Takedown Report

A New Era for the US Men’s Freestyle Team?

In the 1998 hit “Closing Time” by Semisonic, the band sings that “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” That song came to me as I was following the World Team Trials this weekend, particularly from the men’s freestyle avenue of the tournament. 
In 2018, UWW expanded its weight class offerings from eight to ten and modified some of the actual weights. Those changes allowed the US men’s freestyle team to get a few more wrestlers that were blocked by returning team members into the mix. What resulted has been a great era of wrestling – one of the best in our storied history. 
This golden era has had some consistent central figures. Kyle Snyder has been a part of every world/Olympic team since 2015. Kyle Dake has made all seven world/Olympic teams since 2018. Jordan Burroughs has made five world teams in that time period. David Taylor made six world/Olympic teams during that span. James Green made four. J’den Cox made four, as did Thomas Gilman. 
Now, in the spring of 2025, we could be looking at a world team that has none of those central figures! Snyder’s status is up in the air after his recent arrest. Green did not make the finals of the WTT’s. Dake is up a weight class and will have to avenge a US Open loss against Zahid Valencia (with two wins) to make the 2025 squad. Cox, Gilman, and Taylor are all in the coaches chairs. Burroughs did not participate in any of the qualifying events, but has not announced his retirement. 
The first year of a new Olympic cycle is traditionally filled with retirements and weight changes, so it’s not unusual to see this type of transition. However, the amount of change that we could see is out of the ordinary. 
With Dake’s move up to 86 kg, we’ll have a representative at 74 kg not named Burroughs or Dake for the first time since 2010! … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/international/a-new-era-for-the-us-mens-freestyle-team-r100263/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

May 26, 2025 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized