA in 2028, along with everyone else on this forum

Curious why you say definitely no Uguev? Has he been more outspoken in his support of the war?

Brooks is more dynamic with his leg attacks than Hidlay and also more stingy defensively. I expect him to give Yazdani all he can handle.

Fair point. Still, I'd be willing to bet his athleticism and quickness are on the higher end for NFL defensive tackles. Given his 5'11 height, I am guessing he will only be able to add so much weight. Likely best served as a situational pass rusher. The Aaron Donald comp is good in the sense that they are similar size (Donald was probably 20 lbs heavier than Gable, but Gable can still add weight), and have similar quickness. That quickness can make a lot of 300+ lb offensive lineman look very silly.

I think Gable has a smart plan. Give the NFL a try and maybe he beats the odds, makes the team, and turns into an impact player, in which case he is making a living on an NFL salary. If he doesn't make it in football, assuming no catastrophic injuries, he is most likely good enough to come back to wrestling and instantly be the top USA guy at 125kg and easily a top 3 guy in the world with his sights set on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

He is going to be the next Aaron Donald. Once he gets the technique down, he will be terrorizing QB's every Sunday. Book it.

I could see a scenario where Coon wrestles his arse off and has things break right and ends up on the podium. Odds are against it, but if any of the three Greco guys medal, I'd expect it to be him. Would be nice to break the 16 year medal drought in Greco.

Yeah, I meant to put Moose in there, my mistake. He is certainly a gold medal contender. I actually think he is a decent matchup for Zain if Zain can take Moose deep into the match. We have seen his conditioning be a problem in the past, though he seemed to exercise some of those demons at last year's WC's.

57kg: Spencer Lee capable of winning gold if he is his best self. He will need to get through some land mines though. Uguev extremely tough and the defending Olympic Champ. Abakarov rock solid defense, may be a tough matchup for Lee. Micic's run at WC's last year cannot be ignored, even though I would favor Lee if they end up wrestling each other. Spencer has the par terre dominance which is the wild card and flip matches in his favor if he can get the TD. Hopefully he gets a decent draw that allows him to reach the semis at the very least. 65kg: Would be a surprise if Zain wins gold given depth at this weight. Amazoud, Tevanyan, Mamedov, Aliev, Tumur Ochir all tough outs. Ideally Zain draws into Rivera's quarter of the bracket. Zain certainly capable of medaling as his style can wear on guys during the course of a match. Also tough in par terre like Spencer Lee when he whips that cross-face and starts getting turns. 74kg: Expecting a Dake-Sidakov final, though there are some other Russians that could cause problems. Takatani also gave Dake a close match last year at World's. Would give Sidakov slight edge in final over Dake based on only H2H result, though I think Dake is our smartest wrestler and could see him making adjustments necessary to win gold. 86kg: Lots of unknowns at the moment. 1) Will Brooks be cleared to wrestle? If so, I think he gets gold. 2) Will Yazdani be repping Iran? Rumors of injury that could force Iran to go with a different rep, most likely Ghasempor. 3) Who will Russia send? Kadiev just won Russian nationals but Naifanov still a possibility. Dauletbekov is another formidable opponent that Brooks (or USA rep) may see early on. 97kg: Snyder a good bet to medal. Gold will be difficult given Tazhudinov’s quick rise. Also need to monitor the status of Sadulaev or whoever Russia ends up sending. Azarpira owns a recent win over Snyder, though I’d take Snyder in a rematch. If Snyder and Tazhudinov meet in gold medal match, Snyder will need to be very calculated with his attacks and try to use his pace to get deep into the match and wear down Taz. 125kg: Parris a decent bet to medal, gold would be a surprise. Mason had a good showing last year at WC’s getting bronze. The problem I see with his path to gold is that he narrowly lost to Petriashvili at WC’s who then got teched by Zare. He also lost to Masoumi at the Zagreb who then lost to Zare (again). Tough to see how Mason beats Zare again, though crazier things have happened.

Please stick with the college forum Jimmy. No need to be poisoning the International forum too.

Agree on the last point. Keep in mind at WC’s last year, Stevan Micic went on an impressive run and won gold. If Micic can do it, Spencer Lee absolutely can too.

I'd consider Haines a possibility. He is one of DT's pupils and has been trained for years by the Magic Man.

Yes, I would fully expect DT to be our rep in the event Brooks cannot go. Taking the Oklahoma State job should not eliminate him being able to compete in surely what would be his last tournament as a competitor 3 months from now. I can guarantee that Oklahoma State would fully support him doing that too and the exposure it would bring to the program (especially if he won gold) would outweigh the drawbacks of the decision.

Prediction: Brooks gets gold. 86kg not the deepest international weight and the combo of his stingy defense combined with ability to score when needed should serve him well in Paris.

I think this was the ideal outcome though for Team USA. If I were picking one guy at 57 & 65 to qualify the weight, I think it would be Spencer and Zain. Only question I had with Zain was the cut, but he seemed to manage it well and has definitely improved his freestyle skills.