World Team Trials Qualifiers

The World Team Trials for the Men’s freestyle team take place next month June 12-14^th in Madison, Wisconsin. This year there were five ways to qualify for the World Team Trials with the first criteria being a returning World medalist. The United States had two medalists in 2014, and as a returning medalist those wrestlers (Jordan Burroughs and Tervel Dlagnev) have automatically qualified for the finals of the trials. Champions from each weight at the U.S. Open from the previous weekend have also earned auto-byes to the finals (with the exception of David Taylor, who won Burrough’s weight class at the Open).

The tournament is also ran differently than others wrestling fans may be more familiar with. Wrestlers at each weight will wrestle in a “challenge tournament” where seven-eight wrestlers will wrestle a normal bracket and the winner of the challenge tournament then advances to a best of three finals against the returning World medalist or U.S. Open champion, depending on each weight.

The top three finishers of each weight also become a part of the national team, which has various privileges, but chief among them is receiving extra benefits for being an official Team USA member.

The other way to qualify for the Trials are to finish in the top five of the U.S. Open, win the Northeast Regional, or win the Northern Plains regional. Winners of the Northern Plains regional also receive the benefit of wrestling at a different weight than the weight they qualified at (for instance a wrestler could win the 61 kg weight class, and then elect to wrestle 57 kg for the Trials).

The final way to qualify is to earn a wildcard, which has it’s own specific criteria, and only one wildcard will be awarded per weight.

57 kg

1. Tony Ramos (Finals)
2. Andrew Hochstrasser
3. Nick Simmons
4. Joe Colon
5. Matt McDonough
6. Bradley Pataky – NE Regional Champ
7. Frank Perrelli – Northern Plains winner
8. Wildcard – Angel Escobedo

61 kg

1. Reece Humphrey (Finals)
2. Kendric Maple
3. Coleman Scott
4. Dan Dennis
5. Jon Morrison
6. Joey Lazor – NE Regional Champ
7. Tyler Graff – Northern Plains winner (Graff is rumored to cut to 57 kg for the Trials)
8. Wildcard – Joey McKenna

65 kg

1. Brent Metcalf (Finals)
2. Jordan Oliver
3. Kellen Russell
4. Logan Stieber
5. Frank Molinaro
6. Jayson Ness – NE Regional Champ
7. Jason Chamberlain – Northern Plains winner
8. Wildcard – Jimmy Kennedy

70 kg

1. Nick Marable (Finals)
2. Dustin Schlatter
3. James Green
4. Kevin LaVelley
5. Derek St. John
6. Nazar Kulchytskyy – NE Regional Champ
7. Adam Hall – Northern Plains winner
8. Wildcard – Moza Fay

74 kg

1. Jordan Burroughs (Finals – 2014 medalist)
2. David Taylor
3. Andrew Howe
4. Anthony Valencia
5. Tyler Caldwell
6. Colton Sponseller
7. Kyle Dake – NE Regional Champ
8. Quinton Godley – Northern Plains winner

86 kg

1. Jake Herbert (Finals)
2. Keith Gavin
3. Ed Ruth
4. Deron Winn
5. Richard Perry- NE Regional Champ
6. Jon Reader
7. Phil Keddy – Northern Plains winner
8. Wildcard – Clayton Foster

97 kg

1. Kyle Snyder (Finals)
2. Jake Varner
3. J. D. Bergman
4. J’den Cox
5. Cayle Byers
6. Micah Burak – Northern Plains winner
7. David Zabriskie – NE Regional Champ
8. Wildcard – Dustin Kilgore

125 kg

1. Tervel Dlagnev (Finals)
2. Zach Rey
3. Dom Bradley
4. Nick Gwiazdowski
5. Tyrell Fortune (5^th at U.S. Open and Northern Plains champion)
6. Connor Medbery – NE Regional Champ
7. Wildcard – Adam Coon