USA Wrestling have released their pre-seeds for the U.S. Open, which takes place next Friday in Las Vegas. 15 wrestlers with Iowa ties received pre-seeds at their respective weights and three of them earned the the top overall seed.

After making his first World Team straight out of college, Ramos enters his first U.S. Open as the #1 seed at 57 kg. His former college teammate, Matt McDonough is the #2 seed at the same weight, after taking fourth a year ago at 61 kg. Joe Colon of the Panther Wrestling Club is the #4 seed (he took fifth at 61 kg last year) and former World Team member and Cyclone assistant coach Angel Escobedo is fourth Iowa wrestler with a top five pre-seed.

With both McDonough and Colon dropping from 61 kg, this weight is relatively open for wrestlers with Iowa ties. Former NCAA runner-up as a Hawkeye Dan Dennis picked up the #9 seed at this weight.

Brent Metcalf is the other Iowa Hawkeye who earned the #1 overall seed at 6 kg. The three-time World Team member put together one of the more impressive U.S. Open performances a year ago, when he shut out his competition 39-0 en route to his victory.

At 70 kg former Panther All-American Moza Fay is the highest seeded Iowan at #5 and former Cyclone All-American Cyler Sanderson is the #8 seed at this weight. NCAA champion Derek St. John is also expected to travel with Hawkeye Wrestling Club team members to the Open at this weight.

All bunched together at 86 kg, Deron Winn (Cyclone Wrestling Club), Phil Keddy (Hawkeye Wrestling Club), and Jon Reader (former Cyclone) all occupy the #6-8 spots at this weight. Winn holds victories over both Keddy and Reader in the past few months.

The final Iowa who holds a top seed is former Cyclone NCAA champion and Olympic champion Jake Varner as the top dog at 97 kg. He is joined at this weight by former Cyclones Matt Gibson (#9) and David Zabriske (#10) who round out this weight.

And the former NAIA hammer Eric Thompson wraps up Iowans who received pre-seeds with the #8 spot at 125 kg.

57 kg/125.5 lbs.
1. Tony Ramos, Iowa City, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC)
2. Matt McDonough, Iowa City, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC)
3. Tyler Graff, Dublin, Ohio (New York AC)
4. Joe Colon, Cedar Falls, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC)
5. Angel Escobedo, Ames, Iowa (New York AC)
6. Dan Mitcheff, Cornwall, N.Y. (New York AC)
7. Zach Sanders, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
8. Andrew Hochstrasser, Boise, Idaho (Titan Mercury WC)

61 kg/134 lbs.
1. Coleman Scott, Chapel Hill, N.C. (Sunkist Kids)
2. Reece Humphrey, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC/Ohio RTC)
3. Joey McKenna, Towaco, N.J. (Lehigh Valley AC)
4. Cody Brewer, Kansas City, Mo.
5. Kyle Hutter, Virginia Beach, Va. (Titan Mercury WC)
6. Connor Beebe, Western Springs, Ill. (Beebe Trained)
7. Kyle Jahn, Bolingbrook, Ill. (Bristol Gladiators)
8. Alan Waters, Kansas City, Mo. (Sunkist Kids/Missouri RTC)
9. Daniel Dennis, Iowa City, Ia. (Hawkeye WC)
10. Jon Morrison, Stillwater, Okla. (Cowboy WC)

65 kg/143 lbs.
1. Brent Metcalf, Iowa City, Iowa (NYAC/Hawkeye WC)
2. Jordan Oliver, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)
3. Aaron Pico, Whittier, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC)
4. Frank Molinaro, South Plainfield, N.J. (Nittany Lion WC)
5. Jimmy Kennedy, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Michigan RTC)
6. Logan Stieber, Monroeville, Ohio (New York AC/Ohio RTC)
7. Jason Chamberlain, Lincoln, Neb. (Titan Mercury WC/Nebraska RTC)
8. Kellen Russell, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Michigan RTC)

70 kg/154 lbs.
1. Nick Marable, Morgantown, W.Va. (Sunkist Kids)
2. Dustin Schlatter, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
3. James Green, Willingboro, N.J. (Titan Mercury WC/Nebraska RTC)
4. Jason Welch, Evanston, Ill. (Chicago RTC/Wrestling Prep)
5. Moza Fay, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
6. Kevin LeValley, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
7. Adam Hall, New York, N.Y. (Titan Mercury WC)
8. Cyler Sanderson, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
9. Dan Vallimont, Long Beach, N.Y. (Blue & Gold WC)

74 kg/163 lbs.
1. David Taylor, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
2. Andrew Howe, Norman, Okla. (New York AC)
3. Colt Sponseller, Edinboro, Pa. (New York AC)
4. Tyler Caldwell, Stillwater, Okla. (Sunkist Kids)
5. Ian Miller, Oak Harbor, Ohio (Golden Pride WC)
6. Quinton Godley, Raleigh, N.C. (Wolfpack WC)
7. Anthony Valencia, Pico Rivera, Calif.

86 kg/189 lbs.
1. Ed Ruth, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)
2. Keith Gavin, Charlottesville, Va. (Titan Mercury WC)
3. Chris Perry, Stillwater, Okla. (Cowboy WC)
4. Clayton Foster, Laramie, Wyo. (GRIT Athletics/Cowboy WC)
5. Richard Perry, Washington, D.C. (New York AC)
6. Deron Winn, Ames, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC)
7. Phillip Keddy, Iowa City, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC)
8. Jon Reader, Brookings, S.D. (Sunkist Kids)
9. Austin Trotman, Lincoln, Neb. (Titan Mercury WC)
10. Jake Herbert, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Michigan RTC)

97 kg/213 lbs.
1. Jake Varner, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
2. Cayle Byers, Stillwater, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC)
3. Dustin Kilgore, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids/OTC)
4. J.D. Bergman, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC/Ohio RTC)
5. Wynn Michalak, Champaign, Ill. (Titan Mercury WC/Illinois RTC)
6. Kyle Snyder, Woodbine, Md. (Ohio RTC)
7. Micah Burak, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC/OTC)
8. Enock Francois, Ithaca, N.Y. (New York AC)
9. Matt Gibson, Ames, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC)
10. David Zabriskie, Northampton, Pa. (Lehigh Valley AC)

125 kg/275 lbs.
1. Tervel Dlagnev, Columbus, Ohio (Sunkist Kids WC/Ohio RTC)
2. Zach Rey, Bethlehem, Pa. (Lehigh Valley AC)
3. Tyrell Fortune, Portland, Ore. (Titan Mercury WC)
4. Nick Gwiazdowski, Delanson, N.Y. (Wolfpack WC)
5. Dom Bradley, Morgantown, W.Va. (Sunkist Kids)
6. Tony Nelson, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
7. Matthew Meuleners, Lincoln, Neb. (Titan Mercury WC/Nebraska RTC)
8. Eric Thompson, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)
9. Justin Grant, Buffalo, N.Y. (New York AC/Buffalo WC)

By Ross Bartachek (@rossbchek)

Lead Editor of IA Wrestle

2 thoughts on “USA Wrestling Releases Pre-seeds for U.S. Open”
  1. I believe you should have Enock Francois in italics. He wrestled a few (2 or 3 maybe) years at Northwestern College in Orange City, IA.

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