maligned Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 (edited) Senior Nationals/Olympic Trials Qualifier event will be today and tomorrow in Las Vegas. It's a hugely important event because it's by far the best chance to qualify for the Olympic Trials. Anyone placing top 7 advances to the trials in April and opportunities to qualify after this weekend will be tricky. Some of our top National Team people aren't participating because they've already sealed their berths at the trials, but everyone else will be there. You can follow the event live on Track and watch a live paid stream on Flo all day both days. From Indiana (help me if I'm missing anyone): Greco Roman and Women's Freestyle Day 1 (Today, Dec. 18): Sarah Hildebrandt (53kg, #5 seed) Caleb Smith (Greco 75kg) Taylor Walsh (ex-IU) (Greco 75kg, #6 seed) Men's Freestyle and Women's Freestyle Day 2 (Tomorrow, Dec. 19): (seeds not announced yet) Angel Escobedo (57kg) Stevan Micic (57kg) Reece Humphrey (already qualified for trials) (65kg) Brandon Wright (65kg) Andrew Howe (74kg) Nick Borta (86kg) Braden Atwood (97kg) Prospectus: --Hildebrandt should qualify, but she needs to perform. There's a bit of a drop off after the first few girls, so she'll be looking to get 1 or 2 key wins that will guarantee her spot --Walsh has shown flashes of being a future Olympic qualifying threat the last month. He'll be favored to advance, but Greco is unpredictable. --EDIT: Found out about Smith late. He won a couple matches but did not qualify for the trials. --Escobedo & Micic are in THE weight to watch this weekend and at the trials in April. There are literally 15-17 guys who have been our top guy already or who have beaten our top guys. Micic has shown he can beat anyone--but yet he's ranked #12 because this weight is so, so deep. Even Escobedo, who will be the #3 or #4 seed this weekend, is absolutely not a shoo-in to make the trials. Watch this weight!! --Wright will be a heavy underdog at our second deepest weight. He continues to pick up nice wins at these events, but he'll need 3 or 4 upset wins to qualify for the trials --Humphrey is just looking to perform well, since he's already qualified. Most people have written him off as a threat to be our rep in Rio with the move up in weight from the non-Olympic 61kg--but he's shown he can compete at 65kg. All our best guys except the already-qualified Metcalf and Green will be there this weekend and placing top 3 would be a big boost to Hump's confidence going forward. --Howe's weight has become much less crowded with numerous big dogs moving up to avoid Jordan Burroughs. He'll be the top seed this weekend and the favorite to face Burroughs in the Trials finals in April. He's shown again this season in international tournaments that he would absolutely be a real Olympic medal threat if he weren't stuck behind the man. --Borta, from North Montgomery's wrestling club, will be a heavy underdog. I'm guessing his primary goals are getting acclimated to the level of competition and competing well. --Atwood will be a heavy underdog like Wright. Winning a couple matches would be something to build on for him. Edited December 19, 2015 by maligned RAJR, pjayroza and littlevito 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XCard Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Well put. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grecoref Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Caleb Smith from Princeton is also competing in GR. He placed in the top 8 in last year's national open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlevito Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Caleb Smith from Princeton is also competing in GR. He placed in the top 8 in last year's national open. I was wondering when I saw the Maurer Coughlin WC team listed with the name on Trackwrestling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattM Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 (edited) I believe Kayla Miricle is already qualified for the Olympic Trials from her finish in a previous event. As, well as Humphrey (mentioned above) for being a previous world team member. Is there anyone else with Indiana tied to add to the list of "already qualified." Edited December 18, 2015 by MattM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maligned Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 You're right that kayla is already qualified. ..For that reason, she's not competing this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maligned Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 (edited) Hildebrandt into the quarters...one more win to assure top 7. Walsh loses a costly first match and needs 6 victories for 7th or better. Caleb smith loses in the round of 16 and needs 4 wins. Edited December 18, 2015 by maligned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sig40 Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Walsh just won 11-2 ending with a big 5 point throw. If he wins his next match he might face Ness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maligned Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 Hildebrandt wins in the quarters and seals her berth at the Olympic trials. Walsh and Smith still need 4 wins each barrydjr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maligned Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 Walsh wins 2 more easily. Next win guarantees top 8 and two shots at top 7. Caleb Smith was eliminated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maligned Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 (edited) Walsh is eliminated in the final 12. Walsh and Smith (and anyone else that doesn't qualify this weekend) will essentially have two more chances to qualify for the trials: 1) by medaling at the Dave Schultz international tournament in January and finishing ahead of any other Americans that haven't qualified for the trials yet or 2) by being the champion of the last-chance qualifier just before the trials. Edited December 18, 2015 by maligned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattM Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 (edited) Looking over the brackets, I see that former IU wrestler Lucas Sheridan (now with Army WCAP) is competing and still alive in the consol part of Greco 85. Edited December 18, 2015 by MattM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maligned Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 Looking over the brackets, I see that former IU wrestler Lucas Sheridan (now with Army WCAP) is competing and still alive in the consol part of Greco 85. True...didn't notice him. He's already guaranteed top 6...had a big win over #1 seed Anderson in the quarters to ensure Olympic Trials berth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maligned Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 Lucas Sheridan of IU ends up 4th and Sarah Hildebrandt ends up a strong 3rd place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maligned Posted December 19, 2015 Author Share Posted December 19, 2015 (edited) The clearest path to the top 7 for the guys competing today (we don't have any ladies) is advancing to the semi-finals. Our guys' draws today: #3 seed Escobedo: R1 Frank Perelli, perennial Olympic trials and World Team Trials qualifier...sometimes takes an upset scalp or two R2 Sam Hazewinkel, our Olympic rep in 2012 Quarters: Obe Blanc, past world team member or Ali Naser, hotshot kid from Cali that just took 4th at a loaded Farrell International tournament Micic: R1 Nunez from Grand Canyon St. (micic heavy favorite) R2 Coleman Scott, 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, down to this weight for the first time Quarters: Andrew Hochstrasser, 2nd at senior nationals in May, came within an eyelash of winning #5 seed Humphrey: R1 bye R2 heavy favorite against one of two small-school guys Quarters: Frank Molinaro, ex-undefeated NCAA champ and currently ranked one spot higher than Reece in USA Wrestling rankings Wright: R1: Logan Stieber (bad draw; Wright a huge underdog against a currently red-hot Stieber that will be a medal threat if he qualifies for Olympics) If he loses, he'd probably face Kindig, NCAA runner-up a couple years ago Howe: A bye, then two matches in which he'll be heavily favored. A couple interesting matches await in the semi's and finals if all goes well. Borta of Normonco Wrestling Club (86kg): R1: #2 seed Keith Gavin, ex-world team member Atwood: R1: #2 seed Byers He'd get NCAA champ Gadsen if he pulls the upset. If he loses first round, he'd have a potentially winnable match or two, it appears. Edited December 19, 2015 by maligned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maligned Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 Escobedo finishes 7th and qualifies. Micic doesn't place, losing to Olympic bronze medalist Scott by tech and 4-2 to NCAA champ Tomasello. Had he beaten Tomasello, he would have had two chances to win matches that would have put him in the top 7. In order to be at the Olympic trials, he'll now need to either medal at the Dave Schultz international tournament in January or be the champion of the last-chance qualifier tournament in March. Humphrey takes 3rd as the #5 seed, losing only to eventual champ and top seed Jimmy Kennedy and picking up a convincing tech over the golden boy, #3 seed Pico, and a dominant win over former NCAA champ, #4 seed Molinaro. Wright goes 1-2. Howe wins his weight, beating Chris Perry in a rematch of his 2014 NCAA finals loss. This sets him up to be the top seed for the challenge tournament at the Trials. Borta goes 0-2. Atwood goes 1-2, with a highlight being a very competitive 7-4 loss to the #2 seed Byers in his opener. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingo Brigade Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Nice job, maligned BeastMode#31 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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