Andrew Howe's results at Golden Grand Prix

[maligned]

Because of the presence of Jordan Burroughs, Andrew Howe hasn't been able to wrestle so many top-notch tournaments and see where he measures against the best.  Today was a bit of an exception.  The final "Golden Grand Prix" tournament of the year was in Azerbaijan and virtually all the top wrestling nations had one of their top guys entered at his weight (74kg).  He went a disappointing 0-2, losing 4-2 to the Uzbek who will wrestle for gold later today and then losing his repechage match 4-3 to the Russian who will wrestle for bronze.

 

Also, Metcalf will wrestle for gold, while Megaludis, Ruth, Varner, and Dlagnev go for bronze.  (It's a bit misleading that we have so many going for bronze; most weights had about 10 guys and 6 wrestle for medals--but 95% of participants from the top few nations in the world)

[maligned]

A little off-topic with everyone focused on Fargo today, but Brent Metcalf was down 6-0 with 2 minutes left and hit a gigantic 4-point throw off a front headlock, followed by another late takedown to beat the host Azerbaijani and take gold at a really tough tournament.  Metcalf will obviously continue to be one of the main targets for Reece (and potentially for Jason Tsirtsis if he continues to develop) for this Olympic cycle, so it makes his results interesting to follow. 

 

I really hope Reece is able to get his nutrition and strength training to a place where he can maintain a bit of a bigger body as he takes a stab at the higher weight now that his natural weight is gone from the Olympics.  I think it will be hard to maintain his muscle mass, bone density, and joint strength where they need to be to battle guys at Metcalf's physical level if he keeps going down to 61kg sometimes.  No one can fault him for wanting to get to another world championships, but that jump from 132lbs (now 134lbs) to 143lbs brings some very physical beasts at the top international level.