Escobedo, Humphrey, Howe, & Hildebrandt - Shoot for 2012 Olympic Team

[devildog47959]

83-1 for Kellen Russell at 60K really?? I honestly think he'd beat both stieber & Oliver, he's my dark horse here

[Y2CJ41]

83-1 for Kellen Russell at 60K really?? I honestly think he'd beat both stieber & Oliver, he's my dark horse here

Stieber and Oliver both have world level medals in freestyle.  Russell hasn't wrestled freestyle in a while. 

[devildog47959]

Stieber and Oliver both have world level medals in freestyle.  Russell hasn't wrestled freestyle in a while. 

Solid argument. But I still think Russel would beat either on the mat! Hopefully we see a matchup of Russell vs one over the weekend!

[rdrodd1]

I like those odds at 83-1...  Where can we make those bets?

[Smooth34]

None of these guys are my picks but I'll take these odds

55 kg -- Angel at almost 8 to 1.  The Olympic Gold medalist at slightly over 4 to 1 is a pretty good deal too.
60 kg -- Oliver at 16 to 1
66 kg -- Schlatter at 8 to 1
74 kg -- Howe at 20 to 1.  Love his "rivalry" with Burroughs.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNyWZJM45aE
84 kg -- Raymond Jordan at 10 to 1. Gets to train with a world champion every day
96 kg -- I guess Bergman at 9.5 to 1.
120 kg -- Les Sigman at 9.5 to 1.

[Y2CJ41]

Howe has the top seed, he could see David Taylor in the second round.  Brackets are on trackwrestling

[devildog47959]

http://www.flowrestling.org/article/11963-2012-Olympic-Trials-Wrestling-Brackets-and-Results

Brackets for Saturday!

[devildog47959]

Howe has the top seed, he could see David Taylor in the second round.  Brackets are on trackwrestling

Really excited for this matchup! I think Howe would have been NCAA champion at 165 this yr & Taylor runner up 2 yrs in a row! Talor is a great wrestler but I think Howe is just too much great Strength! At Big 10 PSU fans saying Taylor would major if not tech Howe I laughed can't wait to see Howe dominate tomorrow

[devildog47959]

 

http://www.flowrestling.org/article/11963-2012-Olympic-Trials-Wrestling-Brackets-and-Results

Brackets for Saturday!

Jordan Oliver failed to make weight I heard, not in 60K bracket! Could see Russell vs Stieber in Semis! That would be awesome 2 National Champs going toe to toe!

[Dingo Brigade]

Taylor makes me really nervous. Think Howe should take him, but he makes me really nervous

[devildog47959]

Taylor makes me really nervous. Think Howe should take him, but he makes me really nervous

Taylor is good but I think 165 was down this yr overall. Plus Howe has spent almostvan entite yr wrestling & training for freestyle & I think that dedication to style will be the difference in this match. Sometimes you work on different moves for both styles, I think Andrews yr of concentrating on FS pays off & he wins to face Burroughs for #1

[Dingo Brigade]

Man, I hope you're right. Really want him to get a good crack at Burroughs.

Hildebrandt probably drew the opponent she has the best matchup with--the one younger than her.

Kinda bummed that Rulon didn't make weight. Wanted to see where that went. Less bummed that potential Hump opponent Oliver didn't make weight

[devildog47959]

Man, I hope you're right. Really want him to get a good crack at Burroughs.

Hildebrandt probably drew the opponent she has the best matchup with--the one younger than her.

Kinda bummed that Rulon didn't make weight. Wanted to see where that went. Less bummed that potential Hump opponent Oliver didn't make weight

I knew rulon wouldn't make weight he's been 30+ lbs over for awhile he still lost a ton but I'm guessing he was way over the max! But yes would have been nice to see him.compete

Idk how Oliver misses weight he was right there for NCAA I mean Russel had to.cut 10+ so I give Russel credit! I would have loved to see a Russel vs Oliver matchup but Russel vs stieber will be fun too!

[Dingo Brigade]

Craig Sesker just backed up Rulons claim that he was within 5 pounds

[devildog47959]

Craig Sesker just backed up Rulons claim that he was within 5 pounds

5 pounds wow, that's tough to swallow. That's one mote hour in sauna doing j jacks & situps... So close yet so far away!

[Dingo Brigade]

I agree. I was talking to a guy who knows him and he basically acknowledged what I was thinking--while he's hungry and competitive, he's maybe not quite as hungry and competitive as he was when he was a younger, unaccomplished wrestler. Still pretty impressive that he was even close considering he was almost 500 pounds a pretty short time ago.

[D-train]

He should have stayed at the biggest loser!  Coulda made a few bucks.

Seriously though, can someone explain the "last chance"?  How does that work?  Who gets invited to that?

[MattM]

The two "last chance qualifiers" allow a chance for countries to qualify a weight for the Olympics (top 3 at China top 2 at Finland).  This would be for any country that did not place high enough at a weight through the World Championships (top 6) or their areas regional event (ours is the Pan-Am Qualifiers top 2).  The regional qualifying event is an attempt to spread out things more evenly out between countries of the world so that some additional countries that are not considered top world power in that sport can attempt to make it in.  In addition the host nation also gets a qualifier at each weight, as well as, any nation the IOC fells should be rewarded a qualifier as part of their Olympic development program (usually one just starting to develop a Olympic development program).  It also worth noting that a countries qualifiers a weight, so the person who qualifies is not necessarily the person that country must send as their representative.

The brackets for these events (most international ones)are set up for a "repechage" which is a quicker way to finish a large one day event.  Only those wrestler who are eliminated at some point by the two finalists are able to compete in the wrestleback tournament for a chance at placing.  This is ran like a ladder competition where the first wrestler eliminated by one finalist must work his way back by defeating the rest of the wrestlers defeated by that finalist until that side of the bracket is finished. The farther you advanced  before losing to a finalist the less opponents you have to wrestleback against to place in the "repechage."  This cuts out extra wrestleback matches, but also due to matchups and styles does tend to turn into a little luck of the draw in who your opponent is and when you face them in the event.  If the competition awards two 3rd Places both wrestlers who won their way back through their side of the "repechage" will receive that placement.  If a true 3rd place needs to be determined then obviously the winners of both sides of the "repechage" will wrestle to determine that placement.

Here is a more in depth explanation of what countries have qualified for the Olympics thus far in wrestling
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestling_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Qualification

[maligned]

Bunch wins his first two against the Canadian and a Moroccan.  He has a South Korean next. 

If he wins, he'll be in the semifinals, meaning he'll have 2 chances to win a match that would give him a top 3 place and earn us an Olympic berth at Hump's weight. 

If he loses, he has to hope the Korean wins in the semi's, then win 2 matches to get 3rd.

[devildog47959]

Bunch qualifies 60Kg

Reece will now wrestle Scott, winner will face bunch in best of 3 format!

Let's go Hump!!!