Takedown Report

2019 U.S. Open Senior men’s freestyle preview

By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling | April 24, 2019,
The United States has put together two great performances at the World Championships during this Olympic four-year cycle, winning the World Team title in Paris in 2017 and placing a close second at the 2018 Worlds in Budapest in 2018. The USA won an amazing seven World medals at the 2018 World Championships. Those World medalists have qualified directly to Final X, and are not expected to compete at the U.S. Open, although many of them will be there to support teammates.
With that said, in the three weight classes where the USA did not medal in Budapest, 57 kg, 65 kg and 70 kg, the winner of the U.S. Open will advance to Final X. Those weight classes will be loaded in Las Vegas, with two-time World medalist James Green (70 kg) and 2017 World silver medalist Thomas Gilman (57 kg) among those registered. A week ago, 2016 World champion Logan Stieber officially announced his retirement, leaving the sport as the No. 1 athlete on Team USA at 65 kg. This weight class is loaded with talent and depth, and Las Vegas will give an early preview of the kind of battles to expect on the road to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. The men’s freestyle pre-seeds were announced on Monday, which gave fans a first opportunity to take a peek at the competition in men’s freestyle for this year’s U.S. Open. We give this weight-by-weight preview for your enjoyment.
57 kg/125.5 lbs.
National Team: 1. Thomas Gilman; 2. Daton Fix; 3. Tony Ramos
Gilman, a World silver medalist in 2017, who was also on the 2018 U.S. World Team, is registered for the U.S. Open and seeking to secure his spot in Final X once again. He could meet 2019 NCAA runner-up Daton Fix of Oklahoma State, who he defeated in Final X last year. Fix competed at 133 pounds in college but is down to his freestyle weight again.
Last year’s No. 3 on the National Team, two-time World Team member Tony Ramos, is registered at 61 kg. Two-time NCAA champion and two-time Junior World champion Spencer Lee is already qualified for the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament and did not register here. That does not mean that Gilman and Fix will have a simple road to the finals. This weight has a ton of depth.
Zach Sanders and Frank Perrelli, veterans who have remained active on the national and international scene, are capable of a run to the finals. A pair of past NCAA champions, Nathan Tomasello and Darian Cruz, have been focused on freestyle and are looking to move up. Tomasello is a past Senior National Team member. Rest of the story and preview at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/April/24/US-Open-freestyle-preview?mc_cid=454e58e7ad&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

April 25, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized